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

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@gettingold just a thought for what it's worth. Presumably your grandad has previously sharpened the chisels so the angle may be slightly, or more, out. If you are using a guide (I know many eschew a guide) set to the correct angle then the fine stones you're using may not be working on the edge. Try putting some magic marker on the surface you're grinding away to see where metal is being removed. BTW the angle is not set in stone so should you need to just adjust it a small amount so you are working on the edge. As others have said grind until you work up a wire edge, turn the chisel over and a couple of quick wipes over the stone to pull the wire out flat, turn over and repeat until the wire detaches. Move onto the finer stone and repeat. That's sharp enough. Don't need any of this scary sharp rubbish (OMG I'm almost agreeing with Jacob) unless you're into my tool is sharper than yours.
Please let us all know how you're getting on.
Martin
 
Not so much "eschewed" i.e. deliberately avoided, it's just that it's much easier without a jig, once you've got it.
Ah, but it's the 'once you've got it' bit that's easier to come by for some than it is for others! 😊 Although I promise myself that I'll 'get it' if I try hard enough for long enough I still fall back on my old Eclipse jig from time to time.
 
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.
... sharpen ANY steel ... ?
 
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.
As others has said the quality of these is superior to present day English chisels.

Do purchase a new stone/diamond plate of 200 or 400 grit or even one of the multi grit sharpening blocks and a Horning guide.

Then follow

Once you have completed the grind (the first 25° angle) on the coarse stone to get an almost complete face to the cutting edge* then change to the honing angle (30°) on a finer stone and then 'raise the wire' (burr) on the back; then hone the 'wire' off by pressing the blade back flat to the stone - use a figure of 8 motion. If you raise the blade back away from the stone you will not get an accurate sharp cut.
*The only time you should need to grind completely to the cutting edge is when the cutting edge is not square to the sides of the tool.
 
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... sharpen ANY steel ... ?
You're right, I meant to say "sharpen".

As far as I know, a diamond plate is harder than any tool steel and can theoretically sharpen any type of steel.
I haven't tested it myself, but as far as I'm aware you can even sharpen carbide bits with diamond plates.
 
As far as I know, a diamond plate is harder than any tool steel and can theoretically sharpen any type of steel.
I haven't tested it myself, but as far as I'm aware you can even sharpen carbide bits with diamond plates.
Quite right. One sharpens router bits and other TCT items with diamond. However ....

It's not easy to find a genuinely effective very fine diamond sharpening plate. I have a DMT 10,000 grit plate which will sharpen beyond the 1200 plate but not as well as will low micron 3M "papers" on glass, of similar "grit". Also, many diamond plates of the less expensive kind have very poor control of the grit size; and of its stickiness to the plate; and of both the cutting and wear rate (from inferior shapes/types of diamond dust).

A good quality rough grit (320 or 400) can shift metal quickly, though, even by hand.

They're expensive an' all. 3M "papers" on float glass is very inexpensive, easy to manage and very effective.
 
Like others have said - it depends what condition they are in -if in good condition but blunt wether your using a guide or doing it freehand ( I use a jig ) then a few strokes should bring the edge back - again as others have said you have to keep going untill you can feel the burr on the edge of your chisel before proceeding to a finer grade . On the other hand if they are badly damaged, chipped Rounded over etc then they will likely need to be brought back with a grinder of one type or another . There maybe a local company near you that can do this at a small cost per chisel. If you are completely new to woodworking then it can take a few attempts to get it right . Finally a brand new set of chisels will likely need honing to bring them upto a decent cutting standard ..
 
As others has said the quality of these is superior to present day English chisels.

Do purchase a new stone/diamond plate or even one of the multi grit sharpening blocks and a Horning guide.

Then follow

Once you have completed the grind (the first 25° angle) to get an almost complete face to the cutting edge* then change to the honing angle (30°) and then 'raise the wire' (burr) on the back; then hone the 'wire' off by pressing the blade back flat to the stone - use a figure of 8 motion. If you raise the blade back away from the stone you will not get an accurate sharp cut.
*The only time you should need to grind completely to the cutting edge is when the cutting edge is not square to the sides of the tool.

