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

[gettingold]

I have my grandads old stanley chisels with plastic handles but I cannot get them sharp with a 1000 / 1200 diamond stone so I'm thinking of buying chisels with a softer steel so can someone recommend a brand to buy. If I do buy chisels with softer steel should I buy waterstones to sharpen them because you never see anyone on youtube with expensive chisels using diamond stones.

 

[johnnyb]

I'm not sure what you mean by this tbh. Are you saying your struggling to sharpen your grandads chisels? Those Stanley's are pretty decent chisels neither to hard nor to soft. They might be a struggle to sort out using just an oilstone if there battered maybe find someone with a grinder.

 

[johnnyb]

I like diamond stones as there flat and generally easy to use. Waterstones are OK as well but more trouble and mess(and expense)

 

[Katomi woodsmith]

Well if you are going to bin them I have a bin here

 

[robgul]

I've just been sharpening my Stanley plastic handle chisels (set of 4, vintage 1969) having not used them for ages - no problem with diamond stones and a guide.

 

[deema]

Diamond is the hardest material, unless they are diamond blades, they will sharpen with a diamond stones. A 1K grit stone isn’t going to be taking off much material, so I’m guessing they are very blunt.

 

[Jacob]

Old chisels not likely to be especially hard. Easiest to sharpen freehand with oilstone. The standard for a beginner is the Norton IB8 or similar, double sided coarse and medium, all you need for almost all purposes
Don't fiddle with jigs, water-stones and other paraphernalia they're just for enthusiasts (there's a lot of them about! ).
The key thing is to bring up a burr then turn face down and take it off.
Also - don't wait until they are blunt, touch them up at regular intervals whilst in use. A little and often. Should be as sharp or sharper when you finish the job, as they were at the start. Not unlike sharpening a pencil if you were drawing a lot, and about as difficult.
PS are they the black handled 5001s? They are top of the range chisels. Laminated I think .

 

[Jameshow]

Could you not find a local carpenter or mens shed who will give them that initial sharpen and let you practice and then go one and use?

 

[Cabinetman]

it’s as @Jacob says, the problem is you are trying to rub metal away with something with no bite, like Jacob all I’ve ever used is the Norton combination stone he describes.
The Stanley chisels are perfectly good enough for anything I’ve ever wanted to make in more than half a Century of furniture making.
Ian

 

[MarkAW]

The problem sounds like you're using very fine stones, so they are not removing much material. You need to start with a courser grit (lower number) to remove material faster. Especially so if they are very blunt. Then work up to a finer stone like 1000

 

[robgul]

Could you not find a local carpenter or mens shed who will give them that initial sharpen and let you practice and then go one and use?

That was, sort of, my go-to - my late father-in-law was the "woodwork master" at public school and he used to sharpen tools for me - what I should have done is to have had him teach me.

 

[JSW]

The key thing is to bring up a burr then turn face down and take it off.

This ^^
Lost track of the number of times I've tried to show someone how to sharpen a chisel or plane blade, once it get's to the part about raising the burr and removing it, their eyes glaze over and that "just nod and smile .." look comes over them, and THAT is the key part to sharpening. No burr, no sharp.

 

[Fergie 307]

My thoughts would be that a harder steel is preferable anyway. Will take a sharper edge, albeit with a little more work, and keep it's edge much longer.

 

[jetsetwilly]

Let’s have a photo of your chisels then OP - once we can see what state they’re in we’ll have N-1 opinions on how to get them sharp, where N is the number of forum members…

(Why the -1? Because Ian agreed with Jacob)

 

[AJBaker]

1. Old Stanley chisel steel isn't super hard, it's made to even be sharpened with normal oilstones.
2. A diamond plate can harden ANY steel, including the very hardest.
3. 1000 grit is rather fine. I use diamond stones, I start with something like 300 until I raise a burr, then 1000 to get it smooth and finally a strop to polish it. You cant start at 1000 unless the edge is already close to being sharp. If you're restoring old chisels you'll want to start with rough stones ir even a grinding wheel.

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

I have a set of Stanley chisels in fact that's all I've eve had. They have a black handle with a yellow ring. I use to use two Norton oil stones, a coarse and a fine, until I'd worn a hollow into them: must flatten them sometime. I now use 300, 600 and 1200 grit diamond stones and never have any issues getting a good sharp edge. I find the chisels are hard enough to maintain the edge for quite a while. I'd keep them and get some coarser stones as has been suggested by others and lean how to sharpen. Much more cost effective.

 

[Amplidyne]

The old Stanley chisels will be exactly the right hardness, and probably better steel than any modern ones, which TBH, I've found not that good from most brands unless you pay a lot.

No sarcasm intended, but you have a diamond stone, they should sharpen easily. You have to learn to do it properly that's all.
As already said, forget the jigs, guides, and gizmos, just get somebody to show you how to do it. Chisels were sharpened for hundreds, if not thousands of years without such aids.

 

[hlvd]

There’s nothing wrong with those Stanley chisels, especially if they’re the black-handled polished steel variety.

All you need to do is refine your technique and make sure you get a burr, and you’ll be good to go.

 

[--Tom--]

Whereabouts in Wales are you? If anywhere near Cardiff you’d be welcome to come round and we could get them sharpened up