I have spent the last year or so trying to learn to sharpen chisels using a variety of techniques including wet and dry paper, oil stones and diamond stones with and without guides. The results have been so-so and I have always approached the task with trepidation. On your recommendation I bought a Norton India stone and already had some metal polish. I used your technique and it has been a game-changer for me. After minimal practice I now know I can renew the edge on my chisels within a minute or so freehand which has given me a lot of confidence. I have no idea whether my chisels are as sharp as yours and I don’t care since they seem plenty sharp enough for me. I think when you upload content to your channel you can’t be sure it will make a difference so I want you to know that it has made a huge difference to me and that I am very grateful. I look forward to more content especially using a grinder as it may even persuade me to buy one.
Thanks Eddie, it's great to hear things have been improving. It's very encouraging to have positive feedback, thank you for taking the time. The video I've done on preparing used No.4 planes actually highlighted how useful a tile, some abrasive and a honing guide can be until a grinder is purchased.
Thanks. I"ve been using a guide for years with good results. I do want to transition to free hand mostly because it will be a little quicker. I finally realized what it will take me. I will feel much more comfortable if I get a grinder. Currrently I don't have a grinder. This has been annoying. If I have a grinder, I can more easily fix a mistake. A few times, I screwed up and rather than set the chisel for a 30 degree bevel, I did 35 degress. I didn't panic and just wait till it was the next time I needed to sharpen to get it back to where I wanted it. It took a long time to get back to 30 degrees. With a grinder (and likely one of those blue Norton stones on it) I remove that potential issue and I will be much more relaxed about the whole matter. Not sure if this sounds sill or not but that's been my hang up.
I find the most difficult is the really small chisels, like 3 mm or 1/8” . To do these I do a just a short time then look at the scratch pattern ( from the stone). The shiny bit is very noticeable once I strop the secondary bevel, because it is a mirror finish, where as the stone is a bit less reflective. I do strop more often than fully sharpen though, maybe five or ten times before I oil stone sharpen. A little and often type of thing, which I find better.
Interesting comment about the diamond stones and lapping plate. I use the CBN wheels on all of my wood lathe tools. When brand new, they are very aggressive. Depending on how often you use them, they get better after a few weeks or months. I did get some diamond lapping plates, and think it is the same with them. Of course, which grits you use can make a difference. One school of thought says you want stones up to 15000 grit. I always think of the oil stones as being pretty coarse, which to me is in the 80 grit range. What grit is your oil stone? It appears to remove metal pretty fast. For most of my lathe tools I use a 180 grit wheel, but if the wood is kind of punky, meaning almost too rotten to use, a 600 grit wheel can make a big difference. Only one we strop is the skew chisel...
I think the "fine" India is around 400 to 600, not sure what the autosol is. The India does calm down with use, I have an old one that seems much slower. I know my vintage Washita is finer but it's hard to grade a natural stone, I just know it's nice! I just use a 36grit grey wheel on a bench grinder at home for forming a bevel and a Tormek at work. I think the trouble was for me that anything new felt different but with no benefit to my work. I haven't turned to any standard yet, I have some old cast steel gouges and skews that have been in the family. I was planning to finish the edges of those on an oilstone after a grind. I have a lot to learn in that area!
15,000 grit is a bit excessive. I use a 1,000 grit diamond plate then polish on some ceramic hones. I'm not sure what grit they are but I don't think they're 15,000. They make a nice bright polish though. Then stropping is pretty fine.
I have spent the last year or so trying to learn to sharpen chisels using a variety of techniques including wet and dry paper, oil stones and diamond stones with and without guides. The results have been so-so and I have always approached the task with trepidation. On your recommendation I bought a Norton India stone and already had some metal polish. I used your technique and it has been a game-changer for me. After minimal practice I now know I can renew the edge on my chisels within a minute or so freehand which has given me a lot of confidence. I have no idea whether my chisels are as sharp as yours and I don’t care since they seem plenty sharp enough for me. I think when you upload content to your channel you can’t be sure it will make a difference so I want you to know that it has made a huge difference to me and that I am very grateful. I look forward to more content especially using a grinder as it may even persuade me to buy one.
Thanks Eddie, it's great to hear things have been improving. It's very encouraging to have positive feedback, thank you for taking the time.
The video I've done on preparing used No.4 planes actually highlighted how useful a tile, some abrasive and a honing guide can be until a grinder is purchased.
Thanks. I"ve been using a guide for years with good results. I do want to transition to free hand mostly because it will be a little quicker. I finally realized what it will take me. I will feel much more comfortable if I get a grinder. Currrently I don't have a grinder. This has been annoying. If I have a grinder, I can more easily fix a mistake. A few times, I screwed up and rather than set the chisel for a 30 degree bevel, I did 35 degress. I didn't panic and just wait till it was the next time I needed to sharpen to get it back to where I wanted it. It took a long time to get back to 30 degrees. With a grinder (and likely one of those blue Norton stones on it) I remove that potential issue and I will be much more relaxed about the whole matter. Not sure if this sounds sill or not but that's been my hang up.
Hi Joe. Sounds like you're close to getting exactly what you want. I'll cover the grinder options soon. Thanks for the comment 👍
have you done a how to sharpen a mortise chisel?
Hi James, thanks for asking. I've not covered that yet but I'd be happy to do so.
@@faceedgewoodworking that would be gtreat as I have two of my father in laws to do
I find the most difficult is the really small chisels, like 3 mm or 1/8” . To do these I do a just a short time then look at the scratch pattern ( from the stone). The shiny bit is very noticeable once I strop the secondary bevel, because it is a mirror finish, where as the stone is a bit less reflective. I do strop more often than fully sharpen though, maybe five or ten times before I oil stone sharpen. A little and often type of thing, which I find better.
Yeah, the 1/8th takes a little bit of care. Your technique sounds perfect, the edge is good and you get to work. Thanks for sharing your experience 👌
Interesting comment about the diamond stones and lapping plate. I use the CBN wheels on all of my wood lathe tools. When brand new, they are very aggressive. Depending on how often you use them, they get better after a few weeks or months. I did get some diamond lapping plates, and think it is the same with them. Of course, which grits you use can make a difference. One school of thought says you want stones up to 15000 grit. I always think of the oil stones as being pretty coarse, which to me is in the 80 grit range. What grit is your oil stone? It appears to remove metal pretty fast. For most of my lathe tools I use a 180 grit wheel, but if the wood is kind of punky, meaning almost too rotten to use, a 600 grit wheel can make a big difference. Only one we strop is the skew chisel...
I think the "fine" India is around 400 to 600, not sure what the autosol is. The India does calm down with use, I have an old one that seems much slower.
I know my vintage Washita is finer but it's hard to grade a natural stone, I just know it's nice!
I just use a 36grit grey wheel on a bench grinder at home for forming a bevel and a Tormek at work.
I think the trouble was for me that anything new felt different but with no benefit to my work.
I haven't turned to any standard yet, I have some old cast steel gouges and skews that have been in the family. I was planning to finish the edges of those on an oilstone after a grind. I have a lot to learn in that area!
15,000 grit is a bit excessive. I use a 1,000 grit diamond plate then polish on some ceramic hones. I'm not sure what grit they are but I don't think they're 15,000. They make a nice bright polish though. Then stropping is pretty fine.