An alternative (and quick) sharpening method

[Clinton1]

I attended a 'get together' and sharpening demo put together by the ubeaut wood working forum.
This alternative method of sharpening bears consideration, especially if you already have a bench grinder.

I watched a member (Matt) on another forum take a cheap generic chisel with its machine marks and poor finish and take it to a mirror polished and wickedly sharp state in about 5 to 10 minutes with this setup.
Very quick and no fuss.
Matt is a cabinet maker with 20+ years experience, and likes to have the sharpest edge, most efficently reached, on his edge tools.

Mount a 6", or so, disk of timber or MDF (about an inch thick) to a bench grinder. Use rouge on the disk and polish the back and the micro bevel. Very quick. Use the side of the disk, and ensure that you use the bottom half of the disk so that you don't have the disk throw the chisel at you. Wipe water on the disk when it is spinning to stop the rouge from sticking to the tool.

The tool is finished with a few strokes each on a 1000 and 6000 grit stone, then a quick buff on a narrow buffing wheel loaded with rouge. (Matt used about 10 - 15 strokes on each grit)
Buff for a few seconds, until you cannot feel any irregularities on edge when you run your fingernail across the edge.


After use blunts the tool, the edges are 'touched up' on the buffing wheel until the edge tells you to go back to the 6000 grit.... eventually the bevel will need the 1000 grit and so on until the bevel is so large regrinding is needed.

My first attemps at including photos :roll: :

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au ... 1156466913 Disk in use.

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au ... 1156466875 - a complete set up.

Further pics on page 5 of this thread:
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au ... 324&page=5

A video will be put on the ubeaut forum in a week or so, just search "videos + Gumby".

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Clinton,

Totally missed that day and that thread unfortunetly.

Glad to see others use buffing wheels predominently as well. My process seems similar. Definetly fast and less stuffing about thats for shore.



(ps.. definetly no hurry, but can I have that 55 book back sometime. Something I want to check :wink: )

 

[Alf]

I dunno, kept meaning to come back to this and only remembering at 3am or else in the shower - not good moments. Anyway, I'm a bit surprised there's been so little interest to be honest. Hasn't anyone outside the Antipodes tried an MDF or felt wheel for honing? :-s Apart from me, anyway, and I know what I think already. Comments? Anyone?

Cheers, Alf

 

[Paul Chapman]

Not tried it yet, Alf, but having had success using a leather strop and polishing compound I intend to sometime as it seems to be a variation of that. I've been impressed with the blades Jake Darvall has made up for his Multiplanes from old files and I presume he has polished these on a buffing wheel. I should think a buffing wheel should be quite good on beading cutters for the Multiplane, in particular for getting into the curved bit. Have you tried it on these?

What is it about showers and remembering things? Perhaps it warms the brain up a bit :?

Paul

 

[Clinton1]

Hmmm, yes, remembering things in the shower, writing them on the glass door in the condensation. Don't know why I do it as it doesn't work for me. :?

I think the best part of using the 'disk' method is the initial resharpening of the edge on the buffing wheel.... literally its less than 1 minute to get the edge sharper than you need it.

I was a bit suprised that there were few replies... usually commenting on sharpening gets a little passion up. Perhaps thats the reason - people are tired of the endless carry on.

I was also impressed with how fast it cut the machine marks out and achieved a flat mirror surface on the chisel back. I make a mess with carbide grits on glass, so this is a handy option for me.

Oh well, off to the salt mine...

 

[MikeW]

... Hasn't anyone outside the Antipodes tried an MDF or felt wheel for honing? :-s Apart from me, anyway, and I know what I think already. Comments? Anyone?

Cheers, Alf

Yep, in one of the threads on Ubeat I mentioned I had. Shaping the wheels to do carving tools is an especially good use, but also other profiled blades. Nice thing is, you can throw it away once used up and so easily make another.

Since the late 1980s I haven't done this for edge tools--my grinder kit was stolen along with other tools and I haven't ever made another one.

Nice thing about the MDF is it takes charges of honing compound really well.

Take care, Mike

 

[Paul Chapman]

Do you use a hand or powered grinder with your felt/MDF wheels, Alf? I know you have often referred to using a hand grinder for ordinary grinding :wink:

Paul

 

[Alf]

Hand grinder, Paul, what else? :roll: I've been thinking I really need to see if I've got a large enough piece of MDF left in the workshop to run up a narrow wheel to help with things like beading irons and in-cannel gouges - got a spare grinder after all. The beauty of the hand grinder is I just have to turn the handle the other way, and hey presto, the wheel is rotating away from the edge. Although the guards on a lot of bench grinders seem quite capable of being fitted to allow use from the back, so there's no excuse for the slaves to electrons not to have a go too. :wink: It's a frighteningly fast route to a polished edge with any old honing stuff, but some folks are trying it out with diamond paste now. Now that could give a whole new meaning to scary sharp...

Cheers, Alf

 

[Paul Chapman]

Hand grinder, Paul, what else? :roll:

I have an old hand grinder and plenty of MDF scraps, so I'll dig 'em out and give it a go :wink:

Paul

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

An alternative to a wide MDF disk is the flat honing plate I built a couple of years ago as a part of my belt sander grinder.

This is basically a velcro-backed sanding disk covered in thin chamois leather (using 3M spray contact glue). The sanding disk is hard and flat, and the chamois leather is stretched on and has little give (so minimises any dubbing). It holds Veritas green rouge very well.

I use it for backs of blades as bevels. It is very quick and produces a wickedly sharp edge in seconds.

Having said all that, I now will have to try out a MDF disk on my grinder - always looking for a shortcut as I do hate giving up time to sharpening.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Roger]

I saw the thread - but to be honest, I though 'everyone' at some point used or had experience of using an MDF, Felt (or variant) wheel for honing.

I hadn't heard much of it in Canada, but when I got here and did the year or two School' thing! it was one of the first things I was shown.

The finish and result is phenomenal - bit it's the speed and efficiency that is the great attraction. Time is money after all :wink:

I'm not a great follower of the 'plate glass wet and dry for hours and book writing brigade' - but getting the sharpest the blade in the shortest time can't ever be bad!

Anything that gives a better result for hand tool use is fine by me

 

[Paul Chapman]

I though 'everyone' at some point used or had experience of using an MDF, Felt (or variant) wheel for honing.

Why I came to this method so late was that I never thought something so simple could produce such stunning results. Most other honing methods are such a palava (and some really expensive :shock: ) that the simple MDF/felt wheel and polishing compound, together with a leather strop, sounds almost too good to be true. Still, better late than never :wink:

Paul