Thread: Sharpening cheaply

Hi CHOOK.

I am in your camp on the sharpening issue.
I have several oil stones and a wet stone for fine finishing.
Been doing this for many years, as taught to me by my dad.
Can sharpen a plane or chisel on the job if I want to.
The test of my shapening, is to shave my arm. If the tool can do that, I am happy enough.
Never had a problem with any of my blades.

Paul.

I use a similar system but gave up on wet and dry paper and bought diamond paste off Ebay. It was under $30 and the finest one is equivalent to 15000 grit.
The paste lasts way longer than the paper.

15000 grit. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hang my head in shame and now leave the building.

Paul.

Most of the time I am a 'both sides of the oilstone, break the burr, good to go' person, but I'll sometimes have a tool sharpening frenzy using grinders, scotchbrite belts, wet grinders and all that sort of stuff - no edged doodad will be left unsharpened...not to make things that much sharper, but more as a hobby in its own right!

I agree with Sam.

The issue I have with wet-and-dry is that it starts off cheap, which is seductive, but then the costs mount up, and it becomes a very expensive method after a year. The costs continue to mount and overtake someone who laid out for a set of inexpensive waterstones.

By far away the cheapest method is diamond paste. I bought mine off eBay some years ago, but it is also available from Lee Valley.

For a sharpening (not grinding) system, get 15u, 3u and 0.5u. Use a dedicated piece of hardwood (the hardest and flattest you have) as the substratum for each grit. If you can, use a length of copper or, preferably, cast iron instead.

A grinding grit is 40u.

Here is a link to an article where I used old hand planes for their cast iron (only use bust planes, please):

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Woodwor...mondpaste.html

The way to use the paste is to spread about a pea size over the substratum, then use a piece of hardwood to press it into the surface. Once it is dread around, wipe off the residue - it is the diamond that is bedded into the substratum that does the work, not the diamond on top of it.

Not only is this system cheaper than yours, Chook, but it is way faster!

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by derekcohen

I agree with Sam.

The issue I have with wet-and-dry is that it starts off cheap, which is seductive, but then the costs mount up, and it becomes a very expensive method after a year. The costs continue to mount and overtake someone who laid out for a set of inexpensive waterstones.

By far away the cheapest method is diamond paste. I bought mine off eBay some years ago, but it is also available from Lee Valley.

For a sharpening (not grinding) system, get 15u, 3u and 0.5u. Use a dedicated piece of hardwood (the hardest and flattest you have) as the substratum for each grit. If you can, use a length of copper or, preferably, cast iron instead.

A grinding grit is 40u.

Here is a link to an article where I used old hand planes for their cast iron (only use bust planes, please):

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Woodwor...mondpaste.html

The way to use the paste is to spread about a pea size over the substratum, then use a piece of hardwood to press it into the surface. Once it is dread around, wipe off the residue - it is the diamond that is bedded into the substratum that does the work, not the diamond on top of it.

Not only is this system cheaper than yours, Chook, but it is way faster!

Regards from Perth

Derek

Okay then. I have never heard of this diamond paste. What is it and where do I get it? It sounds like a really good idea.

But one way or the other you do not have to spend a whole lot of money to get really sharp edges.

I just read the article so no need for more info. I will get some of this stuff ASAP. But I am surprised that it will embed in cast iron.

Master Splinter.

I have the odd week end in winter, when I do just the same thing.
Usually it is a combination of "shed tidy up" and sharpening and sorting things out, back into some order.

Paul.

IMO once you have sharpening sussed then it really doesnt matter too much what stuff you have to do it with. It becomes a game of finding the most efficient way to get to shaving sharp. It becomes an exercise in collecting redundant stuff.

I made a strop from a piece of leather from an old lounge and a bit of its arm that I got on clean up day. Cost $0. The rouge was $6.95 about 20 years ago. Once you have a stick of rouge you dont need another this lifetime. Its the same with the stones I have. All from various shows and garage sales. "An Arkansas stone for $5, sure I need another one"

Diamond paste, Derek, you're a bugger, better get me some....

Actually for the past 6 months I have spent $3 on wet and dry paper. So I do not anticipate that the overall cost will be all that high over time. But the attraction for me of trying the diamond paste is the speed of grinding and the idea of trying something new. Once you get an edge sharp it is not all that hard to maintain unless something unexpected happens to damage the edge.

My original point was that while you can spend any amount of money on machines and jigs to sharpen blades it is not necessary. As the responses here show, there are any number of low cost ways of getting a good edge.

The other thing I wonder about is grinding the correct bevel angle. You can purchase all sorts of devices to grind exact bevel angles of all sorts and to high levels of precision. But is this actually necessary? My planes and chisels work very well for me and I have to admit that I have been estimating the bevel angles. Perhaps if I paid more attention to this I would get even better results. I suspect that the range of bevel angles through which a tool will work effectively is somewhat greater than the writers of articles and the sellers of jigs might have you believe. But I might be mistaken.

My original point was that while you can spend any amount of money on machines and jigs to sharpen blades it is not necessary. As the responses here show, there are any number of low cost ways of getting a good edge.

Good on you chook, a really good point.

'Fit for purpose' and time effective, is the ticket. I chased myself around in circles until I found what was right for me.

Originally Posted by chook

Actually for the past 6 months I have spent $3 on wet and dry paper. So I do not anticipate that the overall cost will be all that high over time. But the attraction for me of trying the diamond paste is the speed of grinding and the idea of trying something new. Once you get an edge sharp it is not all that hard to maintain unless something unexpected happens to damage the edge.

My original point was that while you can spend any amount of money on machines and jigs to sharpen blades it is not necessary. As the responses here show, there are any number of low cost ways of getting a good edge.

The other thing I wonder about is grinding the correct bevel angle. You can purchase all sorts of devices to grind exact bevel angles of all sorts and to high levels of precision. But is this actually necessary? My planes and chisels work very well for me and I have to admit that I have been estimating the bevel angles. Perhaps if I paid more attention to this I would get even better results. I suspect that the range of bevel angles through which a tool will work effectively is somewhat greater than the writers of articles and the sellers of jigs might have you believe. But I might be mistaken.

Hi Chook

The one machine I would recommend is a grinder. Set it up and learn to hollow grind your blades. Honing a micro bevel freehand on a hollow grind is a HUGE time (and effort) saver when sharpening.

If you have the money, a Tormek wet grinder can make a lot of sense - note I am not swing that it is essential, but that it is at the top of the ladder - the Tormek will enable one to grind to the very edge of the blade with safety. And this means minimal steel to hone. It is possible to get close to a Tormek in a cheap dry grinder. Use a 6" wheel and a very course grit (36 grit) on a friable wheel. This can run quite cool. Another alternative is a belt sander, but this creates a flat grind, which is less easy to freehand than a hollow.

I also have a hand grinder - one that you turn by hand. This can be used to create a nice, slow grind. Just be careful you do not spin it too fast. But I recall picking up mine for about $15.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I picked up a set of Medalist brand diamond plates from a chain called Total Tools (you'd think someone would have rethought that one) a while back. Three grits (fine, medium and course) and although a little small for $20 I thought I'd give them a try, cosnidering a good diamond plate can run 5 times that. I've been pleasantly surprised and I've got plans to build MDF holders for them over the coming break to make the surface a bit bigger, but otherwise they have been great. I don't think my oilstones have had a run in a while now, and the waterstones are facing the same issue.

Chook,

Have you used your method on HSS blades?

If so, how did it go?

Cheers.