Why You Need A Honing Jig
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- čas přidán 26. 01. 2022
- Jig I use: www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/...
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A honing guide or sharpening guide can be a huge benefit to the new woodworker or even the seasoned vet. the honing guide takes a lot of the gues to work out of the skill and lets you get back to woodworking.
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I have Parkinson's Disease - I'm not bothering learning freehand, and using jigs helps with a lot of things. I love my Mark II!
Hand sharpening changed my life and took my woodworking to another level, but I still use a jig to sharpen the cambered irons on my bench planes.
Free hand sharpening was a game changer for me.... sure, sharp chisels and so forth... the real benefit is that my kitchen knives are sharp for a change, and scissors, and blender (yes, makes a big difference to just square of the 90 degree bevels) and everything else in the house. Of course this has also dropped me down the rabbit hole of Arkansas stones. Big thing I have found though is that I hardly ever use the stones for my tools... strop often and regularly. I have a jig which I only use to regrind an edge.
I love freehand sharpening. I find it relaxing and enjoyable. But when I’m restoring a plane and the iron needs a lot of work and reprofiling, it is soooo nice to be able to put it in a guide and not really have to pay too much attention to it while I do it. Just watch some videos or something and go to town. Makes it a lot easier and makes the time go by faster.
I learned the expensive way starting with a cheap jig, it did help me learn that sharp tools are way better to use. After just a short while I wanted to get really sharp, after getting frustrated, I bit the bullet and got the Veritas. Works great, wish I started with the better tool. Buy once cry once.
8:05 The thumbs-down hold is the only one I use-ever since the jig accidentally tipped and the chisel gouged the water stone.😢
Applying pressure thumbs-down feels more stable.
I think it was a game changer for me, when I found out, figured out, that only the front of the bevel needed to be sharpened.... prior to that it was taking forever trying to get the entire bevel "polished"....
And I'm finding out, if I use a plane or chisel a lot during a project, that it's way easier to give it a quick maintenance touch up, rather than waiting until I need to sharpen it...
Well said. Totally agree.
I find that plcing a block of wood with the desired edge angle cut onto one side ontop of my sharpening stone helps learning to hold the tool at the correct angle a lot easier.
When I decided to learn how to use hand tools like planes and chisals, I purchased that jig so I can learn how to sharpen consistently. So that I can spend more time on learning about my planes. I do love the jig. Plus my lifestyle at this point I don't get to spend enough time in my shop to develop the muscle memory to master free hand sharpening.
Plus one for the Veritas. Even after 35 plus years I use one to restore old plane blades simply because it is easier to pull that out of the drawer than it is to pfaff around with the wet stone grinder.. Once the bevel is established all it takes is a few swipes on the 1000 grit diamond plate and 20-30 swipes on the strop and back in action.
Thanks, James. You answered several questions that will save me time and effort: how much of the edge needs to be at a 30-35º bevel, how little time is needed on the finer plates or stones, and not worrying about squareness of the edge.
Add skewed jig for more difficult planes such as side rabbet #79.
I think the biggest benefit of the jig is that you learn what a truly sharp edge is, how it feels on your tools with the wood that you commonly work. Once you experience that you will not use "somewhat" sharp tools again, the difference is incredible. Once you pare away oak end grain with ease and see the perfectly smooth finish it leaves you won't be satisfied with anything less.
06:17 The thumb screws are the problem, James. You can't tighten them tight enough (at least my thumbs aren't strong enough..), you have to use pliers in order to keep the blade straight. I replaced both of them with normal hex nuts, fixing them with an open-end wrench.
a final twisting motion on each stone improves the result a lot. a very thin piece of plastic protects the roller from being damaged.
Also, the Mark II has a little spring-loaded knob on the side to increase the bevel angle 1-2 degrees to make a microbevel.
Just need to remember to put it back before using it on the next sharpening job.
@@justkirk1925 YES. That's bit me on the butt a few times.
Yes it does... but on mine the micro bevel setting isn't square with the primary bevel - it's visibly off after only a dozen strokes or so.
@@jeffsimpson9232 yah... I've been slowly going back and 'fixing' a number of chisels and plane irons that I did with it on the wrong setting. Add in that the micro-bevel setting on mine isn't square to the regular primary, and that equals a fair bit of re-grinding 😥
@@memilanuk True. But remember the 'micro' in microbevel. You should only be going for a barely perceptible line of polish just at the edge. Joel Moskowitz in his video on freehand sharpening puts a microbevel on his chisels with just two strokes.
