Should I bin my old stanley chisels and buy softer steel chisels

[Eshmiel]

Why do people insist on peeing around with papers, oilstones, diamond plates, water stones et al with tools that should be ground/needed grinding in the first place? That's not what any of them are for.

Have ye not noticed that amongst woodworkers, especially the amateur kind who are really woodplayers, sharpening is a distinct hobby of its own? Many spend 35% of their tool budget on sharpening gubbins as they like sharpening in 1001 ways as much as they like making wooden things. Would you deny us our innocent pleasures!?

As to hand-grinding .... it may take a while but think of the sense of achievement, especially if a dished cathedral step is used. On the other hand, you might be surprised at how rapidly and effectively 3M 100 grit stuff on that thin plastic backing stuck on to float glass will remove metal with just the hand rubbing.

 

[Bingy man]

Well all in all for a sharpening thread this has stayed very civil and neutral maybe future sharpening threads should be split into two sections- traditional freehand or those who want to get “ jiggy”
One thing for sure is jigs will not disappear but I agree they will get more expensive and elaborate.

 

[Eshmiel]

Really? I never produced a multi-faceted bevel in my life! Is this a problem you had?

Yes - until I obtained that Veritas sharpening thingy with various add-ons. Now all me edges are lovely-sharp, with miniscule micro-bevels that may be maintained in a few seconds.

Could I, a cack-hand, ever become just as good at sharpening freehand? No - I have 27 other hobbies that mean very simple procedures requiring a lot of practice - enough to get the body-memory - are not attractive. Mind, I seem to have spent into the thousand hours knifing at things in the last year ..... but that's because I like knifing things into existence so much. I'm getting better - but have observed other knifers 10X better. They must have done that 10,000 hours, eh?

**********
There is this issue for amateurs: some procedures do take a lot of practice to learn and establish, especially those involving finely-tuned body and muscle-motor skills. Amateurs often don't have that time whereas professionals do as they perform them all day long for their living.

Another point - if a jig speeds up the acquisition of an ability to do something, is that a sin? If so, we better all make the backs of our chisels wonky so as to obtain the skill to use an edge without the jigging of the flat back. In fact, we'd better dispense with that metal stuff and return to the stone!

Alternatively, we could, in our various ways, adopt different methods to achieve the same thing and all be happy woodworkers despite the lack of a dogma to obey.

 

[Bingy man]

Yes - until I obtained that Veritas sharpening thingy with various add-ons. Now all me edges are lovely-sharp, with miniscule micro-bevels that may be maintained in a few seconds.

Could I, a cack-hand, ever become just as good at sharpening freehand? No - I have 27 other hobbies that mean very simple procedures requiring a lot of practice - enough to get the body-memory - are not attractive. Mind, I seem to have spent into the thousand hours knifing at things in the last year ..... but that's because I like knifing things into existence so much. I'm getting better - but have observed other knifers 10X better. They must have done that 10,000 hours, eh?

**********
There is this issue for amateurs: some procedures do take a lot of practice to learn and establish, especially those involving finely-tuned body and muscle-motor skills. Amateurs often don't have that time whereas professionals do as they perform them all day long for their living.

Another point - if a jig speeds up the acquisition of an ability to do something, is that a sin? If so, we better all make the backs of our chisels wonky so as to obtain the skill to use an edge without the jigging of the flat back. In fact, we'd better dispense with that metal stuff and return to the stone!

Alternatively, we could, in our various ways, adopt different methods to achieve the same thing and all be happy woodworkers despite the lack of a dogma to obey.

Must admit my sharpening improved overnight with the arrival of my veritas guide , I keep all my chisels and blade irons in good condition and usually sharpen any that have been used . Occasionally I don’t have the time so I may end up with several that need attention. 1 small table , the jig and fire up Netflix and we’re off , it doesn’t take long per chisel unless I’ve got a bad nick and even then the higher grits soon get it back. Life is too short so I use this method as it suits me , weired how most of us use modern day power tools and machines without a thought of the much older and traditional methods of achieving the same results.

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

Must admit my sharpening improved overnight with the arrival of my veritas guide.......

Improved with respect to? Freehand or a different type of jig?
Martin

 

[jcassidy]

I will admit to having purchased a sharpening jig but the darn thing takes longer to set up at the exact angle than it does to just sharpen the chisel. I only use it nowadays when I need to go really hard on a really course stone for a really blunt tool which I suspect if the OP problem. In other words, the sort of job better skilled folks would use a grinding wheel for.

