Thread: Call me crazy...

OK, you're crazy.

Unfortunately I don't think there is a perfect solution that is cheap & lasts forever - if there was, the inventor would go bust quickly as he would only sell one set to everyone.

Diamond stones work up to a point, they are very good for starting an edge, last for a good while if not abused but some seem to take a bit of 'breaking in' until they give a consistent result.

'Scary Sharp' is cheaper, you just have to replace the sandpaper ever so often - so buy in bulk. You will also need a fair assortment of grits to get a nice edge - have a look at Lee Valley's microfine self stick papers. It should be cheaper than either diamond or water/oil stones.

Stones are nice, but as you seem to be living in a place with sub-zero temperatures there is a risk of having water stones freeze, which I believe is very bad for them - that is how you get gravel.

ok well I guess scary sharp it is..until I find a better/easier way. Got a suitable chunk of granite already..

From my experience it'll pay you to read as much as you can about the different sharpening methods and think about how much time you want to spend sharpening as opposed to using the tools. In my case I started with waterstones (1200, 4000 and 8000) and spent a frustrating few weekends flattening and sharpening second hand chisel and plane blades. So I bought an 800 waterstone which sped up the process somewhat. But it was still something that took way too long. In particular, flattening the backs of blades was a horrendous task. To answer your questions:

Ease of sharpening:
I then joined this forum, read relevant threads and spoke with experts such as Richard Vaughan, Terry Gordon at various woodwork shows and it was pretty clear that grinding the bevel before using waterstones/sandpaper to sharpen the cutting edge of the bevel is a quick way to hone an edge. So now I have a Triton wet grinder to grind the bevel and subsequently use the finer waterstones for honing the cutting edge. I also use my belt sander to flatten the backs of blades before running them over the waterstones. But be careful not to overheat the metal.
Result: I spend much more time using the tools while achieving a good cutting edge with minimal effort.

Long lasting sharp edge:
I have a leather strop with the veritas green cutting compound and run my edges over this VERY regularly while working. With chisels I do this every few minutes.
Result: This extends the time between honing.

BUT: The key factor that determines how long a blade will keep its edge is the steel it made of. For example, my Stanley plane blades need sharpening more often than the blades on my LV, LN or HNT Gordon planes. My Hamlet chisels don't hold an edge anywhere near as long as my Berg chisels.

To keep a long story short, if there was a cheap way to consistently and quickly achieve a sharp edge that lasts a long time, we would all be doing it that way and this forum would have many fewer threads I'd recommend reading widely and speaking with people who are knowledgable on the subject. Then work out what will work best for your climate, timeframes, blade quality etc. within your budget.

Good luck and have fun learning about the wonderful world of sharpening

Hi Zac

I asked essentially the same question on this site about six months ago and got some truly excellent advice, especially from Derek C. Have a search - I think the thread was "sharpening for idiots" or similar.

Distilling the advice, and assessing my very limited knowledge and forty years of learning the wrong stuff I did the following.

1. bought a Veritas honing guide (I think this is indispensible until you develop basic skills.
2. bought a 10mm glass plate and emery paper - 100, 200, 400 & 1000 grit.
3. started practicing & learning scary sharp method.

Am now satisfied with the consistent results I am getting, and am ready to move on with the learning process. Will probably stay with course scary sharp to put initial bevel on chisels, but am undecided whether to go to diamond or wet-stones for finer grades.

There is a definite learning curve involved with sharpening.

Cheers

Graeme

I reckon my neighbour has the right idea... he comes over and "borrows" mine!

I've been thinking about including a Safe as the final step of my sharpening routine...

I went scary sharp and found it to be good, but I found it becomes expensive and you use a lot of sheets of W&D if you use it for the whole process. One very important point with scary sharp is you need to make sure you get a hold of some 2000 grit W&D. This is harder to find as most places only stock up to 1200 grit. I was really happy when I started using scary sharp, but once I got a hold of some 2000 grit then it was something else again.

I think diamond plate is better suited to the coarse grits. I wasn't happy with how much paper I used to grind a bevel so I started looking at bench grinders for the initial grind, but I decided to go diamond plate instead, and I don't regret it.

I now go:

300/600 Diamond plate for primary bevel. This cuts through the blade very quickly.

800/1200/2000 W&D to finish.

I find this setup very economical and gives very sharp blades. When the blades start to lose their edge I just go 800 till I get a wire edge, then 1200/2000 to hone. Its usually only 5-10 strokes on each.

I only go back to the diamond plate when the blade is dinged, or my secondary bevel gets too large.

I think my next step is to replace the 800 grit W&D with a 1000 grit diamond plate and just use W&D for the 1200/2000 step.

Originally Posted by bordo

I went scary sharp and found it to be good, but I found it becomes expensive and you use a lot of sheets of W&D if you use it for the whole process. One very important point with scary sharp is you need to make sure you get a hold of some 2000 grit W&D. This is harder to find as most places only stock up to 1200 grit. I was really happy when I started using scary sharp, but once I got a hold of some 2000 grit then it was something else again.

.

The places that supply panel beaters routinely stock W&D up to about 4,000 grit.

Interesting post, Bordo. Pretty well concur with what you say except I was thinking in terms of the reverse.

1. Use course W&D and scary sharp to establish the initial bevel. SS is quick and accurate and not expensive if only used to establish the initial bevel.
2. Use diamond plate or wet stone for the finer sharpening.

Do you use a honing guide, or do it freehand?

Cheers

Graeme

I use a honing guide.

I found on the harder blades I would go through so much W&D to get a proper bevel. With the diamond plate it just cuts through in no time. Previously I would dread having to redo an initial bevel and would put it off as long as possible. With the diamond plate I put new primary bevels on 2 chisels and 4 planes on the first night I had it. They had all been overdue for it, and they all cut so much nicer now.

I have now put new bevels on all my chisels and plane blades with it and I'm very happy with how little time I spend sharpening.

Because I only do 5-10 strokes on the W&D I don't go through all that much paper.

I ended up getting the 2000 grit W&D at an auto shop, but I had to go to about 4 before I found one that had it. I see you can order up to 2500 grit online so I will do that in future.

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