Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Who is addicted to making your tools mirror sharp?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Plymouth Meeting
    Posts
    590

    Who is addicted to making your tools mirror sharp?

    I recently purchased norton water stones and the Veritas MKII. Now I am obsessed with making all my planes and chisels sharp until they are like mirrors. Hi...My name is Tom and I am a Neanderthal!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Richmond, VA
    Posts
    664
    You could say that I am rather obsessive with keeping my tools sharp. I don't care about the mirror finish, just (to quote Ron Brese) FRIGHTFULLY sharp!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Earth somewhere
    Posts
    1,061
    Quote Originally Posted by jerry nazard View Post
    You could say that I am rather obsessive with keeping my tools sharp. I don't care about the mirror finish, just (to quote Ron Brese) FRIGHTFULLY sharp!
    Ya but is the edge flat!
    Sent from the bathtub on my Samsung Galaxy(C)S5 with waterproof Lifeproof Case(C), and spell check turned off!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Dayton Ohio
    Posts
    909

    Slightly different approach

    My opinion is different from others in that I treat the edge and the bevel as two separate things. I think that the edge does the cutting and needs to be very sharp. I believe that the top side bevel should be polished to reduce friction of the shaving. This takes three steps. First I sharpen the main bevel. Then I strop either the bevel (BU) or the back (BD) until I have a polished surface. Last, I sharpen the cutting edge, with the last few swipes done sideways. Inspecting my edge with a 10x lens it looks great.
    Works for me.

    Eric

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,347
    Blog Entries
    1
    I enjoy the mirror polish on a blade, but if it cuts as well as I want it to, it doesn't matter if there is a haze or a few coarse scratches left, it gets put to work.

    jim
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Ellsworth, Maine
    Posts
    1,805
    I am also obsessed with getting my blades extremely sharp and like the mirror polish as a gauge to get there. If it isn't polished to a mirror than I'm not done. But I don't want to get into the flat vs. mirror argument that seems to go on around here. I have a strong opinion one way but do not wish to get into it. Lets just say I have to get the mirror polish before I'm done with the process.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Southern Minnesota
    Posts
    1,442
    I am kind of in Jim's camp. The bevel has to be mirror sharp, cut your arm hair just by looking at them. But the back has to be smooth and flat but doest have to be like a bathroom mirror, if there are a few scuffs, scratches and so forth no big deal.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Fayetteville, GA
    Posts
    437
    I like sharp tools but I'm not too concern with mirror polish. When sharpening plane blades, I'm more concern with a good symmetrically honed blade so that the shavings feather out nicely.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
    Posts
    12,402
    This must be the counter thread to the matte finish one. I prefer a mirror edge,though that is only the micro bevel.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •