Sharpening chisels

[Effie Lever]

Finally decided to get serious about sharpening my chisels. My question is what equipment do you use? Is one of the slow speed wet stones (like the Delta 23-700) works well? Any other techniques and suggestions?

[Keith Christopher]

Avoid the delta, trust me. Avoid the delta. Go with the scary sharp method. You'll never be sorry you did.

[Chris Barton]

I use a Tormek Super Grind. When I first saw one demonstrated I thought "wow, this is great but, costs as much as a table saw!" But, several years later I made the plunge and have never regretted it ever. My Tormek will sharpen everything, never burns or retempers metal, and never throws a spark. It does everything the makers say it will.


Chris

[George Summers]

I bought the Woodcraft horizontal wet-wheel sharpener. I went back to Scary-Sharp for my chisels and use the wheel for planer and jointer knives only.

George

[Frank Martin]

I use the LV power sharpener, which is bascially a powerized scary sharp system. It is excellent for straight edges such as chisels and plane blades. It literally takes seconds to sharpen each blade/chisel. It's settings are very repeatable too. Just another option for you to consider.

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Use what the majority of the pro's use.....water stones. Chris Becksvoort, Ian Kirby, Rob Cosman, Frank Klaus etc. There is a reason that they all use some type of natural or synthetic water stones. [putting shaptons in there too.]

[Les Spencer]

I use the Tormek to get a start then finish and resharpen with water stones. I would take a look at the new norton stones. They are fairly priced and getting good reviews. I took a class taught by David Charlesworth on hand sharpening and it was money very well spent.:)

[Corvin Alstot]

Use what the majority of the pro's use.....water stones. Chris Becksvoort, Ian Kirby, Rob Cosman, Frank Klaus etc. There is a reason that they all use some type of natural or synthetic water stones. [putting shaptons in there too.]


I use the Tormek to get a start then finish and resharpen with water stones. I would take a look at the new norton stones. They are fairly priced and getting good reviews. I took a class taught by David Charlesworth on hand sharpening and it was money very well spent.]
I agree with Peter and Les. The only thing I might add, is if you do not like to freehand sharpen, you might look at the new LV Veritas MKII Honing Guide. I use it with Norton stones and it works great. If the chisels need a lot of work, I start out with the DMT Diamond Whetstones in the 325 and 600 grits.

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

But if you are like me and strapped for money (no one wants to hire an 85 year old) cut some 8" mdf disks, drill the proper size hole in them and use grinding compounds (one for each disk) and make your tools razor sharp in the blink of an eye.

[Michael Perata]

If you have the budget, the Lap-Sharp is the best out there. It takes about 20 minutes for a plane blade and 15 minutes for a chisel to get the backs flat and the bevel the correct angle then all I need is to hit the blade/chisel micro bevel with an 8000 grit Norton to keep the edge.

http://www.woodartistry.com/Products-LapSharp200.htm

[Charlie Kocourek]

I have the Lee Valley MK II. It is fablous for sharpening chisels and plane irons! The lap sharp is almost the exact same thing. The big advantage to the lap sharp that I can see is that it is reversable. A reversable platen would make sharpening knives a lot easier. Of course the lap sharp costs almost twice as much as the Mk II.

[Keith Christopher]

You know it doesn't matter how much you spend or how you get the bevel on the chisel. Sharp is sharp. Be it scary sharp, Tormek, Stones or MKII. Just pick one and go with it. practice and safe woodworking.

[Mark Singer]

I have the Tormek and the Veritas Mk II .....for chisels the MK II is way better!

[Scott D Johnson]

I, too, just go serious about sharpening my chisels. I vote for the "plate glass system aka scary sharp". Rockler sells it as a complete kit. It's amazing how easy it was to get a sharp, consistent edge using that technique. Here's a link to how to do it. http://www.shavings.net/SCARY.HTM

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Modified 'scary sharp'...I lay a piece of sandpaper on the bandsaw top...no glass required...no storage area required.

