Thread: We don't need sharpening jigs-or do we?

For accuracy and repeatability you need a jig. A jig is calibrated and tested each time it is used; freehand grinding, sharpening and honing allows minor errors in each process to increase exponentially. The more you do it, the less they are but they can not be eliminated.

I freehand hone between sharpening but that's only a touch up; a proper sharpening session means getting out the Veritas.

+1 for the veritas jig. i think many of the freehand sharpeners still use a jig for heavy removal of stock or changing the angle. it just makes the process a brain dead exercise of "back, forwards, back forwards"

I totally agree, Chook. My time in the shop is valuable and I don't want to dedicate hours to practicing to sharpen. I want to make the tools dull!

On the other hand, I feel like sharpening by hand is something I want to achieve so that I can do it more quickly. Every second spent not sharpening is a second I can spend making something. I also, however, feel the same way about it that I feel about cutting perfect dovetails: Over time it will happen organically.

And here'e why...

In my (limited) experience, you can't really sharpen the smaller stuff in a jig, or at least not in MY jig (Veritas Mk2). Shoulder plane blades, chisels under about 3/4", etc. The friction between the jaws which hold the blade simply isn't enough to hold it steady. So you have to sharpen those by hand. I find that I am getting a lot better at this as time goes by, just like cutting those dovetails. Therefore, I feel that, eventually, a day will come when I decide that enough is enough and I will begin to sharpen my plane blades by hand. So I'm developing this skill via necessity moreso than a deliberate initiative.

But I will always have a jig for grinding. I am getting better at DUPLICATING an angle by hand, which is great, but I have no expectation whatsoever that I will ever feel comfortable ESTABLISHING an angle by hand. That's where the jig (and grinder) come in.

All the best,
Luke

I prefer freehand for my limited needs ... helps for things like carving gouges and moulder blades that don't work with jigs, but my first phase of learning was kind of a confused mess

After a while I settled on (trying to) hone the primary bevel freehand and then use a jig to put a small secondary bevel on.
Now I think I can do well enough by hand.

Cheers,
Paul

I have two sets of bevel edged chisèls. One set has a 25 degree bevel and I always use a jig with them. The other is hollow ground at 20 degrees and I can touch them up free hand. The mortice chisèls are ground at 30 degrees and they go on a jig also. I have seen people freehand sharpen but I cannot get the tools as sharp as fast that way myself.

Like everyone, I guess, I struggled with hand sharpening for quite a while. I bought an Eclipse jig about 40 years ago, thinking that would solve my problems. It only made things worse. After trying it for a while I went back to free-handing, & just kept at it 'til I could the edges I wanted with very little fuss. I found that guide the most useless contraption I have ever wasted money on. The narrow wheel allowed more wobble than I could manage freehand on anything narrower than 3/4". From what Luke says, no guides seem to like narrow blades. It's interesting that he's solved his problem by doing the narrow stuff freehand, because narrow blades are the most difficult to do freehand too! So if you can manage the narrow ones, you should be able to do an even better job on wider blades?

I do use a guide when grinding, just a couple of pieces of wood with 3/16 bolts & clamp them across the blade being ground. The edges ride along the tool rest & maintain the grind angle I want. Takes a couple of seconds to apply, & sure makes it easy to grind a nice, clean edge - particularly on turning skews, where you want those facets to match pretty closely. I've watched other blokes do the same thing with their index finger. I can do that with a narrow chisel, for e.g., but I can't get a wide edge as straight or regular using a finger as a guide...

Cheers,

There is real woodworking and woodworkers and there is learners with jigs for sharpening chisel and plane blades .

One day your going to have to give up the jig, along with training wheels for your bike, the dummy and the boob.

The sooner you get over it, the sooner we can take you for real.



Do billiard table makers sell jigs for learning how to use a que to play the game?

A bit of spit and two stones and you should be shaving arm hairs, I don't get the problem!!! except there are possibly to many versions of how to do this basic first step in woodworking .


Rob.

Well said Rob !
I agree, its just more de-skilling.

Melbourne Matty ..

I have to admit that I have not used a jig for sharpening any of my hand tools,as when I did my apprenticeship we had no jigs so I had to learn to sharpen with my hand and eye be it chisels or drills and I still do that said I feel that what ever method you use the end result is that you get to enjoy the result of you're effort and remove a paper thin shaving or a consistent spiral coming of a drill that is to be enjoyed by all weather you need a jig or not. So what ever method you use get on with the work and enjoy the sharpening is only a means to an end.
Regards Rod.

