Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 31 to 45 of 46
  1. #31
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    toronto, canada
    Posts
    61

    Default

    Some of us need a cane to walk. Nothing. Wrong with that. I was fearful , I started with a jig. One day I acquired 20 carving chisels. Next morning, took a deep breath and sharpened them freehand. Mind you, they were about 150 years old... man, and it worked. And it was faster - and better ! Since than I don't need a cane. I can walk. Take. A deep breath.

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





     
  3. #32
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Central Coast NSW Australia
    Posts
    1,136

    Default

    It's interesting that some people see a sharpening jig as a fiddly thing that is a time thief. Others see it as a necessary evil. I love mine. It takes about 15 to 30 seconds to set up and I can always find it. It's in the sharpening draw on one of my benches. In time I may graduate to hand sharpening but am not too worried. I gotta admit I spent over $100.00 on my jig so have some emotional investment in it
    Getting good at sharpening does not make a person a better or even more efficient woodworker. It's how they use their newly sharpened tool that does it.
    Just to diverge, I am still trying to saw a straight line with a variety of saws and find it difficult. My dove tails suck at a lot of levels, but I wont use a saw jig. I think it's because I can see the saw line and find it easy to adjust the saw as I wander. I can't see the point of contact with the chisel and the stone so wonder if this is the basis of my jig preference.

    TT
    Learning to make big bits of wood smaller......

  4. #33
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Sth Gippsland Vic
    Posts
    4,355

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Twisted Tenon View Post

    Getting good at sharpening does not make a person a better or even more efficient woodworker. It's how they use their newly sharpened tool that does it.


    TT
    Your baiting us , right ???

    Getting good within a reasonable amount of time means you keep your job for plenty of young guys I've met.

  5. #34
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    McBride BC Canada
    Posts
    3,543

    Default

    Getting good at sharpening has made me a better wood carver.
    I've got the confidence to expect my tools to cut as I imagine they will.
    I can fix them quickly when there's damage.
    I've got the confidence to go exploring into the crooked knives and adze designs
    of the Pacific Northwest native carving community.

    I've still got the ignorance not to stop and consider the run-out path of an edge
    to get whacked by a tool from time to time. At least, it 's always a very clean cut.

  6. #35
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Central Coast NSW Australia
    Posts
    1,136

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by auscab View Post
    Your baiting us , right ???

    Getting good within a reasonable amount of time means you keep your job for plenty of young guys I've met.

    Nup not at all A lot of wood workers on this forum have stated over the years that they don't/wont sharpen their own saws. Doesn't seem to affect their work. In fact it gives them more time to do other stuff. I guess if you see the preparation of the tool as an essential part being a good wood worker then I could stand corrected. The master painters and sculpture's of the past used their apprentices to mix their paints and rough in their work before they took over. Of course they probably did their own apprenticeship before that.

    I sharpen my own chisels, I just use a jig. I have the confidence that that tool I use is sharp, and applying that sharpened tool to the wood is where I'll improve.

    TT
    Learning to make big bits of wood smaller......

  7. #36
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Armadale Perth WA
    Age
    54
    Posts
    4,524

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by auscab View Post
    Your baiting us , right ???
    I'm sure the intention was ...
    "Getting good at sharpening does not make a person a better or even more efficient **amateur** woodworker"

    I find it surprising given the amazing amount of sharing and generosity and goodwill that you see all the time in these forums that there such a lot of judgement here about this jig issue.

    I *like* hand sharpening ... right from the beginning there was a classic website that I now can never think of when I want to ... about oilstones and stropping on leather and/or the palm of your hand ... and I always wanted to do that.

    They also wrote about "not being able to see light reflecting off the edge" and for ages I didn't really get that line ... until I think I watched something on sharpening carving tools and finally *ding*. That was a huge help in getting good results.

    But we all want to do different things. I'd be happy to spend 30 minutes chopping out a 1/2"x2"x1" mortice just to do it, because the first time it worked out well was magic. Other people want to get done building something already.
    And other people are oriented less to the hand-tools than most of the people reading here.

    Each to their own - we all agree it's a cool skill - but I think we can be more supportive of everyone.

    Cheers,
    Paul

  8. #37
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Brisbane (western suburbs)
    Age
    77
    Posts
    12,093

    Default

    Well, I can easily see where Rob is coming from. It's been stated several times in this thread that if you are earning your living with your tools, efficiency is important. You need your tools ready to work & be able to keep them working, with minimum downtime - that would have to classify as a 'no brainer', I think. For a weekend warrior, of course it's not really all that important, so if you are a 'process' person, and sharpen for the sheer joy of it, well, why not string the process out as much as you can, eh?

    There does seem to be a bit of a generational divide, here. People of my vintage grew up just doing the best we could with the limited tools we had. Things like sharpening jigs were very low on my priority list, in fact I didn't know such things existed for a very long time, & by the time I did try one, I didn't find it helped me at all. I don't think I was particularly good at any aspect of woodworking to start with, but a long 'apprenticeship' (apprenticed to myself, which wasn't very instructive, much of the time! ), and perseverance got me to a level of skill where I can do most jobs with reasonable speed and accuracy. I was lucky enough to spend some time with older blokes who'd spent a lifetime doing repetitive tasks, & saw what skilled hands can do, so I have goals that I know are achievable. Well, maybe, someday.....