 

[Inspector]

The Op hasn't been around for the last 3 or 4 days. It isn't all that important to him so why does this rehash of past threads saying exactly the same thing compel so many to keep on?

Pete

 

[Jacob]

I will admit to having purchased a sharpening jig but the darn thing takes longer to set up at the exact angle than it does to just sharpen the chisel. I only use it nowadays when I need to go really hard on a really course stone for a really blunt tool which I suspect if the OP problem. In other words, the sort of job better skilled folks would use a grinding wheel for.

Or if you haven't got one, a bit of a holding device such as a length of 2x1" with a saw kerf in it. I found it quite possible to grind (completely reshape) a thick 2 1/2" wide old woody plane blade, with this, on a coarse oilstone. Gives you max pressure and speed on a coarse stone. Might take half an hour but then you only need to do it once if you follow with routine sharpening "a little and often".
At the other end of the scale a similar scrap of wood with a saw kerf is ideal for holding a spokeshave blade and freehand sharpening it.

 

[--Tom--]

The Op hasn't been around for the last 3 or 4 days. It isn't all that important to him so why does this rehash of past threads saying exactly the same thing compel so many to keep on?

Pete

Because barely anyone posts any woodworking or other workshop projects anymore so it’s threads like these that give people something to engage on.

I’ll admit to not posting many projects, but since taking on a new job I’ve had really limited workshop time- and putting casters on workbenches and dx to make them easier to move around isn’t really prime time

 

[Jacob]

The Op hasn't been around for the last 3 or 4 days. It isn't all that important to him so why does this rehash of past threads saying exactly the same thing compel so many to keep on?

Pete

Because people don't refer back to old threads and for many it's a completely unknown territory.
Anyway it's good practice to keep going over things and refining them: work in progress!

 

[RobNichols]

Should I sharpen with my left hand or my right .... just thought this thread could do with another couple of pages of input.

 

[robgul]

This is getting like a cycle forum I'm on that discusses the wearing of helmets endlessly!

 

[Eshmiel]

Should I sharpen with my left hand or my right .... just thought this thread could do with another couple of pages of input.

Two pages? I propose at least five.

As to the hands to use - I employ both ..... at the same time. If I had a third hand (a real one, not them clasper things) I would use that too. Some drive with one hand and no eyes, the fools. I won't emulate such a mode when involved with dangerous gubbin. Sharpening with only one hand risks losing a chunk of flesh, perhaps even a whole hand! That would be the start of a (literally) bluddy slippery slope, eh?

Do folk sharpen whilst on the phone, as they do when driving?

There's probably someone out there who can sharpen with their feet - perhaps one who played wild & loose with table saws as well as sharpening those wicked edges one-handed; and so had to learn the foot sharpening holds as a matter of necessity.

 

[Eshmiel]

This is getting like a cycle forum I'm on that discusses the wearing of helmets endlessly!

Good one! Should we wear helmets when in the wood shed?

Some will suggest this just makes us look like something nasty whilst others will indicate their weird woodturning hat&visor with a large respirator a-dangle, swearing that, "It saved my life" to anyone who will listen and agree. (The agreement will be very important to them, whilst disagreement will induce an apoplexy or a huff).

Yes, I have seen the cycling helmet wars too.

 

[Inspector]

Sharpening with only one hand risks losing a chunk of flesh, perhaps even a whole hand!

Eshmiel you don't wood turn do you? If you did you would touch up the edges of your gouges with one hand holding the tool more or less vertical, braced against the lathe bed or a bench, using your other hand holding a slip to sharpen the edge. I recently got a 6mm CBN rod and a CBN slip as they work better on the HSS and exotic steels good turning tools are made of. My nod to a non traditional sharpening method.

Pete

 

[Bingy man]

Improved with respect to? Freehand or a different type of jig?
Martin

My previous attempts at sharpening by hand were never successful. I had a cheap Stanley honing guide which was ok but the set up was hit and miss as you had to line up the edge of the chisel with a plastic line one at 25 and the other at 30 deg . So the veritas gives you exact settings of multiple angles depending on what you are sharpening or if you are working with a difficult wood grain .. so for me it’s the simple set up and the consistent results. I don’t have to worry about super expensive diamond stones , or Japanese water stones. Just a couple of flat porcelain tiles and a few adhesive sheets of various grades . Cheap , doesn’t take up any valuable space but most of all I’m confident of achieving a good sharp edge ..

