Honing new set of chisels

[Tim Malyszko]

First off, I want to clarify that I am very new to hand tools and this is only my second "real" handtool purchase, so I really am looking for guidance.

While at Woodcraft yesterday, I purchased the set of pfeil chisels that were on sale this month for $115. These are replacing some older Home Depot $15 3-pack special I probably picked up 3 years ago that worked fine for miscellaneous jobs around the house, but don't hold an edge long enough to make them useful for woodworking.

I've honed all the chisels' backs and am starting in on the bevel. From what I can tell, they have a 25 Degree bevel on them with a smaller 30 degree bevel at the edge. Is this an ideal setup? Should I change anything?

Do you have any good "how to" guides that you can point me to that specifically addresses bench chisel honing?

I use a 325/600 grit DMT duosharp diamond stone, a 1000 grit Shapton waterstone and a 5000 grit Shapton waterstone for sharpening/honing. In addition, I use the Pinnicle honing guide. Do I need anything else to hone chisels properly? I've used these to sharpen and hone a number of old plane blades with much success.

On another note, over easter, I mentioned that I was going to buy a new rabbetting block plane. My grandpa overheard me and mentioned he had an old plane that had never been used, sitting in one of his workbench cabinets. It turns out it's a #220 Stanley Block plane that he believes is over 40 years old. It's in the original box with all the original packaging. Is an old, unused 220 worth anything and would it make a good addition to my shop?

Thanks in advance.

[Jim Dunn]

Tim, that's a real good price for those chisels. Congrats on your find.

I honed the backs of a set of bench users to 1500 cause I could. I really can't tell you from an "experienced person" standpoint but it was easy to get from 800 to 1500 so I thought why not.

[James Owen]

First off, I want to clarify that I am very new to hand tools and this is only my second "real" handtool purchase, so I really am looking for guidance.

While at Woodcraft yesterday, I purchased the set of pfeil chisels that were on sale this month for $115. .....

I've honed all the chisels' backs and am starting in on the bevel. From what I can tell, they have a 25 Degree bevel on them with a smaller 30 degree bevel at the edge. Is this an ideal setup? Should I change anything?

Do you have any good "how to" guides that you can point me to that specifically addresses bench chisel honing?

I use a 325/600 grit DMT duosharp diamond stone, a 1000 grit Shapton waterstone and a 5000 grit Shapton waterstone for sharpening/honing. In addition, I use the Pinnicle honing guide. Do I need anything else to hone chisels properly? I've used these to sharpen and hone a number of old plane blades with much success....

Thanks in advance.

Tim,

For general-purpose, all-around work, a 25° bevel with a 30° micro-bevel will work just fine in most woods. If you are going to use them exclusively for paring in softer woods, you could go as low as 20°/25°, but, at that low of an angle, the edge does tend to be a bit on the fragile side. On the other end of the scale, with harder woods (or for doing some light mortising), 30°/35° would generally work better. (I wouldn't recommend using bench chisels for large amounts of mortising; they're really not designed to withstand that kind of "abuse".)


The following three books are superb:
Taunton's Complete Guide to Sharpening (Tom Lie-Nielsen)



Sharpening With Waterstones (Ian Kirby)



The Complete Guide to Sharpening (Leonard Lee)
A 5000 grit stone seems a bit on the "medium" side to me. I'd suggest going the next step to an 8000 grit waterstone for final polishing.

[Ken Werner]

Tim,
You're off to a great start. I agree with Jim that 8K is a better goal than 5. Also, the sharper you get, the longer the edge lasts. Lee and Lie-Nielsen's books are excellent sources. Like most things though, it's practice practice and practice. It sounds like you've got good steel, good stones, and a good way to hold them. You should be fine. One last item - if you can have someone show you a really sharp edge - so that you can have a very clear understanding of what goal to keep in mind, it will help you to acheive that edge.

Good luck.
Ken

[Tim Malyszko]

The following three books are superb:
Taunton's Complete Guide to Sharpening (Tom Lie-Nielsen)
Sharpening With Waterstones (Ian Kirby)
The Complete Guide to Sharpening (Leonard Lee)

Thanks for the suggestions. I just ordered Lenard Lee's book.


One last item - if you can have someone show you a really sharp edge - so that you can have a very clear understanding of what goal to keep in mind, it will help you to acheive that edge.


Next time I'm in Woodcraft or Rockler, I'll see if they have any examples laying around. I think Woodcraft may have put on a sharpening class not too long ago.


A 5000 grit stone seems a bit on the "medium" side to me. I'd suggest going the next step to an 8000 grit waterstone for final polishing
I'll make a note of it and next time I have $100 buring a hole in my pocket, I'll pick one up.

One thing I found since honing the bigger chisels, putting them back in their wood storage box isn't so easy because the chisel keeps catching on the wood surface and making small curls. I guess that's a good thing.

Thanks for the information.

