Sharpening to 250-grit: Woodworking cutting edges that work | Paul Sellers
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- In this video Paul Sellers shows that you don't need to sharpen to 15,000+ grit on you planes, chisels and other woodworking tools. 250-grit works just fine for most of our woodwork. Paul addresses the myths and misinformation put forward, and challenges what we think about sharpening.
To find out more about Paul Sellers and the work he is involved with visit paulsellers.com
I appreciate that Paul is aware of how many of us software engineers got sick of the computer and decided to pick up woodworking.
Me too. Lolol
I realized how much Paul Sellers I've been watching today. I caught myself supporting my blade with a finger while I was lining up a cut through some sandwich bread. I'm telling you, that toast was dead straight, dead square, and perfect.
Thanks, Paul, for these very interesting and entertaining lessons!
Why is it the first thing I thought was "getting jelly off a saw must be a nightmare" after reading this?
What grit did u sharpen the knife to tho?
"That's great!"
I know the feeling! I OCD-like cut my sandwich so delicately so the bread and contents do not get squashed at all! Needs a very sharp knife and a couple of minutes, but it looks great 🤪
OMG this comment! :D
This guy is so awesome. I'm just now getting into woodworking and stumbled upon his channel a year or so ago. I can't even imagine how much money I would have had to spend on trial and error learning with no mentor or expert guidance at all. His videos alone are worth every second I've spent watching them over and over, slowly soaking up as much as I can. A couple weeks ago, I bought my first hand plane from some guy off Ebay, and everything was good with it (not that I guess I'd really know). As I took it outside to my very primitive workbench, my wife asked me, "What's that? Why are you in such a hurry?" I swear she must have thought I had been transformed into a third-grader who had just gotten to go play outside with my new toys from Christmas morning. I could practically hear Mr. Sellers' voice as I took a few test shavings on a board I had ready. Sniiiiiiiiiiiiick. Sniiiiiiiiiiiiick. Sniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick. It was such an incredibly empowering feeling-yet, I had really done nothing but test it out. I have an 8-month old baby boy now, and I CANNOT WAIT to show him everything I've learned, once he's old enough. I have this man and his videos to thank, almost exclusively. Please keep them coming. Thank you very much.
Jason Grady I just made a new handle for my tenon saw. I brought the handle inside and gave it to my 1 year old and he looked at it and said"ooooooooooooh" what joy that brings.
Jason Grady sir, im glad you learned that sooner. because i am in that phase right now, except with more regrets.
im just happy i found out about this channel before i went ahead to buy expensive stones, mortise chisels, different saws, etc.... ive already spent too much.....
seems like to start, you need few good clamps, a 4 or 5 plane with two blades (scrub/smoothing), a couple of nice chisel, one cheap chisel for mortise work, a couple of saw horses, a panel saw and a small backsaw, and 250-400 grit/1200-1500 grit stones/strop set.
with these, you can make just about any small household wood items.
Yeah, I'd say that sounds about right. That would be a nice collection to get going for a while.
I agree with everything that is said here what a magnificent teacher I am also new to this channel and have subscribe just getting my tools together also real small shop trying to organizeThank you Paul
You have to watch it. Planes can be addictive. And getting the best out of them is even more addictive. So are old saws. But then so can be sharpening any tool from a saw to a kitchen knife.
"Not doing any more software engineering" .... oh man that hit home. Software dev here.... I'm quickly picking up handtool-focused woodworking because of your videos, Paul. Thank you and your team for all your hard work making these, and your passion for craftsmanship.
Me too. On the weekends I go to the shop to stop “software engineering”. Lolol
@@lincolndickerson1293
Paul Sellers, on the other hand, on weekends does some hobby software engineering to relax.
Same here
So you're saying that 8000 grit finish I put on my lawn mower blade was not needed.
hillclimber65, define needed. Im japanese-french carpenter worker(i make them not my nationality :v) im i use 12000 grit
If you want a sharp tool that work and make great jobs, with 2400, 1500, 1200 or 1000 is great.
