Good Morning Peter, Nicely done. Chuckling a bit, watching some one else sharpen a blade is frustrating for me, sort of like walking at night and some one else is holding the flashlight. You are a joy to learn from, but I feel my brain wanting to be the one sharpening the tool. I too have been a wood worker for years and I am not used to seeing some one else bring an edge to a tool. I really like the way you kindly describe some of your thoughts as you make your videos. I care very much about my tools and consider them old friends. Once years ago, I was working on a house, seventy miles from where I lived. I was finishing up the soffit and siding with my friend Mike. We were up a little over thirty feet on pump jacks and a scaffold plank and the temperature that day was near a hundred degrees. I was fitting a mitered corner of the soffit and had set my low angle block plane inside the soffit to free my hands to check the fit of the piece that was next. It fit, and I nailed it in place. Later that night as I was falling asleep at home, I sat up and remembered I had set my beloved low angle block plane inside the soffit up there. That next day, I drove up to that jobsite, set up a fourty foot ladder, opened the soffit and retrieved my plane. My buddy Mike wondered why the hell I did not just buy a new one. I still have that plane and used it two days ago to fashion an handle out of a quarter split piece of Locust for a small hand sledge. A good friend like that little plane is worth keeping. Smiling, George.
A chill went down my spine while you were explaining the importance of being aware of where your fingers are while sharpening. I immediately invisioned someone holding the front edge like a letter with the fingertips on the underside of the stone and slicing open the tips of their fingers. Very important information for anyone even for us old timers. I never have the music on or talking to anyone when I sharpen. I don't want to be distracted because accidents only take a milla-second to happen, no matter how experienced you are.
My mother was trained in a pathology lab at Mass General in the late 1940's. One of the skills she learned was sharpening microtome blades, which were about 5/16" thick x 2" x 5'', so it weighed about a half pound and was at least razor sharp. One thing she told me the trainer emphasized was "if you drop it, don't try to catch it!" My mother kept all 10 fingers.
Thanks for sharing your perspective on sharpening, Peter. I think it is so easy to get lost in the weeds of sharpening. I think it is better to get out there and give it the old college try to see what works for your individual preference. Regardless of the method, I cannot agree more with the comments about being aware of where your edge is relative to you hand. Learned that the hard way...
Thanks for showing this process in real time! I bought my first axe just a couple of weeks ago and today I used your method to sharpen it for the very first time. It worked out very well!
An interesting, straightforward, and very effective method of sharpening that hatchet. AS far as honing goes, if you want a really sharp & smooth edge, honing is THE way to go. Love that hatchet! Thanks for the video!
I remember you saying, "The only piece of plywood in the whole place, besides the subfloor." I totally get that sentiment. Love hearing your thought process, thank you again so much for taking the time to share what you've shared 15 times over, I always get some reinforcement and motivation, helping me with the ever-present battle of my woodworking fantasies and the actual realities. :) Love from the Pacific Northwest!
And again, from someone who also teaches for a living: you are such a great communicator! Whenever you explain something, you show one way, then usually provide a series of other ways to think about it, or about the context around the matter at hand, or alternatives and limitations! Works so well for this learner and a habit/concept I try to live in my day job as well. You're clearly highly experienced at the art of explaining things to other humans. A skill one can spot a mile away if they've spent enough time in that trade. My particular moment of clarity (though I know I've seen you explain it with Uncle Roy and in your hatchet video and certainly in the blog 17 times or so.....) was the crown to the backside. After another explanation, this student now has a fair understanding of the geometry of that great piece of steel. I have a really, really flat backed carpenter/job site single bevel that I don't use because it doesn't even have a curve to the cutting edge. And the back is flat, flat flat. I've always wanted to feel brave or stupid enough to attempt to modify it. So, weirdly enough, having a reminder and better understanding of a highly successful form again gives me the courage to see if I can grind a bit of a curved edge to my ebay single bevel. I just use my carving hatchet for all hewing, since my single bevel just gets stuck a lot, doesn't slice very well, my double bevel gets me flat enough for a little extra scrub planing. And it's a much more joyful tool to use, so on the wall the single-bevel hangs! I took the plunge turning a smoothing plane into a scrub a couple years ago, which worked as well as I could have hoped. I use that thing very frequently, so I think it's time now, it's on the official to-do list to start with grinding a curve into the cutting edge. If I ruin it, I probably can't use the hatchet any less than I do now! And it will probably motivate me to finish and haft the handle I made a couple years ago. So I'm just moved again to give specific praise and delight and commune with the several hundred other weirdos who will watch your awesome gifts of knowledge and time. Hopefully the YT algorithm gives more points per character in looking at your comments... ;)
Very fondly remember several years back taking a weekend 17th century Dutch keeping chest you taught at Lie-Nielsen starting out with a block of fresh cut white oak, memories that I'll always cherish especially everytime I look at the finished chest.
Thanks for the video, and I agree, absolutely respect that edge on the blade. It's too bad that the best way to learn that lesson is from having an accident yourself. I was sharpening my hatchet with a file while it was clamped on the bench, and on one pass I barely felt the blade as it dipped in my finger maybe a 1/4 inch. Tell your kids! Show everybody your scars- they're not going to learn from this comments section, but they might from you!
