Is it Possible to Sharpen a Chisel Well With Stones and no Jig?

[Steve H Graham]

I'm full of annoying questions this week.

I got my #4 plane working, and I worked on the Woodriver shoulder plane that arrived yesterday, and that made me cocky. I decided to try to sharpen an old Buck Bros. chisel my dad stole and left out in the rain for weeks.

I got nowhere with the jig I made for sharpening metal lathe tools in the bench grinder. It just wasn't appropriate, and I kept hacking it up.

I have always been good at sharpening knives by hand. I got out some DMT diamond stones and sharpened the chisel the same way. I shot WD40 on the stones to make the crud dissipate. Long story short, I smoothed the edge off quickly and got it to line up with a machinist's square, and then I polished it with an 8000-mesh stone. I was surprised at how easy and fast it was.

Here is my question: is there any possibility whatsoever that an edge obtained this way is adequate? I would much rather do this than struggle with jigs.

It pops little hairs off of me pretty effortlessly, but I have never personally handled a professionally sharpened chisel, so I don't know what to expect.

Now I find myself peeling little curls off my workbench just to see it work.

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[Jim Koepke]

Here is my question: is there any possibility whatsoever that an edge obtained this way is adequate?

Can you think of a reason it shouldn't be adequate?

Welcome to the world of hand sharpening.

jtk

[Steve H Graham]

Can you think of a reason it shouldn't be adequate?

I keep seeing videos of guys with big boxes of waterstones, and I have no idea what I'm doing.


Welcome to the world of hand sharpening.

Thanks. I feel better.

[Warren Mickley]

Can you ride a bike without training wheels? It might be rough on a 70 year old who has never done it before.

[Phillip Dejardin]

It pops little hairs off of me pretty effortlessly...Now I find myself peeling little curls off my workbench just to see it work.

Sharp is sharp regardless of how you get there, and it sounds like you're there. Did you lap the back of the chisel so it's dead flat?

[David Wong]

I keep seeing videos of guys with big boxes of waterstones, and I have no idea what I'm doing

For myself, I find diamond plates too coarse for my japanese
chisels. The edge of the chisel can be somewhat brittle, and chip on a diamond plate. I also do not like the feeling of the chisel skating on glass, when I use diamond plates. Waterstones give me much more measured feedback. They may be slower, but I can do less damage on them than a diamond plate. All these issues can be solved if I had better technique.

[Stanley Covington]

The standard method of sharpening planes and chisels since they were first used by man was by hand, sans jigs. Jigs have their place, but they can quickly become a crutch. Many of those who learned using jigs will disagree vehemently, cherishing their habits.

The stones you use are up to you. The subject of stones and sharpening has been discussed on this forum more than any other single aspect of woodworking. Ad nauseum is not an exaggeration.

Stan

[Jim Matthews]

I check my planes and chisels with a little square as you've shown.

I find hand sharpening only a challenge with really narrow chisels
and my jointer blade, which is more than 2" wide.

FYI - I'm migrating to using two Arkansas stones and a strop.
My diamond plates have been relegated to prepping chipped
or old irons. I'm faster with a couple stones and a few drops of oil.

I believe that three things bear mentioning when sharpening by hand.

I raise a burr, to be sure.
(Those with a practiced eye may be able to stop sooner, but I can feel a burr that I can't see.)

You can bear down on an oil stone.
(It's a precise, but not delicate operation.)

The stop is insurance.
(Experienced sharpeners may not need this step, but a stropped edge gleams.)

If you can pare the end grain of Eastern White pine, which is soft and prone to break out,
then your chisel is genuinely sharp. I keep a small piece for this test.

It's perverse, but you need sharper tools to cleanly cut softer wood.

FYI - I hone on a convex bevel, so I can see what I'm doing. Some consider this wasteful.
For me, it works and I can see the scratch pattern clearly.

I did not have success hand honing some of the modern steels which are harder than my tatty old Marples set.

