Sharpening. I know its controversial but......

[James C]

All of you oilies have convinced me to give the oilstones I found at work (school) a revive and a go.

I assume if I have a couple the best thing to do is see how quickly they hone to test coarseness

 

[Jacob]

.....

And it doesn't need flattening as often as a waterstone......

Never, in fact - if you distribute the way you work it. A dip along the length doesn't matter, a dip across the width may not matter if you are cambering your blades, but both are avoidable.

 

[Louise-Paisley]

Well I had a crack at sharpening a chisel today..

It was well abused! well all the chisels are well abused actually. The edge was dinged and the bevels were all over the place!

I slowly ground out the bevel on the bench grinder, then used an old oilstone that was kicking about in the boxes of rubbish that my mate has collected - the chisels are his as well by the way. I put the chisel flat on the stone rocking it to find the bevel and ground it down on the rough side of the stone, turned the stone over and ground it a bit more, then laid it flat on the back and took the bur off.

Then I held it on the stone at a slightly greater angle and gave it a few pull strokes until I could feel a bur all along the back of the edge, laid it flat and took the bur off.

It was probably not a brilliant sharpening job, but it was plenty sharp enough to square off the corners of the grooves I routed and sliced through MDF very easily - So I have one usable chisel now anyway

What is it I need to flatten an oilstone? one side is not too bad but the other definitely has a but of curve in it.

 

[andersonec]

What is it I need to flatten an oilstone? one side is not too bad but the other definitely has a but of curve in it.

Some medium to very coarse (depending on how bad the stone is) wet and dry stuck on a flat base (eg ceramic tile) rub in all directions until stone is flat, this may take some time and you may need a few sheets, this exercise is best carried out on a regular basis if you are worried about a stone going out of flat.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

A large devil stone?

 

[drillbit]

I get so little time in the workshop, I take a really lazy approach to sharpening. I just offer my chisels and plane irons up to my white grinding wheel when I find them going dull, and they seem to work fine. I don't even bother with two bevels anymore. But then, I can honestly say that the state of my chisels is the least relevant factor in the poor quality of my woodwork....

Is the idea of scary sharp / progressive honing / double bevel that it is sharper than just grinding on the wheel, or that it lasts longer?

 

[marcus]

Is the idea of scary sharp / progressive honing / double bevel that it is sharper than just grinding on the wheel, or that it lasts longer?

Way, way sharper. Night and day sharper. 'You don't know what you're missing' sharper.....

 

[morfa]

Possibly daft question, but how much oil do you need on the oil stone? A good covering along the whole stone? I've got a cheap £5 combination oilstone and I'm just using 3 in 1 oil on it. I assume that'll do the job?

That Rutlands one looks like it's worth buying as it's 3" and my current one is 2" which is only just wide enough for my plane iron. I saw Paul Sellers had a set of three all sunk into a piece of wood, which looked handy. Flipping them over all the time did seem like a pain.

Why are the diamond stones considered naff by some? If you're an amateur like me, only doing an evenings work once or twice a week with the odd weekend thrown in, surely they'll last me ages (if I do get some).

 

[marcus]

why are the diamond stones considered naff by some? If you're an amateur like me, only doing an evenings work once or twice a week with the odd weekend thrown in, surely they'll last me ages (if I do get some).

They will last if you buy decent ones - mine (DMT) have been used most days for at least the last five years and are still fine. They stay flat, are really quick and involve zero faffing about. I don't know why some people say they are naff, although they're quite expensive so maybe a bit of a luxury. I think they're brilliant and worth the money.

 

[Grahamshed]

OK, Decision time. I am going to get myself a double sided India oilstone and have a play with that on my old bashed about chisels. Maybe touch them up a bit first on the belt sander.

Thanks for your comments everyone. I have benefited from reading them.

 

[marcus]

Sensible, pragmatic choice. Have fun!

 

[andersonec]

Possibly daft question, but how much oil do you need on the oil stone? A good covering along the whole stone? I've got a cheap £5 combination oilstone and I'm just using 3 in 1 oil on it. I assume that'll do the job?

That Rutlands one looks like it's worth buying as it's 3" and my current one is 2" which is only just wide enough for my plane iron. I saw Paul Sellers had a set of three all sunk into a piece of wood, which looked handy. Flipping them over all the time did seem like a pain.

Why are the diamond stones considered naff by some? If you're an amateur like me, only doing an evenings work once or twice a week with the odd weekend thrown in, surely they'll last me ages (if I do get some).

You will know when you have enough, too much and it runs down the sides, too little and the stone starts to dry off, you may need to apply more as you sharpen, just keep the stone well 'oiled'
3 in One is fine, as long as it is a fairly thin oil it will suffice, I've used cooking oil before now.

You can soon make a box for your stone for some protection (it may fall on the floor etc), four sides the height and size of your stone, apply a lid and base then cut down the centre, if your box slides when sharpening nail a couple of panel pins through the base from the inside at one end until they just poke through then snip of the bit inside the box.

Andy