A good piece of steel pays for itself and so many times and often so many years. Only wish I could have owned my own woods as I do love wood working, But we don't always get what we want,So much enjoyed my visit and thanks for the teaching Sir
Peter, I've got your book (written with Alexander) now after watching some of your videos. Thanks so much for both, they complement each other so well.
nice hatchet and I'm sure you put a good edge on it. But the way you are using the stones is putting a groove in them that will be hard to get out if you sharpen all your axes in the same area of each stone. The stones will be difficult to get flat in the future if you want to use them for chisels or plane irons. I recommend trying to set up the axe or hatchet so you can go the long way on the stone and use the full stone and not just one isolated area that is perpendicular to the length of the stone. If you've got a good vise, you can put the ax handle in the vise vertically and sharpen the edge with the stones lengthwise but parallel to the floor.
Nice looking axe, what's the make? Hard to find in the UK. And never in good condition. Love to find one like that one. Try using a sharpie pen on the edge, so you can see what you are doing. Thanks for showing. And just subscribed!
Ahh, I just finished a blog post about this video, in which I said "I have no idea where to get a hatchet like this today" or words to that effect. Mine is 90 years old, made in Germany. There's lots of others out there that will work, but I gave up trying to keep up with which hatchet is which. The blog post has links to detailed looks at the hatchet pfollansbee.wordpress.com/2021/04/25/sharpening-a-hewing-hatchet/
In the UK, I have had success by re-furbishing old axe heads from, for example, Elwell. They are well-made, but not sided for hewing, though I, as a left hander, long since stopped worrying about this. Not common, now, but still available in 'antique' stores. Good luck. If you have to replace the haft, copy the shape Mr Follansbee has here.
Good Morning Peter, Nicely done. Chuckling a bit, watching some one else sharpen a blade is frustrating for me, sort of like walking at night and some one else is holding the flashlight. You are a joy to learn from, but I feel my brain wanting to be the one sharpening the tool. I too have been a wood worker for years and I am not used to seeing some one else bring an edge to a tool. I really like the way you kindly describe some of your thoughts as you make your videos. I care very much about my tools and consider them old friends. Once years ago, I was working on a house, seventy miles from where I lived. I was finishing up the soffit and siding with my friend Mike. We were up a little over thirty feet on pump jacks and a scaffold plank and the temperature that day was near a hundred degrees. I was fitting a mitered corner of the soffit and had set my low angle block plane inside the soffit to free my hands to check the fit of the piece that was next. It fit, and I nailed it in place. Later that night as I was falling asleep at home, I sat up and remembered I had set my beloved low angle block plane inside the soffit up there. That next day, I drove up to that jobsite, set up a fourty foot ladder, opened the soffit and retrieved my plane. My buddy Mike wondered why the hell I did not just buy a new one. I still have that plane and used it two days ago to fashion an handle out of a quarter split piece of Locust for a small hand sledge. A good friend like that little plane is worth keeping. Smiling, George.
A chill went down my spine while you were explaining the importance of being aware of where your fingers are while sharpening. I immediately invisioned someone holding the front edge like a letter with the fingertips on the underside of the stone and slicing open the tips of their fingers. Very important information for anyone even for us old timers. I never have the music on or talking to anyone when I sharpen. I don't want to be distracted because accidents only take a milla-second to happen, no matter how experienced you are.
My mother was trained in a pathology lab at Mass General in the late 1940's. One of the skills she learned was sharpening microtome blades, which were about 5/16" thick x 2" x 5'', so it weighed about a half pound and was at least razor sharp. One thing she told me the trainer emphasized was "if you drop it, don't try to catch it!" My mother kept all 10 fingers.
Thanks for sharing your perspective on sharpening, Peter. I think it is so easy to get lost in the weeds of sharpening. I think it is better to get out there and give it the old college try to see what works for your individual preference. Regardless of the method, I cannot agree more with the comments about being aware of where your edge is relative to you hand. Learned that the hard way...
Thanks for showing this process in real time! I bought my first axe just a couple of weeks ago and today I used your method to sharpen it for the very first time. It worked out very well!
An interesting, straightforward, and very effective method of sharpening that hatchet. AS far as honing goes, if you want a really sharp & smooth edge, honing is THE way to go.
Love that hatchet!
Thanks for the video!
I remember you saying, "The only piece of plywood in the whole place, besides the subfloor." I totally get that sentiment. Love hearing your thought process, thank you again so much for taking the time to share what you've shared 15 times over, I always get some reinforcement and motivation, helping me with the ever-present battle of my woodworking fantasies and the actual realities. :) Love from the Pacific Northwest!
And again, from someone who also teaches for a living: you are such a great communicator! Whenever you explain something, you show one way, then usually provide a series of other ways to think about it, or about the context around the matter at hand, or alternatives and limitations! Works so well for this learner and a habit/concept I try to live in my day job as well. You're clearly highly experienced at the art of explaining things to other humans. A skill one can spot a mile away if they've spent enough time in that trade.