[Ken Werner]

Tim - I know the Shaptons are supposed to be terrific stones - I haven't tried one, but the Norton 4K/8K can be had for about $65. You might be able to sell the Shapton 5K here and break even on the combo - or....like you say, wait for the $100 to burn that hole. In any case, have some fun on the journey to the edge.
Ken

[Jim Newman]

I bought all the waterstones and worked hard with a Veritas guide and got a good edge but did not think it was that sharp. I then was trained in sidesharpening with Shapton Stones by Harrelson Stanley and got a very sharp edge that made my waterstone efforts pale in comparison. I considered buying the Shapton Stones, but realized Harrelson always had us flattening the stones every minute or 2, so decided to buy a granite surface plate and try sandpaper since it was so much cheaper. I have also met Mike Dunbar in person who proposes the "Scary Sharp" method of sharpening and found Mike to be a very knowledgeable no BS guy that I trusted immediately. I have tried his method in the last 2 months and gotten superior results with it as he does side sharpening with the sandpaper. His method is outlined in Popular Woodworking's April 2007 magazine. Check it out for yourself and see. I got a granite surface plate a woodcraft for abuot $26 and another $20 for the sandpaper....much cheaper. Mike is right....the 1200 grit wet/dry paper puts an absolute mirror polish on the back of your planes and chisels and this is truly the key to getting a great edge.....simple, stupid, cheap and reproducible! Mike really takes the mystery out of getting a great edge! I also had some of the 3M 15, 5 and 0.5 micron paper I had bought from veritas several years ago and used them and got a very scary sharp edge that will cut into your skin without you really feeling it! I check my edge by carefully drawing my finger across it, so do so with the ultimate respect! I have the tormek, oil and waterstones, but have to say the dry sandpaper method on a granite surface plate has won me over! BTW I am a chemist so not easily won over! This has been my experience, so hope it helps! Also Leonard Lee's book is very worthwhile! Sharpening truly is the key to doing fine woodworking!

[Andrew Williams]

If you like 1200 you can buy 2000 at auto parts shops. I usually do most of my honing on 1000 and 2000.

[James Owen]

.....
I'll make a note of it and next time I have $100 buring a hole in my pocket, I'll pick one up.

Thanks for the information.

Tim,

No need to spend so much, unless you insist on a Shapton. A King or similar brand in 8000 shouldn't set you back more than $25 to $40, depending on size and where you get it. For all practical purposes, it's just as good as the higher priced brands; it just might not last quite as long....

(FWIW, I use the "King" brand man-made combo stones. They're about 3½ years old. I've used them to do the initial flattening and polishing on all of my chisels and plane irons, as well as routine sharpening and honing. I generally re-hone as soon as I detect the edge starting to drag. The stones are still about 85% - 90% of the original size, so I suspect that the durability differences between the brands in actual use is probably pretty minimal.....)

[Bill Houghton]

It's not the most desirable Stanley plane, but if it's in the original box with original packaging, it may have some collector value. Go to eBay, track down the collectible tools section (the thread is "collectibles," then "tools, hardware, and locks") and search completed auctions for "Stanley 220." Then you can decide whether it's worth it to try selling.

Otherwise, it should make a decent, though not world-beating, user.

[Michael Schwartz]

Get a pack of the .3 micron pinnacle film, (3m micro finishing film), it costs 5 bucks from woodcraft, and will put a finer edge on your tools than anything, (veritas green stroping compound is .5 microns)

I usualy go strait to that from either a 5 micron paper or my 8000 grit norton waterstone.

Lately I have mostly been using sandpaper (scary sharp) and I always use it for lapping and polishing the backs of my blades.

[Tim Malyszko]

The following three books are superb:
Taunton's Complete Guide to Sharpening (Tom Lie-Nielsen)
Sharpening With Waterstones (Ian Kirby)
The Complete Guide to Sharpening (Leonard Lee)

Well, the Complete Guide to Sharpening arrived yesterday and I paged through it - what a fantastic book. I forgot just how many tools require the occassional sharpening. Out of all the woodworking books I've purchased, this one will probably be one of the most useful and most frequently used. Thanks for the suggestion.

Just to clarify, the reason I chose Shapton Waterstones over other brands was their hardness, but mostly the fact that I do not have to soak them before use. I had a couple of cheaper waterstones that required the soaking and it created such a mess that I never wanted to use them. After seeing a demo on the shapton stones and the demonstrator simply using a spray bottle on the stones before proceeding, I was hooked.

Thanks again for the feedback.

[Rob Blaustein]

Do you have any good "how to" guides that you can point me to that specifically addresses bench chisel honing?

I use a 325/600 grit DMT duosharp diamond stone, a 1000 grit Shapton waterstone and a 5000 grit Shapton waterstone for sharpening/honing. In addition, I use the Pinnicle honing guide. Do I need anything else to hone chisels properly? I've used these to sharpen and hone a number of old plane blades with much success.

I really like Chris Schwarz's approach detailed in his article in Woodworking mag Autumn '04. He keeps things pretty simple. There's some discussion of it in this thread:
http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=52231
--Rob

[Charles Jackson III]

Congrats on the new chisels.