How essential is a bench grinder for sharpening chisels?

[Luis Reyes]

I'm sure this topic will cause a lot of debate but here's my specific situation. I have narex chisels which I've sharpened by hand with waterstones and I'm ok with (bought new from Lee Valley). It took me a while but I'm good with those. I bought about 10-15 chisels at a yard sale that are old and need a lot of work to bring back. Some are probably junk which may not even be worth the effort but I don't mind finding a little time to bring them back. I think there were 2-3 marples and sorby as well. Is it worth getting a grinder to help create a good primary bevel on the older chisels?

There's a delta 23-681 close to me for $40 that I'm thinking of buying but almost feels like I don't really need it? What's the group think

I should also add I'll probably try to find more chisels at yard sales this coming summer!

[Chuck Hill]

It depends. :-) If you are going to develop a used chisel problem then you probably want one. You will also probably want a better wheel. This is the best source that I know of for all things related to grinding woodworking tools:
https://www.inthewoodshop.com/Woodwo...ues/index.html

For a bit more money you can get this slow speed grinder. I have one and it is worth the money, vibration free and enough power to do what you need. Toss the wheels that come with it. They are garbage.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091GRDLKQ

[Luis Reyes]

Haha I think I am developing a used chisel problem to look for those diamonds in the rough! If I get a grinder I'd probably get a CBN Wheel though which is probably adding to my indecision because now it's not just a $40 grinder but a $40 grinder and $110 CBN wheel.

It depends. :-) If you are going to develop a used chisel problem then you probably want one. You will also probably want a better wheel. This is the best source that I know of for all things related to grinding woodworking tools:
https://www.inthewoodshop.com/Woodwo...ues/index.html

For a bit more money you can get this slow speed grinder. I have one and it is worth the money, vibration free and enough power to do what you need. Toss the wheels that come with it. They are garbage.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091GRDLKQ

[mike stenson]

I just use a norton wheel. I don't see a need for a CBN wheel. Note: I said need. Y'all may want em.. but need is a different thing entirely.

[Chuck Hill]

Read the stuff that Derek wrote. Make sure you get a CBN wheel that is flat side to side. I agree that a CBN wheel is not a need but it greatly reduces the chance of over heating the steel for someone new to grinding. There is also less mess and close to no chance that the wheel will turn into a grenade so no need for the metal shield around the wheel. Yes, I had that happen once. I really like my CBN wheel now.

If you do get a grinder, put a deburring wheel on the other side. They are great for cleaning up the rustina on old tools:
https://www.amazon.ca/Nylon-Fiber-Bu...dp/B0B3L6YYC1/

I think I got that idea from Timberwolf, many years ago now.
https://www.amazon.ca/Nylon-Fiber-Bu...dp/B0B3L6YYC1/

[Ben Ellenberger]

If I wasn’t in an apartment and had power in my shop I’d get a grinder today (I wouldn’t wait until tomorrow, even though it’s after 8 pm my time). That being said, I use a piece of granite with 80 grit adhesive-backed sandpaper when I need to really re-shape something. It’s pretty effective.

[Rafael Herrera]

A bench grinder is a useful tool to have in the workshop in general.
The one I have is closer to 20 years old and still has the original wheels. You can certainly spend quite a bit of money in CBN wheels and what not, but don't be persuaded they're essential.

On another note, a coarse crystolon can handle any vintage chisel in need of a refreshed bevel, 80 grit sandpaper too, as noted above. The advantage of the crystolon oilstone is that you won't be needing to put on the darned mask or ear muffs.

[Jim Koepke]

Luis, there are many options for the craftsperson who wants to accumulate a lot of blades in need of some TLC.

The grinder for $40 sounds like a good deal as long as the motor is sound. It is hard to find a decent motor at that price. The advantage of a grinder is it will produce what is called a hollow grind. This makes free hand honing a lot easier.

My choice was for a flat faced grinder system. The advantage here is when flattening the backs of blades.

This one received a good review in Fine WoodWorking at the time of my being in the market > https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop...m?item=05M3101

If you choose this system buy a few extra abrasive disks of each grit. Also buy multiple tool holders. For me five was about right. That would let me work on a batch of blades at one time. The first one would heat up and then be set aside. By the time the fifth blade was worked, the first one would be cool enough to work on again.

There are two thicknesses of platters available for this. Because of the different thicknesses of the abrasive sheets there is a tendency for this to create a secondary bevel. If one wants a single bevel, it isn't difficult to shim up the platter to produce a single bevel. Once my blades are sharp they do not often require a return to power sharpening.

