Jim Koepke
01-22-2009, 2:27 AM
Jim Barret asked about the MK II Power Sharpening System in another thread with a lot of responses. Some favoring the MK II and some not. I did not want to hi jack his thread, so this one was started.
I have and like the MK II Power Sharpening System.
Often a blade just needs a bit of touch up on the fine stones and can be put back to work with out the sacrifice of electrons.
Being a frugal kind of guy, read broke now that I am retired, my way was to learn hand sharpening and not buy the sharpening guides, jigs, fixtures or what have you for sharpening on stones. One reason is my preference to batch sharpen my blades. Why do one when half a dozen could be done with the same set up time? Also, I have multiple blades for my planes so sharpening can be put off for another time when so desired. The thought of having a blade holder made me think of the time it would take to remove blades from the holders and such would be a lot of hassle and would cost the time saved by doing them in batches.
My advice to anyone who buys a system like the MK II Power Sharpening System is to get multiple holders. My experience indicates three is a minimum, but five is better. This is because as one gets going some of the blades do not need as much work as the others. The multiple holders allow a blade to cool a bit while working on other blades.
So, the brilliant flash?
Why not use the holders from the MK II Power Sharpening System to do hand sharpening on stones? Well for one they do not have a wheel on them to roll them back and forth. Gee, this shouldn't be too hard to work out. So, a 3/4 inch dowel was chucked in my lathe. Figured the chuck would center it a bit better than trying to find center and using a spur. The dowel was carefully trued to round and then marked for the places to rest the MK II Power Sharpening System tool holder. These were carefully taken down to be tight in the tool holder guides and then sanded just a little for smoothness.
Amazingly it worked. Pictures are included below.
The first shows the set up. For now, it is done by eye on a flat surface. Have to think about making a set up guide for this. Those who have the MK II Power Sharpening System will notice the blade is in backwards from what would be done when killing electrons. This is to obtain clearance, but it works and allows more length of the stone to be used.
The second shows the shavings from both a #4-1/2 and #5 planes along with the tool holder and the dowel that was cut on the lathe.
Ain't bad for a knuckle dragger eh?
I have and like the MK II Power Sharpening System.
Often a blade just needs a bit of touch up on the fine stones and can be put back to work with out the sacrifice of electrons.
Being a frugal kind of guy, read broke now that I am retired, my way was to learn hand sharpening and not buy the sharpening guides, jigs, fixtures or what have you for sharpening on stones. One reason is my preference to batch sharpen my blades. Why do one when half a dozen could be done with the same set up time? Also, I have multiple blades for my planes so sharpening can be put off for another time when so desired. The thought of having a blade holder made me think of the time it would take to remove blades from the holders and such would be a lot of hassle and would cost the time saved by doing them in batches.
My advice to anyone who buys a system like the MK II Power Sharpening System is to get multiple holders. My experience indicates three is a minimum, but five is better. This is because as one gets going some of the blades do not need as much work as the others. The multiple holders allow a blade to cool a bit while working on other blades.
So, the brilliant flash?
Why not use the holders from the MK II Power Sharpening System to do hand sharpening on stones? Well for one they do not have a wheel on them to roll them back and forth. Gee, this shouldn't be too hard to work out. So, a 3/4 inch dowel was chucked in my lathe. Figured the chuck would center it a bit better than trying to find center and using a spur. The dowel was carefully trued to round and then marked for the places to rest the MK II Power Sharpening System tool holder. These were carefully taken down to be tight in the tool holder guides and then sanded just a little for smoothness.
Amazingly it worked. Pictures are included below.
The first shows the set up. For now, it is done by eye on a flat surface. Have to think about making a set up guide for this. Those who have the MK II Power Sharpening System will notice the blade is in backwards from what would be done when killing electrons. This is to obtain clearance, but it works and allows more length of the stone to be used.
The second shows the shavings from both a #4-1/2 and #5 planes along with the tool holder and the dowel that was cut on the lathe.
Ain't bad for a knuckle dragger eh?