Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 19
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Hobart, Tas
    Posts
    1,211

    Default Let the games begin - a sharpening novice's adventure

    For my birthday this year, my wife and kids gave me a couple of diamond sharpening plates (DMT course and super fine), and will compliment them with a Shapton water stone or some such for finishing.

    To date my cabinet maker neighbour has helped me sharpen my tools, so am looking forward to skilling myself up.

    Anyway, my plates arrived today, so with much enthusiasm I disappeared into the shed to replicate what I've read about here, and watched people on YouTube do. Only it didn't quite go to plan.

    To start off, I thought I'd best practice with my small cheep block plane. The blade was in pretty bad shape, so I wasn't concerned if I botched it up. In hindsight I should have given it (or more accurately tried to give it) a nice fresh hollow grind so that I was starting from a good foundation, rather than leave the rough convex edge... but I wanted to sharpen, not grind!

    A half hour later, after testing out the plane and before going back inside to cook dinner, I found myself cleaning blood off the bench, diamond plates, my plane and just about everything else I'd touched while in the shed. The rag looks like someone cleaned up after a murder. Aughhhh.

    How did that happen you may ask? Like I said earlier, my first sharpening foray didn't go quite as expected. You see I'm determined to learn to sharpen freehand. In trying to hold a steady angle, I figured I'd use my fingers as a guide/spacer to support the back of the blade over the plate, sliding my fingers over the stone as I went back and forth. Even the course stone felt relatively smooth to the touch, what could possibly go wrong. As is always the case when you're having fun, the discomfort of injury doesn't register till it's well advanced. In my case it took seeing copious amounts of red liquid mixing with the water on the plate to stop and investigate. Yep, I'd diamond ground three finger tips and knuckles down to the meat, and they wouldn't stop bleading.

    What about my progress? My goal was to get the burr on the opposite edge from each plate. I managed with the course stone, but despite lots of trying, I couldn't raise a burr with the super fine stone (I had to stop due to all the blood). I guess I just wasn't getting the blade angle consistent enough. This wasn't helped by the convex profile of the edge.

    My next outing will see me put a fresh hollow grind on the blade, and try again. Hopefully having a better reference edge will help with maintaining a consistent angle.

    Oh, and my skinless knuckles are really stinging!


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  2. # ADS
    Google Adsense Advertisement
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Posts
    Many





     
  3. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    McBride BC Canada
    Posts
    3,543

    Default

    Keep it up and you will look like Michelangelo's Venus.

    Try this instead:
    Let's suppose that you want a total included bevel angle of 30 degrees. Draw that on a 5" x 7" stiff card.
    Paint the bevel with black felt marker so you can see what you are doing.
    Stand up.
    Clamp your sharpening stuff parallel and at the edge of the bench.
    Press your forearms to your sides because you sharpen from your knees, not with your arms.
    You are the jig.
    Elevate the blade to match your drawing of the angle.

    Pull stroke from your knees. Stop and lift. Back to the start. Down and pull again.

    (Never pull with your arms because at the end of a pull, you will lift your elbows and round off the bevel face.)
    Watch the felt marker. Repaint lots of times to watch progress.

    Go to finer media grit. Work your way up through the grits.
    I take my wood carving edges (when I have to) from 600/800/1000/1200/1500.
    Then hone on a junk box card strop with CrOx/AlOx.

    Leonard Lee has enough scanning electron microscope pictures to show that any more effort does not improve the edge.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Bundaberg
    Age
    54
    Posts
    3,402

    Default

    Ow!

    There's no shame in using a honing guide; thin blades used on Bailey pattern planes are quite difficult to consistently sharpen freehand until you have gained a lot of experience and the "muscle memory" that goes with it. Thicker blades are much easier to hone freehand. My personal view is that I would rather use a guide which gives consistent, repeatable results rather than risk dubbing over a previously sharp edge.

    Derek Cohern has recently posted a new piece on sharpening strategies HERE, an interesting read; he is a freehand sharpener BTW
    Nothing succeeds like a budgie without a beak.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Albury Well Just Outside
    Posts
    13,315

    Default

    I suspect that you might not have been paying attention to what you were doing. That's easy to do when something is repetitive.

    Think of it this way, if you were cutting the same parts on the table saw your attention would be heightened if you let your focus wonder your changes of having a serious injury increases. So you keep on cutting and keep yourself focused. This is no different when you hand sharpen, at first it will require greater attention then after a while your muscle memory will kick in and it becomes easier and your focus will still be on the task at hand(pun).

    From my personally perspective I used to hand sharpen at school(30 years ago), now days I use a jig to secure the blade and go through the grits. Of course there are those times that I want to just touch up the blade and so give it a quick sharpen by hand.

    Next time no more blood to lubricate the stones. It dries very quickly and sticky.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Hobart, Tas
    Posts
    1,211

    Default

    @Robson Valley, that's great advice! I had considered the guide to allow myself to frequently reference my angle. I can't recall who I saw doing that but thought it was a great idea.