[Kees Heiden]

Nope, impossible. You can't sharpen a chisel without jigs. It's been proven time and time again by hundreds of amateur sharpeners. Without their jigs they would be nowhere. You need the LV Mk2 and the LV MK2 with narrow blade atachement. You also need the Kell jig with all the appendices for those irons that don't fit into the MK2's. And the new drawknife jig of course. Plus a couple of the cheap Eclipse ones because they are so chaep. Plus something to jig knifes. And you should start on develloping a jig for gouges, all types from the V-tool to the bend U-shaped ones.

You also need at least 3 diamond plates, 14 modern waterstones, a certified granite reference table, and all the types of sandpaper available on this little planet, including the 3M lapping papers. And for other tools you also need the complete range of oilstones, India coarse to fine, Washita, Arkansas soft, hard and black. Several Japanese natural stones and a Belgian coticule.

Did I forget anything? Oh yes, the Tormek of course. How could I forget such an important implement.

[Brian Holcombe]

Don't forget the microscope!

[steven c newman]

Yeah....riiiight....

Don't have a diamond anything. Sandpaper, India Medium stone, 1K Oil stones, more sandpapers, and a leather strop. Had a MKI jig....somewhere.
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The wider one was abused, edge was at a skew. Square to mark a straight line, ground same. Then the sharpening could begin. No jigs used.

[Joe Tilson]

Steven,
I have tried everything to sharpen blades.
I just kept going back to oil stones for the finish work.
Found out, If it makes a shaving and works for you, do it.
I even use a piece of brick for the rough work, and sand paper
as well then oil stones.
I am working on a Sandusky blade now which will not fit in a jig, as it is tapered.
It has been ground poorly and I will not grind blades anymore, so freehand it will be.
In some cases what is said here in just so much baloney.:D

[Brian Holcombe]

Jig, no jig or.....both :D

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/1085823F-2690-4B02-A9E1-3C0E7829536B_zpsdfzz3eyh.jpg

[Garrett Ellis]

I have started to freehand more despite owning a veritas mkII jig in an effort to simplify. I know my blades are sharp when I can shave my face with one while using the other as a mirror.

[Prashun Patel]

I'm trying more and more to sharpen freehand. I find chisels far easier to freehand than plane blades. Something about the thickness, and the narrowness that just makes it straight forward to free hand.

Establishing the hollow grind or primary bevel is the trick.

[Steve H Graham]

I did lap the back of the blade.

I'm glad to hear I don't necessarily need to blow hundreds of dollars on more stuff!

[Brian Holcombe]

Steve,

It's worth reading the edge once you put it into use. If you are getting chippy edges then you will want to raise the bevel slightly. If it's hard to chop or bounces in the cut, then you've raised the bevel too much and and reduce the angle.

This will vary depending on the woods you typically use and how you use your tools.

I generally use a heavy hammer and so many of my chisels have a slightly steeper edge than they would have if I used something half the size.

[Terry Beadle]

For some perspective give Paul Sellars video a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbAo4RpM7oM

You don't need much to get a good edge. Testing an end grain cut in Eastern White Pine is a truth test.

The more you practice hand sharpening the better your edges will be and the shorter the amount of time to get-R-dun.

Enjoy the shavings.

[Steve Meliza]

I started out with a Veritas MkII guide and while it worked well it took time to set up and tools slipping from where I had set them was problematic. I have a 1/2" chisel that is supposed to be straight across the edge but has a lovey skew to it. Mainly I used the guide with sandpaper.

Next I tried the method used by Bob Rozaieski where you hold the blade to the desired angle then move your body side to side. This technique uses a hollow grind and most of the time you're working just the secondary bevel. This is also when I switched to oil stones which is what Bob uses and it worked quite well but still felt a bit fussy and slow and a hollow grind meant dependence on some kind of grinding wheel.

While I have been aware of Paul Sellers' methods I had written him off as doing things in some odd British way and ignored his videos and book. In the past few months I've been more open minded and started watching his videos. I found his method of sharpening to be very fast and effective and is now how I sharpen all of my edged tools. Unless your hobby is sharpening tools I urge you to check out his sharpening videos and try his method at least once.

