Sharpening Tools need help

[skysharks]

Hey all
I have never been show/taught etc. on how to sharpen anything so I'm in the dark.
I want to start to sharpen my straight chisels and planer/jointer blades. I need a moderate priced system that will work for all. I am not a wood turner, but if I do go there I will approach that type of sharpening then.

Any recommendations. Please no 400.00 setups, to rich for my blood.

 

[SteveColes]

John, for chisel and planes the least expensive is some variation on the scary sharp system. some sandpaper a sheet of glass or granite. and probably a guide/jig to set and maintain the proper angle
http://vfish.net/sharp.htm

That article mentions the veritas guide

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=224

but there are quite a few others of that genre around that have different set of pros and con.

 

[NCPete]

I've got the Veritas MkII, and it does a great job! which reminds me that I need to get out into the shop today, to sharpen my chisels some more. It takes some bit of time to fix the bad angles on a set of HF chisels.

 

[jglord]

I too have used the scary sharp method and it works well. The only complaint was how quickly the sand paper wears out. Over time, I've added some great water stones and am very happy with the results.

I very strongly recommend spending money on a jig to hold the desired angle, and have worked with several and like the Veritas MK II. The jig will eliminate a lot of frustration with trying for good results hand holding blades to get a consistent angle. I know of folks who can hand-hold and get good results, but they have a finely honed skill I don't posses - pun intended.

 

[Ray Martin]

John,

I'm another one that uses the scary shape method. I got a piece of plate glass from a shop (when I told the owner what I wanted the small piece of glass for, he gave it to me free.) I made a rough wooden frame to hold it. After that, it's just sandpaper. It does take a bit of practice to hold the chisel at a constant angle, so it really is worth the cost of a jig to hold the blade.

If you want to do anything like cut across some end grain (trim a tenon?), you do want to get to a fairly high grit... better yet, an 8,000 grit water stone.

Ray

 

[TV]

Scary sharp has worked well for me although if the plane blades are really bad it takes a lot of elbow grease at a low grit to get the angle adjusted. I use a $10 dollar honing guide and a piece of plate glass.

tv

 

[SteveColes]

John, nobody has addressed the jointer or planer blades part of your question. I don't know how to this other than on the Tomek with special jig, but frankly, while I haven't had to this yet, I suspect I will just buy new ones rather than sharpen them.

Anyone with some good ideas

 

[Ray Martin]

Steve,

If you have decent knives on the jointer or planer, there should be enough carbide to get a sharpening or two. I would use one of the services for these rather than try it myself. The cost should be a fraction of a new one.

Ray

 

[Big Mike]

I will second, third, fourth, fifth my approval of the scary sharp method. I also was given a piece of plate glass for free when I told them what I wanted. Sandpaper use is an issue but the system does work well. I also bought a set of Norton ceramic waterstones and they are hard to beat for chisels and plane irons. I use the old Lee Valley roller guide that preceded the MK II.

I think Lee Valley sells a holder that allows you to sharpen jointer/planer blades using the scary sharp system. I have no knowledge of whether it works or not but usually Lee Valley stuff is good stuff...

 

[Travis Porter]

I agree with all on the scary sharp. The one thing I found at least for me when I was doing it was that I did better free hand than using a jig. If you decide to go the water stone route, you have to flatten the stones pretty much every time you use them (DAMHIKT).

For planer and jointer blades, I have the attachment for the Tormek to do them and DavidF and I tried it. The whole reason I bought the attacment was for wide hand plane blades. As for the jointer blades, David found when he got home they were not true. Turns out I missed a step in the process and that was using the diamond guide to true the turning stone. I have the diamond truing stone, got it with the original set up, but it turns out the tip is broke and it has been well over a year, and I think the warranty is out. After the attempt David and I had, I think I will continue to just send the blades out for sharpening. It isn't that much and it is more accurate than I think I can do it.

 

[sapwood]

One more vote for the Weary Sharp method :lol:
Regrinding an edge can take a lot of strokes and sandpaper, but once that's done it is easy. Unlike Travis, I cannot do it free hand . . . the Veritas MKII works for me :-D

Roger

 

[gazzer]

I have tried the scary sharp method and had decent results; however I have reverted to waterstones for my chisels and plane irons. It just seems to go a bit quicker once you have establishes your preferred bevel (and polished the backs). I use the Veritas Mark II jig and like it a lot. I recently bought, but have not used, the tapered roller for crowning finish plane irons.

I also have the Veritas jointer knife jig and used it a few weeks ago for the second sharpening of my jointer knives - scary sharp method on half sheets of sandpaper. I have used plate glass, but since I picked up a granite plate on sale at woodcraft, I used it the last time. Again it works pretty well, although the "indexing" feature seems a bit iffy. All three knives in about 45 minutes.

-G

 

[Travis Porter]

It took me almost 10 years to be able to get a satisfactory edge on a chisel. During the 10 years, I tried waterstones, scary sharp, and oil stones. Scary sharp IMO is by far the easiest and cheapest way to go. Water stones you have to flatten almost every time you use them, but with the little jig I had (wasn't a Veritas) I never did too well still. Finally, going freehand was the ticket.

 

[nelsone]

I'm using scary sharp on chisels and plane irons.

I saw a jig in one of the mags for planer blades, but I can't for the life of me remember which one (might have been online). What they did was make a jig to hold the blades level adn at the proper angle then used a cup grinder on the drill press. Just work the blades under the cup. Don't know if it will work or not, but it may be worth a try! At $50 for a set of blades, what do you have to loose!

