Novice Chisel/Plane Sharpening?

[GoingMyWay]

Here's the video Stumpy Nubs did:

 

[woodferret]

Probably as a counter-point as to when the back bevel thing starts to matter... Rob Cosman's video.

 

[ChuckM]

The effort one saves from using the ruler trick on the back of a commonly used chisel of 1" or narrower is small (none to me, because I sharpen freehand), when compared to using it on a plane blade. It may matter not much in general work, but for precision hand-cut joinery that shows (dovetails, through M&T, and whatnot), I'd only trust chisels honed in the traditional manner, without cutting corners.

 

[derekcohen]

I’ve been using hand tools to build furniture for over 30 years. In that time I have used just about every sharpening system imaginable. This is probably pretty much par for the course  

There are a number of ways to go about this, and I’m not about to try and convince any here which is best. We may all have our preferences. I will state that most of those demonstrating methods on YouTube do it for click bait, and copy each other. 90% probably do not build furniture or have much insight. Be careful who you think is a guru.

Important points in sharpening include:

1. I hollow grind all my blades as a preparatory step. I use a 180 grit CBN wheel on a 8” half-speed bench grinder. This has the best balance of steed and finish. The straighter and smoother the primary bevel, the less work to follow.

2. All BD bench planes and bench chisels are hollow ground at 32 degrees. I will freehand on the hollow, which acts as a jig. 32 degrees is the best compromise for edge holding.

3. I do not use secondary bevels on BD bench planes or chisels.

4. BU planes get a 25 degree hollow ground primary bevel, and then a secondary micro bevel at 50 degrees (=62 degree cutting angle) on a honing guide. The low primary bevel enables a camber to be added. Camber is necessary on ALL bench planes.

5. The most important rule when sharpening is obtaining a wire edge for every stone. No wire edge means you have not honed the full face, and the result will be dull.

6. Only polish the back of the blade at the end and only on the final polishing stone.

7. My usual stones are 1000 Pro Shapton and 6000/13000 Sigma.

8. I do not use the Ruler Trick. It is brilliant, but for novices, and limits re-sharpening.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.
5. The most important rule when sharpening is obtaining a wire edge for every stone. No wire edge means you have not honed the full face, and the result will be dull.Snip.

+1.

Some YouTubers are seen checking for the wire edge only at the end of the honing session (last stone).

 

[Mini Me]

This is going to be a journey and I'm trying to make it as time and cost efficient as possible so I can use the tools and not be too obsessive about how shiny they are.

Thanks again, these comments have helped me to move ahead with sharpening and using my chisels.

If you want the shortest journey for excellent results copy what Derek has arrived at because it simply works. As I mentioned in a previous post the biggest single hurdle is recognising when you have reached an optimal sharp edge with no way of comparison it. Everyone who begins sharpening their own blades has the same problem and everyone thinks that the blade is sharp until they are shown it isn't as sharp as it can be. David Weaver is the guru of sharpening, the rest of YT wannabees only think they are and as Derek said it is all clickbait.

 

[Michael Kellough]

The effort one saves from using the ruler trick on the back of a commonly used chisel of 1" or narrower is small (none to me, because I sharpen freehand), when compared to using it on a plane blade. It may matter not much in general work, but for precision hand-cut joinery that shows (dovetails, through M&T, and whatnot), I'd only trust chisels honed in the traditional manner, without cutting corners.

The idea of doing that (ruler hack) grates in my mind like fingernails on a chalkboard.  [mad]

 

[Hotwheels]

I appreciate the above comments.  I have practiced using a glass plate and sandpaper.  I started with some demolition chisels that had substantial knicks/gouges in them. It became immediately clear that, as noted above, that a chisel with some substantial gouges takes a long time to remove the damage to just start the sharpening process. On those chisels I used 80/220/400 sandpaper and worked to flatten the back. I'm not sure when it is flat other than I lay it on a flat surface and see no light. But, I put the time in and it seemed on one of th chisels it was "flat" and I moved on to work on the bevel with higher grit papers and the Veritas guide. Eventually, the chisel felt sharp enough, but I decided to move on and work on the chisels I plan to use for some upcoming projects.

The first chisel has some serious nicks in the blade. The before image is below, it is out of focus, but it shows the nicks/gouges in the blade.  So, I started with the 80/220/400 sandpaper to flatten the back.  I just kept at it until it seemed like any more work to flatten the back was not getting me anywhere then I moved on to working on the gouges in the tip of the blade.  I watched a Lie Nielsen video on chisel repair where the advice was to hold the chisel perpendicular to the sandpaper and pull one stroke at a time alternating among the 3 grits of sandpaper.  I did that and after 15 minutes or so the gouges/nicks were gone.  The other image below is the chisel tip after that process.  It seemed to work. 

So, now I am ready to work on the primary bevel and I'll give that a shot tomorrow.  I can see the value of a low speed grinder for what I am doing now. But, if I can make things work with out that and get the chisels/planes to a point that all they need is sharpening/honing maintenance, that would be my preference, but time will tell....

 

[Mini Me]

Not a low speed grinder ala Tormek but a half speed version. The Tormek gives a good result but it takes so long, many times the time a half speed grinder takes.