But if you want to sense the smoother finish and make an polish the wood for a great french polish or relative shiny finish 30000, 12000, 8000 or 5000 are for you. Everything is relative of what you want(it doesnt mean that you can get those conditions with 2400, but will be greater with 12000)
Andrei Charpentier Quesada
You do know that hillclimber65 was kidding, right?
lol
Andrei Charpentier Quesada
*Woosh*
Needed? No. But shiny!
This reminds me of an article I was reading where the author was recommending the minimum tool kit needed to do general hand woodworking. When it came to sharpening equipment, he listed about $400 worth of Japanese water stones and diamond truing plates, jigs etc. In reality, one could have a rather nice kit of tools for less than that. I have always found the combination india stone and a piece of leather to do everything I needed. People like this do a great disservice to the beginner.
This is where Paul really shines. He can, and will, show you how to do good work for very little cash outlay.
High grit stone just makes the surface very smooth not necessarily sharper. What really makes a plane do a fantastic finish is the angle of the blade and a good sharpe tip.
Paul always takes the mystery out of the magical "knowledge"of woodworking; that's why he's the best teacher around.
That's really it, definitely. He turns it all into "duh" common sense - you wonder why you didn't already know it when he's through explaining it. Truly an artist and a craftsman, and a great educator / mentor.
I was feeling overwhelmed by the mere though of having to get all that stones, diamond plates, fluids and apparel to get razor sharp edges on my plane and chisels to bring the most out of my (mostly) pine wood. Since I don't have that much money, I started using my plane as it came from the factory, and it does quite a wood planning job. This video comes to confirm that it may be a question of perception. Thanks Paul.
Most woodworking "information" is just sales. Rob Cosman, I'm looking at you... though it's nearly everybody on UA-cam today, and don't get me started on the magazines. My first craft was music, and the same story over there. Thank you Paul for respecting the craft enough to prioritize it over making a buck.
Backsaw robcosman and thei r nice workbench !
If you go to some woodcraft stores and get familiar with the staff they will help you get what ever you need done over making a buck thate why I usually go there for my wood working tools
Yes I like the knowledge that Rob Cosman and others like him have but can hardly watch their videos because of the never ending self promoting sales pitches and most times never make it to the end of their videos. It has turned me off so much that I will not buy anything from them even if it is the only place I could get that particular tool.
like you Paul i'm a joiner, i served my time with great old tradesmen, shipyard men and men who could turn there hands to most things.
we make case and sash windows, doors, ejmas, cabinets, really anything to turn a buck. no one i know, that makes a living from wood, ponces about "super sharpening" a plane. thanks for the great vids.
FINALLY! Thank you, Mr. Sellers. I've wondered for years what I was missing in the world of sharpness. I've always gotten fine results from ordinary soft Arkansas stones. I've sharpened to 12000 on water stones and just didn't see an appreciable difference, other than the time spent getting them to mirror polish. I feel the same way about getting plane soles "perfectly flat" and other minutia that wasn't even heard of 20 or so years ago. I understand the pursuit of perfection, but you don't need electron microscopic perfection to work with wood. A LOT of damn fine joinery was performed for centuries before this kind of accuracy was ever conceived. You sir, are just what woodworking needs today. No one will ever know or care what grit was used to sharpen the tools that shaped the wood. Only that the finished piece is functional, durable, and beautiful.
Anyone else feel like they have been sold a bill of goods all along?
Thank you Paul Sellers for the simple clarity that you bring to this wonderful craft.
I agree with so many of these comments. My dad died a few years ago aged 85, and these videos and Paul really remind me of him. He was a joiner who was a genuine craftsman and a perfectionist. He spent most of his working life making sash and case windows and was famed for their precision and beauty. He used to say "engineers work to a thousandth of an inch. Not me, I like to be spot on"
Thank you so much for this particular video.... I'm from India and we still use the same 2 sided whet stones for all the edged tools that you referred to in the video. I was thinking of investing in a set of sharpening stones, but with the assurance of this video along with the glass and sandpaper trick, I think I have saved up on some money for some other tools. Thank you once again.
You, Sir, are the Sachin Tendulkar of woodworking :)
"If you are a software engineer, and you feel like going away from a computer for a while" haha subbed.
