Tool sharpening for a novice, HELP!

[Dale Morris]

Hi guys,

I am a novice woodworker and have lots of power tools but need handtools as well, others on this site have given me suggestions on what to get but they have told me to learn how to sharpen first. I have an old Atlas vertical grinder with a horizontal honing slow turning wheel. I bought it used and did not know if it had been used with water or oil so I have been using oil with it. It has no rest so I have been just trying to match the angle of the chisel that I'm sharpening. I am not sure what angles different chisels should be sharpened at. Are you supposed to hone the back side of the chisel a little to make sure it is flat after sharpening. How do you hold angle consistenly so your bleade is square? Should I buy a hand stone and try it by hand, if so What kind of stone. You can see I don't know much but I'm willing to listen and learn and want to thank everyone in advance for taking your time to help me.


Dale:)

[Robert Rozaieski]

This is the best how-to article I know of on honing.
http://www.antiquetools.com/sharp/

In short, your grinder alone is likely not enough. The grinder will help you to establish the bevel angle but you need a method to polish the edge after grinding it. Oil stones, water stones, scary sharp or otherwise, the choice is yours but pick one method, stick with it and learn how to do it well. A dull hand tool is a dangerous hand tool ;).

For bevel angle I use 30 degrees on everything (except mortise chisels) to keep it simple and to avoid having to constantly change my grinder's tool rest angle. It's what works for me.

[Alan DuBoff]

Dale,

As I had mentioned in the other thread, I believe sharpening is the single most important skill to have when using hand tools. Your tools are only as good as they are sharp. More so, a tool that is not sharp can be a dangerous tool in many cases, be warned.

The first thing I would look into would be scary sharp. This method uses sand paper attached to a flat plate/surface to act like a stone. It is inexpensive and easy to do. Here's one tutorial I just found (http://www.woodshopdemos.com/sss-2.htm).

Here's a decent overview of a few styles of sharpening, scary sharp is included, this is on the FWW (Tauton) website (http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp).

Here's another all purpose that is pretty good from WoodCentral (http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/readarticle.pl?dir=shop&file=articles_244.shtml).

Also, oil stones work well and are simple to use, I have a couple of those that I use. Most machinists use oil stones for their lathe tools. More often woodworkers tend to use water stones, but not always.

I would recommend a simple, inexpensive jig to assist, like this one (http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?grp=1310). That is what I use myself. You can use it on stones, or with scary sharp, works great and easy to use.

I'm not familiar with your Atlas grinder, a pic would help a lot. Typically those would use water, but it might be an oil wheel, that I don't know. In general a grinder of some type is needed/desirable to get the edge in shape, but being able to sharpen by hand on a stone/paper will go a long way to saving time while your working.

I would get like a 1000 grit and an 8000 grit water stone, should you decide to go that route, but first try the scary sharp as it is inexpensive to start out, and you can use it anywhere you go, you only need a couple different pieces of aluminum oxide paper. Don't tell anyone I told you this, but in a pinch, any paper will work! ;)

There is plenty of information available online, but there are several good books if you feel the need, Leonard Lee (Rob's dad!;-) wrote a book on sharpening that is popular, or Ian Kirby has one that is pretty good.

In general I would recommend sticking with the online stuff first, as there is plenty available on the subject.

[Dale Morris]

Thanks Alan, I just ordered the Rocker plate glass sys. and read all your links, they were great I think the "scary sharp method makes total sense to me. I'll let you know how I progress.

[Jim Koepke]

With scary sharp, be sure the abrasive sheet is held down securely with some adhesive.

One problem people have reported is the paper lifts right in front of the blade causing a round over.

This is also something to be careful of if trying to clean up the bottom of a plane.

jim

[John Dykes]

You'll have a wide range of responses I'm sure - all of them right. It's important to find a method that works for you - well understood, provides results, and easily repeatable.

I started with the Scary Sharp method - but quickly tired of the consumables, and clogging of the paper. I'd readily admit that maybe I was doing it wrong. However, the frustration led me to the David Charlesworth DVD series and waterstones. I've never looked back! I'm one of the ones who really enjoys the sharpening process (now!)...

[Zahid Naqvi]

Like John, I too started with ScarySharp and eventually shifted to waterstones. I think in the beginning it is important to do some reading to understand the basics. Alan and Robert have provided some good advice as well as links. Once you under stand the basic process you can use any system and over time will develop your own preferred technique.

So for now find an old blade you are not afraid to mess up and experiment with it to get a feel for the ScarSharp process.

[Tom Henderson2]

So for now find an old blade you are not afraid to mess up and experiment with it to get a feel for the ScarSharp process.

I would suggest buying a cheap Buck Bros blade from HD and learn using that. It will be reasonably flat.

I started with an old blade, and it drove me nuts; the back was badly bellied and I shapened forever trying to get it flat.

Start with something that isn't too far out... to learn the process.

-TH