woodbe
3rd March 2006, 09:26 PM
Hi.
I don't have many chisels, at the moment I have a set of 3 Marples (1/4, 1/2, 1") from about 1980 that had never been used, and a couple of ex-Marryatville High School Titan paring chisels in 3/16 and 1/4"
Anyway, after having all sorts of gizmo's demonstrated, I decided it was time to take the plunge and see what I could do about getting an edge on what I had, because I am so sure there are more coming, and I'd rather mess up on the Marples than a Berg or something.
I have the M-Power gadget from Mik. And a strop with Veritas honing compound. (the green stuff) It's a start. I'd really like the Veritas Mk2 Honing guide, but there are none to be had, maybe later. I also have a couple of waterstones (600, 1200) of the same vintage as the Marples. That's it.
My notes say that the first thing to do, is to get the backs flat. I spent ages on this, in fact more than any other operation. In one case, I failed.
The MPower has a small area of diamond face for flattening the base. It's fine for already flat chisels, or for smaller chisels like the small Marples or the Titans I have. The larger Marples, especially the 1" job, turned out to have a large indented area on the base on one corner that just laughed at the MPower :(
I proceeded to process everything I could, and left the 1" for later. Lots of time to think about it... Flatten the backs, Put a 25 degree bevel on the edge with the coarse stone, then medium, then fine. I didn't get sophisticated and try a microbevel but the chisels are nice and sharp. The SOUND different, and they leave a smooth surface, almost polished in their wake, so I'm happy with them, will try microbevel when the Mk2 guides show up (the MPower only does 25 and 30 degrees)
So, over to my problem chisel. I lapped that thing for hours, but the indented area hardly changed. I even had a look at the waterstones, but the 600 stone looks like it's been used to sharpen a curved tool, and it needs work just to get it flat again :( Time for research. I get the impression a coarse diamond stone would do it, but that's a lot of $ for 1 problem chisel (glad I didn't, too) I also find a discussion about Scary Sharp which involves a very flat surface and a graduated selection of sandpaper. I can do that. :)
More hours later, with 80-1200 grades of wet 'n dry on an offcut of granite benchtop, the chisel is a lot better. I ran the bevel through the MPower. It's not perfect, I wonder how many hours would be required to bring it perfectly flat, but at least it's cutting nicely. I suspect it needs to go somewhere with a surface grinder?
Anyway, here is how it looks now. I should have taken a before shot. See the grey area at the edge on the right side?, that's the area still sitting below the level of the back:
http://www.adam.com.au/maf/woodwork/Chisel1.jpg
The shaving is from a bit of pine, taken after stropping. It's .03 - .06mm thick. Dunno if that's good...
woodbe.
I don't have many chisels, at the moment I have a set of 3 Marples (1/4, 1/2, 1") from about 1980 that had never been used, and a couple of ex-Marryatville High School Titan paring chisels in 3/16 and 1/4"
Anyway, after having all sorts of gizmo's demonstrated, I decided it was time to take the plunge and see what I could do about getting an edge on what I had, because I am so sure there are more coming, and I'd rather mess up on the Marples than a Berg or something.
I have the M-Power gadget from Mik. And a strop with Veritas honing compound. (the green stuff) It's a start. I'd really like the Veritas Mk2 Honing guide, but there are none to be had, maybe later. I also have a couple of waterstones (600, 1200) of the same vintage as the Marples. That's it.
My notes say that the first thing to do, is to get the backs flat. I spent ages on this, in fact more than any other operation. In one case, I failed.
The MPower has a small area of diamond face for flattening the base. It's fine for already flat chisels, or for smaller chisels like the small Marples or the Titans I have. The larger Marples, especially the 1" job, turned out to have a large indented area on the base on one corner that just laughed at the MPower :(
I proceeded to process everything I could, and left the 1" for later. Lots of time to think about it... Flatten the backs, Put a 25 degree bevel on the edge with the coarse stone, then medium, then fine. I didn't get sophisticated and try a microbevel but the chisels are nice and sharp. The SOUND different, and they leave a smooth surface, almost polished in their wake, so I'm happy with them, will try microbevel when the Mk2 guides show up (the MPower only does 25 and 30 degrees)
So, over to my problem chisel. I lapped that thing for hours, but the indented area hardly changed. I even had a look at the waterstones, but the 600 stone looks like it's been used to sharpen a curved tool, and it needs work just to get it flat again :( Time for research. I get the impression a coarse diamond stone would do it, but that's a lot of $ for 1 problem chisel (glad I didn't, too) I also find a discussion about Scary Sharp which involves a very flat surface and a graduated selection of sandpaper. I can do that. :)
More hours later, with 80-1200 grades of wet 'n dry on an offcut of granite benchtop, the chisel is a lot better. I ran the bevel through the MPower. It's not perfect, I wonder how many hours would be required to bring it perfectly flat, but at least it's cutting nicely. I suspect it needs to go somewhere with a surface grinder?
Anyway, here is how it looks now. I should have taken a before shot. See the grey area at the edge on the right side?, that's the area still sitting below the level of the back:
http://www.adam.com.au/maf/woodwork/Chisel1.jpg
The shaving is from a bit of pine, taken after stropping. It's .03 - .06mm thick. Dunno if that's good...
woodbe.