Thread: Sharpening

A few months ago I realised that my idea of sharp was defective and that I needed to invest some $$ in getting some new tools to keep my planes and chisels cutting better. I now have two King water stones; a 6000 and 1200 grit. I bought a Veritas honing jig and a hard felt wheel. I have had some honing compound for years. Anyway I have just put these to work on a blunted half inch chisel (dropped on the shed floor last Sunday). Flatted the back the with the 1200 grit although the back was good to start with really.With the jig set to grind at 25 degrees the 1200 stone quickly ground a nice straight bevel. I was impressed with just how fast compared to my old and now obsolete oil stone. Onto the 6000 grit to refine the edge. Then used the little knob on the side of the honing jig to grind a small micro bevel on the edge of the chisel. (For those who may not have seen a Veritas jig the jig has a knob you can turn to very slightly raise the grinding angle by a degree or so, once you have ground the primary bevel.)The chisel was nice and sharp by then. But a bit of a polish on the hard felt wheel just finished it of nicely.Sharper than a razor.

I would have to say that sharpening a chisel is a nice way to spend a bit of time at the end a busy working week. I do sometimes read that people do not like sharpening and think it a bit of a chore. I am not one of them. To me keeping edges sharp is part of the game. Taking a blunt tool and getting it to cut nicely is very satisfying.