    I did also notice that it was very hard to keep a constant angle towards the end of the stroke. The "arms to your sides" makes a lot of sense.

    I am interested in the "pull only" that you suggested. Is that for learning, or for always. I thought the generally accepted technique was to push and pull.

    @Chief Tiff, I can assure you, my desire to learn free hand isn't a pride issue. I just assume it's an acquired skill that should I put enough time in, I'll get it. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment when achieving a new skill or level of knowledge. At this stage it's another part of the hobby that makes me happy as an enjoyable challenge. If it becomes a source of stress and frustration, I'll re-evaluate.

    I did consider that a lot of newer blares are MUCH thicker. I'm sure it would make getting the reference edge easier when starting out. Alas, I have what I have, and it'll have to do.

    Oh, and yes, I had already read that piece from Derek.

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Hobart, Tas
    Posts
    1,211

    Default

    @Christos, I think it was a combination of concentrating too much on one aspect (my angle, and was I applying even pressure across the blade width) that everything else faded into the background of my consciousness

    Lesson learned, I can assure you. Oh how I cringed when the hot water of the shower hit the raw tips of my fingers this morning!

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Bundaberg
    Age
    54
    Posts
    3,402

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Xfigio View Post
    I enjoy the sense of accomplishment when achieving a new skill or level of knowledge. At this stage it's another part of the hobby that makes me happy as an enjoyable challenge.
    The perfect mindset to have!
    Nothing succeeds like a budgie without a beak.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    McBride BC Canada
    Posts
    3,543

    Default

    I was taught pull strokes only. Ramming a freshly sharpened edge into the grit makes no more sense to me now than it ever did.
    The technique can be extended to every edge in the house.

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Hobart, Tas
    Posts
    1,211

    Default

    I managed some more time in the shed today for a second take. The good news is that it was far more successful today.

    Photo 9-08-2017, 20 16 47.jpg
    Phase one saw me retrieve a bench grinder that's been sitting idle in my parents' garage for many a year (don't worry, I didn't grind on the table saw, that's just where I took the photo). The tool rests it came equipped with were grossly unsatisfactory, in that they were unable to be adjusted to a decent angle, nor were they really large enough to offer a good platform. The benefit was that I got to do some metal work as well. After a bit of chopping, grinding and welding, I attached my slightly less unsatisfactory tool rest to what appeared to be the finer grit wheel on the right. As it is hanging off the original fixture, it's really not very rigid, so will have to figure something else out when I have time. I'm sure Google will offer some ideas I can replicate.

    The wheels are not very flat, so tried unsuccessfully to dress them by grinding a scrap piece of steel. I'll have to figure out how to dress them correctly. To compensate when grinding the blades, I was sure to move back and forth across the wheel, hoping for an even grind.

    For today's exercise, I planned to sharpen my 25mm jobbing chisel which had a nick out of the edge, and re-do the block plane blade. I got a nice even hollow grind on both plane and chisel, so moved across to the plates.

    Photo 9-08-2017, 20 07 01.jpgPhoto 9-08-2017, 20 07 41.jpgPhoto 9-08-2017, 20 10 06.jpg
    As you can see from the photos of both the chisel and plane blade, there's something screwy going on. The hollow grind has effectively been removed in the centre of the blades with course stone, whilst remaining on the edges (the line across the centre of the chisel blade is just the way the light fell in order to show the remaining hollow grind on the edges, and is flat in normal light). Any thoughts on how I managed that, and how to avoid it would be appreciated. Regardless I was very happy with the outcome. Both blades ended up with a lovely even micro bevel from the extra-fine stone. For the micro bevel, I established the angle from the grind, then raised a couple of degrees and pulled my stroke.

    Some observations of the sharpening process.
    - Having the hollow grind as apposed to the convex edge on the plane blade like last time, made it so much easier to feel the correct starting angle for each pull.
    - @"Robson Valley"'s suggestion about locking my elbows to my side and use my knees to move back and forward worked a treat.
    - I know I was supposed to only use pull strokes, but now and again gave a push or two to experiment. I noticed that sometimes the blade would "chatter". My gut feeling was that I wasn't holding the blade firmly enough, but don't really know if that was the reason or not.
    - I've not been able to raise a significant bur. I can feel a rough edge on the back of the blades, but certainly not something large enough to tear off or see with a naked eye. Do I just need to keep going, or does this suggest I'm not maintaining a consistent enough angle?

    Photo 9-08-2017, 20 08 44.jpg
    Using a piece of scrap pine, I was able to make full blade width shavings. The only oddity was that the shavings were always concertinaed on the left side, such that they curved left when laid flat. This was regardless of the edge or direction I planed. Is this an issue with the blade, technique, plane setup or something else entirely?

    Anyway, after today's efforts, I'm really pleased. I think I'm confident enough to tackle my bench planes next.

    The adventure continues, oh, and no injuries today!

