Thread: Sharpening....A Dark Side Voyage for Beginners

I sharpen my chisels after they get blunt from opening paint tins and screwing in screws. I start off with a rock in the front garden on the lefthand side of my Letterbox, then I go through different grits of pavment out the front of my house finally stroping them with a double bevel after a quick rub on my wife's leathery foot (she only has one as she lost her other leg in a nasty incident helping me mount my Triton saw under the kitchen table using the fine adjustment kit).

I haven't tried other methods but I'm sure slight variations like taking the rock from the right hand side of the letterbox or using my wives palms instead of her foot wouldn't make too much difference.

Practice Practice Practice & Don't be too fussy, there's wood to cut.
I'm no expert but thats my advice from what I read on here.

I'm off to practice now actually.

Picture 1 - I stuffed up a little here, I was holding the camera(blame the camera eh ). Nearly burred too far one side.

Good grief Jake, you should be able to grind with the camera in one hand, the blade in the other, your youngest under your arm, while munching on a Big Mac.

And you call yourself a woodworker!

Great pictures.

Picture 2 - Anyway I fixed the problem.

Whew! You had me worried there.

Listen, I think we should make the grinding experiment (suggested earlier on)more interesting. What you say that we find a victim ... uh, subject, ply them with several stubbies, balance them on one leg, and get their impression of the machine in question. I thought a blindfold might be going too far!

More seriously, do you grind both chisel and plane blades. I suspect only the chisels. If you do grind/hone plane blades, do these include smoother blades? (!).

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by Lignum

Watch the Torquita... A friend of mine had one, and after a week used some turps on a rag to clean it, and it disolved the glue bonding the plastic to the metal, and it fell of... tried to glue it back on, but was unsucsessfull... One torquita into the bin in frustration

I didn't buy the double sided one so there is no glue however I notice that it rocks slightly from corner to corner when I put in on a flat bench to use it, so its hardly flat plus its not even cut square at the ends.

Looks like a cheap punched out steel plate from china. There is no brand name on the plate itself just on the Sleeve it came in. They could have quite easily slipped a cheapy into the Torquita plastic sleeve and sold it like that.

I was dissapointed with the lack of helpful advice at the show, now it looks like I've wasted my money on crap after spending about 2hrs trying to decide.

75mm x 200mm
It was reduced from $76 to about $52 and I brought it from the Timbecon Stand. Does anyone have any advice on the quality of these?

dressed my first grinding wheel today thanks to this post . wasn't hard at all and made a really big difference to how quick the plane blades heated up . thanks all . sharpened 5 blades in next to no time .

Great forum

Thanks to the Dark Side yet again for an interesting and educational thread.
Cheers Lou!

Once I have set up my new white grinding wheel and Carba Tech mounting guide thingy (need to make small table in between grinder and pedestal to mount it on first) then I will contribute some more helpful info to this thread on my findings.

Hey I might even get off my butt and fire up the digital camera for some wild one handed grinding action!
Plus i'll take some pics of my sharpening techniques

Does anyone have any advice on the quality of these?

Andrew

I'm afraid that you get what you pay for with diamond stones. Decent ones are not cheap. The most cost-effective DMT is either a double-sided version ($199, at 203mm x 67mm) or two smaller individual stones - coarse and extra fine - at $99 each (at 152mm x 50mm).

Compare this to a King 800 ($39), 1200 ($39) and 6000 ($45) - total cost $123. These waterstones measure around 207mm x 66mm.

All prices from Carba-tec.

The waterstones will outlast the diamond stones by a factor of 25 at least!

Regards from Perth

Derek

Yea, Thanks for the info, looks like i'll just have to bite the bullet with this and purchase the water stones from Carba Tec when I get the cash.

I would still be interested if anyone has any opinion on these though.
Here is a link to the one that I got from the Timbecon stand at the show.
http://www.timbecon.com.au/products/...nes-500_0.aspx

These ones are reduced to the same price they had at the show.
The picture of the ones here however are in sealed packets plus the quality of the stone looks alot better with rounded corners etc.

The ones at the show had opened packets at the top so I rekon a cheaper stone was slipped into the same orange packet.

I'm just interested to get to the bottom of this now.
I guess I should e-mail them and find out whats going on because now I wish I had just ordered the ones from the website for the same price.

Wow, lot of info to digest. I got addicted to using hand planes about three years ago. The offered several pros for me. I have asthma, so shavings are better than dust. My daily schedule doesn't offer any shop time until about 10pm, so I don't wake the family with screaming power tools. I live in the mid-west region of the U.S. where such companys as the Ohio Tool company made alot of planes for the large furniture industry that existed in the early 1900's. I pickup up these tools of yester year all the time a estate sales in great condition and great prices. Anyway, the topic at hand. As anyway you depends on planes to do work, you have to be able to sharpen them effectively and quickly.

My method is this: I have 4 grits of Norton water stones (250, 1000, 4000, 8000). Pricey but worth it. I use a side clamp honing guide which works very well for me. I have a template with angles that I commonly use so I can set the iron quickly and accurately. I hone the main bevel on the 250, it cuts very fast. Smooth that angle with the 1000 so I can hone a micro bevel quicker with the 4000. The 8000 puts on a mirror finish. I can usually hone an Iron in about 5 minutes the will shave to hair of my arm.

Keep it simple and stick with what works for you.

Good grief Jake, you should be able to grind with the camera in one hand, the blade in the other, your youngest under your arm, while munching on a Big Mac.
And you call yourself a woodworker!