 

[TRITON]

The whole anti-jig thing is clearly elitist claptrap, 99% of it from amateurs.

This is getting like a cycle forum I'm on that discusses the wearing of helmets endlessly!

RoadCC, STW or RetroBike ?

I'll hazard a guess its RoadCC, as on STW they argue more about politics and retrobike its whether cantis or discs are better

 

[Eshmiel]

Sharpening with only one hand risks losing a chunk of flesh, perhaps even a whole hand!

Eshmiel you don't wood turn do you? If you did you would touch up the edges of your gouges with one hand holding the tool more or less vertical, braced against the lathe bed or a bench, using your other hand holding a slip to sharpen the edge. I recently got a 6mm CBN rod and a CBN slip as they work better on the HSS and exotic steels good turning tools are made of. My nod to a non traditional sharpening method.

Pete

I declare you a two-handed sharpener-honer. There may be a badge to wear proudly on the breast at woodworking shows!

Once I had and used a lathe (only to make furniture round parts and tooly things like mallets) but had to sell it with all the associated gubbins when moving house, to one with a much smaller shed. I miss its utility for all those little things like door knobs and the aforementioned tooly stuff with a rounded part. One day I may have a shed rejig to allow a lathe in, probably letting go some other large item to make room. I could foresee a day when bowl turning emerges from my current obsession with greenwood stuff, including the carved-out bowls.

 

[Jacob]

The whole anti-jig thing is clearly elitist claptrap, 99% of it from amateurs.

Exactly the opposite in my experience.
I've been at it for nearly 70 years one way or another, including training in hand work joinery, and living by it with machines and a lot of handwork. The jig thing came along loud and strong in the 80s, although they'd been around for a long time, as "aids for the gentleman woodworker" of beginner/amateur etc.
I went that way myself and hit all the usual probs, but put up with them, as the logic of modern sharpening is very tempting.
But when I put my mind to it, fairly late on, I rediscovered freehand sharpening, with an almost road to damascus sort of feeling! Fast, easy, cheap, and very sharp at last!
I think it's changing gradually; I used to get a lot of abuse and sarcasm, as an eccentric traditionalist etc. More and more of us are coming out of the woodwork, but the stream of struggling modern sharpeners hasn't yet diminished, this thread being a typical example!
n.b. two handed - the whole idea is to use as much force and control as you can muster.

 

[Eshmiel]

Exactly the opposite in my experience.
I've been at it for nearly 70 years one way or another, including training in hand work joinery, and living by it with machines and a lot of handwork. The jig thing came along loud and strong in the 80s, although they'd been around for a long time, as "aids for the gentleman woodworker" of beginner/amateur etc.
I went that way myself and hit all the usual probs, but put up with them, as the logic of modern sharpening is very tempting.
But when I put my mind to it, fairly late on, I rediscovered freehand sharpening, with an almost road to damascus sort of feeling! Fast, easy, cheap, and very sharp at last!
I think it's changing gradually; I used to get a lot of abuse and sarcasm, as an eccentric traditionalist etc. More and more of us are coming out of the woodwork, but the stream of struggling modern sharpeners hasn't yet diminished, this thread being a typical example!
n.b. two handed - the whole idea is to use as much force and control as you can muster.

Only 70 years to master the hand sharpening! It seems the obvious course to take, then (if one is just five years old at the moment).

I know - more bluddy sarcasm.

It is tempting to dismiss the jig-aided sharpening as nowt but a marketing exercise, which in great part it is; also because one might have mastered the hand sharpening (perhaps even in less than 70 years) oneself and so come to believe that it should be as easy for others to do so.

Buy why not allow that there can be many roads to Damascus, with different blinding lights of realisation about how the traveller might best sharpen things themselves? There's no particular virtue in seeking and cleaving to a mode that goes against one's nature, just because there's a group of adherents intent and insistent on converting the whole of humanity to their own preferred modes of life and doings therein.

On the other hand, why not put aside the jig for a bit and try the hand sharpening? It can be instructive albeit about one's personal physicality rather than as a successful mode of sharpening. But it could lead to that "fast, easy, cheap" that you mention.