I agree with Jason Grady below. I lost my father when I was 29 years old and he was 53. My dad was an outstanding woodworker and my appreciation for the art was just at its beginning. So I really embrace the excellent advice and tutorials from Paul. I'm 60 now yet Paul Sellers makes me feel like I'm a youngster again, well, a lot less experienced than I thought that I was! Thanks, Paul. You are a hero to so many of us.
He is so right. For everyday stuff I just sharpen to 400 on the Norton stone and strop. Then I make things.
When I started I was so lost in all this sharpening mojo all over the Internet that I gave up for while. I appreciate his practical approach to woodworking, and his ability to teach.
Paul Sellers always makes woodworking easy...thank you Paul...you're the best teacher.
Paul just keeps it real and simple down to earth .
It takes a real expert to be this pragmatic. Thanks Paul - excellent advice.
Now and again there comes some-one who really understands the needs of those who are struggling with modern technology and who is able to practically solve these problems simply in a language that we can all understand. It all makes sense what he says and once explained his way, then every thing else becomes nonsensical. Thanks Paul what you have shared is so important more so in this day and age than ever before.
Thanks for always bringing a voice of reason to woodworking with evidence, Paul! As a beginner, I get caught up in all the particulars of fine grits and perfectly flat backs and such a lot.
I am delighted to see this statement as to grit sizes. Well done. In full disclosure I was a district sales supervisor for the Norton company many years ago. My go to stones are all old oil stones. As a professional boat builder I can attest to the fact that a hidden wood screw will nick a 4000 grit sharpened blade as fast as a 250 grit blade.
l have found all your videos on chisel shapen ing and plane sharpening so useful. Used to fuss over micro bevels and fine grit stones but now I find with your suggested techniques I am getting far superior and longer lasting results...thanks a million.
Thanks Mr Sellers. You just saved me some money. I have been sharpening things for decades and never went beyond about 2500. But in every endeavor there's the bloke (and it's always a man) for whom nothing is ever good enough. And he will also claim that he gets vastly superior results doing what he does. Now, I don't mind people doing that. It's their business. What I don't like is them telling people that all their problems can be solved by 1) buying the best equipment or 2) taking hours tuning things to the Nth degree. Now I know Rob Cosman has done a lot on this and I'm not criticising him for a minute. Clearly there are some advantages, like slightly less effort. And his videos show that he doesn't spend a huge amount of time on sharpening anyway. But in the end it comes down to cost/benefit and people should not be intimidated into either shelling out more than they can afford or simply giving up.
Just started woodworking, I have been watching your videos on planes. Purchased some planes at an antique show, and restored and sharpened them with your guidance. They work great! Thanks for your video instruction.
I love this guy. It has been my unspoken but deeply felt opinion for years that Nazi Sharpeners have taken over the woodworking world, foisting a ridiculous obsession with hyper-sharp blades on us mere mortals. I have, through MUCH personal experience, conclusively and completely proven to myself that ANY sharpening beyond, say, 400 grit max is a lesson in vanity and vexation. It JUST DOESN´T MATTER.
So glad that Paul Sellers doesn´t buy into any of this nonsense of uber-sharpening. Frankly, I think a lot of people go nuts on sharpening as a way of compensating for poor workmanship. They make nothing really useful, but, by God, their chisels and planes are bright and shiny and honed out to 20,000. Congratulations. Enjoy your razor edge that lasts about four swipes on white pine before getting dull.
Thank you Paul for removing the confusion. I have watched a lot of videos on sharpening and none of them demonstrated what you just did. It was a thought in the back of my mind when I watched those other videos about sharpening to 6,000 or 16,000 grit or whatever, "What did the old timers and people for the last several centuries do? They certainly did not have the diamond and various fine grit stones we have today." You saved me a good amount of money. Glad I was doing my homework here. Thx again.
Honing to 10K and well above via animal skins (“strops”) both loaded and “clean” as well as a range of stones and compounds and stones have been used by the Japanese and others for Millenia. While they didn’t have the diamond stone and other mass,produced options, blade grinding, shaping/sharpening and honing goes,way back. In addition to making it easier and quicker to get certain types of results, plenty of empirical tests and and other results show that a well homed blade surface stays sharp longer.
For some purposes, 250 or 400 grit is fine- such as for chamfering, and flat sawn wood planing- especially on soft woods like he was illustrating. Certainly, for many types of carpentry, there is no absolute necessity to using well hone blades.