My particular moment of clarity (though I know I've seen you explain it with Uncle Roy and in your hatchet video and certainly in the blog 17 times or so.....) was the crown to the backside. After another explanation, this student now has a fair understanding of the geometry of that great piece of steel. I have a really, really flat backed carpenter/job site single bevel that I don't use because it doesn't even have a curve to the cutting edge. And the back is flat, flat flat. I've always wanted to feel brave or stupid enough to attempt to modify it. So, weirdly enough, having a reminder and better understanding of a highly successful form again gives me the courage to see if I can grind a bit of a curved edge to my ebay single bevel.
I just use my carving hatchet for all hewing, since my single bevel just gets stuck a lot, doesn't slice very well, my double bevel gets me flat enough for a little extra scrub planing. And it's a much more joyful tool to use, so on the wall the single-bevel hangs! I took the plunge turning a smoothing plane into a scrub a couple years ago, which worked as well as I could have hoped. I use that thing very frequently, so I think it's time now, it's on the official to-do list to start with grinding a curve into the cutting edge. If I ruin it, I probably can't use the hatchet any less than I do now! And it will probably motivate me to finish and haft the handle I made a couple years ago.
So I'm just moved again to give specific praise and delight and commune with the several hundred other weirdos who will watch your awesome gifts of knowledge and time. Hopefully the YT algorithm gives more points per character in looking at your comments... ;)
Very fondly remember several years back taking a weekend 17th century Dutch keeping chest you taught at Lie-Nielsen starting out with a block of fresh cut white oak, memories that I'll always cherish especially everytime I look at the finished chest.
Thanks for the video, and I agree, absolutely respect that edge on the blade. It's too bad that the best way to learn that lesson is from having an accident yourself. I was sharpening my hatchet with a file while it was clamped on the bench, and on one pass I barely felt the blade as it dipped in my finger maybe a 1/4 inch.
Tell your kids! Show everybody your scars- they're not going to learn from this comments section, but they might from you!
A good piece of steel pays for itself and so many times and often so many years.
Only wish I could have owned my own woods as I do love wood working, But we don't always get what we want,So much enjoyed my visit and thanks for the teaching Sir
Peter, I've got your book (written with Alexander) now after watching some of your videos. Thanks so much for both, they complement each other so well.
Thanks for an other great video - it would be wonderful, if You could show us how You are sharpening Your carving tools :)
It funny. I've seen some people say it's better to have a bit of a crown instead of a flat bevel. I don't know which to do
Useful insights, thank you.
Nice video. What brand of wet stone are you using? Looks a bit like my Ohishi
Love your videos!
Thank you Peter.
I dig the plaid shirt and Bill Belichick style sweatshirt
nice hatchet and I'm sure you put a good edge on it. But the way you are using the stones is putting a groove in them that will be hard to get out if you sharpen all your axes in the same area of each stone. The stones will be difficult to get flat in the future if you want to use them for chisels or plane irons. I recommend trying to set up the axe or hatchet so you can go the long way on the stone and use the full stone and not just one isolated area that is perpendicular to the length of the stone. If you've got a good vise, you can put the ax handle in the vise vertically and sharpen the edge with the stones lengthwise but parallel to the floor.
Nice looking axe, what's the make? Hard to find in the UK. And never in good condition. Love to find one like that one. Try using a sharpie pen on the edge, so you can see what you are doing. Thanks for showing. And just subscribed!
I've written about hatchets many times on my blog here's one pfollansbee.wordpress.com/2012/12/13/the-endless-look-at-hewing-hatchets/
Very good. Do you ever use a grinding wheel if it's hand or foot-powered? Is that appropriate for any ax or hatchet blade?
Or even electric-powered. Yes, sometimes you might need to grind your hatchet's bevel(s) if they get out of shape from repeated or incorrect honing.
Is that a newer hatchet? I have never thought of taking a axe to 10,000 now all stopping at a fine oil stone
What is the angle of the bevel, approximately?
Would convexing the edge add longevity?
Should I flatten the crown an inch or two on the "flat side? My flat side has a 1/8th inch bevel.
@18:35 High-speed paring. 😃
If you are right handed is the bevel on the inside or outside or is it beveled on both sides
It's a single-bevel hatchet. In use, the "back" or un-beveled side is against the wood.
Where do you recommend getting such a hatchet?
Ahh, I just finished a blog post about this video, in which I said "I have no idea where to get a hatchet like this today" or words to that effect. Mine is 90 years old, made in Germany. There's lots of others out there that will work, but I gave up trying to keep up with which hatchet is which. The blog post has links to detailed looks at the hatchet pfollansbee.wordpress.com/2021/04/25/sharpening-a-hewing-hatchet/
I made my own from a cheap China made 2 pound axe head following Peters blog about the geometry of his hewing hatchet. It works surprisingly well.
In the UK, I have had success by re-furbishing old axe heads from, for example, Elwell. They are well-made, but not sided for hewing, though I, as a left hander, long since stopped worrying about this. Not common, now, but still available in 'antique' stores. Good luck. If you have to replace the haft, copy the shape Mr Follansbee has here.
Granfor’s from Sweden makes some axes which can work for this. I have one with a slightly open head that works reasonably well.