Help ......

[Lee Koepke]

I went to a workshop on the basics of sharpening .... well, to be honest, this is pretty much the FIRST time I have ever sharpened anything. I have read about it, talked about it, but never done it. Most of the time it seemed too hard. Like you had to be a Master Craftsman to do it right. Needed jigs galore and thousands of dollars of equipment.

Well, our guy taught us some basics. Using sandpaper on glass, some stones, and for those that cant live without a plug, the Tormek.

Well, I aint scared anymore, except that he sharpened his iron for his plane then showed us what it can do. I even tried it. Yup, it was a Lie-Neilson smooting plane. Coming from a guy that hasnt held any plane over $10 in his hand, and smoothing out a cherry board slicker than any hand rubbed finish I could spend days on ... I am hooked !!!

I aint goin out and buying bunches of $300 planes, but now I know. Now I know what they feel like, and how they cut. And alot of what I read (here) makes alot more sense.

Thanks for all you guys sharing what you know and love.

Lee

[Chuck Saunders]

That is great Lee. It is so cool when you learn something and the veil of mystery is lifted. Sharing what you know with others is just as rewarding. This place is truly an oasis of knowledge.

[Mike Cutler]

Good for you Lee. I know exactly how you feel.It's always a help to have a visual.

I'm struggling trying to learn to sharpen saws. I'd love to be able to sit down with someone for an hour that knows how to do it. I've read evereything I can find, and I'm still "not getting it". :(

"I aint goin out and buying bunches of $300 planes".

You don't have to buy bunches, but they're like Lays potato chips, "you can't have just one".:eek:,:D,;).

[John Dykes]

Good for you Lee... In my limited experience, sharpening is the toughest hurdle in using hand tools. And thankfully, still something I kinda enjoy doing...

Mike - I'm interested to hear about your saw sharpening experiences. My first (of four) Woodcraft "Hand Tools 101" classes is tonight. Part of the course covers saws... I was hoping to get some Disstons in - and learn sharpening, but I can't seem to win anything. I've got the Tom Law DVD ordered from SmartFlix to help. Haven't ordered a saw set, files, or vise...

My ebay Adrias tenon saws came yesterday - but don't cut like butter. I'm sure it's technique - but worries me nonetheless.

Sorry for the hijack!

Respectfully,
jbd

[Lee Koepke]

Thanks ya'll.

If I do opt for a 'out of the box ready' model, its only because it will give me some kind of template to go by.

I enjoy tinkering and I almost prefer to give old iron new life. So, as you guys say so often ... its a slippery slope !!!

[Mike Gabbay]

Lee - Sorry to hear that you have now jumped onto the slippery slope! :D Good thing the Fed has dropped their rates, you should be able to refinance your house and start buying many $300+ planes! :p

Sharpening is pretty easy once you get the basics down. It is the key to making hand tools do what they were designed to do. You don't need a lot, a decent honing guide is a great investment and then some wet dry sand paper in super fine grit and a piece of glass or granite or marble tile is all you really need. Check out some of the books and DVDs on the Lee Nielsen site. David Charlesworth has some pretty good advice in his books and DVDs.

[Lee Koepke]

fellow creeker, Sarge is selling me a few water stones, I have some wet/dry paper, and some granite in my shop already.

I am looking into Charlesworths books, now that I know what he's talking about, it will make more sense.

I still like power tools, but the REAL thrill to me is showing off Mother Natures hidden secrets of wood. Working the wood by hand is 'personal' for me.

[Tim Byars]

I can sympathize, I think, being still in the thrall of the power tools but only beginning to appreciate the hand tools...
I used a very simplified version of the sandpaper-on-glass (or, in this case, granite) method, just with the paper i have on hand (and some 2000-grit paper I discovered is available at wal-mart), and am amazed at the results.
Mostly I'm working on a lot of very necessary home repairs, but with the help(?) of this forum, I'm chomping at the bit to try some "real" woodworking. Sounds lame to most, I'm sure, but for the most amateur of the amateurs, it's a heady feeling :)

[Mike Gabbay]

Lee - It's ok to like power tools, really it is! Just don't say that in this forum! That will be our little secret. :p

I would say that the majority of hand tool fanatics use power tools to rough dimension their wood. Hand tools are great to cleaning up after you have milled with a power tool. Especially for smaller pieces and where you only need to shave off a little. I use my planes and chisles along with my jointer, planer, table saw, and mortiser etc. I tend to slightly over size my cuts and then take a plane or chisel to get it to the finished size. You can really get some nice joints with a little practice.

[Mike Cutler]

Mike - I'm interested to hear about your saw sharpening experiences. My first (of four) Woodcraft "Hand Tools 101" classes is tonight. Part of the course covers saws... I was hoping to get some Disstons in - and learn sharpening, but I can't seem to win anything. I've got the Tom Law DVD ordered from SmartFlix to help. Haven't ordered a saw set, files, or vise...
jbd

John. I'm just not getting the correct angle(s) with any consistency. I'm also having a heckuva time finding the right files.

[Steve Hamlin]

Hi Mike

I'm by no means 'there' yet, but one thing I find helpful for the angles is to use the the first couple of teeth at the heel for reference. These seem to be the least commonly messed up, and so I'll set my file between these to get the angle, pretty much like using the trued surface of a board to set a chisel at the right angle for cleaning dovetail socket bottoms.

I can then just try to use muscle memory to carry on, or with the file in position set a pierced lolly stick horizontal on the file end as a pitch guide and mark up a scrap of wood for kerfing to give me a guide for the fleam (I always mix this up - fleam cut teeth are like japanese, but I mean the angler that gives the bevel angle for cross cut teeth)

Cheers
Steve