Protecting fingers while sharpening with diamond stones

[Mark Katz]

Maybe it's just me, but maybe not.

I recently set up for sharpening my chisels and plane blades with diamond stones (made a Paul Sellers style stone holder). I'm using the Lie-Nielsen honing guide. Since it's been a long time since my blades received proper attention, I spent a good hour or more at the stones the first time I went at it. At the end of that hour the ends of my index and middle fingers were pretty raw. I suspect it's because my flabby fingers were overhanging the blade as I pressed down and were rubbing against the stones. Needless to say, it was painful and took a few weeks to really heal.

Is this a common problem? What should I be doing differently? Move the fingers up higher on the blade/guide? Wear gloves (which)?

Any insight would be appreciated.

[ken hatch]

Maybe it's just me, but maybe not.

I recently set up for sharpening my chisels and plane blades with diamond stones (made a Paul Sellers style stone holder). I'm using the Lie-Nielsen honing guide. Since it's been a long time since my blades received proper attention, I spent a good hour or more at the stones the first time I went at it. At the end of that hour the ends of my index and middle fingers were pretty raw. I suspect it's because my flabby fingers were overhanging the blade as I pressed down and were rubbing against the stones. Needless to say, it was painful and took a few weeks to really heal.

Is this a common problem? What should I be doing differently? Move the fingers up higher on the blade/guide? Wear gloves (which)?

Any insight would be appreciated.

Mark,

Snark answer: Don't go so long between sharpening.

Real answer: Just pay attention so your fingers do not touch the diamond plate. BTW, it can happen with any type sharpening media.

ken

[Phil Mueller]

Using a jig, I add pressure higher up than the actual tool edge. As long as the chisel/iron is secure in the jig, I’ve found no real need to add pressure at the very edge. I tend to have my fingers half way between the jig and the edge/stone.

[Rob Young]

Maybe it's just me, but maybe not.

I recently set up for sharpening my chisels and plane blades with diamond stones (made a Paul Sellers style stone holder). I'm using the Lie-Nielsen honing guide. Since it's been a long time since my blades received proper attention, I spent a good hour or more at the stones the first time I went at it. At the end of that hour the ends of my index and middle fingers were pretty raw. I suspect it's because my flabby fingers were overhanging the blade as I pressed down and were rubbing against the stones. Needless to say, it was painful and took a few weeks to really heal.

Is this a common problem? What should I be doing differently? Move the fingers up higher on the blade/guide? Wear gloves (which)?

Any insight would be appreciated.

Do you have some issues with nephropathy and can't feel pressure/scraping on your fingertips? If that is the case, seek medical attention to find out WHY this is the case and resolve that issue.

Meanwhile, pay attention to where you place your fingers. There is no compelling reason to have them dragging over the sides in contact with the sharpening media. I don't use guides much any more but your fingers should be somewhat back of the cutting edge as it contacts the sharpening media. Here's LN's pic illustrating one way of holding the guide. You can see the outer fingers are over the sides of the blade but far enough back to not contact the media.

[David Bassett]

+1 to not scraping up your finger tips! But....

Machinists will tape their fingers to protect the key bits. I've seen (good) electrical tape used and seen non-sterile "vet tape" sold for the purpose. (I got a big package of that from Enco, back in their day. Honestly, if I were to do it over I'd just get knock-off 3M Coban from Amazon as I needed it today, it works better.)