Wow your playing dangerously close you the dragon Jacobs lair!!!🤣
 
Like others have said - it depends what condition they are in -if in good condition but blunt wether your using a guide or doing it freehand ( I use a jig ) then a few strokes should bring the edge back - again as others have said you have to keep going untill you can feel the burr on the edge of your chisel before proceeding to a finer grade .
More that; you should perhaps not keep going too long, but go to a coarser stone instead.
On the other hand if they are badly damaged, chipped Rounded over etc then they will likely need to be brought back with a grinder of one type or another .
The occasional nick won't matter but will be removed after a few sharpenings in the normal way.
.... If you are completely new to woodworking then it can take a few attempts to get it right .
yep, as with everything else if you are new to it.
Finally a brand new set of chisels will likely need honing to bring them upto a decent cutting standard ..
Usually never easier to sharpen than when they are brand new. They are usually ground to 25º with a clean straight edge and also tend to be slightly hollow on the face, in my experience. As such they just need a quick hone on a medium to fine stone and you are off. Hone the bevel, bring up a burr on the face, turn and take it off. Repeat a few times gently.
Modern sharpening dogma tells you exactly the opposite; that they need "prepping", flattening, polishing etc. There have been posts were beginners have set about "flattening" the faces of a whole set of brand new expensive chisels, and got somewhat stressed in the process!
 
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.
Definitely don't bin them, you will be able to sharpen them.
You don't say if you have any experience of sharpening. In general, it isn't all that difficult and many of the answers will be a 'do it this way' or 'do it that way' but if you are new to this then you will need to settle on your own way of doing things. I tend to use several different methods depending on how I'm feeling at the time but the point is they all work. You don't say what you mean by 'cannot get them sharp', is it that it seems to be taking an age to get sharp? Probably, as others have said, you need to use a coarser stone or even some coarse wet and dry stuck down to a piece of mdf before moving on to the 1000 grit.
Whereabouts in Wales are you? There may be someone close by that can help. There was another thread here recently where just this sort of thing happened.
 
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! :rolleyes:).
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 .
I quite agree although I would add that some of the wooden handled chisels I have stay sharper longer than my stanley chisels so would seem harder, still not hard to sarpen though.

I use an oil stone (two sided) and lots of old stanley, Marples, Footprint etc chisels and find the oil stone brings a nicer finish then my dimond stones. Use a thin oil or if youn have no thin oil dilute it with some white spirit or petrol. I find WD40 is a good oil to use.
 
Wow your playing dangerously close you the dragon Jacobs lair!!!🤣
Well I'm a Dragon as well (the year of the Dragon has just ended) so that doesn't worry me.

On the whole I agree with Jacob in this case - there is a lot of rubbish spoke about with sharpening edge tools. If like him and my father (a time -served C&J) who was taught to sharpen freehand then all well and good. He (tried!) taught me over the years to sharpen edge tools - I can make it work but I really don't do enough to keep my hand and eye in to be sufficiently confident. Even he supported me in using a honing guide - I've even seen him use one on the odd occasion.

I recent years I've spent quite a lot of time (Lunch times) sharpening others tools - keeps me in beer at least. But...

As with most things it is practise and continual use of the skill to sharpen freehand.

I'd say for a learner a 400 grit stone is about as fine as needs to be. A 1000 grit for most is good for kitchen tools or very fine and accurate woodwork.

I use a Combo Block (200/300/400/600) when out and about; the 'stone' I use the most in the workshop is 400/1000 plate mainly cause I have a set of fine working tools only used in there. I also have an expensive (£55+) 1000 grit plate that nowadays get used for kitchen knives.
 
Even better - a Norton India stone, or other similar, will have consistent grit size and last for life.
Don't you need an expensive rough diamond plate that's very flat to grind the dish out o' them India stones after they've sharpened a couple of chisels? Just askin'. :)
 

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