to jig or not to jig ....

[daver828]

Well, I got back from my two day hand plane workshop at Highland Woodworking. After all the reading, DVD viewing, thinking about, etc etc etc, I actually got my hands on a few planes and was even able to make some fluffy shavings. Nice workshop. Jim Dillon was the instructor and a nice guy, easy going and a common sense approach to the subject. I was pleased. We were given an Anant #5 which we promptly took apart, filed, adjusted, tuned, sharpened and tried to plane with. I was doing just fine until the sharpenening. I realized that one can read all the books and view all the masters, but until the blade is actually in your hands, it means nothing. I made a mess of it. I was determined to freehand on water stones, since that is what I have already. The Tormek is out of my range, and I just thought that one should learn to sharpen freehand, without a jig. Now I wonder. I could not hold the blade steady and wound up first skewing the blade, then rounding over the edge, then cambering too much, etc. While others were planing away, I was still trying to sharpen. Not as easy as it looks. But alas, I finally managed to get a good edge on the blade and get the mouth adjusted well. When I tried my first pass on the wood, which was short pieces of pine from Home Depot, these fluffy white cotton balls were curling up nicely. I was satisfied and started trying to plane to a mark, plane end grain, dimension the wood differently, all just to get different shavings. Made a mountain of shavings and had a ball doing it. But I got to thinking, do I really want to take the time to learn freehand sharpening? What would be wrong with a simple jig to make the sharpening more stable and reproducible? One emplyee of Highlands told me that she was not a fan of sharpening and used the Worksharp system to sharpen all her tools. Got me to thinking. I know the consensus here is simply to find a system and stick with it. But should one try all the systems? What about the Worksharp? Worth it?

 

[McRabbet]

Worksharp 3000 is worth every penny and will produce consistent results and very sharp edges in a heartbeat. Highly recommended for plane irons and bench chisels.

 

[JimmyC]

The Work Sahrp 3000, is as close to idiot proof sharpening as it gets, I give it a :icon_thum.

 

[Don Sorensen]

while I can appreciate the skill it takes to hand-sharpen your own tools - My Worksharp 3000 made me a expert at sharpening tools in about 5 minutes. That, and watching BAS demonstrate the WS 3000 all day at last year's Woodworking Shop Extravaganza.

I'd recommend getting jiggie with the sharpening end of the job - that way you're more likely to get use of the tools rather than cursing about how dull they are and putting off the use. A dull plane is nothing more than a fancy expensive paperweight.

You can always learn to hand sharpen as you go.

 

[Tarhead]

I've considered all the nice sharpening systems and decided to be a contrarian. I started with the Veritas honing guides and Scarysharp and like you had problems getting the edge square and consistent. I've switched to a friable blue stone http://www.wttool.com/category-exec...mium_Grain_Blue_AO_Bench_Grinding_Wheels_CGW_ on my high speed grinder followed by freehand on waterstones (I use Naniwa Superstones) to hone. Once the edge is hollow gound it serves as its own guide so you just put the edge to the stone and the angle is set. The trick is to crown the grinder stone with a dresser so that only a small amount of the edge of the blade is ever in contact and get your blade rest angle right on the grinder. This keeps the metal from burning. Good review of this method in FWW #198 May-June 2008 by Joel Moskowitz from www.toolsforworkingwood.com .

 

[sapwood]

Really like the Worksharp, but you can't exclude the need for other methods. I use "scary sharp" method occasionally and it's hard work, but I don't know another way to flatten the sole of a handplane. Also have the Veritas MKII honing guide and don't plan on giving it up yet.

HTH,
Roger

 

[jarrett]

All I can say is that I wish I didn't have the honing guide being sold by Rockler in their Scary Sharp kit. I bought that, and there are two problems:

1. It doesn't hold my beveled chisels well. The way the jaws are designed, it doesn't seem to hold the chisel straight. I guess it doesn't matter--once it's honed down to that skew, it'll stay that way, but it doesn't feel secure to me.

2. The guide wheel at the bottom is too narrow, and feels unstable. I rounded off a corner of my chisel this way before I figured it out. I've read that this is good if you want a curved blade for certain planes, but for my use, it was frustrating.

Of course, I've only used this once and this is my first time sharpening anything, but it wasn't a good first experience.

 

[cpowell]

Worksharp for coarse removal and to get it sorta sharp. Then use hand sharpening.

8000 waterstone for final polish. When working at the bench I'll occasionally go back to the 8000 to refresh the edge. For bench chisels I also use a leather strop. It will make edges sharp enough to dry shave with...and can round over edges too - takes a light touch. The guys who really go sharp will go much further than me.

Hand sharpening is a learned skill. Once learned it's in your motor skills toolbox forever.

I don't care if I ever again use hand sharpening to rework an old Stanley blade that has been abused by previous owner. The WS 3k excels at that job. But I will do the final work on that blade by hand. It takes less time to touch up by hand than it does to flip a glass disk and set the blade width on the WS 3k.

I keep a sheet of wet/dry to flatten my 8000 waterstone.

So, WS 3000, one waterstone, one sheet of wet/dry...done! (unless you wanna get some stropping compound).


Chuck