I have a Stanley plane very similar to the one you had on the bench. It had been MY great uncles (I'm 75), and is now over 100 years old. When I was a bout 8, I tried to sharpen the blade with a file, Ya I know, remember I was 8. Years later, about 50, I decided to do a clean up restoration to the plane. I was fortunate to have been working in a print shop that had an in house maintenance shop. The maintenance super had a surface grinder and re-beveled the blade to a perfectly square 35 degree angle. Since I have never had to go through any heavy sharpening cycles. He showed me the finger pressure method to help keep the angle at 35
I place the blade on a piece of 400 grit wet and dry, with a bit of water and drag the blade away from the edge, keeping a little pressure on the bevel. It works fine for my needs, I'm sure that under heavier use your more extensive work must be done.
Great informative video, like every other video of this type. ;-)
Out of focus. Yes, yes I CAN say it ;) Thanks. This one is really helpful. Mine will arrive before the weekend so maybe I can get something done this weekend :D
James, thank you. Good info on the need for 90° from the side. The limited number of strokes you took and not removing the burr after each stone was interesting and helpful, too.
I have played back and forth with removing and not removing the bur after each step. and in the function it made no difference, so I do not do it as it is just one more step.
@@WoodByWrightHowTo I finally came to the same conclusion myself, it does save lots of time and effort. A note for anyone sharpening a tool for the first time, it needs the back to be flattened (or back beveled if you're into that) and honed as smooth as you can, that way in future sharpening, only the bevel and burr need to be addressed.
hi, my name is steve and i'm a sharpening jig junkie.... lol, yeah ive got all of the veritas sharpening stuff except i have the mk1 instead of the mk2. i also have the veritas power sharpening machine, the old one with the 1 inch belt sander. i use them all. the mk1 is great for plane irons, the self centering one is great for chisels, short blades get the short blade holder and the power sharpener will clean up an old mistreated iron in a real hurry and more accurately than a grinder
I have one of the cheapo honing jigs from amazon, used it to grind the bevel and it made all the chisels out of square. Enough to where it actually does matter so I threw the jig in the trash. Should have bought the veritas one to begin with.
I tried using a gig, I found that I get a better edge free handing, and free handing was so much easier to do. To note, I did have one of the "super" cheap gigs, I cannot afford a good gig.
Lol left hand is sharpening in different time zone than the right hand you have a watch on each arm just having fun ! hoped it made you chuckle it did me 😆
LOL I keep forgetting to switch that one.
Really fantastic tips, James! Thanks a lot for all the info! 😃
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Wow, pretty sharp video there, it
planely helps to hone my skills!
Thank you!
Great video. Awesome info. Appreciate your point of view on so many things!
By chance I got the narrow clamp head when I bought some used sharpening stones, and I found it to be so much better for chisels. Also great for short plane blades. It's a shame the full set is relatively expensive while the the base MK ii model is great value for money.
Great educational video, once again. This will help me “hone” my skills at being a “sharper” woodworker! Thank you, Braveheart!
I use a guide to establish the original bevel. After that it's all freehand. I learned by practicing a lot. It really does not take long to get good at it.
I love that mk.II honing guide. Every new iron or chisel I use it to set my main bevel and then use the little microbevel wheel thing to start my hone. Then I can easily freehand for a while until I think I'm getting off track and I can come back to the guide and get it fresh again. It's crazy how many features it has and I think I've left it on the same depth setting since I've gotten it, lol
This is so cool. I've been watching some Matt Estlea sharpening and I always wondered what would your opinion be (as well as Rex's or Paul Sellers') - so seeing you explain a jig was a treat for me. Thank you!
I used to take a lot of pride in having a scary sharp working knife, I was a sailor that constantly needed one. It is fairly easy to maintain a sharp edge on a knife once you get it sharp. Then I tried the Lansky system. Very nice even edge, although it took seemingly forever with the tiny stones. The nice thing about the jig you show is that a person can use a large stone, be it diamond, manmade or natural and get good useable results quickly. I will say that hand sharpening anything is a quickly degradeable skill. If you aren't doing it regularly, it takes a few minutes to get back in the groove.
