I'm almost ashamed to admit this but I don't

[Alan Tolchinsky]

I don't have a good sharpening method for my planes and chisels yet and I've been WW'ing for a couple of years.


I have searched the archives and learned a lot but I'm still unclear about a couple of things.

I have a Veritas angle jig and one combo stone(1000/4000) and I'm not getting the results I want.

Could somebody tell me which stone grits they use and do you do the microbevel with all the grits? The microbevel thing confuses me. I grind my blades on an 8" grinder so I'm starting with a concave shape to begin. So where does the microbevel go on this shape? I can see the microbevel on a flat ground tip but I can't picture one on a concave tip as ground on a wheel. Any help here is greatly appreciated as I should know this by now. :) Alan in Md.

[Richard Gillespie]

When I used water stones, I finished with a Norton 4,000/8,000 stone. Some people recommend going all the way to 12,000, I was able to get a mirror like polish with the 8,000 so I stopped there. I have since gone back to scary sharp, using grits 150 through 2,500. With both systems I finish up with a strop.

The micro bevel is achieved by laying the hollow grind you have off the grinder on the sharpening media (water stone) and raising the back end of the blade about another 3 to 5 degrees. You are then only working on a very small portion of the leading edge of your blade. I hope I've answered your questions.

Also, don't forget to flatten the back side of the blade all the way across the leading edge too. By saying that, I'm not inferring that you should back bevel the blade. I think that's a no, no.

[Michael Ballent]

Toss the stones and use the Scary Sharp method. Basically 1/4" plate glass and various grits of sand paper.... you will get razor sharp chisles, plane blades etc... You can search Google for the method.

-Michael

[Chris Padilla]

...or get a funny account of it here:

http://vfish.net/sharp.htm

:D

[Alan Tolchinsky]

[Thanks guys. Now all I have to do is decide whether to use scary sharp or go with stones. From my limited experience water stones can be a pain to keep flat . Thanks again. Alan



QUOTE=Alan Tolchinsky]I don't have a good sharpening method for my planes and chisels yet and I've been WW'ing for a couple of years.


I have searched the archives and learned a lot but I'm still unclear about a couple of things.

I have a Veritas angle jig and one combo stone(1000/4000) and I'm not getting the results I want.

Could somebody tell me which stone grits they use and do you do the microbevel with all the grits? The microbevel thing confuses me. I grind my blades on an 8" grinder so I'm starting with a concave shape to begin. So where does the microbevel go on this shape? I can see the microbevel on a flat ground tip but I can't picture one on a concave tip as ground on a wheel. Any help here is greatly appreciated as I should know this by now. :) Alan in Md.[/QUOTE]

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Hey Alan, I feel your pain. I started with a couple Arkansas stones, man are they slow! Then I tried scary sharp. Quick, but expensive when you consider how much expensive sandpaper you go through and messy too. Then I bought a Tormek. Works great on turning gouges and carving chisels, but chisels and plane irons weren't as sharp as with scary sharp and they seem to lose their edge quickly. Next I bought a 1000/4000 combo water stone. Worked great, but the size was a little small and the edge wasn't quite as sharp as I wanted. Then I bought a large 8000 grit stone. That did the trick. Now I'm waiting for the combo stone to wear out so I can buy larger 800 and 4000 grit stones.

Here's my current method. First I grind a hollow on the Tormek (you can use any good 8" slow speed grinder), then I use the 800, 4000 and 8000 stones. It only takes a few strokes on each stone because you are only sharpening a small area on the front and back edge of the bevel. I don't use a microbevel. I flatten the stones on with the scary sharp method on 320 wet/dry paper. I touch up a few times with just the stones before I go back to grinding. You can see the hollow grind disappear as you touch up the edge.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Hey Alan, I feel your pain. I started with a couple Arkansas stones, man are they slow! Then I tried scary sharp. Quick, but expensive when you consider how much expensive sandpaper you go through and messy too. Then I bought a Tormek. Works great on turning gouges and carving chisels, but chisels and plane irons weren't as sharp as with scary sharp and they seem to lose their edge quickly. Next I bought a 1000/4000 combo water stone. Worked great, but the size was a little small and the edge wasn't quite as sharp as I wanted. Then I bought a large 8000 grit stone. That did the trick. Now I'm waiting for the combo stone to wear out so I can buy larger 800 and 4000 grit stones.

Here's my current method. First I grind a hollow on the Tormek (you can use any good 8" slow speed grinder), then I use the 800, 4000 and 8000 stones. It only takes a few strokes on each stone because you are only sharpening a small area on the front and back edge of the bevel. I don't use a microbevel. I flatten the stones on with the scary sharp method on 320 wet/dry paper. I touch up a few times with just the stones before I go back to grinding. You can see the hollow grind disappear as you touch up the edge.


Dennis, Thanks. I think this is the method I'm going with. I've tried Scary and didn't like it. Maybe it was my fault but I just couldn't warm up to this method. Thanks for the tip on the large stones but what was the problem with the smaller ones? Alan

[Tyler Howell]

Just a quick note. Shame is a great tool I use it on my employees all the time now that the kids are grown.:p:p:p
The only dumb question is the one that isn't asked. You keep asking. We all keep learning.

TX

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Alan,

The small stones wear quicker because you have a smaller area to hone in which means you have to flatten it sooner. The larger stones give you more room to move around to even out wear. Sharpening also goes faster because each stroke is longer so you get more cutting action per stroke.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Just a quick note. Shame is a great tool I use it on my employees all the time now that the kids are grown.:p:p:p
The only dumb question is the one that isn't asked. You keep asking. We all keep learning.

TXdfddfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfd

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Alan,

The small stones wear quicker because you have a smaller area to hone in which means you have to flatten it sooner. The larger stones give you more room to move around to even out wear. Sharpening also goes faster because each stroke is longer so you get more cutting action per stroke.

O.K. Dennis, That makes sense. I'll get the larger stones. Thanks again. Alan

[Tyler Howell]

[QUOTE=Alan Tolchinsky dfddfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfd:confused:


Sorry Alan, I'm not picking up on any ones secret codes today. Had to as Todd and the Futon Salesman what they were indicating.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

No problem Tyler, I'll send you a decoder ring. :) Alan


[QUOTE=Alan Tolchinsky dfddfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfd:confused:


Sorry Alan, I'm not picking up on any ones secret codes today. Had to as Todd and the Futon Salesman what they were indicating.