Help me get started with sharpening

[Phillip Gregory]

I have a question regarding sharpening. I mostly use power tools for my woodworking so I didn't previously have to do really any sharpening. I've found as time went on that chisels and my little block and rabbet planes are incredibly handy and thus have gotten quite a bit of use...and a little dull as well. I also have quite a few kitchen knives that are in need of sharpening too. (It is quite important to get them sharpened as well as the tools.) I don't have nearly enough of a budget to do the obvious thing and get a Tormek grinder (or a similar clone thereof) and all of the associated jigs. I have never really done any sharpening of any sort before. What would you recommend for getting started sharpening in my case?

[Jim Matthews]

DMT makes a good starter diamond plate, with a coarse and fine side.

I hone free-hand, but it's flat (and wide enough) so you could use a rolling guide.
I'm a recent convert to the convex bevel on my cutting irons - both plane blades and chisels.

There are adherents to other methods, including the David Charlesworth method (back bevel with a thin ruler)
that achieve good results. http://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/woodworking-101-basic-sharpening

I would say this - I don't like having water in my shop, as rust is a problem for me.
I like using oil as a lubricant for grinding, honing and sharpening.

As a result, I have abandoned water stones (which gave excellent results) to reduce the mess I made with them.

Lee Valley sells an inexpensive (compared to the top-line Tormek) upright grinder (http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,43072&p=44884) that I use for badly nicked blades.
You must supply your own motor, for this machine.

I do not recommend using sandpaper as a daily sharpening method, it's expensive in the long run and generates
nasty particulates that we should not breathe.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,43072&p=44884
Leonard Lee wrote an excellent treatise on real world sharpening methods,
including a straightforward video.

Ron Hock is a blade maker and supplier to the trade,
he's got excellent advice on how to get plane blades performing well,
with quick and repeatable results.
http://www.hocktools.com/sharpen.htm

In brief - you need to make two flat surfaces meet at a fine edge.
You need to raise a rough "burr" from the beveled side so that it can be felt on the flat side of the blade.

You must then hone that wire edge burr off the blade to leave a polished surface.

If you do it by hand, it will be a little slower - but you will stop before you grind off a good edge.
With machine methods, it's easy to remove steel - and over shoot the mark.

If there's anyone near you that can demonstrate, that's the best way to learn.
It's not easy to pick this up from a video.

[Andy Cree]

I bought the Worksharp 3000 and I really like it. I tried water stones, but I got tired of the water mess and flattening, and the labor of standing there pushing the blade back and forth (though my lack of experience and knowledge with the water stones was probably 99% of my issues). I then went to the Scary Sharp method and again got tired of the time and energy spend standing there pushing the blades back and forth. After purchasing the Worksharp 3000, I cannot imagine being without it now.

Andy

[Andrew Fleck]

Having recently learned how to sharpen correctly as opposed to what I thought was good enough before, I can tell you that your best bet is to pick a system and stick with it through your learning curve. You are going to have to flatten the backs of your chisels and plane irons. There is no way around that. For me that is the worst part of sharpening.

I recommend getting a flat granite plate and some good sandpaper for that. Norton 3x is good choice.

I prefer waterstones, but they have pros and cons.

The Complete Guide to Sharpening by Leonard Lee is a pretty good book to learn about sharpening.

I also recommend just spending the money on quality stuff rather than trying to save a couple of dollars. Like anything else, you get what you pay for.

[Jim Koepke]

I have never really done any sharpening of any sort before. What would you recommend for getting started sharpening in my case?

Howdy Phillip,

Welcome to the wild world of perfecting an edge. You do not have your location in your profile. If you are in the Portland, Oregon area we could get together so you can see what vexations you have unleashed.

Sharpening discussions can become vicious.

It may be because there are more pathways to a sharp blade than the proverbial assorted pathways to enlightenment.

Many are close to being fundamental evangelists for the methods that work so well in their own shops.

My views may seem just as "fundamental evangelist" to some.

There are some things to consider:

First one must realize when learning sharpening is what seems to be sharp today may have you wonder a year from now as to how you got by with such a dull blade. Then two years from now you may learn to get even sharper.

Second is to learn how to evaluate sharpness. There are quite a few. Some do not like the hair shaving method due to safety issues. Another method, known as the "hanging hair test" requires a very sharp blade. My tendency is to use a hybrid of the two. I try to shave arm hair above the skin. Another test is to push a blade into a piece of limp paper, like a piece of receipt paper. There is also shaving end grain of a soft wood like pine. Pine and some other woods fibers are more likely to bend than cut if the blade is not sharp. One of my often used methods is to lightly touch an edge to a finger nail. A dull blade will not "stick" where it touches. For me the area outside of the nail attachment is used. If one is a nail biter this may not be a good test. It is not uncommon for a sharp blade being tested to lift a fine shaving from one of my nails.

There are many sharpening "tricks" or add ons. Many like hollow grinding, the ruler trick, there is secondary bevels and cambering blades. Jim Matthews mentioned convex bevels for his blade. All these things seem to work and people get excited about new ways, different ways and especially ways that have improved their results and work for them repeatably.

My suggestion is to first learn the basics of making the back of a blade and the bevel meet on a perfect line.

Choosing your sharpening media may be the hardest part of sharpening. My advise if you can is to try it all. For the longest times oil stones didn't seem to work well for me. A chance piece of advise from a coworker during a break made the difference. He had brought a couple of knives and stones to work to sharpen. He told me, "you have to press the blade into the stone like you mean it." That works for oil stones but can make a lot of divots in a water stone.

For me it would be difficult to pick just one sharpening system. My favorite for most of my tools is water stones. The problem is my shop is unheated. In the winter it gets below freezing and water will not flow in my shop. As others mention water stones can be the messiest method. It is controllable. The other consideration is my garden tools get sharpened and that can be tough on water stones.

So to compensate I have another sharpening station for oil stones.

Some people have difficulty having a permanent location of one sharpening area let alone two. If one counts my granite stone bench, then my shop has three. This is another thing to consider, do you want a permanent sharpening station or do you like the idea of it only coming out when needed?

So, let us talk about the cost...

Your first cost may be in a sharpening guide. Free hand sharpening is almost an art. There are a lot of different views on the different guides. My foray into using a guide was to rig one up from a blade holder from my power sharpening system. A guide can make for much better and much quicker sharpening. In my case there isn't a guide made that can work for all my needs so free hand sharpening is my choice.

Scary sharp, using abrasive sheets, starts out inexpensive but as one gets deeper in the cost is a continuing consideration.

Oilstones can be had pretty cheap. The problem is finding ones that are even worth the low prices. I have had some luck at swap meets, flea markets, junk stores, pawn shops yard sales and even at lapidary (rock hound) events. When the time to hunt is available, there isn't a place that is safe from my seeking eyes. For oil on my stones I prefer to use food grade mineral oil. There may be other better oils, but this works for me and there are no worries about the kitchen knives. The oil also gets used on wood for food service utensils so it is a dual purpose solution.

Diamond plates are preferred by many. Even a few of these are in my arsenal. Most used are the two in my kitchen for maintaining knives. Once or twice a year the knives are taken to the shop and get the full treatment. One of these was just the metal bar with impregnated diamonds. It was epoxied to a piece of hardwood for ease of use.

Water stones may be the expensive option, but it is worth it. Almost all of my work is done with three grits 1000, 4000 & 8000. I find under 1000 it is less fuss and cost to use abrasive papers. I do long for the day when I am able to afford a 15,000 or higher grit stone. Until then I strop my blades and think about my future of splitting atoms with blades sharpened on the stone of my desire.

My most recent sharpening acquisition was a hand crank grinder. Handy, but not necessary. A power sharpening system is handy. Most of the time it is possible to do without.

If you get into rehabilitating lots of old tools, then it will be a big advantage.

So as much as I would love to spend your money for you...

My best advise would be to see if anyone you know sharpens blades or knives and is willing to spend some time showing you how they do it.

Another place of learning is the traveling tool events sponsored by some of the tool makers. If you have a local tools seller they may be able to set you up with a sharpening demonstration. They may be willing to set up to demonstrate to a few people and offer specials for attendees.

Happy honing,

jtk

[Adrian Anguiano]

If you tend to be obsessive, get waterstones. If you tend to be practical, get a worksharp 3000.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I started with "scary sharp" using sand paper on a stone block. When I had to clean up a bunch of chisels, I purchased a WorkSharp. Worked well, but I struggled with certain aspects of it (it might have been me, because the guy I gave it to claims he really likes the results). I ended up with a Tormek slow wet grinder. Annoying to setup if you don't have a permanent place for it, but, it lives this nice hollow grind that is trivial to touch up with some water stones (or sand paper) by hand.

I own water stones, diamond plates, I used to own a WorkSharp, I have sand paper. I also have diamond paste, but I have not tried it yet.

Everyone has their favorite, find something that works for you.

I like Ron Hock's book, I purchased mine for my Kindle reader on my Android Phone.

http://www.hocktools.com/perfectedge.htm

If you live near Ohio, stop in and we can experiment to see what you like :D

[Chris Parks]

For a quick inexpensive way into sharpening and it will give good results scary sharp works. For atom splitting results and those that have OCD then waterstones are most probably the Everest of sharpening. Worksharp is a mechanical device that gives good results but it is not cheap if you use a lot of the add ons available. Me, I would start with scary sharp as it is cheap & quick to get into but you do need a grinder to do the major preparation, any system does. If SS is not for you there was no capital cost of expensive equipment and you can then move on to something else.

[Don Dorn]

Over time, I settled on grinding using Ian Kirby's system which is dirt cheap and fairly foolproof. I was using Rob Cosmans method of sharpening because it's fast and effective, easy to learn, but grinding is necessary about every third or fourth sharpening.

Now, I've adopted the Paul Sellers method. For me, the convex edge seems to be hardier and I don't really grind anymore. It's also fast and effective. However, as has been said - sharpening is one of those subjects that people tend be pretty defensive about. I recommend you choose your system and stick with it until you get good at it before considering a change.

[Phillip Gregory]

Thanks for the replies and wealth of information. I'll need a while to digest it but my guess is I'll probably start out with the silicon carbide sandpaper spray-adhesive glued a flat surface method due to minimal cost of entry- and to see if it will be that big of a pain in the butt to manually push the knives/chisels over the abrasive. If that's too big of a pain in the butt it would be nice to know before sinking a lot of money into stones.

I don't know very many woodworkers in person. My father pretty well just sharpened mower blades with a bench grinder and that was it, so there isn't much for seeing what the folks around me do. I live in South Dakota, not particularly the mecca of woodworking.

[Jim Matthews]

http://www.sdwoodworker.org/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g54515-d2038297-Reviews-Black_HIlls_School_of_Woodworking-Belle_Fourche_South_Dakota.html


SIOUXLAND WOODTURNERS (http://www.siouxlandwoodturners.org/)
Meets bi-monthly in Sioux Falls, SD. For info: Royce Meritt, (605) 743-5652.


As mentioned before, start with the woodworkers nearby. They can at least get you pointed in the right direction.