In this episode im exploring the different methods of getting razor sharp edges on my woodworking tools to figure out which is best for my woodworking toolkit.
Oh no! Warning! Rabbit hole ahead! Religious discussions ahead! Political opinions ahead!
*** END SARCASM ***
Good setup. KISS is your friend. I've chosen the diamond stone method used by Paul Seller's and I'm going to stick with it until I find a reason not to. The snark above is a result of watching too many woodworkers try to become master bladesmiths. I'm a knife guy with over 400 blades in my collection. Get it razor sharp, but don't lose your soul to it.
Hi Kurt, I should KISS more. I'm sure it would save me a lot of time...
Without the recommendations I received, I may well have ended up with diamond plates.
Like yourself, I plan to stick with these. Sharpening doesn't interest me any further than getting my tools working well. I want to learn how to do it effectively. But only so that I have to do it as little as possible.
I'll be doing a post on learning to sharpen sometime soon. Jury's out on how that will go as I am yet to touch these stones with metal.
It’s a good start you’ve made with sensible decisions. It’s not the same path I chose but there are many sharpening paths — and the key is to learn how to use yours effectively and keep with it.
You don’t mention it but I do suggest you get a sharpening guide—a “clamp on rollers” to maintain a consistent angle, and a jig to help set the angle. . It keeps the angle consistent and more importantly keeps the edge square. Sure people do it freehand. Yeah I used to. But I’m a lot more confident and consistent with a guide.
You are right about how many paths there are. For a newbie, I think it's a little difficult with sharpening, as all of these tools are used the same way and basically look the same.
I do have a honing guide, I'll talk about that in the future. I didn't want to include it in this post as it's a different topic.
I definitely don't want to try and sharpen my brand new chisels freehand... Anxiety creates caution, and caution creates mistakes.
A carpenter’s chisel gets used for a lot of things besides a perfect chisel cut. As a result, it can get dull or chipped pretty easily. So it’s often best to have two of some sizes, and the quality of the steel of a utility chisel hardly matters. If you need a quick edge, simply use a belt sander. You be surprised at how adequate a chisel sharpened in this manner often is. If done correctly, it’s certainly good enough to cut a perfect mortise for a door lock.
Oh no! Warning! Rabbit hole ahead! Religious discussions ahead! Political opinions ahead!
*** END SARCASM ***
Good setup. KISS is your friend. I've chosen the diamond stone method used by Paul Seller's and I'm going to stick with it until I find a reason not to. The snark above is a result of watching too many woodworkers try to become master bladesmiths. I'm a knife guy with over 400 blades in my collection. Get it razor sharp, but don't lose your soul to it.
Hi Kurt, I should KISS more. I'm sure it would save me a lot of time...
Without the recommendations I received, I may well have ended up with diamond plates.
Like yourself, I plan to stick with these. Sharpening doesn't interest me any further than getting my tools working well. I want to learn how to do it effectively. But only so that I have to do it as little as possible.
I'll be doing a post on learning to sharpen sometime soon. Jury's out on how that will go as I am yet to touch these stones with metal.
It’s a good start you’ve made with sensible decisions. It’s not the same path I chose but there are many sharpening paths — and the key is to learn how to use yours effectively and keep with it.
You don’t mention it but I do suggest you get a sharpening guide—a “clamp on rollers” to maintain a consistent angle, and a jig to help set the angle. . It keeps the angle consistent and more importantly keeps the edge square. Sure people do it freehand. Yeah I used to. But I’m a lot more confident and consistent with a guide.
Hi David! Thanks for the comment.
You are right about how many paths there are. For a newbie, I think it's a little difficult with sharpening, as all of these tools are used the same way and basically look the same.
I do have a honing guide, I'll talk about that in the future. I didn't want to include it in this post as it's a different topic.
I definitely don't want to try and sharpen my brand new chisels freehand... Anxiety creates caution, and caution creates mistakes.
A carpenter’s chisel gets used for a lot of things besides a perfect chisel cut. As a result, it can get dull or chipped pretty easily. So it’s often best to have two of some sizes, and the quality of the steel of a utility chisel hardly matters. If you need a quick edge, simply use a belt sander. You be surprised at how adequate a chisel sharpened in this manner often is. If done correctly, it’s certainly good enough to cut a perfect mortise for a door lock.