Sharpening with sandpaper...

[Rob Wilkins]

The main question I have for people here is to do with the roughing gouge. Now, I've no idea how many people use plain ol' sandpaper to sharpen their chisels, of course - I see a lot of things about this tool, that tool, grinders, wolverines (or something like that, I think) and so forth, but as it is, what I've got (and can afford) is sandpaper, so that's what I'm using. 220, then 400, then 600 grit, which seems to give the skew chisel and parting tool an edge that'll shave my fingernails, at least, which works well enough for me.

The problem I have is with the roughing gouge. I'm using relatively cheap chisels (picked up on someone's recommendation through this forum a while ago, a low-end HSS pen-turning chisel set), and while I CAN get a good edge onto the roughing gouge, it takes a long time compared to either the skew or the parting tool, and I can't find any instructions online by anyone at all on how to sharpen one with sandpaper.

So...well...has anyone done this themselves? And if so, am I missing some kind of sneaky trick to getting a good edge?

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Sometimes I touch up a Roughing Gouge with sandpaper. The problem is to NOT round over the edge. You didn't say what method you're using, so I'll just say what I do.

I get double face tape and cover a face and two sides of a block of wood, Press the sand paper to it and get it VERY smooth.

When I bring it to the tool, I first make contact with the heel of the tool and rotate the tip downward till it also touches the sand paper.

Now, I rub the tool from side to side, rotating it as I go. If you are doing it right, both the heel and the edge will get bright evenly along the whole tool.

Finally, you take a slip stone, or a piece of sandpaper stuck to a dowel of the right diameter and rub the inside of the tool, lightly, to remove the burr.

Hope this helps.

Bruce

[Gary DeWitt]

I used to use my belt sander, before I got a grinding wheel. Like previously stated, most important is keeping the tool at a consistent angle to the paper. Once you have the tool at the correct angle, you want to rotate it on it's own axis while sharpening it (if this makes sense) in the case of a roughing gouge. Repeatability will speed things up considerably, so if you can build a jig to present the tool to the paper at the same angle each time, so much the better. For removing the burr inside the gouge, I found a tapered round diamond knife sharpener works well, you can get these from a sporting goods store.

[Rob Wilkins]

Bruce - yeah, I think that's a lot like what I've been doing, only a lot better organised! I've been trying to make sure not to roll the edge, and I've been getting better at it as I go along. I didn't think about the dowel, though; I'd just been using a piece of sandpaper rolled into a tube so far. I'll give that one a try, if I can find something the right size anyway.

[Rob Wilkins]

Repeatability will speed things up considerably, so if you can build a jig to present the tool to the paper at the same angle each time, so much the better.
I might have some luck with this, actually. I talked to my Dad earlier, and he's apparently got some kind of old chisel-sharpening rig that he hasn't used in years, along with a whetstone; he's dropped it in the mail and sent it over to me. Hopefully, that'll be a help with this.