Thanks for the info, James! I used to get really annoyed when the bevel wasn't square, but now I know not to worry about it. I got the Veritas MarkII (works great but is a bit of a hassle to set up) and the simplified Veritas version of it (which is a bit easier to set up).
Glad to hear about square chisels, bought a cheap dewalt construction chisel way off square BUT I was able to sharpen really well. Been wanting to replace with a higher quality chisel thats perfectly squared but after this piece of info, Ill just use it for roughing XD
I started with a cheap jig and I had all my chisels and plane blades sharp at the beginning. I later bought a MK2 but I don’t use jigs for every sharping. I can just get on 12000 ceramic with free hand for a few seconds and get back to work. Once a while I will take all my regular plane blades out, run all of them with a jig through 1000 grit diamond and 12000 ceramic.
I use a jig to resharpen. Then I free hand on the strop after that. Works great. Unless I allow the blade to get dull, I'm golden.
great video, thank you. I free hand almost always, but I've come across some blades that need soooooooo much work to correct them, I start with a file, then a jig. Once again, many thanks
I've been freehanding for about 10 years, since I learned with kitchen knives before moving onto planes and chisels. I bought the Veritas jig a few weeks ago, and honestly, both have their place and the one-or-the-other dichotomy seems unfair (as you point out!).
I freehand now during the day, still, when a chisel or plane iron isn't as sharp as I need it to be, and I'm too interested in finishing the task at hand than spending 5 minutes pulling out the jig and setting it up. But at the end of the day, I'll set the jig up for the tools that got the heaviest use and clean them up on it. I find it helps even out the good/bad moments; some of them I'd be lying if I said I was paying attention while sharpening, and you end up with more or less of a rounded edge than you might want. Using a jig is also fairly autopilot work, so I can do it when I'm mentally checked out at the end of the day, and importantly: there's almost no way I can ruin the edge of a good iron with a jig -- but freehand I can put 16 different angles on an iron in one fell swoop, and grinding that back when it happens *sucks*.
Thanks for the video! It's always nice when high quality woodworkers aren't purists about high-skill activities.
I have that jig and I love it!!
I have a Stanley jig and find it very useful. It has the angle setting scale integrated so that's handy. It just isn't very suitable for small chisels. I use it a lot for 2nd hand and sub par new tools to establish a good bevel. After that I use mostly hand grinding.
I mostly sharpen freehand…diamond stones…but for narrow blades, 1/4” or 6 mm or less, I love my Veritas jig👍
Edited to add that the jig was great for me as a novice as it showed me what sharp was supposed to be.
For plane irons you still need to ease the outside corners so that you don’t plane tram tracks into your work.
As a fan of free hand sharpening and muscle memory give free hand a try and if you do not get it Wright away keep trying do not give up. As a intermediary step consider jig for clearance angle and free hand for the final angle. Remember that your hands are the best jigs you have. All you need to do is train them.
Thing is: the thickness planer is three feet away. If I mess up a sharpening session on my hand plane, I am most certainly not going to use that plane again for at least a week, until I muster the courage.
When failure is not an option, training fine manual skills takes the back seat.
I like your take. In general, I love the veritas honing guide. The reproducibility/accuracy of the crisp bevel is especially satisfying especially as a scientist. Also, I like how simple it is to do various primary/back/secondary bevel options that can be done. My only issues arise when you want to sharpen gouges (non-existent) or some restoration issues with plane blades. If the plane blades are bent or protrude from hammering/metal casting marks on the plane blade edges, then it does cause varying degrees of uneven sharpening because of the way the narrowing jig works or flatness of the top/bottom of the blade. Freehand seems to be the only commercial, unpowered option for antique slick or large mortise chisels bent with use, gouges, and lathe tools. Also, no issues with the plane blade edges from cast forging or large dings.
I freehand most things but I use a Richard Kell guide for doing the combination plane irons. I have enough problems holding the combination plane at right angles to the work without fighting an out of square iron ;)
I bought a record 4 and i did check the blade but didn't look at how not square it was. So when I started sharpening I noticed it was basically becoming a triangle. It was way more than what I can do by hand in a reasonable time. So I took it to school and used the wheel grinder lol.
