Take a look at Taylor Tools sharpening system. Uses drill press, and retails for right at fifty bucks. In process of assembling a shop made version (I'm cheap!)Originally Posted by Tony Wilkins
Contributor
Take a look at Taylor Tools sharpening system. Uses drill press, and retails for right at fifty bucks. In process of assembling a shop made version (I'm cheap!)
Contributor
Seen it but I’d have to also invest in a drill press. I’m happy with my water stones and side honing jig. Since both LN and LV blades start with microbevels, I probably still would use a microbevel. It is nice when I have to touch up my Japanese blades though.
Contributor
The reason for hollow grinding blades is to reduce the amount of steel for honing, which both reduces the effort and speed the effort involved with non-laminated and abrasion-resistant steels. I hone on the hollow (unlike Cosman who add a secondary bevel). This maintains a coplanar bevel, which does essentially what Warren values.
My Japanese chisels are designed to be honed flat, and this is what I do. These laminated blades are only hardened steel for the cutting edge, which is a narrow strip. The soft backing iron is similar to a hollow grind. I imagine that Warren's chisels have laminated steel blades. And/or they are made of thin steel, which has less to hone.
The only machine in use is a 8" half-speed bench grinder with 180 grit CBN, and this is for the non-laminated chisels blades.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Member
Toshio Odate, writing in 1983, says that chisels are sharpened with flat bevels because they perform better. Chisels made in England or America perform better with flat bevels also.
A chisel is a wedge, not just a cutting edge.
Contributor
Warren, a wedge can come in many styles. Even a secondary bevel is a wedge.
I think that you mean a equal-sided wedge? A hollow grind honed coplanar is this ... just with a hollow on one side.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Member
I think that if you treat an English chisel the way you treat a Japanese chisel you will be rewarded.
Contributor
Warren, I believe I treat my Japanese chisels the way you treat your English chisels.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Member
Insomuch as you refrain from hollow grind and secondary bevels, yes. However I polish with Arkansas stones and strop with bare leather., so no.
Contributor
Warren - serious question - assuming the steel is high carbon, rather than a complex composition such as A2, M2, or PM-V11, what is the difference in using Arkansas+leather strop and waterstones to 13k?
Regards from Perth
Derek
Member
Higher polish and better control of the burr.
Contributor
I'm pretty much a beginner still but I find it easy to keep bladed tools sharp enough to cut cleanly and sweetly (swishhhh! - I love that sound).
After struggling for a little while with various jigs and reliably delivering badly skewed blade profiles and wasting a lot of steel making much more than micro bevels, I switched fairly early to freeform sharpening using mostly a 600 and a 1200 diamond stone (alarmingly cheap Amazon variants) and a good quality (leather on wood) strop with green honing paste.
Hey, I am sure my results are not perfect but they achieve all I need in terms of precision shaving without blow-out ... even in very difficult stock. Planes and chisels are a pleasure to use. I sharpen only a little but fairly often (mostly with just the strop). I feel liberated not to have to deal with all the hassle and time wasted with expensive (or cheap) sharpening jigs.
Where did I go right?
Contributor
One of the easiest ways to achieve great results is by keeping things simple.Where did I go right?
That may be where you went right.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Moderator
IMHO, there's no getting around learning how to sharpen both by hand and by machine. Don't think that machines are quick and stones are slow. Both have their challenges. You just have to run the gauntlet and practice. Only then will it get quick and cease to be focus of your shop time.
I use an MKii and shaptons and a worksharp. I'm never 100% happy with my sharpening set up, but I'm old enough now to realize it's me - not the tools or the media; they are good enough. Practice.
Member
I think the reason many people struggle with sharpening is because they approach it like an end in itself. I need to learn this technique so I can do woodworking. It's not. Sharpening is more like tuning a musical instrument. As you learn to play better and develop your ear, you tune the instrument more and more to your liking.what is sharp enough isn't easy to determine at first unless you use the tool. I suggest using the simplest method, which I find to free hand on stones of some kind but any method that seems simple to you, while building something. This way you'll develop a reference for what is sharp that you can work towards. I'm sure many great pieces were built with dull tools so you're don't worry about sharpening too much. As your hand tool skills improve your sharpening will improve too.
Contributor
I envy those who have sufficient sensitivity in their hands and the muscle control to both sense and maintain a consistent angle in several dimensions at once while sharpening. If there is a way to learn it I'd love to know about it, decades of just trying hasn't worked. When you're cutting into wood, eg with a chisel, the shape, thickness, and uniformity of the chip coming off the tool provides feedback to keep things on track. When sharpening freehand I've yet to discover any similar source of feedback to correct the process. It's too late when I flip it over to see how I've messed up the edge this time. I think some people must be able to feel when the bevel of a chisel or plane blade is truly flat against the stone. I can't. I'm resigned to using a jig at this point.
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