Sharpening for beginners

[Peter907]

I've just bought a sharpening kit and some lapping fluid. The kit has a 400 grit diamond plate, a 1000 grit diamond plate and an 8000 grit ceramic plate. I've watched numerous YouTube videos about sharpening, and the principles explained seem perfectly straightforward, but after several hours of practice with 4 different sized chisels (30mm to 6mm) working both with and without a honing guide, I have yet to achieve the stage where I can sharpen a chisel or my penknife to a sharpness where I can shave hairs from my arm or cut a sheet of printer paper without it leaving a jagged torn edge. Any advice or thoughts would be helpful.

 

[Gardener]

just out of interest which honing guide did you use

 

[Peter907]

It is a Saker off-centre honing guide from Amazon which had mostly good reviews.

 

[Ollie78]

Make sure you get a burr or wire edge at each grit before moving on to the next. This burr "proves" that you have got all the way to the point.
If you move on to a higher grit while still having a blunt point it will take hours to get there.
Normally you will be spending the most time on the rougher stone to get the shape right then each finer grit is just polishing it more and more.

 

[Gardener]

struggled with this myself in the past
got a veritas honing guide which is repeatable
also learnt that the back of the chisel is vital to work on as well
as the bevel

 

[Peter907]

@Ollie78 I think I checked properly for a burr before moving on, but will have another go this evening and make a point of checking

 

[Jacob]

Main problem for beginner modern sharpeners is honing jigs and guides. They make it more difficult, mainly because you can't get full force on them so it all takes longer, but also they make the essential "little and often" less easy. Too much fiddling about is a deterrent.
They were fairly uncommon fifty years ago, just a gadget for amateurs.
I discovered this belatedly and since then haven't touched one in years.
Takes a minute or so to sharpen a chisel freehand.
Main thing is to do it fast and forcefully, bringing up a burr over the whole width of the edge - easy to miss on a plane blade which tends to get more wear in the middle which can get overlooked.
Second essential is to do it a little and often; you keep your edge sharp, don't put it off, touch it up frequently.