The Veritas is what I have. Man I’ve got my blades Surgical sharp. I knew I had really good stones but I knew my blade just weren’t there yet. The Veritas got them “there” because of the micro bevel.
As always, this video was spot on! I started using the Veritas jig, but now do most of my sharpening freehand. Just like you said, I now sharpen much, much more frequently which gives me much, much better results. I do use the jig every now and then to "re-initialize" a blade. By this, I mean that I like to put a very, very small camber on my smoothing plane irons to minimize plane tracks (just a few extra strokes on either edge), if that camber starts to get too big, I use the jig to restore a straight edge.
I am really glad you made the comment about squareness! I have obsessed about that in the past, and it caused me no end of frustration. I have started being less fussy about it, and your comments reinforced my own observations.
Finally, no matter how much you try to learn by watching videos with diagrams and all sorts of tips, you actually start putting metal to stone to really understand exactly what is and what isn't important. It seems like it should be so simple, but (for me anyway) it took a lot of fussing and experimentation to understand what really is going on and develop a sense for how to quickly and easily get good results.
I started out freehand sharpening on oil stones. As an apprentice I didn't even know jigs existed and sure didn't have the money to buy them anyway. In the early days the oil stone was helpful as you can see the slight last bit of oil being pushed from the sharp edge as you get the correct bevel angle on the stone.
I then kind of lock my wrist and attempt to be as mechaanical in my arm and body movement to keep the bevel angle. It all comes sencond nature now and waterstones make for a better edge, but the soaking slows down the quick odd sharpen process.
I now have the veritus bevel jig, but find it really slows down the process by a lot. It also limits the surface of the stone I can use, but free hand I use the whole length of the stone.
I have used a Tormek and they get great results, but set up and fine wheel grid it slow. Great machines, but I think I would want the CBN diamond wheels.
On the job site, oil stone or diamond and in the workshop I plan to go to Diamond a well.
Another great video James. Thanks! I use that Veritas jig as well. It works great. So great, that I'll probably never get good at freehand sharpening.
At 3:53 you wanted to say "jig", but you repeated "bevel" one more time :) I guess you can't add a caption anymore, but I'll still leave it here.
Also that jig does not require moving the mount to different mounting points (10:17) to get the secondary bevel. There is a notch on the side of the brass screw that keeps the roller in place. Normally that notch is set to 12 o'clock, but you can pull the cap and rotate it 180 degrees, so the notch points to 6 o'clock. That changes the angle by about 1 or 2 degrees for the secondary bevel.
Thanks James for relieving some of my "embarrassment" about using the Veritas sharpening jig :). Free hand sharpening is a skill I tried very hard to learn and I just don't have those skills (and I admire those use do).
Squareness isn't anywhere as important as big woodworking media has led us to believe - James sharing the Gospel we all need.
I prefer the side clamping Eclipse 36 style guide, its easier and faster to set than the Veritas one, its cheaper, and its more versatile. Itll take any tool I have from a 2mm chisel up to my widest plane iron. I have a scrap of wood with a slot cut into it to receive spokeshave irons, the scrap can be clamped into the jig. I much prefer the narrower wheel too...... I can even hone the 8inch radius on my foreplane because of the narrow wheel :)
I can freehand sharpen, but as you said the bevel will be slightly rounded no matter how good you are at it. This means that during the process you are working parts of the bevel that do not cut, wasting time and effort. Using a jig means the very edge is always in contact with the stone and is bein worked, no time or effort is wasted. I find it takes less strokes on the stone and is more repeatable with a jig :)
Thank you!
Great video!
Learning to free hand sharpen taught me out to sharpen almost any that goes dull.
Other than myself....
Thanks a lot for confirming that edge squareness or bevel straightness are not important.
More generally, I feel too many woodworking videos suggest levels of accuracy that are actually not needed. For instance, how square the face edge should be to a face side? How parallel the other side should be to the reference side? How straight and flat should a board be? It depends on the type of project obviously, but you probably have tips that you could share.
I suspect a lot of the unnecessary accuracy comes from machines, so it comes mostly free, but with hand tools accuracy takes time (and skills). I fear that a whole body of knowledge for working around the imperfections and saving the accurate work for where it's needed has evaporated over the many decades since most shops transitioned away from hand tools, but if some of that knowledge is still lying around or is being reinvented, I'd love it if you could share a few crumbs.
