I recently started buying some more handtools and need a good
introduction on maintaining blades and making sure the backs of
chisels and plane soles are flat. I'm generally aware of the different
operations, but need some help putting it all together in terms of
maintenance, choosing equipment and supplies, whether a grinder is
needed and what type, etc.
A suggestion of a particularly good book or website would be greatly
appreciated.
On Sun, 6 Sep 2009 09:20:13 -0700 (PDT), Luigi Zanasi
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On Sep 6, 7:57 am, Sledge Hammer <[email protected]> wrote:
>> I recently started buying some more handtools and need a good
>> introduction on maintaining blades and making sure the backs of
>> chisels and plane soles are flat. I'm generally aware of the different
>> operations, but need some help putting it all together in terms of
>> maintenance, choosing equipment and supplies, whether a grinder is
>> needed and what type, etc.
>>
>> A suggestion of a particularly good book or website would be greatly
>> appreciated.
>
>The classic is Leonard Lee's "The Complete Guide to Sharpening".
>Available from Lee Valley Toys (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/
>page.aspx?c=1&p=32991&cat=1,46096,46107&ap=1) and most online
>booksellers.
>
>Luigi
I concur, Lee's book is excellent. Also, search Google U-Tube videos
for technique. Get some 1/4" glass, maybe a half square foot or so to
use as a flat surface--better than using your jointer or saw tabletop.
You may also consider a slow-speed grinder, or better yet, a wet stone
sharpener with a few different grits. I have the Makita Sharpener,
not the best, but it does most jobs well. Tormek is too much $$$. You
can use sandpaper and Arkasas stones if your budget is tight. Natural
light is a blessing, you need it to see the candling effect or shave
some hair off your forearms. Sharpening is an important woodworker
skill--you need to do it well and quick. Some things, like saw
blades, are better left to the professionals.
On 9/6/2009 7:57 AM Sledge Hammer spake thus:
> I recently started buying some more handtools and need a good
> introduction on maintaining blades and making sure the backs of
> chisels and plane soles are flat. I'm generally aware of the different
> operations, but need some help putting it all together in terms of
> maintenance, choosing equipment and supplies, whether a grinder is
> needed and what type, etc.
>
> A suggestion of a particularly good book or website would be greatly
> appreciated.
Can't recommend any books or sites, but I have one small piece of advice.
Lots of ways to sharpen: whetstones, power grinders, hand grinders. My
preference is using flat stones. If you like this method, I have a
suggestion for a sharpening accessory. Get yourself a sharpening guide.
Mine is an Eclipse (British) that I got, I think, from Woodcraft a
couple decades ago. A little metal jig with a clamp for the blade and a
wheel that rides on the stone, maintaining a constant sharpening angle.
It's really the only way you're going to get a truly flat bevel on the
faces of chisels and plane blades, unless you have superhuman
positioning powers and your hands don't shake more than a couple
microns. Very easy to use and will let you get that razor-sharp
mirror-smooth finish we all want.
--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism
On 9/6/2009 5:24 PM Markndawoods spake thus:
> I would disagree with another poster,
> and Lee's book mentions it many times over, forget the angel jig and learn
> to 'feel' the blade or chisel angle correctly. If you learn and practice on
> some cheap chisels, you will begin to discover that little guide is a
> handicapper and unnecessary.
I find it hard to believe that you can actually get a flat surface on a
chisel or plane iron without some kind of guide. Of course, that may say
more about *my* sharpening technique than anything. (I admit to being a
major klutz.)
The thing is, I think it's really important to get those bevels flat. I
also am old enough not to want to waste time trying to hone my honing
skills to achieve them, nor to engage in macho pissing matches to prove
how great a tool sharpener I am.
--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism
>I recently started buying some more handtools and need a good
> introduction on maintaining blades and making sure the backs of
> chisels and plane soles are flat. I'm generally aware of the different
> operations, but need some help putting it all together in terms of
> maintenance, choosing equipment and supplies, whether a grinder is
> needed and what type, etc.
>
> A suggestion of a particularly good book or website would be greatly
> appreciated.