    Chers,
    IW

  9. #38
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Sth Gippsland Vic
    Posts
    4,355

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by pmcgee View Post

    Each to their own - we all agree it's a cool skill - but I think we can be more supportive of everyone.

    Cheers,
    Paul
    I don't want to sound unsupportive or judgmental to what ever people want to use .
    I admit the way I have been approaching this is a little bit on the abrupt side .

    I have always thought of the whole Jig for stones thing as inefficient.
    Ian you sum things up so well

    It's not all that important any way. We all must have fun in our workshops .
    That's about the most important thing.
    I love wasting some big time on all sorts of things , Jigs is one of them, for cutting things.
    My problem is storing them all , and then finding them when I need them

    Rob

  10. #39
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Central Coast NSW Australia
    Posts
    1,136

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by auscab View Post
    It's not all that important any way. We all must have fun in our workshops .
    That's about the most important thing.
    I love wasting some big time on all sorts of things , Jigs is one of them, for cutting things.
    My problem is storing them all , and then finding them when I need them

    Rob
    Agreed Rob
    sometimes the written word takes on a one dimensional aspect and meaning can be lost.
    I get too darn perdanatic sometimes and need a chill pill

    TT
    Learning to make big bits of wood smaller......

  11. #40
    FenceFurniture's Avatar
    FenceFurniture is offline The prize lies beneath - hidden in full view
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    1017m up in Katoomba, NSW
    Posts
    10,648

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by auscab View Post
    Do billiard table makers sell jigs for learning how to use a que to play the game?
    Weee-eeell, they do make jiggers for difficult long shots, and even those at the very highest levels have to use them from time to time.

    Just sayin'
    Regards, FenceFurniture

    COLT DRILLS GROUP BUY
    Jan-Feb 2019 Click to send me an email

  12. #41
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    toronto, canada
    Posts
    61

    Default

    BTW - yesterday I just had to sharpen 2 hatchets, an axe and a froe. of course, freehand. Try that and you will see that any plane blade and chisels are a simple joke. Seriously - I am trying to help you here.

  13. #42
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    925

    Default

    I think that the reason this simple question has drawn so many opinions is that it gets to the heart of why we make stuff. I don't need furniture. If is was simply boxes and tables and cupboards I wanted I could go out and buy them any day. I make things for the pleasure of it and part of that pleasure is the development of skills. (I have been known to go out to the shed and just plane a bit of timber for the fun of it.)

    Now if you have spent the time and effort to develop the fine motor skills required to sharpen tools without the use of any jig it is right and good that you feel well pleased with yourself. Any any upstart like me who even questions whether or not the skill is necessary deserves whatever horrors that can be inflicted upon him. It is nearly as bad as asking a new mother if her baby was really necessary or useful.

    I am suspicious about the arguments made based on time and efficiency. They may be true but I have not tested this. Tomorrow I will conduct a little experiment to see.
    My age is still less than my number of posts

  14. #43
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Seattle, Washington, USA
    Posts
    1,857

    Default

    As if they were reading this thread and "honing in" (get it?) on our commentary about the inability of a honing guide to handle narrow blades... Lee Valley just dropped this:

    http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/pag...68&cat=51&ap=1

    It's a retrofit to the existing Mk2 honing guide that specializes in narrow blades.

    As an American, I never thought I would say this, but... those Canadians are a clever bunch.

  15. #44
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Brisbane (western suburbs)
    Age
    77
    Posts
    12,093

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Luke Maddux View Post
    ... but... those Canadians are a clever bunch....
    AND they have stronger beer!
    IW

  16. #45
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Central Coast NSW Australia
    Posts
    1,136

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Luke Maddux View Post
    As if they were reading this thread and "honing in" (get it?) on our commentary about the inability of a honing guide to handle narrow blades... Lee Valley just dropped this:

    http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/pag...68&cat=51&ap=1

    It's a retrofit to the existing Mk2 honing guide that specializes in narrow blades.

    As an American, I never thought I would say this, but... those Canadians are a clever bunch.
    I had a look at it at the Wood Work show Luke and was frankly unimpressed. About $90.00 I think.
    I've been using my Mk2 on narrow blades with no problems for 12 months now.

    TT
    Learning to make big bits of wood smaller......

Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Sharpening
    By chook in forum WOODWORK - GENERAL
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 21st May 2012, 10:30 PM
  2. Replies: 1
    Last Post: 22nd July 2011, 10:45 PM
  3. Sharpening
    By Tiger in forum SHARPENING
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: 7th October 2005, 08:55 AM
  4. Sharpening an 81
    By Arron in forum SHARPENING
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 11th October 2004, 10:24 AM
  5. How much do you pay for sharpening?
    By craigb in forum HAND TOOLS - POWERED
    Replies: 23
    Last Post: 30th September 2004, 09:03 PM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

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