Listen, I think we should make the grinding experiment (suggested earlier on)more interesting. What you say that we find a victim ... uh, subject, ply them with several stubbies, balance them on one leg, and get their impression of the machine in question. I thought a blindfold might be going too far!

cheeeky

More seriously, do you grind both chisel and plane blades. I suspect only the chisels. If you do grind/hone plane blades, do these include smoother blades? (!).
Regards from Perth

Only chisels freehand. Never really tried too hard with plane blades. Spose one can with practise. The wider the blade gets the more of a swinging curve you have to do with your body, which I don't like.
I can't put my finger on exactly why, but I prefer to jig off the waterstones with plane blades. To feather it just right. Sometimes a machine just works too quickly for comfort.
You can buff a wide blade off a bar that resides above the buffing wheel. Which I've done with a plane blade. It worked fine. But, as you know, honing a burred edge is relatively quick on stones as well. So, one sticks with whats most comfortable.

But, for chisels, definetly prefer wheel. Especially like to avoid wearing little chisel grooves in my stones. And also balancing a thin edge can be troublesome off a stone IMO. Seems much easier freehand. (shrug)

Gidday

Heres some information on safely using a grinding wheel. I found it a good read and certainly learn't a few things to regularly put into practice:

Safety Rules for Grinding wheels and abrasives.<o =""></o>

WARNING
IMPROPER USE MAY CAUSE BREAKAGE AND SERIOUS INJURY.<o =""></o>

DO NOT:

DON'T USE A CRACKED WHEEL OR ONE THAT HAS BEEN DROPPED or has become damaged. <o =""></o><o =""></o>

DON'T FORCE A WHEEL ONTO THE MACHINE OR ALTER the size of the mounting hole - if the wheel won't fit the machine, get one that will. <o =""></o>

<o =""></o>DON'T EVER EXCEED MAXIMUM OPERATING SPEED established for the wheel. <o =""></o>

<o =""></o>DON'T USE MOUNTING FLANGES ON WHICH THE BEARING SURFACES ARE NOT CLEAN, FLAT, AND FREE OF BURRS.<o =""></o>

<o =""></o>DON'T TIGHTEN THE MOUNTING NUT EXCESSIVELY. <o =""></o>

<o =""></o>DON'T GRIND ON THE SIDE OF THE WHEEL. (see Safety Code B7.1 for exception.) <o =""></o><o =""></o>

<o =""></o>DON'T START THE MACHINE UNTIL THE WHEEL GUARD IS <st1:street><st1:address>IN PLACE</st1:address></st1:street>. <o =""></o>

<o =""></o>DON'T JAM work into the wheel. <o =""></o>

<o =""></o>DON'T STAND DIRECTLY IN FRONT of a grinding wheel whenever a grinder is started. <o =""></o>

<o =""></o>DON'T FORCE GRINDING so that the motor slows noticeably or the work gets hot. <o =""></o>
<o ="">
DO:
</o>
ALWAYS HANDLE AND STORE WHEELS IN A CAREFUL manner. <o ="">

</o>DO VISUALLY INSPECT all wheels before mounting for possible damage and ring test vitrified wheels. <o =""></o>

<o =""></o>DO CHECK MACHINE SPEED against the established maximum safe operating speed marked on the wheel. <o ="">

</o>DO CHECK MOUNTING FLANGES for equal and correct diameter. <o ="">

</o>DO USE MOUNTING BLOTTERS when supplied with wheels. <o ="">

</o>DO BE SURE WORK REST is properly adjusted. (Center of wheel or above; no more than 1/8" away from the wheel.)<o ="">

</o>DO ALWAYS USE A SAFETY GUARD covering at least one-half of the grinding wheel. <o ="">

</o>DO ALLOW NEWLY MOUNTED WHEELS to run at operating speed, with guard in place, for at least one minute before grinding. <o ="">

</o>DO ALWAYS WEAR SAFETY GLASSES or some type of eye protection when grinding. <o ="">

</o>DO TURN OFF COOLANT before stopping wheel to avoid creating an out-of-balance condition. <o ="">

..............Happy Safe Grinding!!!
</o>

<o ="">REgards Lou
</o>

<o =""></o>

<o ="">
</o>

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I came across this gem whilst doing a bit of research into sharpening in the Dark Side hours of the Night!!!

This bloke even puts his blades under the microscope. I mean what more is their left to know!!!!.............I think just about all the questions one might need to know are answered!!!!

..............Hope you get as much from it as I have:

Sharpening & Testing Plane Irons
http://www3.telus.net/BrentBeach/Sharpen/index.html

REgards Lou

Lou wrote

... this gem ....

Don't forget to read all the sections on belt sanders!

Regards from Perth

Derek

Yes!!!....................I'm onto you Derek!!!!

Originally Posted by derekcohen

Andrew

The waterstones will outlast the diamond stones by a factor of 25 at least!

Derek

I assume you have scientific proof to back up this silly claim!

My big Red DMT is over 7 years old and still cutting as good as it was when i got it... So will your kings be still doing there job in 175 years! Or the year 2180! And thats the minimun time as you said "by a factor of 25 at least!" So i assume you could have meant the year 2200 or 2250. I know you love your hand tools and it appears you prefer that side instead of actually making furniture, and thats fair enough. Just because you say so, dosnt mean its gospell and everyone else is wrong, thats the impression i get with alot of your posts. Their is Nothing wrong with DMT stones as they use high quality industrial diamonds (as apposed to lower grades of torquita etc) And we all know that diamonds are the hardest natural material known to man (and woman) They do the job required quick and efficently with little fuss, giving a very very sharp result. And that is good because it leaves more time to Make Furniture, which is what i want to do, not pizz fart around with a jig or ten to get my shavings a micron or two thinner.