Sharpest tools in your shop?

[Philipp Jaindl]

Carving Knives, Japanese Chisels followed by the Rest of the chisels, i freely admit my Plane Irons arent sharpened as often as they mayhaps should be, taking them apart, de-greasing (keep em well oiled), sharpening and setting up the planes again takes a bit and as long as they work well enough i tend to just roll with it, keep in mind most of my Planes are Wooden so getting the proper setting can be a bit tedious.

[ken hatch]

The sharpest tool is the one I just sharpened. Never really gave it much thought. Is there a reason that any edge tool works better when less sharp?

I'm with Jim. While I know not all edge tools need the same degree of smoothness on the cutting edge I will usually finish all cutters the same. If I had to pick one tool that I paid the most attention to while sharpening it would be my Sorby pattern maker chisels. I could be wrong but I expect most folks do not sharpen often enough.

ken

ken

[Jim Koepke]

I could be wrong but I expect most folks do not sharpen often enough.

On a plane blade if the wear bevel isn't removed by honing the main bevel, imo, it isn't being sharpened often enough.

jtk

[ken hatch]

On a plane blade if the wear bevel isn't removed by honing the main bevel, imo, it isn't being sharpened often enough.

jtk

Jim,

+1. And it is a lot easier if you do it more often. I hate to take my cutters to the grinder.

ken

[Zach Dillinger]

I never would have guessed this, but it turns out that it was the tongue cutting iron from a large set of tongue and groove planes. I discovered this last Saturday when said iron slipped out of the mouth of the plane (due to a loose wedge) and sliced through my pants and into the top of my ankle joint, cutting a 3" gash and cutting a tendon and a few nerves. I'll spare you the pictures but I'll just tell you it was the most gruesome injury I have ever sustained. I am healing well, and quickly, thankfully.

[steven c newman]

Wards 78 vs a HUGE knot...
Saw Til Project, Knotty problem.JPG
Well, it was sharpened a little while ago...
Saw Til Project, rebate done.JPG
Guess it IS the sharpest tool in the shop...

[roger wiegand]

The sharpest tool is the one I just sharpened. Never really gave it much thought. Is there a reason that any edge tool works better when less sharp?

Sure. There's always a tradeoff between sharpness and durability of the edge. An ultimately sharp blade will have virtually no durability and be pretty useless, so we make the angle more blunt to achieve a useable compromise. Of course there's no reason not to have the tool be as sharp as it can be given the angle you've chosen.

[Oskar Sedell]

Aiming at keeping my coffin smoother the sharpest, but since it is used often it might not always win.

A few speciality planes; my dovetail plane, skew miter and a kiwa kanna only gets used with care, fine shavings and are kept very sharp.

The chisels I use for plane making; two skew chisels and my 6, 18 and 36 mm japanese paring chisels.

[Mike Allen1010]

I never would have guessed this, but it turns out that it was the tongue cutting iron from a large set of tongue and groove planes. I discovered this last Saturday when said iron slipped out of the mouth of the plane (due to a loose wedge) and sliced through my pants and into the top of my ankle joint, cutting a 3" gash and cutting a tendon and a few nerves. I'll spare you the pictures but I'll just tell you it was the most gruesome injury I have ever sustained. I am healing well, and quickly, thankfully.

Ouch Zach! Very sorry to hear about your accident – severed tendons can be very dicey and I hope you heal quickly!

My most significant cuts etc. have also come from dropped edge tools. Funny, little risks actually "using" the tool, just just don't drop the darn blade! We have a relatively new puppy at our house and her favorite thing is to relentlessly seek out all my nicks and cuts and then lick them until they start bleeding again. Must be "vampire dog".

Cheers, Mike

[Rob Luter]

I never would have guessed this, but it turns out that it was the tongue cutting iron from a large set of tongue and groove planes. I discovered this last Saturday when said iron slipped out of the mouth of the plane (due to a loose wedge) and sliced through my pants and into the top of my ankle joint, cutting a 3" gash and cutting a tendon and a few nerves. I'll spare you the pictures but I'll just tell you it was the most gruesome injury I have ever sustained. I am healing well, and quickly, thankfully.

Reminds me of an event in college. I was working on a project and a large Exacto matting knife rolled down my drafting board and dropped straight onto my foot. If you would have planned it out and aimed it you could not have achieved a more perfect angle of attack. It was like throwing a dart. My roommate and I looked at it sticking in my foot in disbelief. I bled like a stuck pig when I pulled it out but it healed up ok.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

My kiridashi knife currently is probably my sharpest tool.

[Stu Gillard]

The sharpest tool in my shed must be my skew block plane when I forget that the side plate is removed and I pick it up like a normal block plane.
The amount of blood produced proves it