When I get some time I'll be selling my MkII guide as it no longer gets used.

[Allan Speers]

FWIW,

The easiest way to hone by hand is to first give all your blades & chisels a hollow grind. (Then do the "side to side" sharpening method.)

This is best done on a CBN wheel & some kind of jig. (I use the Tormek jig & adapters.)

[Steve H Graham]

A couple of years back I sold a Baldor 6" 1800 RPM grinder because I had gotten an 8" Dayton and put white aluminum oxide on it. The guy who bought the Baldor said he was going to put CBN wheels on and sharpen tools for his wood lathe. The Baldor might be coming in handy if I still had it.

[lowell holmes]

If you will hand sharpen with cross body strokes, rocking laterally with hip action rather than pushing fore and aft with your arms, you will be able to lock your arms in such a way that the chisel stays flat on the stone. Mike Dunbar has demonstrated this technique and it works. I will place my left fore finger on the back of the chisel blade to maintain close contact. The chisel moves from right to left.

You can put a micro bevel by lifting the handle a tiny bit for three or four strokes.

Having said that, I occasionally use a jig.

[george wilson]

I have never used a jig in my life. Learning how to sharpen by hand is one of those basic skills that every woodworker ought to strive to master. In the old days,no one used any of these recently contrived jigs.

[Max Neu]

When I first started using/sharpening hand tools,I swore I would never mess with trying to sharpen without a jig.Then a furniture maker named Garrett Hack showed me how easy it is by hollow grinding,it totally changed the way I sharpen now,I never realized how quick and easy it is to do.

[Jim Matthews]

I find chisels far easier to freehand than plane blades.

They do come with a handle, those chisels.

[Jim Matthews]

Testing an end grain cut in Eastern White Pine is a truth test.

Amen, Reverend. I was disabused of a misconception when that was explained to me.
Softer wood needs a finer edge to get a clean finish.

[Jim Matthews]

Learning how to sharpen by hand is one of those basic skills that every woodworker ought to strive to master.

Truer words were never spoken.
The first time I took a beater to a user with two stones and a strop
made me wonder why I ever bothered with all the other methods.

It's faster, cheaper and in many ways - better to do these things by hand.

It's my assertion that the commercial application of industrial methods to home woodworking make it needlessly expensive.

[Pat Barry]

It's my assertion that the commercial application of industrial methods to home woodworking make it needlessly expensive.
I agree 100% with this statement.

[Joe Tilson]

The video by Paul Sellers is exactly how my papaw Tilson used to do it. Another thing came across my mind. (look out!) Our forefathers were probably fairly stronger than we are today, as they worked every day with these tools. I know some here do that very thing, and I don't think they would to sharpen to the finer grit, in order to push a plane or chisel through wood. Let us know what you think, those of you who work every day.

[george wilson]

You do get stronger,and learn how to apply pressure. LEARN how to APPLY PRESSURE are the key words. When I first hired Marc Hansen,he was amazed that I could easily cut across hard maple end grain with a chisel. I hadn't even thought about it. When I hired a strong high school football player to scrape paint on my window sills,due to my back trouble,I was surprised that he could hardly make the scraper cut. I had to demonstrate WHAT the scraper should be doing.And,I was in my 70's. He never did get that scraper to properly scrape!

[Warren Mickley]

The video by Paul Sellers is exactly how my papaw Tilson used to do it. Another thing came across my mind. (look out!) Our forefathers were probably fairly stronger than we are today, as they worked every day with these tools. I know some here do that very thing, and I don't think they would to sharpen to the finer grit, in order to push a plane or chisel through wood. Let us know what you think, those of you who work every day.

In 1962 I was given a fine India stone and trained to sharpen. I was taught to keep a constant angle. When I got my first Arkansas stone, I noticed the difference right away and have used it ever since. There is improvement in both ease and quality of work. Even for rough work, where the surface does not show, the trivial time it takes to finish off the edge pays dividends in ease of work and edge longevity.

Fine oil stones, whether Arkansas stones, Turkey stones, or native stones have been used in England for centuries.