I Enjoy Sharpening Iron

[ken hatch]

Sharpening iron is not my reason for having a shop, having a woodworking shop is the reason for sharpening iron. Having said that, I enjoy sharpening, never understood putting off sharpening or not having a close sharpening station to sharpen as needed. A sharpening bench is as important to my work flow as my main work bench. Now getting an iron to the point of being able to sharpen it, not so much. I would spend a lot of shop bucks on a home version of Bob Lee's grinder. Maybe I'm slow, been known to ride on the short bus, be late to the party and all that but....I've never found any way to safely and consistently flatten the backs of irons other than a lot of mind numbing scut work. BTW, Bob Lee's grinder is the reason most of my planes have Veritas iron, even the LN ones....that and he still produces great O1 iron.

[Matthew N. Masail]

I use PSA sandpaper on mdf and then 1 sigma 1.2k sometimes just a chosera 3k. works fine and quite quick. some irons take longer than others but not a huge amount. I have only come across one old iron I simply cannot get flat, so far.

[Jim Koepke]

A sharpening bench is as important to my work flow as my main work bench. Now getting an iron to the point of being able to sharpen it, not so much. I would spend a lot of shop bucks on a home version of Bob Lee's grinder. Maybe I'm slow, been known to ride on the short bus, be late to the party and all that but....I've never found any way to safely and consistently flatten the backs of irons other than a lot of mind numbing scut work. BTW, Bob Lee's grinder is the reason most of my planes have Veritas iron, even the LN ones....that and he still produces great O1 iron.

I know about having sharpening set up close at hand. There is a water stone station on one side of my shop and an oil sharpening station on the other.

Do you mean Rob Lee's grinder?

My power grinder is from Veritas:

302932

I have used it for back flattening. It takes a little getting used to. Other than that I have since bought a 4' hunk of granite and mounted it on a tall saw horse arrangement. With a bit of care a long piece of PSA 80 grit abrasive paper can make quick work of back flattening.

jtk

[Shawn Pixley]

Unfortunately for me, having a permanant sharpening station is not practical in my garage where cars park most of the time. If I must sharpen (beyond stropping) within the project, I need to get the stones soaking and set up a place on the general bench. That said, i am okay with sharpening. I definately enjoy the fruits of sharp tools.

[Bruce Mack]

I can now get a satisfactory edge on all of my plane irons and chisels without jigs. I enjoy sharpening and fiddling with different media. Presently I'm trying to develop skill with curved edges using an India stone and 2 Spyderco ceramic bench stones. The goal is consistently good edges from media requiring little or no flattening.
Tool maintenance complements the skill and art in woodworking.

[Brian Holcombe]

I plan to build a sharpening station this year, using the kitchen counter is getting old for both myself and my wife. I found a japanese sharpening station that a fellow on Lumberjocks built that I will probably incorporate into a stand.

[ken hatch]

I know about having sharpening set up close at hand. There is a water stone station on one side of my shop and an oil sharpening station on the other.

Do you mean Rob Lee's grinder?

My power grinder is from Veritas:

302932

I have used it for back flattening. It takes a little getting used to. Other than that I have since bought a 4' hunk of granite and mounted it on a tall saw horse arrangement. With a bit of care a long piece of PSA 80 grit abrasive paper can make quick work of back flattening.

jtk

Jim,

I replied yesterday just before donning the monkey suit and heading to work, it apparently was lost somewhere in the depths of the intertubes.

Anyway here's kinda a recap: Good on you, I don't have two stations but maybe I should. I'll have to think about that one.

For the last couple or three years the backs of irons from Lee Valley have come perfect out of the box. I will usually touch 'em on a medium stone to check but I could skip that and go straight to the polishing stone. I'm just a working stiff but at my age time is a heck of a lot more valuable than money. Time spent flattening the backs of iron is time wasted for that reason most of my planes have Veritas irons even the LN ones. Flat backs and still selling good O1 iron is hard to beat. I would love to find a home version of a grinder that would produce backs of irons as flat as LV's.

BTW, over the years I've tried most of the ways to flatten, they all suck pond water. Some ways more than others but.....sure would be nice to have a quick and dirty way to get to a flat back.

ken

[ken hatch]

I plan to build a sharpening station this year, using the kitchen counter is getting old for both myself and my wife. I found a japanese sharpening station that a fellow on Lumberjocks built that I will probably incorporate into a stand.

Brian,

I have a feeling MsBubba would ban me and the critters to the shop forever if I even looked like I was going to sharpen in the kitchen :-).

My sharpening bench is the first woodworking bench I built many years ago....It wasn't much of a woodworking bench because when built I didn't have a clue what I was doing but it makes a good, if small, sharpening bench. I expect yours will be much nicer.

BTW, off subject but thinking about my first woodworking bench build: I don't know if you have ever been up close and personal with Russian airplanes but if you have you can understand the reference. Russia built many airplanes that were copies of western airplanes, if you squinted you could see a 727 or a Falcon 50 but poorly executed as if the maker didn't know why but knew it should look that way. My first work bench was a Russian work bench, I'd seen photos of work benches in a new publication named Fine Woodworking and the Garrett-Wade catalog but was much too poor to buy a ready made one or even make one out of the then de rigueur Steamed European Beech. So using the photos as a rough guide and SYP from that new store in town, Home Depot, I built my Russian work bench. It served well for many years and is still working.

ken

[Tom M King]

The first Russian warplane I saw up close gave me a good laugh over the rows of rivets. It looked like they had nine year old boys drill the holes, with no training.

[ken hatch]

The first Russian warplane I saw up close gave me a good laugh over the rows of rivets. It looked like they had nine year old boys drill the holes, with no training.

I agree, my first close look at a Russian product was a tractor at the local Fat Stock Show....My first thought was: We worry about these folks, you gotta be kidding.

Yet if you have even been to the Paris or Farnborough Air Show and watched the Russian MiG do its thing it is incredible. Thrust can overcome a lot of bad rivets.

[Brian Holcombe]

Lol, I think we all have some Russian warplanes in our past. I needed some quick furniture when I first moved into my house, so I bought a pocket screw jig and built a few pieces. I went back and destroyed the evidence a few years later by rebuilding them with real joinery.

[Jim Koepke]

I'm just a working stiff but at my age time is a heck of a lot more valuable than money.

Then the new blades from LV are likely worth it to you and are well justified. if your position was mine then my money would be spent on saving time instead of time being spent trying to save a little money.

In the balance of life's trade offs one must sometimes weigh their time against their money.

One must also remember that some times can not be replaced by money.

jtk

[ken hatch]

I use PSA sandpaper on mdf and then 1 sigma 1.2k sometimes just a chosera 3k. works fine and quite quick. some irons take longer than others but not a huge amount. I have only come across one old iron I simply cannot get flat, so far.

Wish I could say the same.....I've a whole cabinet full of old Stanley irons that I've given up on and called either Ron Hock or Veritas to the rescue.

[Jim Koepke]

Wish I could say the same.....I've a whole cabinet full of old Stanley irons that I've given up on and called either Ron Hock or Veritas to the rescue.

If you ever want to rid yourself of those old irons...

Actually old irons can bring a bit of money on ebay.

jtk