However, if you are dealing with figured woods, worked and exotic finishes such as french polishes, thin coated finishes or for any high chatoyance results, you have two basic options: spend an extra 30 seconds going from about 1,000 to about 10k-16k, or hand sanding to a similar level. Personally, I find it much simpler and I get better results faster with a final 30 second pass on a 16K grit stone. If you have a Work Sharp or another system it’s even easier.
On hard woods like hard maple, mahogany, and others especially as you get above 1,400 Janka, you get the added benefit of a lot less planing effort, fewer blow-outs of end grain and fewer required planing passes by spending the extra 30 seconds with a 12K or above stone, compound or strop.
To compare the difference, you just have to try each-especially with a hard or fine/figured wood. You can easily feel and see the difference between 1,000 and 15,000 blade finishing- let alone 250/400. You should try this test for yourself (or watch one of many available videos that do so), before you accept Mr. Seller’s word as gospel. He is a tremendous resource, and is one of possibly 20 professionals or masters that I have studies and learned from. However, for many who do fine furniture joinery work, you do yourself a disservice by following this advice- especially for hard and/or exotic and figured woods and several types of high end finishes.
Some have argued the same thing with sanding to only 400/500. However, that produces similar results and disadvantages, and while it has its place, that place is NOT in producing high chatoyance, high end results with exotic, figured or hard woods. The one difference though between sanding and planing to high polish levels is that it only takes about 30 seconds longer with the planing option, and you do not have to work up across an extra 4-5 levels of grit to get there thanks to the Charlesworth ruler trick.
Finally, I find that it now takes me almost no time or thought to use honing stone on the bench or a loaded leather disk on on the Work Sharp now. I just do it as a matter of course and the reduced time, effort and risk of blow-outs, coupled with a finish that would required 5 extra sanding steps to get is my reward.
Took over a wood shop at my new job at a middle school teaching technology- computers with CAD and robotics. Found cabinets full of hand tools and they called to me. Watching Mr. Sellers I learned to rehab the irons and get the rust off the soles. It was great to be planing a piece of lumber and feel the grain, reverse direction and produce a silky smooth surface on our CAD designed bird houses. Seeing the kids faces was awesome!!
I m also watchin Mr. Sellers almost every day. And i m waiting for my first Stanley #4 bench plane to come from Ireland in a few days. I have no where to buy it here in Serbia, so friend of mine bringing it to me from IR and i m so looking forward to it. Thank you for amaizing mentoring Mr. Paul! All those videos what you making for us, that is priceless.
Paul Sellers I'd have to say I have a lot of respect for you. I'm new to wood working have done many many projects that required a little of everything, but I've never tried to master any one skill. Wood working has been my choice of what I want to focus deep into. I'd have to say I've hunted around many instructional videos and it seems a lot of blind leading blind or a lot of "elitist" type wood workers, that seem to make the videos more to show off and boast about themselves. Since I've found yours though I'm getting information I feel confident is valid and you're easy to understand. Thank you and soon when my slow down season for work rolls around I will be paying for a membership to your classes. Thank you for sharing your years of experience.
Paul it’s great to see someone using just just hand tools for a change thank you
Tony
Hello, Mr. Sellers;
Yes sir, you are most correct, sir.
I just bought a used Stanley No. 4, & I hadn't used a plane since about 1969 in high school.
Needless to say, I didn't exactly 'master' the plane at that time.
Nevertheless, over the years I learned a sharpening rule; it only needs to be 'sharp enough'
'Sharp enough' will always work & it always saves time, which is usually the most valuable.
Fortunately, I learned to sharpen at an young age, that the angle is most important.
The 'grit' or fineness of the finish is of lesser importance, a consistent angle matters most.
If someone wants to sharpen to very high grits they surely can.
It even has usefulness, particularly when polishing the back of the chisel or iron.
But once that is finished a quick 'touch-up' to 450 on the iron should be all that is needed.
I sharpen other tools besides chisels & irons so I can use my 1,500 or 5,000 grit water stones, or my "Extra Fine" diamond plate.
But for a quick 'touch-up' 400 grit or the 1,000 grit will restore an edge in 5 minutes or less.
Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!
Thank you Paul. I'm a self taught woodworker and I've seen all the videos and for some time now I've been thinking that 15000 grit has more to do with the ego of the presenter than to their woodwork. Thanks again for down to earth common sense.
I'm just starting out in wood working and know pretty much nothing about the craft. I'm waiting for my 1st hand plane to arrive in the mail and was agonizing about how to sharpen it. Thanks for adding some clarity to this sharpening confusion and saving me a lot of money on a diamond stone that would have cost more than the jack plane I just bought. Thank you. I'm so glad I fond your channel.
Very comforting to see how the plane moves, until now I thought I was doing it wrong, but this cleared out the doubts. (Former programmer turned carpentry apprentice...)
Neat video. This is a Refreshing view on a widely debated topic. I basically sharpen plane irons till they have polished edges. But here is an alternative that gives one more time to build. Sounds good to me.
I like what he talks about here. It sounds very reasonable. I do get carried away on sharpening. I think once the plane is setup right and the plane is lapped it should be no problem.
Just wanted to say thank you for the wealth of knowledge you so generously share with everyone. Knowledge that has been lost from generations past as we've moved though this technical, over complicated way of life and speedy mass production mindset. It's a true pleasure to not only watch a true master craftsman but also to be fortunate to have a teacher like yourself who shares his knowledge. I often say we've lost many craftsmen to tradesmen, thank you maintaining the craftsman way and sharing.
No nonsense, real world experience. Good stuff!
I know little about woodworking, but your craftmanship is so evident just by the way you made that chamfer. And indeed what you are saying about sharpening is a bit of an eye opener.
Thank You. It is nice to hear a voice of reason from a professional.
I feel Paul provides the best info I have ever seen . I started with hand tools over 50 years ago and still have most of them and prefer them to power tools . It's an art . All my planes and hand saws and chisels , wish I still had my old brace and bits. I have a smoothing plane handed down a Baily that most be 100 years old and it still works great. Hats off to Paul , great job and advise .
Your word is the gold standard in woodwork...I predict many videos coming out with this exact point soon.
Paul I agree. Keep on making shavings my friend.
So each plane is sharpened to be at that level? 1,500 would then be your finished plane, right?
Chris Pond
Paul is just showing that 250 will work almost as well as the higher grits.
Thank you for the info.
I was already convinced, but when he pointed out that the wood would actually need to be re-roughened after the 15,000 grit planing, that REALLY sealed it for me--the 2nd best part of planing for me is skipping as much sanding as possible!
(The best part is the sound, of course.)
Thanks Paul, your the Uncle we always wanted ,love your videos.
Thank you so much Paul, because of your common-sense videos, I am enjoying handtool woodworking more every day. Without funding to buy expensive, modern day tools, most of my life I have had to find a way to adapt my methods to a more simple style of woodworking. Nothing more rewarding I'm finding.
Geeez, you Master Sellers have so much skill and so many similar planes.
Paul, You are something spacial.
Thanks for sharing all of your knowlage with us. your videos are priceless.
Paul the mythbuster. Keep it up.
Thank you! I am new to "real" wood working. I recently got my first plane, and of course I took the time to sharpen it to a mirror edge going down to 2000 grit before finishing on a few strops. Total PITA, and after a few uses, I was about to take it apart and repolish it.
Now I might go a different direction
Thank you Mr Sellers I have a double sided oil stone and wondered if I needed to go to diamond plate for sharpening as you used Norton for two decades it will do for me.as I recently returned to woodworking.i like the way you never insist on spending a lot of money it’s all about skill
Loved it! Sharpening is the hardest thing to learn about woodworking. Great demo, many thanks! Subscribed.
As always, a wonderful and informative video. It is so nice to see someone cut through all the confusion and give a real world answer.
I just appreciate your no nonsense approach. Much of the finer grit conundrum is marketing. Although it is fun to achieve, 1200 is sufficient. Geometry and proper technique are far more important
Hi Paul - I'm a big fan and I love your common-sense approach. Time is money - I ran finished carpentry crews for years - to site-build cabinets and built-ins etc I taught my crews how to sharpen their chisels and plane irons with sandpaper/files - and we never went beyond maybe 320-400-ish grit. For rough carpentry - more often than not things are sharpened with a file. Now all that said - now I'm building/repairing musical instruments and I do like a finer edge on the tools. Still - going much beyond 1500 grit is a waste of time IMO. That leaves a mirror edge - good enough.
I’m just recently finding your tutorials and it’s inspirational to me I’m starting my own small projects to get myself into woodworking, I use straight razors to shave my face so I have all I need to sharpen my tools I found this out recently by mistake just trying out my plane at different grit levels, I have one sharpened to 500 and one at 15k and I’m happy with that, thank you for your inspirational love of this work, I’m 52 years old and getting into something I never knew I’d like so much.
Thank you so much for making this video. I've spent years as a sharpener of blades and some of the kit they expect people to buy is just mad.
"confusing mass of information" sums up the world right now
Regan Inglis oh, I so agree. Our access to information is wonderful but yeh, talk about different opinions and confusion!
... and that was in 2013. Its 2020 now, and UA-cam has ruined information. It's a matter of who's feed you are buying into.
Still accurate.
20/21 hindsight says you were spot on
@@SolveEtCoagula93 More access to so much great content but also so much crap ... hard to navigate for sure
Paul I really appreciate your practical experience based common sense. As a noob to bladed hand tools I was very confused by all the information out there about sharpening. Thank you very much sir
Woodworkers today are being constantly bombarded with sharpening products to take edges to the nth degree of sharpness. I agree that this is not necessary for most work and I am glad you have busted that myth. This should put the minds of novice woodworkers and the rest of us more at ease without such high thresholds to cross for those who want to enjoy hand tool work.
Cracking Video Paul as always as already said some common sense at last I'm a professional wood worker and I have to agree sharpening is taking away from making time we however have to do it I've tried many ways over the years and now I do like to strop an edge but would never spend hours and hours taking out all the scratches from the previous stone right up to 15000 grit unless it's a very fine carving tool for a specific purpose.
Thank you for such practical advice!
Paul, thanks for the insight. I'm a big fan of using a sharpening method that works for you. I hardly ever sharpen my chisels and planes to anything higher than 400 grit. I use wet/dry sandpaper most of the time and it works great for me.
Thank you Paul, I really needed to hear this, I was going crazy with all those sharpening gurus and their 100k grit stones.
You are one amazing teacher
Thank you Mr. Sellers.
I really didn't expect the 250 to be up to the task; it was a pleasant surprise watching this video. Thanks Paul.
An india stone and a strop were the tools of choice for a oboist I knew in the 70's. If it is sharp enough for an oboist, it is sharp enough.
You made some very sensible points, thanks!
Great and easy to listen to video Paul.
Common sense and decades of real experience.
I can almost smell your workshop !...lol
thanks.
Paul, it's refreshing to see common sense prevail. We seem to agonize over sharpness to the point we've become obsessive. Great video
Thanks Paul.Wery helpful.I used to think that I need a biger grid,as biger as possible....Tnx again
I really can't wait to get your new book
BRAVO !!!
This has been frustrating me lately as well.
Especially all the constant flattening being done. For Centuries, Whole civilizations were built with simple tools simply sharpened.
We keep expanding the number and types of sharpening stones and WHY ???
For a glue joint, 250-400 would be just fine.
Maybe for a final smoothing of table tops and case piece fronts we may need a little finer polish.
THANK YOU PAUL !!!
Thank you for simplifying all this sharpening technique. And keeping it very real for us mere mortals.
Thank you Paul. This was a very timely discovery for me. I'm just getting back into carving after a long gap, and was preparing by sharpening everything with an edge. This led to me discovering the amazing no of options available today and their even more amazing prices. I've been struggling to remember that I used to be quite happy with oilstones and slips to 400 grit and burnishing the edges with scraps of hardwood. I'm now planning to investigate strops a bit more! Having said that, I was given a 4000 grit multiform slip and it looks as though it will be worthwhile on spoon gouges where I've always had difficulty with the inside face, because I can work the edge until the burr is so fine that I can flick it off with a fingertip leaving a pretty decent edge behind - HTH someone!
