Sharpening

[joe milana]

What's the best way to do bulk grinding on chisels and plane irons? I have medium, fine, and extra fine stones, and a honing guide, but now that I have chipped an edge, I'm not sure what to do.

[Wilbur Pan]

If you have a flat surface, like a granite plate or a thick piece of glass, 80 grit sandpaper attached to the flat surface with some spray adhesive does a great job of getting rid of nicks and chips. Then you can go to your stones.

[joe milana]

If you have a flat surface, like a granite plate or a thick piece of glass, 80 grit sandpaper attached to the flat surface with some spray adhesive does a great job of getting rid of nicks and chips. Then you can go to your stones.

Even if the chip is 1/8" (ouch)!

[Jim Koepke]

Joe,

I will go along with the use of 80 grit to get rid of a chip. In my case though, the paper has a pressure sensitive coating on the back and is bought in rolls. A 4 foot piece of abrasive with a tool holder will do some serious metal removal. I have actually been able to get metal warm with this set up.

On the other hand, if you have a lot of blades to do and want to set up for doing a lot of blades together, my solution was the Veritas Mk II Power Sharpening System and 5 tool holders. That is about how many blades that can be done in a batch. More could actually be done, but the holders are not real cheap. I picked 5 because while one is cooling, more tools can be done. Usually a tool can cool after about 2 others have been worked. The problem is that not all blades the same amount of work. Usually, one or two are done with a particular grit before all the others. Working 3 blades is about the minimum to be able to keep working without having to wait for blades to cool. Once a blade is in the holder, it should stay there until it has gone through all the grits. Once it gets past the coarsest grit, all the others go pretty quick on the power system.

jim

[Russell Sansom]

The best way to take considerable steel off the end of an iron is a wet grinder. Hands down, no contest. Tormek or clone. Even one of those terrible Delta's. Besides that, I'd go with a hand powered grinder ( a la Krenov )

[Larry Williams]

Even if the chip is 1/8" (ouch)!

Get a grinder and learn to grind. It's a pretty critical ability if you intend to work with hand tools. A lot of people spend more on honing guides than I spent for one of the grinders we use in our shop every day. A normal high speed grinder with coarse wheels and a single point wheel dresser combined with some simple grinding techniques will open up a whole world. I'd skip the wet or slow speed grinders, they're just an expensive middle-ground step into being able to easily and quickly maintain your tools.

[joe milana]

Thanks for the replies! Guess I'll start with some 80 grit sand paper. I've looked at the power sharpeners (aka worksharp, etc.) but they all look kind of gimmicky to me.

[george wilson]

Any grinder will do IF you are skillful enough to learn how to not burn the blades. Most of my life I used a craftsman bench grinder. I started using the white stones when they became commonly available. They were a great deal better than the old gray wheels.

I have used a Wilton Square wheel belt grinder more than anything else,in the last 20 years,with the blue zirconia belts. They cut a great deal faster and cooler than any grinding wheel.

Last year I came across a Jet wet wheel grinder,new in the box for $100.00. After finding out WHY they all stop running(cracks in their beer can thickness push-on wire connectors,solder them on!) It is nice to use,and of course, doesn't need constant dipping in water.