I would concur with Luigi's input on the book, it is how I have learned to
sharpen everything, and do it right. I would disagree with another poster,
and Lee's book mentions it many times over, forget the angel jig and learn
to 'feel' the blade or chisel angle correctly. If you learn and practice on
some cheap chisels, you will begin to discover that little guide is a
handicapper and unnecessary. Do yourself a favor and get the book and some
garage sale chisels to practice on, you will be much better off and a lot
happier in the end.
markndawoods
Sledge Hammer wrote:
> I recently started buying some more handtools and need a good
> introduction on maintaining blades and making sure the backs of
> chisels and plane soles are flat. I'm generally aware of the different
> operations, but need some help putting it all together in terms of
> maintenance, choosing equipment and supplies, whether a grinder is
> needed and what type, etc.
>
> A suggestion of a particularly good book or website would be greatly
> appreciated.
Fine Woodworking #206 July/August 2009 pp 42ff has a good tutorial.
--
There is never a situation where having more rounds is a disadvantage
Rob Leatham
On Sep 6, 7:57=A0am, Sledge Hammer <[email protected]> wrote:
> I recently started buying some more handtools and need a good
> introduction on maintaining blades and making sure the backs of
> chisels and plane soles are flat. I'm generally aware of the different
> operations, but need some help putting it all together in terms of
> maintenance, choosing equipment and supplies, whether a grinder is
> needed and what type, etc.
>
> A suggestion of a particularly good book or website would be greatly
> appreciated.
The classic is Leonard Lee's "The Complete Guide to Sharpening".
Available from Lee Valley Toys (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/
page.aspx?c=3D1&p=3D32991&cat=3D1,46096,46107&ap=3D1) and most online
booksellers.
Luigi
Sledge Hammer wrote:
> I recently started buying some more handtools and need a good
> introduction on maintaining blades and making sure the backs of
> chisels and plane soles are flat. I'm generally aware of the different
> operations, but need some help putting it all together in terms of
> maintenance, choosing equipment and supplies, whether a grinder is
> needed and what type, etc.
>
> A suggestion of a particularly good book or website would be greatly
> appreciated.
If I were stranded on a desert island, this is the thing I'd like to
have: Leonard Lee's book on sharpening.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=32991&cat=1,43072,43091
Well, that and a cell phone, some exotic wood, a similarly stranded
troupe of young nurses, along with Ginger and Maryanne. But the book for
sure.
Tanus
Markndawoods wrote:
>> I recently started buying some more handtools and need a good
>> introduction on maintaining blades and making sure the backs of
>> chisels and plane soles are flat. I'm generally aware of the different
>> operations, but need some help putting it all together in terms of
>> maintenance, choosing equipment and supplies, whether a grinder is
>> needed and what type, etc.
>>
>> A suggestion of a particularly good book or website would be greatly
>> appreciated.
>
> I would concur with Luigi's input on the book, it is how I have learned to
> sharpen everything, and do it right. I would disagree with another poster,
> and Lee's book mentions it many times over, forget the angel jig and learn
> to 'feel' the blade or chisel angle correctly. If you learn and practice on
> some cheap chisels, you will begin to discover that little guide is a
> handicapper and unnecessary. Do yourself a favor and get the book and some
> garage sale chisels to practice on, you will be much better off and a lot
> happier in the end.
>
> markndawoods
I've got several of those jigs; don't use 'em any more. Well, I might
use them *once* to put an initial bevel on a newly-acquired antique
chisel or plane blade that's been severely mis-honed by some poor slob
(but I normally use my Makita wet grinder for this purpose), but once I
have a reasonably accurate bevel it's nothing but hand-honing with water
stones and polishing on a leather strop for me. You eventually learn
where to put your fingers and how to apply the pressure, and it's much
faster than messing with honing jigs. Check my reflection in the mirror
finish of the bevel, shave a little hair off the back of my arm, and
it's good to go.
--
See Nad. See Nad go. Go Nad!
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/
"Markndawoods" <[email protected]> wrote
> If you learn and practice on some cheap chisels, you will begin to
> discover that little guide is a handicapper and unnecessary.
The principal virtue of guides is that by getting a consistent angle each
sharpening, time is saved.
If when hand-honing the angle is a fraction too low, time is wasted in
removing the heel of the sharpening bevel.
On the other hand (sorry!), there is a temptation to get a quick result by
increasing the angle, meaning eventually that the angle becomes too great
and the cutting edge becomes less acute and less efficient.
Jeff
--
Jeff Gorman, West Yorkshire, UK
email : Username is amgron
ISP is clara.co.uk
www.amgron.clara.net