Sharpening wood chisels

[Julio Navarro]

Does anyone know of a link to a "How to" on how to sharpen a wood chisel, the types of stones, oil, technique, etc.

I know that it is an art in and of its self.

Or, could someone here give a little advice?

I imagine that sharpening plane knives might be similar, yes, no?

Thanks in advance.

[Joel Moskowitz]

http://www.antiquetools.com/sharp

[Brian Hale]

I use the Lee Valley MKII sharpening guide and wet/dry sandpaper on an old piece of marble table top. A little water makes the paper stick to the marble real well. After the first initial grind, the guide lets me go back to the same angle for a very quick resharpening, though i suspect most folks prefer to go at it by hand. For severely nicked chisels, I'll go to my 6x89 belt sander and grind the bevel by turning the belt by hand before moving to the sandpaper.

Brian :)

[Don Baer]

Like Brian I use the scary sharp to sharpen all of my chisels and plane irons. I have a piece of marble that is 12"x12" x2" that I picked up at a leather shop. I usualy sharpen to about 2000 grit.

[Maurice Metzger]

Hi Julio,

Here's another one by Bob Smalser, it's worthwhile even if you don't have a grinder:

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

- Maurice

[Bob Noles]

One of the nicest, easiest, but most expensive ways is the Tormek :D

[tod evans]

julio, i use a homemade leather covered wheel charged with rouge on a low speed polisher....02 tod

[Steve Clardy]

I have the MKII [Machine] It's nice and easy for chisels, blades.

[Mike Henderson]

An excellent book on sharpening is "The Complete Guide to Sharpening" by Leonard Lee. It'll tell you more than you ever wanted to know about it.

Mike

[James Owen]

Does anyone know of a link to a "How to" on how to sharpen a wood chisel, the types of stones, oil, technique, etc.

I know that it is an art in and of its self.

Or, could someone here give a little advice?

I imagine that sharpening plane knives might be similar, yes, no?

Thanks in advance.

Julio,

In addition to the book Mike mentioned, Thomas Lie-Nielsen's book on sharpening is also excellent.

Take a look at water stones, as well. If you have a fairly sizeable bevel surface on your chisels, you can easily sharpen them -- with a little practice -- free-hand.

Planer knives: if you are talking about the cutters in a tailed thickness planer, then you will probably need to go with scary sharp or something similar that gives you a lot of sharpening surface space or use a flat honing stone -- moving it across the stationary cutter -- to sharpen; just be careful of your fingers!! If you're talking about plane irons, then stones or any of the other methods will work just fine.

James

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Julio,

People make a lot more out of sharpening than what it is. It is not rocket science. Pick a system and stay with it until you get the results you want. All systems are basically the same: an abrasive that you pass the chisel or hand plane iron over. Unless you buy a machine to do it send your power planer and joiner knives out to a shop.

I have a Lee Valley guide but only use it now if I am changing a bevel for some reason. Practice is the biggest thing. Stick with it and you will be amazed how much nicer it is to work with sharp tools.

[Julio Navarro]

Increadable advice and information here, this place is a gold mine! (I knew there was gold in that creek)

I read the link by Joel Moskowitz very interesting stuff.

Thanks Michael, I will be looking for that book.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Usually when I need a sharp chisel I need it now - as in right now.
Sooo I simply flip my track sander over and lay the chisel up against the runing belt over one of the roller drums. They are small enough to give me a really nice hollow grind and hard enough to make the abrasive belt cut cleanly.

I don't apply any pressure preferring to let the abrasive do the work. then I'll knock off any burr on one of the 5 or so little whet stones I have laying around.

[Mike Henderson]

When I want to just touch up a chisel, I use a honing disk on my lathe that I made for sharpening my carving tools. It's a wood disk with a piece of leather around the rim. I charge the leather with honing stuff that I bought from Lee Valley - you can also use tripoli compound. Here's (http://members.cox.net/mnh-overflow/Papers/SharpeningCarvingTools.pdf) a paper I wrote about it to send to a friend a year or so ago.

Mike