Scary Sharp

[Dave Brandt]

After having this article "on file" for forever, I finally decided to take a shot at the scary sharp system. Too make a long story short, it works unbelievably! I was so excited, I actually ran upstairs with the first chisel (don't try this at home kiddies) I tried it on to show my wife. And what do you know, she took one look at it, carefully felt the edge and proclaimed, "that's scary!" :eek: First time I've ever had chisel that would actually slice right through wood... and if I need to, I can always check my hair out in its reflection! :D

[Greg Mann]

....and if I need to, I can always check my hair out in its reflection! :D
I tried that and it didn't work. No hair shows up at all!!:o

Greg

[Kyle Stiefel]

Dave,


Which article are you making a reference to in regard to the sharpening?

[Keith Christopher]

Oh yeah and wait till you put a plane iron to it. it's easy to plane off too much! Grats on your first SS !

[Peter Dufresne]

Could you reference the article? I like to sharpen my own stuff and I am always looking for a better way...

[James Carmichael]

Could you reference the article? I like to sharpen my own stuff and I am always looking for a better way...

Just do a web search on "ScarySharp", it's everywhere. The original is attributed to a news group posting about 10 years ago.

It's quite a rush when you discover it. I'd just gotten into woodworking and was reeling from all this EXPEN$IVE stuff folks told me I needed, then found with a flea-market Bailey plane and $10 worth of sandpaper from the auto parts store, I could produce those fine, fluffy shavings.

[Norman Hitt]

Could you reference the article? I like to sharpen my own stuff and I am always looking for a better way...

Peter, there is more than one article, and this isn't the original, but it will get you what you want, (with a lot less reading of extraneous gobblygook), so go here: http://www2.fwi.com/~krumy/scary/copyof.htm

OR.......you can find the original @:

http://www.mv.com/ipusers/gunterman/SCARY.HTM#original

[William Lai]

Can someone point me to a mail order place where I can order a sandpaper assortment with grits that's suitable for ScarySharp? I'd prefer a sample pack of grits to start. I can get a float glass and stuff separetely, but if there's a reasonably priced "kit" that'll be great too! Thanks.

[Mark Singer]

William,
This one looks good! I don'tknow the best grits...I use stones and Tormek:)

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=33004&cat=1,43072

Can someone point me to a mail order place where I can order a sandpaper assortment with grits that's suitable for ScarySharp? I'd prefer a sample pack of grits to start. I can get a float glass and stuff separetely, but if there's a reasonably priced "kit" that'll be great too! Thanks.

[James Carmichael]

William,
This one looks good! I don'tknow the best grits...I use stones and Tormek:)

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=33004&cat=1,43072

I believe the grit equivalents Lee Valley is using are for waterstones, which are not the same as sandpaper . .5 micron is somewhere around 2000 - 2500 grit, in sandpaper terms. The Lee Valley stuff represents the finer grits, you'll need the coarser stuff (100 - 600) for establishing bevels and flattening backs.

You can find it all , 100 - 600 grit you can get at the big boxes (HD, Lowes). Get Wet or Dry silicone carbide whenever possible. 800 - 2000 grit can often be found at your local auto parts store, or an auto paint & body supply. I bought 1 each of 5-sheet packs of 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, and 2000-grit for $2.50 apiece at my local AutoZone over a year ago and am still using them, and I sharpen a lot. The fine grits last a long time with a little care. The coarser ones get used up fast when lapping backs and establishing a new primary bevel, but once that's done, I touch up with 1000 through 2000 grit, and it lasts a long time. I stick them down using 3M Super77 adhesive. 1/4" Float glass sells for $4.50 PSF locally, but I've never bought it, a marble coffee table top, bathroom countertop, and phenolic plates have all worked perfectly well (the latter is what I use in my shop, rather not have anything breakable:-).

This website has the best prices I've seen on smaller quantities of PSA sandpaper. I've bought their 2500-grit and it's good stuff. I see they now sell complete SS kits, but you can get started for less and see if you like it (although the Corian plate looks really nice, non-breakable!). When lapping plane soles, flattening chisel and plane-iron backs, or grind primarly bevels, you will need a lot more of the coarser grits (150-400) than are in this kit, in my experience, the abrasive's useful life goes up with the grit, I probably use about 6x as much 150 as 2000, for example. I see they also have a link to one of the articles on SS. I'll probably switch to their PSA once I use up my current stock, the spray adhesive is a pain and invariably gets everywhere.

http://www.handamerican.com/scary.html

[Larry Browning]

Klingspor sell a kit of sticky backed paper. I think you can find it at www.woodworkingshop.com

[Bob Johnson2]

I read an article this weekend which was pointed out in regards to a post on info on planes, in it the writer went into how he had 100+ planes and has tried all the differing ways to sharpen, ended up with the scary sharp. He also went into his testing of different types or sand paper for doing it with. He says the best is Norton 3X, which it just so happens I noticed in the local HD in up to 400 grit. Don't know where you could get it in the higher grits. Supposed to work better and last much longer.

[Doug Shepard]

The stuff from LV that the posts above link to, only work for the final polishing as James said. I keep one pc of glass set up with all 3 LV grades cut in strips. My other piece of glass is used for whatever grit I need to get rid of nicks, flatten backs, take out scratches, etc. One other thing I've found that works well with the SS method as a sandpaper substitute when needing courser grits is 180G sanding screen that drywallers use. Seems to cut more agressively than equivalent 180G paper, but without leaving heavier scratches that courser sandpaper would give you.

[James Carmichael]

One other thing I've found that works well with the SS method as a sandpaper substitute when needing courser grits is 180G sanding screen that drywallers use. Seems to cut more agressively than equivalent 180G paper, but without leaving heavier scratches that courser sandpaper would give you.

Also very good for lapping plane soles. The theory is, the mesh screen permits the swarf to fall away so it doesn't distort the flatness and keeps the abrasive in contact with the metal. Stick regular sandpaper down to the lapping plate, then put the mesh on top of that, the first layer holds it in place.

Another tip: when removing lots of metal (lapping) with coarse grits keep a vaccum handy as the swarf builds up fast, and you don't want that stuff grinding on your lapping plate. The coarser the grit, the faster it builds. As Doug said, it's best to have separate plates for the coarse mediums and another one for the polishing with the fine stuff.

Try auto parts stores for the fine grits of silicone carbide. I believe what I have from AutoZone was either Norton or 3M.

[Keith Christopher]

for finer grits I hit the local auto parts store and it will take you all the way to 4000. a little spray adhesive and you're gtg !



KEith

[Garry Smith]

I keep one pc of glass set up with all 3 LV grades cut in strips. .
I made a chisel/plane iron sharpening jig that I seen in one of the magazines a couple of years back. With this simple system there is no need to to glue the sandpaper to the glass.
I have made up a page that shows the system if you are intrested in viewing.

http://www.superwoodworks.com/Projects/ChiselJig.htm

http://www.superwoodworks.com/images/ChiselJig/ChiselJig1Small.JPG

Garry

[Jerry Olexa]

Any substitutes for glass? I don't like the "breakability" of glass. Cut myself yesterday pretty bad w glass. Any other flat surfaces that work?? Also any other options on glue. Understand 3M 77 hard to remove, clean. Thanks:confused:

[Dave Richards]

Jerry, I bought a couple of granite tiles from the big box. I looked at several of them and found a couple that when laid on the floor gave me a distortion-free reflection of the celing lights. I mounted the tiles onto a piece of 3/4" MDF. Seems to work alright.