sharpening question !

[Jim Koepke]

It may be my good fortune to not have the ability to hollow grind my edges.

Over time this has influenced my efforts to maintain a flat bevel.

In the past most of my irons needed to be reground due to sloppy maintenance causing the bevel to wander from being totally flat. Another way of saying this is an unwanted secondary bevel was created. The discipline required to maintain a flat bevel has improved my freehand skill.

Now mention of cutting technique having an effect on edge retention has me thinking about how to prolong edge life during use.

jtk

[Warren Mickley]

IThe discipline required to maintain a flat bevel has improved my freehand skill.

Now mention of cutting technique having an effect on edge retention has me thinking about how to prolong edge life during use.

jtk

Here is an example of technique affecting longevity.

I watched a video of a fellow cutting dovetail sockets in a cherry drawer fronts. He had removed the bulk of the material and was making his last cuts.

The drawer front was vertical in the vise and he was pairing horizontally to the gauge line. At the end of every cut he would flick out the waste, scraping the chisel against the back wall of the socket. You could hear the scraping on the video with every cut he made. This kind of scraping is hard on a sharp edge, much harder than the paring end grain.

In addition, he had the board seven or eight inches above the vise, so that it was not so secure. You could see it shudder with each cut, also rough on the edge. And the bench was wobbly also (may not have been his bench). There was nothing wrong with the sockets he produced, but he could have been working with sharper chisels and had better edge retention with cleaner technique.

[James Pallas]

Here is an example of technique affecting longevity.

I watched a video of a fellow cutting dovetail sockets in a cherry drawer fronts. He had removed the bulk of the material and was making his last cuts.

The drawer front was vertical in the vise and he was pairing horizontally to the gauge line. At the end of every cut he would flick out the waste, scraping the chisel against the back wall of the socket. You could hear the scraping on the video with every cut he made. This kind of scraping is hard on a sharp edge, much harder than the paring end grain.

In addition, he had the board seven or eight inches above the vise, so that it was not so secure. You could see it shudder with each cut, also rough on the edge. And the bench was wobbly also (may not have been his bench). There was nothing wrong with the sockets he produced, but he could have been working with sharper chisels and had better edge retention with cleaner technique.

Warren, Would you tell us where this video is located so we can see how not to this task?
Jim

[Jim Koepke]

Here is an example of technique affecting longevity.

Thanks Warren.

jtk

[Mel Fulks]

Warren, that chisel technique thing makes a lot of sense. Good example of the stuff learned in apprenticeship that might
not occur to many on their own. Thanks

[Warren Mickley]

Warren, Would you tell us where this video is located so we can see how not to this task?
Jim

I purposely omitted the name of the guy who was doing the dovetailing. It is not Sellers, but the guy has some following and people would be upset that someone dared criticize him.

Mel, yes this is something that you can point out to an apprentice or student. One historic picture that I like shows a row of benches of workers all facing the same direction. Except for one bench. The young boy's bench is turned around so that he and the master are face to face.

Here is another video of another guy who is a little careless with his chisel edge but otherwise skilled. Check out the flicking at the end of the cuts around 8:40.

[David Eisenhauer]

Food for thought about chisel technique. Thanks Warren.

[Robert Engel]

I recommend hollow grinding. You will periodically have to redress it, but especially on chisels IMO the chisel performs a little better because there isn't as much wedge effect.

[Jim Koepke]

I recommend hollow grinding. You will periodically have to redress it, but especially on chisels IMO the chisel performs a little better because there isn't as much wedge effect.

With something like a mortise chisel, one might want to have a 'wedge effect.'

Hollow grinding has an advantage when performing freehand sharpening. It gives a positive feel when the blade is in contact with the sharpening media.

jtk

[Robert Engel]

With something like a mortise chisel, one might want to have a 'wedge effect.'

Hollow grinding has an advantage when performing freehand sharpening. It gives a positive feel when the blade is in contact with the sharpening media.

jtk

True!! I forgot some people don't sharpen freehand

[Jim Koepke]

True!! I forgot some people don't sharpen freehand

My sharpening is primarily freehand. It does take a lot of practice to keep a flat bevel flat.

Another revelation was my experience with water stones taught me how to better use oilstones. For some reason oilstones never seemed to work for me. After a few years of using water stones it surprised me one time when trying to sharpen a gouge how well my oilstones would all of a sudden work.

jtk

[Jason Kamery]

I freehand a secondary bevel on my planes and chisels on waterstones. Depending on how much woodworking I do during the week/weekend, I probably get back to the primary bevel (still on stones but with a jig) about once a week, maybe every other week. I don't know if there is a set amount of sharpening or a set point on my blades that I look for, when deciding to go back. I just kinda guess. Seems to work for me.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Derek; out of curiosity, why the need to return to the grinder after only 6 sharpening's.

Stewie, you have a knack for asking questions that did not occur to me until AFTER I read your question.... then I think "yeah, that is a good question".

As usual, of course, Derek has a good answer (mention that here rather than responding below and saving a post).

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I'm wondering how you guys resharpen your chisels and handplane blades.

I hollow grind on a Tormek. The "hollow" helps me hold the blade so that I can free hand after that. Although I do frequent touch-ups free hand, it is a rare occasion for me to bring it back to the Tormek. After I have the Tormek fired up, however, I might sharpen a few things that I could wait a bit.

I always put a microbevel on my blades and when they get dull, I only resharpen the microbevel and then remove the burr on the back.

That is when I do my "touch-up".

I'm thinking that at some point I'm gonna have to resharpen the primary bevel no ? How often should one completely resharpen the whole thing ? My understanding is that each time I redo the microbevel, it ends up getting bigger and bigger

Yes. This is why some people here choose to always do the entire blade - because working by it is more work to reshape the bevel. With my Tormek, I really do not care because it is pretty fast.