Ben Orford suggests an inexpensive way of keeping the tools he makes and sharpens sharp: 600 grit wet & dry stuck to flat piece of wood (a "sharpening stick"), when it wears it becomes more like 1200 grit and so can be used for a finer finish. I often use these, versatile, but I've tried and used many approaches: yours sounds as good as any and better than most ;) I usually finish with a leather, suede or MDF strop, bare originally but these days usually with green or white compound or Autosol metal polish on the leather. Bare leather works just fine tho'. The more I learn and the more experienced I get, the less I need it seems, sigh.
We've been led by the nose by those companies who've convinced us to part with our money in hopes that we could produce equivalently beautiful pieces if only we had the most advanced systems of tools, sharpening methods, etc. while forgetting the means and methods of those magnificent craftsmen of the 18th century. They achieved so much more than we could ever hope to... And we've been led to believe that such might be our lot if only we purchased the latest, greatest gadgets. Learn the basics and learn to use what you have, craftsmanship isn't purchased with money... It's achieved by knowledge, practice and dedication. Thanks Paul.
I use valve grinding compound to flatten old planes and the backs of chisels and plane blades, a hand cranked grinder to put a hollow grind on the blades, a couple of Norton stones to knock off the wire edge and a piece of leather from an old belt to add the final polish. It's always worked for me.
Thanks Paul, very informative as ever, a good solid sensible approach to day to day woodwork, I was considering spending ££ on expensive stones or diamond plates ... now probably not, ! For what I need a 250 or maybe 400 in the plane iron will be just fine 🙂
"You're not doing software engineering this Saturday"...omg he was talking directly to me. I CAN'T BREATHE!!!!
He guessed me too! I was shocked and stopped the video. I felt he sees me.
@@AndreiIR000 same
Me too! That was insane. Although I thought he was taking the piss!
Thank you. This is very liberating!
Brilliant as usual. Thanks for posting Paul.
Thanks Paul for sharing all your knowledge, I'm trying to learn woodwork & you're my guide. David UK
Thank you, Paul
This is fascinating. I can also see where, if you're making violins or cutting very thin veneers with a plane, you would want something finer, but for most of us, 250 is adequate. This is great information to know. Thanks again for a great video.
Hey I'm a software engineer. :) Great video, many thanks.
I use to sharpen my tools a double side sharpening stone: one side on 100 grit and the other 400 or something like that. Its works well for me. Thank you very much for your videos.
Paul I think you said it all when you said Its the end product and not the shavings on the floor its nice to be able hold up a paper thin shaving and but what happens next? it gets dropped on the floor and the object of using a plane is barely noted. I am completely new to planes but I have found that sharping to 2500 grit wet or dry on a flat stone gives me a finish ready surface on hard Maple and as you said it can be to smooth in some cases, and the wet or dry is cheap and affordable. Thanks for sharing your years of expertises
I use water papers from 400 to 2500 (600,800,1000,1200,1500,2000) as it was shown in one of your clips Paul. I am very glad.
As always you speak a lot of sense Paul.
What Paul is getting at here is the same thing I ran into in wood turning. You can actually get your tools too sharp. There comes a point where the edge is so fine, it doesn't stay sharp for very long. People spend thousands on special sharpening wet grinders and all that fancy stuff and they are only wasting their money. We are cutting wood, not silk sheets. People get to caught up up in the details and forget what they are doing. Do you spend 2 hours in your kitchen before you make dinner and sharpen your kitchen knife only to use it once and then re sharpen it again and go through the whole process again? No, that's ridiculous. Lern how to sharpen your plane and forget about it. Great video Paul! Keep up the great work!
This is a modern view. A person who was finishing straight off of the turning tool (as in no sanding) would not agree with that. Until the last century, turning was done with tools sharpened similarly to chisels and planes because the expectation was that you would finish off of the tool, and often without a lathe that would provide much speed. The idea of scraping or coarse cutting is a modern thing.
I agree on the wet grinders, and stuff. A good final edge on a turning tool should be put on by hand, and quickly.
I went through college 12 years ago with an inda norton double sided stone which I still use when today when I'm on site and I made plenty of shavings in both hard and soft woods. I have diamond sharpening system in my workshop and the extra fine is 1200 and when used correctly they get everything scary sharp
lol @ "you're not doing software engineering anymore this Saturday". Thanks for the video Paul and saving us our valuable time and money! Keep up the good work!
