A2 Steel and waterstones?

[Mike Baker 2]

Hi! I have 3 vintage "750" style chisels, two Fultons in 6mm and 12mm, and a 750 in 1/2". At present, 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4" inch are my most used chisels, so i am thinking about purchasing a 3/4" Lie-Nielsen to round out a 3 piece set. A2 steel.
I have been sharpening with oilstones, specifically Norton MB 8 India, Soft Arkansas, and a slate hone I have as a finisher, but recently moved to a 400/1000 grit diamond plate, followed by 6k King, and 1um and .3um lapping films. i also will sometimes employ Scary Sharp.
Can any of you tell me of your experiences with this steel and the different honing tools/methods described?
Also, these chisels will not be used for anything but fine dovetail work and the carving of guitar bracing; I have other less fine chisels for the rough work. Considering what they will be used for, dovetails and carving, would you recommend I change the bevel angle of the vintage chisels to 30*?
Thanks.

[Tony Wilkins]

I have LN A2 chisels and they sharpen exceedingly well on my water stones. However, I’ve heard more than once that less than *35 the bevel tends to be too brittle.

this is part of the reason I asked a recent thread about getting another type of chisel for a low bevel for soft woods.

i do love my chisels and they handle excellently.

[Patrick Chase]

The hardest common constituent in hardened A2 is Chromium Carbide, which is quite a bit harder than Silicate abrasives (as in Arks and slate hones), but quite a bit softer than Alumina (as all of the synthetic options you listed). In other words, any/all of the synthetics you named should work. The India will probably slow down quite a bit when used on A2 if you don't do anything to "refresh" it and expose new points, but other than that you should be good to go.

[David Eisenhauer]

I have some LN bench chisels that I freehand sharpen using the Stu Sigma three-water stone set without any issues. As I recall, the chisels come new with a steeper bevel than some of the others, maybe 30*?, as opposed to a more typical 25* and I put a tiny micro bevel on them that I will call 35* but have never really tried to measure my hand applied (lift the handle some) micro bevel. The chisels work well in the batch of harder pecan that I have been slowly working my through over the last couple of years.

[Jeff Heath]

I sharpen my LN A2 plane irons using 3M microabrasive paper (scary sharp). Surgical sharp.

[Mike Baker 2]

Thank you gentlemen, much appreciated.