Thanks a lot for the videos regardless.
For me? Both. Jig for setting initial bevel and free hand for routine sharpening.
I started sharpening knives long before I started wood working. I was already very familiar with freehand sharpening beforehand so I never needed a jig
I want to learn freehanding, but most of my tools are old and the blades are in… interesting shape. So I was not able to make them work at all without using a jig first.
I laughed when you said it dosen't matter. I wonder what Paul would say. Very nice video. To the point 👉
Great vedio!!
You are one sharp tool in the tool shed 😳😎
Controversy !! 🤣🤣Great info as always!
Why do you have a watch on both hands. You're one of my favorite youtubers... am I going to have to by a second watch now?
Lol. My main watch is a Garmin and it is for ultra running and my smartwatch. The second watch is a Fitbit which is a little bit better for tracking steps, but it's mainly to interact with the rest of my family that all uses Fitbit so we can do challenges together.
From time to time I try it free hand because I don't know any jig that works for gouges for example so I think it is a skill worth learning, but for now its not that consistent so when I need the blade to be really sharp (for smoothing for example) I use a jig get consistent results all the time.
After seeing some of your older videos I abandoned the secondary bevel because grinding the primary bevel with no mechanical grinder is just painful!!! And I prefer to spend a little more time each time than having to spend what seems to be years re-grinding a primary bevel from time to time.
I use the a cheap guide to get back to a good bevel when I round it off too far free handing it. Maybe some day I’ll get better at sharpening and need it less.
I tried freehand sharpening - got very frustrated with the poor results due to my lack of skill. I bought the MKII and while I agree with you on the 'fiddleliness' of getting everything tightened during set up, using the jig has taken away all my sharpening frustration.
The new Veritas side-clamp honing guide is pretty good. The main trouble with the jigs is they won't handle everything, so freehand will be necessary in the future. BTW, a suggestion for a future video: making chisel handles.
chisel handles is on my list!
Excellent! Do you have a tutorial on sharpening chisels with the Hone guide?
Most all of my sharpening videos are showing how to do it free hand as there is not much to doing it with the guide. You just put it in a d run it back and forth. But if you have questions I would be glad to answer.
for a moment i thought Bill Burr is here to teach us about aligning burrs
Thanks for the video James! What are you using for lapping fluid on your diamond stones? I started with the Mpower fluid and have tried the Trend fluid and have not been impressed with their performance beyond water.
I use the cheapest window cleaner. Just because it evaporates quickly.
The Veritas Mk II jig has a roller adjustment on the end of the roller that is intended for creating the secondary bevel. It adjusts the angle of honing by 1 degree per increment and therefore are 4 increments. It is much quicker than changing the angle of the entire mechanism by going from yellow to red to green.
Right on. If you like secondary bevels that does make it easy. As long as you remember which detent you have it on.
Hi James. I take your point re. squareness of the blade.
In the case of a plane iron, yes, the lateral adjuster can compensate for un squareness, but, in the case of a chisel used for mortising, isn’t it critical to have the edge as square as possible to allow the chisel to address the wood surface at 90 degrees?
If it is out by 2+ degrees then yes it can make a difference. but at that point it is very visible. There is no reason to check it with a square just put a bit more pressure on the long side when you can see the difference.
Thanks for the info! Started halfway 2020 with woodworking. I find your approach of learning the skills rather then relying on jigs really appealing. Bought the Narex Richter chisels and so far I tried sharpening by hand. And it's more tricky then it looks but so far I get it sharp enough just slightly rounded like you explained.
Do you have any tips on using a chisel bevel down while it being slightly rounded from freehand sharpening? Cause of the round over i find getting it to go straight quite tricky.
Using a chisel bevel down is all about balancing the control between the two hands. I actually find it to be a little bit easier with a slightly rounded bevel because that allows me to have more control and guiding it through the cut. And that way you can follow a curved line exactly where you want it to go. But that means far more skill than just letting it slide straight on.
Your youtube hand tool guru permit has been revoked for heresy.
Thanks for a another great video James. Question: I often get plane lines. Do you recommend a tiny camber on the edges to reduce them, or do I need to pay more attention to how level the blade is?
that is a matter of preference. a lot of great woodworkers like to round the corners a bit. I usualy do not care about them tell I get down to the final smoothing. then I take the time to set it up well and take a really thin shaving so you can not feel them.
