Thread: Sharpening chisels on the job

Having been a Carpenter all my life and having to "touch up" chisels and plane blades "on the go" so to speak, I always carried an India Oilstone. India stones are very fine grained and give you a sharp edge pretty quickly. So if you were to use 200 X 50mm stone (of your choosing) with a holder to give you a constant angle while rubbing on the stone, you can quite quickly get a sharp edge.
I will confess now before the world, that right from being an apprentice I always managed to "roll" the chisel right on the edge which gave me a "sort of" sharp edge. I was at a swap meet about 15 years ago and picked up a Stanley Sharpening Guide for $10. The very first time I used it my sharpening success was assured.
My technique was OK but with the Sharpening Guide my sharpening escapades have been very successful and rewarding. If you can keep your sharpening angle constant you won't need to regrind for sometime.

All is revealed in Star's Sharpening Journey in the Wood Carving Forum. I do not enjoy sharpening. But as a means to the end of really pleasurable wood carving, I can do it very well.
chambezio got it right = a very fine oil stone and the correct angle. To me, carpenter's plane blades and chisels come up just fine and dandy at 30 degrees. You'll see what I do in the SSJ thread.

Between hollow grinds, you should get a bunch of touch-ups on a secondary bevel before resorting to the grinder again. I just use a 1200 and a 6000 grit waterstone to keep a keen edge and I also have a cheap stanley sharpening jig for the chisels.

I have been a cabinet maker for 40+ years and have always used an india oil stone and can acheive a shaving sharp edge every time, not that you would want to as the only value a shaving sharp edge has in wood working is nil

I've been using an extra fine diamond sharpening plate and the veritas sharpening guide. The diamond sharpening plate stays flat and true and will never dish or wear out like a stone and the veritas sharpening guide allows me to sharpen micro bevels consistently and maintain the correct angle.

I t is a myth that diamond plates will not wear out they wear out like anything else does, they do stay flat, if you treat a oil stone with due care it will be many years if at all before you need to flatten it, by that that time you will have long thrown out a diamond plate