 

[junquecol]

I'm using scary sharp on chisels and plane irons.

I saw a jig in one of the mags for planer blades, but I can't for the life of me remember which one (might have been online). What they did was make a jig to hold the blades level adn at the proper angle then used a cup grinder on the drill press. Just work the blades under the cup. Don't know if it will work or not, but it may be worth a try! At $50 for a set of blades, what do you have to loose!

Shop Notes, a ton of years ago featured a jig to sharpen chisels, plane blades, and jointer and planer blades, that used cup wheel in drill press. After looking at construction details, I decided as long as Dynamic Saw will sharpen jointer and planer blades for fifty cents an inch, that will be my prefered method. Chisel and plane blades, I do the scary sharp method. Get hold of a copy of Ian Kirby's book "Sharpening With Waterstones" and check out his bench grinder and holders for chisels and plane blades. Yes, I know a bench grinder isn't a waterstone. That is unless you has mist cooling, which I don't.

 

[Gofor]

I use the scary sharp (wet-dry paper) plus I also use arkansas stones. Best purchase I made was the granite block ($35) from Woodcraft, as it is also wide enough to do planer blades and great for flattening the arkansas stones when needed. If you can find a piece from a tombstone place, you can get it cheaper. I tried a glass shelf from Lowes, but it flexed too much and wasn't really flat.

I have a cheap roller guide from Klingspors, that does well for chisels and plane blades. Before I had that, I used a carriage bolt and wing nuts for the plane blades (Still do for the radiuses blades like for a scrub plane, etc.). That said, the Veritas appears to be very good and would get it if it is in your price range. If you radius your plane blades, the radiused roller also would be a good purchase.

Tip with the scary sharp method. If you go side to side instead of front to back for the final couple licks, it will be sharper. Also, to remove the burr from the back edge of a plane or chisel blade, do not do it until you get to at least the 600 grit or finer, and then go side-to-side to remove the burr. If you do it with a coarser grit, it will only score the flat side of the cutter/blade, and increase your work. I do not put a reverse bevel on the back side of my blades/chisels unless it is an old blade that is pitted.

As for wearing out the paper, if you wash it after use, it lasts quite a while. I usually use a diamond pad (Got some cheap from a cummings tool sale) to cut fast to get rid of chips and knicks, and then go with the paper. I buy mine at Carquest.

I have found to go past 2000 grit is a waste of time as for how long the blade remains sharp, and I can get my planes to cut to .0008" shavings with it, altho my hard arkansas does put a sharper edge and that is what I use for knife blades.

For the planer, a man of your talents will not find it hard to make a jig to hold them if you have a flat surface to slide on. If it is 6", wide jawed vice grips will work if you lubricate the granite with a bit of soapy water, or put a thin piece of HDPE on it for the guide to slide on. May have to true up the jaws on the vice grips with a file to make sure they are straight, tho.

JMTCW

Go

 

[Travis]

Excellent thread subject. I was feeling inadequate not having a "Tormek type" sharpening system in the shop. I was actually thinkng about buying one at Klingspore Extravaganza this year. It sounds like to me from the post it is very hard to sharpen planner and jointer knives even with an expensive sytem with specialized jigs. I guess I will pocket the money I was going to spend on the Tormek and buy a nice vise or something and send the blades out to be sharpened.

 

[Nativespec]

I have the Veritas "original" honing guide 05M02.10 (sells for about $40) and a combination 1000/4000 stone (sells for about $25) that I can sell both for $30 if you are interested.

David

919 -420-0267 (in Raleigh)

 

[KevinCwalina]

A great book on sharpening is the Leonard Lee Book. It has a lot of great info in it, and gets into answering the question why so that you understand what you are doing, not just going thru the motions.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Sharpening-Leonard-Lee/dp/1561581259

 

[cpowell]

I also use scary sharp and Veritas Mk II jig. No problems with the scary sharp but I find the Mk II of limited value beyond initially setting the desired bevel angle. I have found that it is difficult to replicate jig settings for each chisel on subsequent sharpenings.

I initially sharpened all of my chisels (around 12 or so) using the MK II and sandpaper. After sharpening each chisel, I used the Mk II to hone a secondary bevel. Well, normal use occasionally buggers up the edge so I recently decided to reset the primary bevel. I found it was very difficult and time consuming to get the chisel placed in the jig to match the original primary bevel. I realize this was due to the honing of a secondary bevel. I ended up setting to a fixed bevel angle and working through all of the grits from 220 to 2000. I did not use a secondary bevel.

I may regret not using a secondary bevel but I have done touch up by hand enough over the past 6 months to gain confidence. Now I simply rock to the primary bevel and touch up as I'm working. If I do heavy pounding work, I limit it to a few chisels then clean them up separately.

FWIW my experience has shown that the Mk II jig does not ALWAYS register the chisel at 90 degrees. That is frustrating. I have read of similar problems with chisel use on other forums. Several folks seem to think that the Mk II is better suited for plane blades than chisels. I will admit that using the Mk II allowed me to become familiar with the sandpaper sharpening technique and in that sense it was well worth the money for initial sharpening. You can produce very sharp chisels using the jig. :icon_thum

If you haven't done so, flattening the back of the chisels is a must. This takes a lot of time the first time through but once done you only need to touch up if you roll the edge doing mallet-driven work.

BTW if anyone has a recommendation for a sandpaper source that will provide extended use I would appreciate it. Particularly on 1200-2000 grit.


Chuck