Late Night/Early Morning Thoughts

[ken hatch]

I totally agree Ken. I’ve made some progress on making sharpening part of the wood working experience rather than a necessary evil but have a ways to go on sawing to a line. I think you hit on something bigger than sharpening and sawing though and I think I’ve read a thread here that talked about making each part of woodworking a “valuable” activity including, I think the writer said, emptying the dust collector. I don’t know if wood working has helped me take a more mindful approach to things and appreciate the whole experience or if growing older does that. Whichever, I have finally, after 55 years begun to learn that the “boring” part of a task is as important and fulfilling as fitting a through beveled dove tail if they are done well and faithfully. Sermon over 

If one wants to be a woodworker they need to learn to enjoy sharpening, there will be a lot of it.

jtk

I've found the greatest aid to my sharpening is to sharpen as I work, never let the tools pile up. If I need to sharpen more than one or two cutters by the time I get to the last one I do a crappy job. Even with a new or new to me set of chisels I can take weeks to sharpen all of them because I will normally only work one at a time and then may take a day or two between, and I enjoy the sharpening process but never a pile at one time.

ken

[mike stenson]

I've found the greatest aid to my sharpening is to sharpen as I work, never let the tools pile up. If I need to sharpen more than one or two cutters by the time I get to the last one I do a crappy job. Even with a new or new to me set of chisels I can take weeks to sharpen all of them because I will normally only work one at a time and then may take a day or two between, and I enjoy the sharpening process but never a pile at one time.

ken

I am so horrible at doing this. The doug fir I'd worked with last took chunks out of chisel edges and so some regriding was required. Not a big deal, until I needed them this morning. Consequently, I spent far too long sharpening and didn't get a lot of building done today.

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night either, I'm only in my 40s but we're dog sitting this weekend.. so there were too many excited dogs and one that wanted to play all night.

[ken hatch]

I am so horrible at doing this. The doug fir I'd worked with last took chunks out of chisel edges and so some regriding was required. Not a big deal, until I needed them this morning. Consequently, I spent far too long sharpening and didn't get a lot of building done today.

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night either, I'm only in my 40s but we're dog sitting this weekend.. so there were too many excited dogs and one that wanted to play all night.

Mike,

Being a dog person, a playful dog doesn't sound too bad. Beats thoughts of mortality at 0300 . BTW, my Maggie dog goes to sleep at sundown and gives you the side eye if you wake her up before sunrise. Sam was another story a good game of "Tug" was perfect for 0300.

Big Box Doug Fir isn't one of the things I enjoy working with. BTDT

ken

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I've found the greatest aid to my sharpening is to sharpen as I work

AMEN!

Especially since keeping it sharp is pretty fast. I rarely put them away unless they have been sharpened (if they need it). The primary exception is if I need to put them on the Tormek, then I might sharpen a bunch. I have a friend who brings over two to ten blades at a time, and we can punch those out pretty fast on the Tormek for the initial bevel and then they go to very sharp pretty fast after that.

It is very different if it is the first sharpening, especially if the back is not yet prepped.

[Jim Koepke]

Being a dog person, a playful dog doesn't sound too bad.

Try cats. George would get up before dawn wanting out. He was attacked by some creature one night so we tended to make him stay in. Since then we acquired a pair of kittens. George no gets his wish of staying out all night since the kittens tend to want to climb all over him. The kittens start to run amok at about 6:30am trying to climb walls and curtains.

For me, sleeping past 7:00am is a rare treat. This is odd because my old schedule from working swing shift stayed with me for years after retirement. Though with winter coming my sleep habits tend toward sleeping later.

One reason for having multiple sets of chisels is so when the work is really flowing there isn't a real need to stop to sharpen. Sometimes the pause to renew a blade isn't that much of a distraction. Other times it feels like continuing the work is more important.

jtk

[ken hatch]

Try cats. George would get up before dawn wanting out. He was attacked by some creature one night so we tended to make him stay in. Since then we acquired a pair of kittens. George no gets his wish of staying out all night since the kittens tend to want to climb all over him. The kittens start to run amok at about 6:30am trying to climb walls and curtains.

For me, sleeping past 7:00am is a rare treat. This is odd because my old schedule from working swing shift stayed with me for years after retirement. Though with winter coming my sleep habits tend toward sleeping later.

One reason for having multiple sets of chisels is so when the work is really flowing there isn't a real need to stop to sharpen. Sometimes the pause to renew a blade isn't that much of a distraction. Other times it feels like continuing the work is more important.

jtk

Jim,

Cats can be a hoot.

I've never worked a shift, swing or otherwise, but I've spent a lot of time working the back side of the clock. In fact I still do but back in the day, often when it was time to sleep I could be 8 or more time zones from where I awoke. If you are anal about your sleep it was not the life for you. I'm lucky in not needing a lot of sleep and being able to sleep anywhere for short periods of time. That's the good, the bad is it is tough on your wife or S.O..

I have a ton of chisels as well but stopping to sharpen often gives me time to rethink what I'm doing, saved my bacon more than once.

ken