Software engineering? Man I binge watch your channel on a Saturday
this is what I wanted to hear as a beginner
THIS is what I like most about Paul Sellers.
BE WARE THE TOOL-SNOBS!!!
I've always been able to get a hold of a plain-jane Arkansas stone... AND any of a thousand "no-name" cheapo's that do about the same job. It's got a coarse side, and a fine side... and that's it. Those kinds of stones sharpen just about everything.
I have stops... AND yes, I do use them. Not as a matter of laborious efforts to grind away and refine some edge to laser friggin' perfection... but to polish exposed metal a bit and CLEAN it up.
I never bought a stone with the grit numbers still intact. It's expensive and pointless... If I had to guess, I'd estimate the one on my shelf now tops out around a thousand.
What's the point of polishing the edge?
There's no mystery to sharpening. You're grinding metal off the blade. That's it... AND when you do that, you shred up the surface and leave shards sticking out like the splinters that turn a board "fuzzy" if you plane it the wrong direction... SO when you put that blade to work, digging into wood-fibers and rending them apart... there's friction.
Steel (even hardened) is still malleable... meaning that it "mushes" out of the way as force is put against it. Hardened steel just does it very slowly... So while that friction presses against your blade, it's GOING to dull as the metal at the edge "mushes" into a mushroom shape and curls over...
IF you leave a bunch of shards and splinters sticking up everywhere... or grooves and gouges in all directions from the sharpening, it's just going to "mush" a little faster. The friction is going to be a little higher... and it's not going to last as long.
A few seconds (think about twenty or thirty strokes on a leather strop for the bevel) to clean and shine that surface a bit isn't a huge inconvenience. AND it nets a fair gain for use before I have to go back and sharpen the thing again.
That's my preference, and it's not at some ridiculous cost of a series of stones and grits or jars of expensive crap...
My leather strop is just that... A strip of leather, and some "black aggressive" rubbing compound for about 3 bucks at harbor freight...
I've check out some tubs of other compounds, including tubes of "Valve grinding compound" from the auto-parts store... and they all work about as well... so get what you like, smear it on there... and go with it.
A 25 degree angle is going to be a 25 degree angle. The only thing you do with a thousand steps and stones is grind off more metal.
That guy who's telling you all these fancy-ass products will make your life better is a SALESMAN, no different from the smiling jack-ass who told you that YOU need a Maserati two-seater because chicks dig it, when you're the soccer-mom of a half-dozen kids trying to beat the rush for after-school practices and getting groceries in the same night...
Think carefully about that. I'll be happy to say, yes, a bit of polish has its merits... BUT it's certainly no necessity. It's too easy to tie up a LOT of money in equipment when you want to make stuff, save yourself money and frustrations, or even try MAKING a profit instead. ;o)
2:54 "I could have planed this whole tool chest at 250 grit and it would have been just fine... so, why did I go with a f... ah, ah, a finer grit, well..."
For a second there I really thought that you were going somewhere else with that "f" word.
I got a good laugh out of imagining it being delivered the other way. Another great video!
Thank you for the comparison. Instinctively this is what I felt. I am too lazy to to do anything that will slow me down to getting to the project. I didn't want to go to the higher grits as the plane seemed to be doing the job with the "coarser grits". This is a scientific approach.
Thanks Paul. I always found that for me a slightly "grittier" edge cut better for me. I find it difficult to sharpen on fine stones. Over time, I eventually roll or bend the edge from pressing too hard..
Cip Mendez
Good points. I think it might have been good to mention about what you'd need for hardwoods though or ones that don't have such clean grain.
Paul, I very much enjoy and appreciate you videos. I think about this one, that you have to define what is "250"? American grit is not quite the same as Japanese.
also the stone type, a 250 grit oil stone can deliver an edge many many times finer that 250 grit implies because of the way the stone works. you will not be able to do that with a 250 grit water stone as the scratches are so deep you literally get a toothed blade.
I agree with the concept, the edge off many 1000grit water stones is quite useable for many uses, but less so for exotic woods, when I started out I was unable to plane rosewood with the same edge I used for beech, and couldn't plane it until I got better at sharpening.