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    McBride BC Canada
    Posts
    3,543

    Default

    Keep it up, you're doing very well. Yes, you sharpen from your knees, not your elbows = your body is the jig.

    A "sharp edge" is a painfully crappy edge when seen in the scanning electron microscope (Leonard Lee's book).
    I can understand "more crappy" and "less crappy" to explain the texture of your shavings.
    BUT. How does the wood look? Nice enough for an exposed furniture surface?

    Use lots of black felt marker. That's the only way to watch the true action where the blade meets the stone.
    The "wire edge" is an indicator that you have run your sharpening process out over the edge of the blade.
    A 10X magnifier (watch your nose!) and black felt marker tells me the same thing.

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Albury Well Just Outside
    Posts
    13,315

    Default

    Well done on getting a consistent edge along the length of the blades.

    At a guess you might be pressing down a little too much in the middle part of the blade and it flexes enough to clean up that section first. Personally I don't think it matters as the main thing is to get the full width of the blade cleaned from the grinding marks. You have achieved this by the removal of the black mark.

    Then tested it by producing a shaving and as mention above how is the surface after the shaving has been come off.

  13. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Bundaberg
    Age
    54
    Posts
    3,402

    Default

    I prefer single diamond dressers for truing up grinding wheels; but HERE is a selection of different types available cheaply.

    THIS is a universal tool rest available from Timbecon (I have two of the older model which had a protractor type guide). The sliding section can hold a diamond dressing tool to true up the wheels; at which point you can swap it out for a blade and grind straight across the edge. There are also plans available online for making your own; HERE are some examples.

    I would say that the reason you got that "screwy" grind on the plane iron was because you ground a very slight camber on the edge; this is really easy to do when you are grinding freehand.

    And lastly I would say that your concertinaed shavings are caused by one of two things: either the iron is very slightly canted in the plane and digging in further on one side; or the timber itself has very dense grain at one side and not the other. Try flipping the timber around or swapping it for a different piece, if it continues to curl to the same side then it's the plane set-up.
    Nothing succeeds like a budgie without a beak.

  14. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    McBride BC Canada
    Posts
    3,543

    Default

    Since the timber and direction didn't matter, must be the blade grind.
    To me, the shavings are of less importance than the appearance of the dressed (undressed?) timber pieces.

    Bound to be 101 different ways to sharpen edges. What I do is what a full-time professional carver taught me.
    It took time to learn with many moments of frustration. The black felt marker is the best eye-ball tell-tale there is.
    Mind you, I don't quite have 20 years yet, doing that.

    Some day, take a look at the adzes and the crooked knives which are the traditional wood carving tools
    of the artists in our Pacific Northwest. I use those, I adapt other blades for that.
    The freehand sharpening is reversed = the blade is stationary and the abrasive moves.
    Once again, the black marker is a big help.

    I've got to the point that I can tune up a double edged Haida crooked knife blade over my knee with one hand.
    All I learned is that it's very important to practice just for the Hello of it. The skill gets rusty.

  15. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Hobart, Tas
    Posts
    1,211

    Default

    Thanks for the responses. Several of you asked about the finish on the timber I was planing. It was very smooth. I'd be happy having that as the final finish and not needing to sand. I say that with one reservation. I was getting transition lines, where the edge of the blade left a line. I remembered that I was supposed to "feather" the edges as the very last step when I noticed this, but am aware of how to fix it so that's ok.

    @"Robson Valley", I was indeed using plenty of black marker (which you can see the remnant of on the plane blade photo. The only down side of needing to visually check, is that I now need to wear my glasses in the shed. I think I'll just have to resign myself to the fact that age does indeed have ramifications that can't forever be ignored.

    @"Chief Tiff" Thanks for the links. That universal tool rest you lined too, well at under $50, I don't think I'll bother making something myself. The Pinterest board was a great link too!

  16. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    McBride BC Canada
    Posts
    3,543

    Default

    Takes a while to learn. I still experience failures. The most common cause is that I quit too soon.
    The steel is hard and that may be unexpected. Need to grind away at it 2X longer than imagined.
    I've got a little geologist's 10X magnifier for inspections so I can leave my glasses on the bench (somewhere!)

    I have a Stanley Bailey #5 and some spokeshaves that I no longer need to use even once a month.
    I saw that corner "dig-in" business so I stoned off the blade corners. If I had a choice, I don't know what it is.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Start fresh or begin used?
    By Devery in forum BANDSAWS
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 20th May 2012, 11:16 PM
  2. Let the renovations begin
    By gtyess in forum G'day mate - THE WELCOME WAGON -Introduce yourself
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 25th July 2011, 09:08 PM
  3. Tip Before You Begin Your Outdoor Projects..
    By call811beforeyo in forum FLOORING, DECKING, STUMPS, etc.
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 13th May 2008, 07:08 PM
  4. Where to begin?
    By SteveGuitarist in forum MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 10th May 2008, 06:14 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •