Sharpening table finished ... finally

[Larry Fox]

I have been wanting to build one of these for a while and was inspired when I saw the table on the LN site. Was not inspired by the price though so decided to build my own. Materials are really just a bunch of off-cuts that I had lying around and could not bring myself to throw into the fireplace. Body is cherry and the top is jatoba. Nothing earth shattering but it should do the trick. One thing about using water stones that really bugs me is the mess so I drilled holes in the top with the idea being that I can run a squeegy over the top when done and the water will run through the holes into a pan which I will have sitting on the stretchers and I can either empty it or let evaporation do its thing. I like a low sharpening table as I think it gives me better control for freehand sharpening which explains the height.

Anyway, this is it - thanks for looking and I welcome any comments / critiques.

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[David Weaver]

Time will tell as you use it whether or not it's heavy enough. It depends on what sharpening you do and how. There are times when I'm flattening the back of something where I'd need that table to be held down because of stiction. If you're ruler tricking all kinds of stuff and using a light touch, it won't be necessary for that.

It should work out well for you, regardless. the most important thing is to have a place that you can sharpen without worrying about whether or not there's a mess. As soon as not making a mess is priority, it becomes a nuisance to sharpen.

[James Taglienti]

Nice. You could put dowels, small bench dogs, or custom sized trays in the holes to hold stones in place for agressive work.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Nice!

I wonder about the holes, though - while being able to squeegee the water away is a great idea, I feel like you're just opening up a lot end grain - as the water drips down the holes, is it just going to wick into the end grain? - I don't know if that's going to do anything to the wood top. I could be totally off base. Just my brain thinking.

That said, my sharpening table is a piece of old 12" wide pine with a couple of walnut scraps screwed to it, like french cleats, so I slide my stones in from the side.

Like Derek said, anything that lets you not worry about the mess is super helpful.

And this table looks great!

[Larry Fox]

thanks for the comments guys. I agree with David about the stoutness when doing things like flattening the back of an iron. Given how infrequently I have to do that I will just do that on the workbench and clean up. I do use the ruler technique for the micro bevel on the back of irons but I don't view that as an overly aggressive operation. Joshua, The holes were something I am trying out - jury still out on how it will ultimately work out. Given that it is made of scraps I had sorta baked in a top replacement every couple of years and if the wood does not hold up, next top will be something like granite. My original thought was to use a granite surface plate but didn't feel like sinking the $$ into that right now. That said, it is 8/4 jatoba and I made a bench for my parents a few years ago out of jatoba and it has sat unfinished outside in their yard year-round. I saw it just last weekend and other than it being a little grey it is just as good as the day I put it out there.

Anyway, I appreciate the look and the comments.

[Tony Shea]

Being that it is Jatoba I don't think the holes will pose much of an issue. I do like the design with the trestle bench base. Very well done.

But when you say you like your sharpening low, I guess you really mean low! Basically looks like you'll be on your knees. Maybe you should put an anti-fatigue mat down to save your knees as Im sure you'll be on them at some point. I also like my sharpening low but not that low.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Great looking table. I'm currently using waterstones and small plastic tray. I do all of my sharpening in the house and simply poor the mess down the drain. I'm told the honing is driving everyone crazy, so one of these days I'll get around to setting up something out in the shop.

The top looks to have well over 300 holes. Did you do that with a hand drill and a jig? How many bits did you go through?

[Larry Fox]

Tony - I took the week-long Cosman class last year (maybe the year before - time flies) and he had his stones setup on 2 Pelican cases which was about 18" off the ground. I built this to be around 20" plus the height of the stone holder. I tried various heights before I decided on this. Not on my knees but definitely hunched over but sharpening a plane iron takes less than a minute and I find (and was taught) that the lower height gives one better control. Had I been taught using a higher bench I would have likely built this one to that height.

Joe - the top definitely has a lot of holes. I laid a piece of pegboard from the BORG on top of it and center punched them. I then used 1/4" brad-point drill bit from LV in my drill press to drill the holes. It took about 2 hours - once you get a rythym down it doesn't take long. Hardest part was convincing my wife to hold the top up while I drilled the outer-most holes to keep it from tipping. Used the same bit for all of them and it appears to still be in good shape.

[Tony Shea]

The Lee Valley brad point bits really are some of the best on the market. I swear by their brad points, nothing else I've tried even comes close in quality and precision. They seem to be right on their specific size to a .0005".

[Jim Neeley]

That's good to hear, Tony, as I have their 12-piece set on the way.

Thanks greatly for making the post!! :)

Jim