Newbie Sharpening Help and Small Gloat (Maybe)

[Andrew Kertesz]

Well I've been looking for some chisels and have missed a few deals here and there. I found a set of six vintage Stanley 750's on the auction site and pulled the trigger. I plan on these being users not collectors and have read many glowing reviews and comments about these chisels. They defintely need edge work but I have NO IDEA on where to start. I have no stones of any sort so you can see my dilemma. The only thing I do have is a piece of marble about 15" sqaure that was certified for tool and die making. I am going to assume that this should be flat enough for my needs. I do have a Jet slow speed wet grinder and an 8" slow speed grinder from WC as well.

Can anybody point me to a book, tutorial, personal experience to help me get started? Chisels first then I figure once I learn that art I can progress to all the different planes that I have that need sharpening. Personally I would prefer to learn to do these by hand versus machine but that may be dependant on the cost of associated materials and stones.

Oh yeah, not sure if it is a gloat or not but I got the set for $170.00. If it is a gloat; Yea me!! if not; live and learn.

Here's the pictures, I know the rules :D

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[Trevor Walsh]

I'm pretty sure WK Fine Tools has a tutorial on working on old chisels.

[Federico Mena Quintero]

Bob Rozaieski's videos on sharpening are really good! The one for chisels is at http://logancabinetshoppe.com/blog/2009/08/episode-5/

Have fun! Sharpening is a great skill to have.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I see that you are in Toledo.... If you ever make it to Columbus, give me a heads-up and we can have some fun sharpening. I have a slow speed grinder, a Tormek, some stones, some diamond plates, and even some diamond paste (that I have not tried). I started sharpening using sandpaper on a piece of granite, worked pretty well.

I may not be an expert, but if you want to stop by and spend the better part of the day, when you leave, your chisels will likely be significantly sharper than they are now.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

The pictures only show up teeny tiny for me, for whatever that's worth.

Really how to proceed is going to depend on the condition of the backs.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

The pictures only show up teeny tiny for me, for whatever that's worth.

Same for me.


Really how to proceed is going to depend on the condition of the backs.

Boy is that true.... My Father has a bunch of old chisels and he gave me some. Every single one of them has a serious back bevel. I was trying to flatten the backs, and I see that I will end up grinding off a bit to get past the back bevel.

[Charles Bjorgen]

I just yesterday took delivery of Ron Hock's book The Perfect Edge and have to say that is a very valuable resource. I've been sharpening chisels, plane irons and other woodworking stuff for about 15 years and still consider this a fine book. Since you indicate you're new at this, the book will provide you with a good start. Highly recommended.

[Andrew Kertesz]

My aopologies for the pictures, they were copied from the auction site as I don't have the tools in hand yet. Although they did ship yesterday. The pictures on the auction site show the backs to be relatively flat but I don't believe that any serious sharpening attempts have been made on these chisels. No indication that the backs are polished.

[Don Jarvie]

The key is to get the back flat at least 1 inch from the tip. I use a Diasharp Course diamond stone and it makes quick work of the backs.

[James Taglienti]

Diamond is the fastest i have used and if I was going to flatten a set of 6 I would order a brand new coarse 6x2 DMT and just sacrifice the thing. I flattened the backs of 8 old socket chisels in about an hour with a blue DMT and polished them too... but the diamond was never the same afterwards. Still worth it!