KC

[Roger Barga]

I have a tormak for sharpening my handplanes, and will use it on occassion to put a quick edge on a chisel. But my favorite method to sharpen chisels is scary sharp. IMHO, the last step in all sharpening is honing on a leather strop. Consider making your own - purchase a square foot of suede/leather from a fabric store and use spray adhesive or contact cement to attach this section to a board/mdf/plywood.

roger

[Dennis Peacock]

I use my Tormek Supergrind. Just ask anyone that has been to a Central States BBQ!!! :eek: ;) :D

I have tried the scary sharp method....I used about 35 sheets of sandpaper before I got the back of a single chisel flat. I have various Japanese waterstones as well and have used those. My problem with hand sharpening / flattening on stones is that it takes me about 4 hours to hand flatten the back of a single 1" wide chisel via the various grits of stones before I can call it done. I now get the back flat on the Tormek and finish it up on the 1200 grit waterstone. LOTS Faster!!! :D

I sharpen everything in the shop and house with the Tormek. The LOML just loves it when I have sharp knives and scissors in the house for her!!! :rolleyes:

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I use my Tormek Supergrind. Just ask anyone that has been to a Central States BBQ!!! :eek: ;) :D

I have tried the scary sharp method....I used about 35 sheets of sandpaper before I got the back of a single chisel flat. I have various Japanese waterstones as well and have used those. My problem with hand sharpening / flattening on stones is that it takes me about 4 hours to hand flatten the back of a single 1" wide chisel via the various grits of stones before I can call it done. I now get the back flat on the Tormek and finish it up on the 1200 grit waterstone. LOTS Faster!!! :D

I sharpen everything in the shop and house with the Tormek. The LOML just loves it when I have sharp knives and scissors in the house for her!!! :rolleyes:

I'd have to wonder just 'how flat is flat enough'? I'm certainly not into sharpening like some of you guys, but unless I've completely destroyed a chisel, about 90 seconds with 220/320 paper will get it plenty sharp for woodworking, and flat enough that I honestly don't think it'd make a hill of beans worth of difference.

KC

[Bob Smalser]

I think you are limiting your potential severely if you don't take the time and get the coaching (if necessary) to freehand.

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/5090019/69053997.jpg

You can sharpen anything, anytime, anywhere much, much faster than with any crutch or gizmo out there.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=12747&highlight=sharpening+basic

[Mark Singer]

At some point it is nice to loose the "training wheels" and the only way to get there is practice...

[Ellen Benkin]

There are two things I dislike about woodworking. One is finishing and the other is sharpening. If anyone knows someone in the West Los Angeles area who likes to sharpen and is reasonably good at it and wants to do it for money, let me know.

[RichMagnone]

There are two things I dislike about woodworking. One is finishing and the other is sharpening. If anyone knows someone in the West Los Angeles area who likes to sharpen and is reasonably good at it and wants to do it for money, let me know.

Boy do I agree with that assessment. I am signing up for my first Woodcraft class in a few months... sharpening 101.

[Bob Smalser]

There are two things I dislike about woodworking. One is finishing and the other is sharpening. If anyone knows someone in the West Los Angeles area who likes to sharpen and is reasonably good at it and wants to do it for money, let me know.

I don't like sharpening, either.

That's why I got so good at doing it without any setup....to get it over with.

But it isn't like I'm describing anything that takes a lot of practice. Anybody wants to stop by the shop sometime and I can make you proficient at it within an hour at most.

Teenagers are a bit easier, because they haven't been exposed to the hype that says any of this is difficult.

[Rick de Roque]

I don't like sharpening, either.

That's why I got so good at doing it without any setup....to get it over with.

But it isn't like I'm describing anything that takes a lot of practice. Anybody wants to stop by the shop sometime and I can make you proficient at it within an hour at most.

Teenagers are a bit easier, because they haven't been exposed to the hype that says any of this is difficult.

Boy if I lived closer to you I'd be over for that hour. :D From what I have seen of your work I could learn a boat load. Pun intended:D
rick

[Richard McComas]

Boy if I lived closer to you I'd be over for that hour. :D From what I have seen of your work I could learn a boat load. Pun intended:D
rickI make it to Seattle every now and then. I just may take you up on the offer one of these days.

[Hal Flynt]

Another vote for Veritas MK II Honing guide.

I used it with the scary sharp method on 6 bench chisels Saturday and a couple of plane blades. I also touched up some more plane blades on water stones. Setting the blade up is very quick and easy AND repeatable.

I do use the Wolverine system to grind my bevels and they were fairly close when I started re-sharpening the chisels.

[Lee DeRaud]

Teenagers are a bit easier, because they haven't been exposed to the hype that says any of this is difficult.How about curmudgeons who understand the difference between "difficult" and "tedious"? :D :cool: