Had to Keep Myself From Laughing

[James Waldron]

There's an interesting bit of game theory at work here.

By spreading he Gospel of Sharpening you may help people make use of the tools they already own, and in so doing reduce the supply of cheap tools for your own rust hunting.

It's probably OK though, because there's so much noise in the sharpening threads here that the chances of anybody learning something they don't already know seem quite remote. It's like a form of spontaneously arising steganography.

So THAT'S what you've been up to in all those threads!

[Matt Lau]

What's a grinder?

[steven c newman]

Something like this?
whet stone.jpg

[Bob Glenn]

I was out at the son's house in DC and he needed something planed down. He had an old plane and of course it was pretty dull, and he didn't have any sharpening equipment, so I just made do with what he had available, which was a concrete block, the sidewalk and some sand paper. It took a little doing, however, I was able to get the plane sharp enough to get the job done.

Afterwards, I took the plane back to Indiana and put a good edge on it for him and shipped it back. Just hope he gets around to using it in the future. Bob

[Daniel O'Connell]

I was out at the son's house in DC and he needed something planed down. He had an old plane and of course it was pretty dull, and he didn't have any sharpening equipment, so I just made do with what he had available, which was a concrete block, the sidewalk and some sand paper. It took a little doing, however, I was able to get the plane sharp enough to get the job done.

Afterwards, I took the plane back to Indiana and put a good edge on it for him and shipped it back. Just hope he gets around to using it in the future. Bob

Stories like this are tempting me to buying a couple decent cheaper stones and keeping them in the car just in case....

[Jim Koepke]

Stories like this are tempting me to buying a couple decent cheaper stones and keeping them in the car just in case....

Small used containers for shampoo or other products when emptied make good containers for a supply of mineral oil. Just be sure to label them well.

jtk

[David Bassett]

Stories like this are tempting me to buying a couple decent cheaper stones and keeping them in the car just in case....

I follow a kitchen knife forum which was discussing how to handle dull AirBnB knives while on vacation. Other than bringing your own knife, carrying a sand paper selection (for "scary sharp") and sharpening on the road was the preferred solution. (The later is reported to be TSA carry-on compatible.)

[Tony Leonard]

My dad was never a "woodworker." He had a few chisels and a couple of planes. A few years back, he sent me a few chisels to sharpen along with a plane blade. They were nice old Stanleys but they were in bad shape - he bought them new before I was born and they survived him and three sons. Anyway, I spent quite a bit of time flattening and sharpening. Now, I'm not like a lot of folks - I can't quote microns and I only own one set of stones (gasp!), but I did my version of sharp anyway. I wrapped them up carefully and shipped them back. He appreciated the effort but his comment was that they were too sharp and therefore dangerous! Oh well.

[Halgeir Wold]

Hm.. somestrange and entertaining stories, here - but wasn't woodworking a part of general education in the 50s and 60s, aslo in the US? Don't people cook, and what about kitchen knives? There's few things more frustrating than dull knives when working in the kitchen.....

[Jim Koepke]

Hm.. somestrange and entertaining stories, here - but wasn't woodworking a part of general education in the 50s and 60s, aslo in the US? Don't people cook, and what about kitchen knives? There's few things more frustrating than dull knives when working in the kitchen.....

There was "general education" for the trades and a different path for the "college bound." My only shop class was in 8th grade General Shop. We didn't learn to sharpen in that class.

Many of the so called "smarter" students didn't learn about some of the basics of living since they were too busy with trig, calculus and spacial geometry.

One of my former co-workes often said he couldn't sharpen to save his life. My feeling was that his belief was so deeply rooted that he likely couldn't be taught to sharpen.

He was the poster boy for Henry Ford's comment, "whether you believe you can or that you can't, you are probably right."

He appreciated the effort but his comment was that they were too sharp and therefore dangerous! Oh well.

One time the most used kitchen knives were taken out to my shop for a sharpening session. My wife's first comment after using one was that they were too sharp. She later said that she needs a warning after the knives were sharpened.

jtk

[Brian Holcombe]

My dad was never a "woodworker." He had a few chisels and a couple of planes. A few years back, he sent me a few chisels to sharpen along with a plane blade. They were nice old Stanleys but they were in bad shape - he bought them new before I was born and they survived him and three sons. Anyway, I spent quite a bit of time flattening and sharpening. Now, I'm not like a lot of folks - I can't quote microns and I only own one set of stones (gasp!), but I did my version of sharp anyway. I wrapped them up carefully and shipped them back. He appreciated the effort but his comment was that they were too sharp and therefore dangerous! Oh well.

That's quite a compliment Can't make a tool too sharp, but I will attest to 'too sharp' kitchen knives, I have a sushi knife that is a thirsty one...bit me a time or two. I do actually like them exceedingly sharp, but my wife does not.

[David Eisenhauer]

I wonder, once you get past the "huntin' and fishin'" crowd, how many younger folks even carry or use a knife outside of the kitchen and have any clue whatsoever about sharpening same? I can imagine that a truly sharp tool or knife would be somewhat intimidating to some folks when first put to use. I do agree, however, that a chisel can be too sharp for paint can opening.

[Jim Koepke]

I do agree, however, that a chisel can be too sharp for paint can opening.

Blasphemy!

jtk

[Bruce Haugen]

That's quite a compliment Can't make a tool too sharp, but I will attest to 'too sharp' kitchen knives, I have a sushi knife that is a thirsty one...bit me a time or two. I do actually like them exceedingly sharp, but my wife does not.

I wonder how well sushi could be made without an exceedingly sharp knife?

[Stew Denton]

Hi All,

Jim's comment on a tool getting dull, and then it ends up in a garage sale is extremely similar to what a friend told me. He said that he has bought most of his chisels at garage sales. He said exactly the same idea that Jim did, he said that they used them until they were too dull to do the job, and then sold them at a garage sale. The chisels were virtually new, just dull.

Apparently folks either don't know how to sharpen, think that they don't have the tools (a grinder) and the tool is more expensive than just buying another chisel, or it doesn't even dawn on them to try sharpening, I don't know.

Of the used chisels I have bought over the years, maybe only one or maybe two showed any signs of proper sharpening techniques. Most showed signs of a coarse grinder if sharpened, and some looked like they had never seen any sharpening effort at all. Almost all were duller than picks. However, most of these chisels were Stanley 60s, likely made in the 60s or 70s.

The plane irons were different, and some had the backs flattened nicely, not most, but at least a few, and also had the iron cambered beautifully. Here again though, the bench planes I have bought have all been 80 or more years old. Back then some folks knew about "sharp." One plane, out of all of them, was actually pretty sharp, and it was a block plane. My guess is that the person who used those planes after inheriting them from grandpa did not have a clue about sharpening, and used them just enough to get them dull.

Halgeir, like Jim mentioned, classes like General Shop and Wood Shop (formerly called "manual training" or similar names before I was in high school in the late 60s) were elective classes. I went to school in a small school in Western Kansas where the primary activity was farming and ranching, and the school was too small for specialized classes like Machine Shop. A few of the boys took shop classes, kids wanting to be farmers generally took General Shop where they learned welding and mechanics, and a few of us took Wood Shop.

That said, in the Wood Shop class I took there was virtually no instruction in sharpening, almost everything was with power tools, and mostly very large power tools. There was virtually no work done with hand tools, although a friend took a wood Shop class in a similarly sized school in the same part of the state, and they used hand tools a lot. It was really too bad, as few from that class could afford the really big woodworking stuff, but almost all of us could have afforded a Stanley Bailey #5, chisels, two or three handsaws, etc., IF we knew how to use them and IF we knew what could be produced using them.

Just my two bits.

Regards,

Stew