A real showing of age and prejudice from the time served to the dilutees and dilitants.
Like potters you keep doing it until throwing on the wheel is automatic.
H.

I thought I was past the guide stage for hand sharpening, then I discovered how finicky the Stanley #92 blade was to sharpen. The guide made a big difference to how usable the blade was. It was 'sharp' but NQR, then I fitted it onto a little roller-guide and then it got proper sharp.

I've started free handing after trying a couple of cheaper jigs that were just horrible. I generally enjoy it, but it does take a bit longer when learning (which I still am), and getting out big nicks is a major pain! I plan on getting a quality guide, like the veritas, for getting out nicks and re-establishing bevels.

Originally Posted by Luke Maddux

I totally agree, Chook. My time in the shop is valuable and I don't want to dedicate hours to practicing to sharpen. I want to make the tools dull!

On the other hand, I feel like sharpening by hand is something I want to achieve so that I can do it more quickly. Every second spent not sharpening is a second I can spend making something. I also, however, feel the same way about it that I feel about cutting perfect dovetails: Over time it will happen organically.

And here'e why...

In my (limited) experience, you can't really sharpen the smaller stuff in a jig, or at least not in MY jig (Veritas Mk2). Shoulder plane blades, chisels under about 3/4", etc. The friction between the jaws which hold the blade simply isn't enough to hold it steady. So you have to sharpen those by hand. I find that I am getting a lot better at this as time goes by, just like cutting those dovetails. Therefore, I feel that, eventually, a day will come when I decide that enough is enough and I will begin to sharpen my plane blades by hand. So I'm developing this skill via necessity moreso than a deliberate initiative.

But I will always have a jig for grinding. I am getting better at DUPLICATING an angle by hand, which is great, but I have no expectation whatsoever that I will ever feel comfortable ESTABLISHING an angle by hand. That's where the jig (and grinder) come in.

All the best,
Luke

Here is the answer for the narrow stuff...http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/pag...68&cat=51&ap=1

It has just been released.

I work full time and the time I get in the shed is precious to me and it is limited. When I get into the shed I want to cut wood with sharp tools, immediately. I do not currently have the time to learn the skill and even if I did I could use the time having more fun in other ways.

Chook, a lot of woodworkers think this way. If you really want to go without a guide, then there are no limits to doing so now if you follow a simple method. More in a short while.

First of all, there is nothing wrong or demeaning about using a honing guide. In fact, there are situations when I consider it an essential piece of kit. Just that there are other situations when I prefer to freehand.

The advantage of freehand is that it is very quick. Nothing to set up .. plus there are some blades that cannot be honed any other way, and you need to develop the hand skill and - more importantly - the mental attitude to work this way. Skew blades, knives, moulding planes, gouges, etc .. all best done by hand.

Best done with a honing guide are micro bevels, especially on bevel up planes, where the angle really counts. A 30-ish bevel angle is going to work very differently from a 40-ish bevel angle. And micro secondary bevels are an important part of the tuning for bevel up planes when you add a camber, which is almost all blades.

Bevel down plane blades and chisels (except mortice chisels) are easily done freehand. The secret here is preparation, and this just means that you hollow grind the blade at the desired angle, and freehand on the hollow. The hollow makes it really easy - like a guide. This was the reason I upgraded my grinder to use CBN wheels, which make precision hollows, and reduce honing demands considerably. The closer you grind to the edge of the blade, the less steel to hone. The trick is to do this without heat to affect the steel. But hollows make freehanding easy. A flat face, on the other hand, is much more difficult as it is an invitation to rock the blade.

A second method of freehand honing is the one advocated by Paul Sellars. This is a rounded bevel. Just Google for his videos. They are very popular. I did try it on a mortice chisel for a while, but I found that there was a tendency for the angle to creep up. Still, practice makes perfect.

Why do I use a guide on a mortice chisel? Simple because mine have a 20 degree primary bevel and I add a flat 35 degree secondary bevel. This cannot be hollow ground as it will become too weak. Incidentally, I purchased the new LV small place guide (add-on for the Mk II guide) to use it on RI mortice chisels. It does not work on these (the chisel will rock, and/or these is too little clearance). It only works on chisels (1/8" - 1 1/2") with very tiny lands. Anything that resembles a flat, vertical shoulder will not grip well (I have an idea for a modification).

Regards from Perth

Derek