Now that my chisel accumulating has slowed down my four foot granite slap gets most of the work:

Granite on Horse.jpg

This was purchased from a monument maker (tombstone carver) about twelve years ago.

This with some Pressure Sensitive Adhesive backed abrasive paper from a roll cleans up a blade real fast. Most of the time this is used with 360 paper. That is fast enough for plane soles and also pretty fast with a blade in a honing guide. My honing guide is one of the tool holders for the Veritas System with a shop made roller:

Shop Made Honing Sharpening Guide.jpg

Shown here with its first roller made of wood. Later a roller was made out of some plastic that was given to me by a machinist.

BTW, don't knock the lesser branded and unbranded chisels. It is always handy to have beater chisels around if someone wants to borrow one or you have to do some work on dirty wood.

I sharpened up a bunch of second tier chisels and gave them to a friend I thought wanted to do some woodworking. They reported back that they worked great at removing their bathroom tiles.

jtk

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I find my bench grinder very useful. Since I bought an inexpensive Grizzly copy of the Tormek wet grinder and strop, chisels and plane irons are cared for there. +1 for having a de-burring wire wheel. A muslin buff is also great to have.
Grizzly puts these on sale for $99.00 from time to time.

Screen Shot 2023-03-30 at 7.55.29 AM.jpg

[Ernie Hobbs]

I've been building furniture for 30 years and many gadgets for sharpening- but the most effective method for me is my old trusty bench-mounted 4 x 36 belt sander with a 220 grit belt (or a worn out 150 grit belt) and a few passes on buffing wheel on my grinder. Once you get a feel for the angle of the chisel, just do it free hand without all of the jigs. I can sharpen a chisel in 15 seconds and get back to work.

[David Carroll]

It's certainly not the first thing I would go out and buy. I have a lot of grinding/sanding equipment at work, so when I need to do major work on a chisel, plane blade, or hatchet, I take it in and do it there. Of all the equipment I have at my disposal there, I use the Burr-king 2-inch belt grinder the most. If I didn't have these available I would likely buy a smaller belt grinder of the type that knifemakers use.

About 10 years ago I bought a Tormek grinder from somebody here (I think). It's a beautiful machine. I don't use it very often, and mostly for lathe tools. But when I have to re-establish a primary bevel on my beater chisels, it works great!

The rest of everything I do on stones. I've recently changed to diamond stones (Well, 10-ish years ago). Before that I used Scary-sharp on plate (float) glass and before that oil-stones.

DDC

[mike stenson]

I also have a tormek. It's too slow in my opinion. It's well built, and it certainly does what is advertised though. Really, just paying attention prevents burning an edge.

[Reed Gray]

If you are in to turning, then a slow speed grinder is essential, and gets used multiple times a day. For your bench chisels, I would consider it more useful for shaping and getting the bevel angles you want. This would require a good platform since most that come with the grinders are junk, and that is being polite. You may be able to find a community center that would let you use their grinder. A saw sharpening service may be able to do it for cheap if you can explain what you need so that they understand it. Once you have your angles, you probably won't need it again, unless you drop your chisel on the concrete floor.

A $40 grinder???? Well, I would guess it is a 6 inch high speed grinder with narrow wheels. The wheels that come with the grinders are generally very coarse, with the fine side being 60 or 80 grit. That may do for getting the shape you want, but is extremely coarse. Standard for most turners is a slow speed 8 inch grinder. My preference for wheels is the CBN wheels. One reason is that they are spin and bubble balanced before going on your grinder. Another advantage is that they will never break. They are good for any 'hardened' metal, which includes bench plane irons and bench chisels. The CBN wheels have a life span in a production shop of about 5 years. They are heavier than standard friable grinding wheels, so you may need a more heavy duty grinder.

As for the wet wheel very slow speed grinders, they are made for this, but as said above, they are very slow for any heavy stock removal. They have diamond wheels for them now, in grits up to 1200, and can sharpen anything in your house.

I do have a Jet 1 1/2 hp belt sander for any serious shaping I need to do for my lathe tools.

robo hippy

[roger wiegand]

I use a bench grinder on the set of Sears chisels I keep for wood with nails in it. Other than those none have ever needed a power tool for sharpening (I'm fortunate in not having taken a serious chip out of any of my "good" tool. The Rikon with CBN wheels is essential for turning tools, though even with those I sharpen at the grinder much less often since I got a nice teardrop diamond hone.

[Mel Fulks]

Old timers used a flat bevel . Then all they needed was a coarse stone ,and a fine stone. Some guys can use a small cheap high speed
grinder for a just the right amount of time, then quickly cool in water , and repeat .