Thread: Buffing Wheels as a Final Sharpening Stage

Good to hear you've had some success with this Dave.

Just a heads up for newbies, while buffer wheels can do a great job of polishing, care is also needed as they can "roll" a fine edge.
The reason this happens is because buffing wheels are soft and give at the edges so that the wheel material can back wrap around the edge like this.

Screen Shot 2022-02-02 at 4.12.46 pm.png

Thats why harder buffing wheels are a bit better, ie MFD, or leather. wrapped onto a wooden wheel, along with a buffing compound.
Best of all is a super fine hard surface that will not roll the edge

Its the same reason why trying to sand a piece of anything flat using a belt sander (especially one that uses a slip cloth) can never generate a truly flat surface.

Thanks Bob, I should have mentioned that I used the corner of the buffing wheel and avoided holding the chisel in one place but rather 'slid' it across the corner

Have you come across the "unicorn" method?

You may have arrived at the same thing. Though you can likely skip a few steps of your current process.

Thanks Pippin88
I've had a quick look at a summary of David Weaver and his colleagues work, amazing stuff. As you say I could leave many steps out of the sharpening process and still come up with super sharp tools.

For those interested in the Unicorn Method there was some discussion in recent years on this forum and there are tutorials on You Tube, a simple Google search will point you in the right direction

Well, after the second day in the shed sharpening chisels and plane blades I have come to the conclusion that if you follow the 'Unicorn Method' of sharpening you will certainly be the sharpest tool in the shed.
The process is simple and effective and saves an enormous amount of time even for the initial stage with a promise of easier, more accurate and quicker re-sharpening in the future.
Thoroughly recommend it