Yes, camber the sides. Find Mr. Chickadee's plane set up video, all his planes have a large camber.
It's possible for a good proportion of people to learn how to freehand sharpen well enough, for the rest of us there are jigs. And no, no one will ever be as consistent without a jig as they could be with one.
Have you ever given the "unicorn" sharpening method shown by David W?
Yep. It's another great way to do it. A bit overcomplicated in my book but turns out a decent edge.
Thanks for the information. I am just now getting into woodworking and need to learn to sharpen my chisels and planes. So this information is very timely. I do have one question though. The spray you used on the sharpening plates, is it soapy water or is it actually Windex?
Thanks,
Harry
It is just a cheap window cleaner. It evaporates quickly so there's less chance of it resting the plates. I would not suggest using soap as that tends to gum up the plates eventually.
I've just purchased my 1st No4 Stanley plane that needed a little refurbishing and sharpening. as I'm new to sharpening, there seem to be many opinions on what angle the bevel should be on the plane iron. Most say 25 or 30 degrees, which should it be?
I sharpened mine at 35°. The higher the angle the longer the edge lasts. You just don't want to take it much over 35 or 40°. If you put it at 25 you're going to be sharpening in about twice as often..
Thanks. That’s great.
From rex Krueger to James wright lol this ain't one but love your guys collabs! You guys need to visit n get on same camera lol
We've tried several times but every time something comes up and the event falls through.
What lube do you use on your sones or plates? Thanks!
I use a cheap window cleaner. It evaporates quickly so that the plates won't rust.
I can’t tell if I’m actually getting my blades and chisels as sharp as possible or not, but every time I use a jig it ends up being less sharp than if I give up and take it out and hand sharpen. Sometimes it helps to use both, but I haven’t consistently gotten it sharp with a jig the way I can by hand, because you can feel the difference in texture, sound, and feel, depending on if you’re doing it right or not, but the jig takes away some of that feedback. Is it worth trying to figure out the jigs better, or should I just keep doing what I’m doing and it’s probably “sharp enough”?
can you resend a link to me to get the plans for the coping saw build ???
did you get my email reply?
James, I get a lot of old chisels and planes and I find the trying to correct past mistakes by sharpening by hand really isn't working. I use the Mark II jig and a WorkSharp to get the worst offenders into a decent bevel. I also found that using a jig on diamond stones tends to degrade the wheel on the jig. Is that your experience and what is your workaround? I use a glass plate next to the coarse stone at the same level as the stone and keep the wheel on the glass.
I have not had any problems using the wheel on my diamond plates and I've had it for almost 6 years now. But that being said, I only use the jig a few times a year now. That's mostly just for teaching.
Does the registration plate have some play for you when you attach it to the actual jig? Mine flops backward and forward a little and it seems to skew the blade
When it is tightened down in place it should not move. If it still moves after clamping it to the jig then it is a defect.
@@WoodByWrightHowTo alright, great 🤦♂️😔. When you tighten yours down, how in line is it with the clamping area? Do you find the blade sits flat against the registration area, or does it get pulled up a little or deflect down a little?
Sorry I don't understand what you are asking. Feel free to send me a video with pictures or videos jameswright@woodbywright.com
Let's do the jig! 🤣
9:50 “If the last person to sharpen this was free-handing” -you let other people use your tools?
Please tell us: Do you have any tools so treasured, you would never under any circumstances lend them out?
No. If you come to my shop it is all open for the playing.
Thanks. How do you add a camber with a jig?
just put pressure on the corners.
they also have a cambered wheel for it
That's a question that got me when I started (only a couple of months ago). the solution is to apply pressure to the blade on each side of the iron alternately when working on your coarsest stone. Stop when you've got just enough camber or you'll just make planing harder. If I can make this method work then anyone can.
what they said
If you strop often (which is freehand & quick) you don't need to use the stones as much.
Thanks for your take on this, James! I have been woodworking for a few years now and sharpening still frustrates me to no end. The main problem is that it is so incredibly SLOW. I tried freehand sharpening, but it seemed that one tiny mistake (especially holding the blade at too steep an angle for a few strokes) would mean hours (literally!) of correction the next time I sharpened. Therefore, I switched to a honing guide. I started with a diamond plate (400/1000 grit) and quickly stopped bothering to regrind a bevel on the 400. Even on ultra coarse 60 grit sandpaper, regrinding the bevel on anything wider than a narrow chisel takes 30 minutes or more of donkey work.
I tell you this because you mention that it takes a little time to regrind the bevel (as do most other CZcamsrs). Any thoughts on what I could be doing wrong? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
I'm not sure. But feel free to send me pictures or video to my email and I'd be glad to talk it through with you.
If it takes you hours I’d suggest just buying a toolsharp. I use one at work and while it’s not quite as good as stones and a homing guide, I can regrind a bevel from 30° down to 25° in about 15 minutes, and that’s a pretty extreme regrind. Plus you’ll never need to worry about holding it at the wrong angle since (at least the one we use) has a honing guide built into it. Veritas makes an even better version than toolsharp does but it’s like $500, and I’m not sure your budget. But if you make money from woodworking, you should definitely consider a power chisel sharpening system. Just make sure to keep a cup of water next to it and dip the tool in water every 20 seconds or so
Offtopic question: is there any wood/product/scenario for you to dip not only once into BLO but twice or more?
Sorry. I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Feel free to send me an email. I'd be glad to answer. I won't see replies on here is they don't usually come up in my list.
What grits are your stones?
Corse, Fine and Extra fine. here are links to the exact ones. www.woodbywright.com/tool-suggestions/sharpening
I'd like to add that the small wheel jigs are not as good for wetstones. Not sire how they perform on diamond plates but on softer wetstones they end up making groves in the stone.
I can tell you on diamond stones that the issue with my small wheel jig is not leaving grooves, it's the quality of the jig itself in that it is not able to hold the chisel squarely to the surface.
@@Rossco242424 So good jig or freehand it is 🤔
I was completely sceptical about the more expensive honing jigs for years, getting OK results with my cheapy jig / rubbish freehanding...
After endless umming and ahing I finally bought the Veritas mK.II, and have been totally blown away by the results - for the first time ever, I’ve experienced the pleasure of properly sharpened chisels and planes!
Granted though it’s rather a faff to set up, but this is surely because of the precision and repeatability it affords, so you get put what you put in I suppose. Has it made me sharpen more regularly? Sadly no, as for some reason this remains my Achilles heel, part of my stupid brain still thinks of sharpening as getting in the way of actual work - will I never learn?
What stones do you use? Brand and grits?
I use DMT plates. You can see the exact ones I used here www.woodbywright.com/tool-suggestions/sharpening
@@WoodByWrightHowTo Thanks
What grit is your first stone, please?
It is a DMT course grit. Rough equivalency is around 500.
Funny! I don't remember teaching you to sharpen. Ha Ha. Our methods and reasoning are so close to identical it's amazing. I do, however strop more than you seem to. While you didn't say so specifically, I gathered that you avoid using a mechanical grinder to sharpen. So do I, generally, an edge has to be terribly damaged and/or unspeakably dull before I take a blade to a grinder,
Right on. I would much rather take it to a really course sandpaper than a grinder. It would have to be pretty bad for that to happen and in that case I may look at getting a new iron.
Isn’t squareness critical for chiseling mortises, though? If the chisel isn’t square, won’t it will lean to one side and widen the mortise?
No. The degree or two it might be out won't cause any practical difference. Again if it's visually out of square. I put a little more pressure on the long side when sharpening it and after a few sharpenings it comes back to where it should be. Now if we're talking 10 to 15° out of square then it's a problem. But if you have to pull a square out to check it then it's not a problem.
Do you really have to take the chip breaker off the plane blade when touch up free hand sharpening
the reason you take it off is to allow you to dry the blade fully after sharpening. any moisture riding up the edge and getting in that gap could be a problem. but technically, no you do not.
If you're just touching it up then generally no, but if you're going to take it to a course stone then you're going to have a large burr on there. And it's usually better to clean the burr off and that's difficult to do with the ship breaker on there. For a small burr off of a light stone and a strop that's not a problem as it will just break off as soon as it cuts in the wood.
That's one of the reasons I use the window washing fluid for sharpening. It evaporates quickly so there's no rusting issues.
I use car window washing fluid on my diamond plates I figured it had a anti rust component to it and it’s cheap and thin