basic sharpening

[Christopher Burriss]

hey guys.... new to some hand tools and sharpening... I have never sharpened anything before and looking for a basic (affordable) setup to sharpen chisels, planes, and scrapers....  any advice would be great..

[wdwerker]

Veritas MK II guide is good for plane blades an chisels. Choice for stones is a whole different subject.

[James Wright]

Honestly to start and learn how to hold it go to Harbor Freight and get the 4 sided plastic diamond set, a honing guide and polishing paste. that is enough to get you razor sharp chisels and plane irons. and you will learn enough to know where to go from there. Here is a video I made a wile ago on my system, but honestly there are hundreds of ways to do it and eventualy you will find a system that will work well for you. 

 

[Janello]

54 minutes ago, wdwerker said:

Veritas MK II guide is good for plane blades an chisels. Choice for stones is a whole different subject.

I use this along with micro-abrasives sold at Lee Valley/Veritas. It gives great results but there is the hassle of buying the abrasive paper that rips over time. It's the "cheapest" way to get started without sacrificing great results. I've just become so accustomed to using micro abrasives that I see no real need to change my method for more costly options. I use a sheet of glass and a spray bottle of water to keep the abrasive flat. Trip (hhh) has a great post hiding in the forums with pro's and con's listed for just about every method...If you can dig it up, it is chock full of information on this subject.

Edit-- Here it is. look at the second post by Trip.

 

[Gilgaron]

Get some wet/dry sandpaper and a piece of glass, granite, or tile that is big and flat.  I have a granite block I got from Woodcraft.  The sandpaper works better if you spray it down with some WD40.  This will get you started. Since starting that way I've found I really like Arkansas stones but there are a great many ways to go other than those.  For jigs I have an inexpensive eclipse style jig but primarily sharpen freehand after watching some Paul Sellers videos.  Once you get good at freehand you'll find it is faster than using a jig, too, but check for a square edge every now and then since it is easy to get a little off each time. 

[TerryMcK]

+1 on the Veritas MKII as a honing guide. For chisels get the narrow blade attachment. For plane irons the regular MKII is fine.

Waterstones or oilstones as an abrasive medium. You can even get a sheet of plate glass or slab of granite (as a waste cutoff from your local kitchen counter top) and glue various grades of sandpaper to it.

[Al Capwn]

I echo Gilgaron's advice. However, sharpening...gosh, sharpening is so very subjective. It is one of those topics where everyone has a system or preference. Some people free hand, some people use guides. Some use traditional Arkansas/Norton stones, others use Japanese waterstones or diamond plates. Some use a system like the WorkSharp, etc.

I would say that the Veritas is likely a nice honing guide, but would disagree that is is affordable for just starting out. Make no mistake, the Veritas guide is a premium honing guide. If you are serious about the hobby and want to invest that kind of money, go for it, I have heard nothing but good things about it. Otherwise, get the Eclipse-copy honing guide available through either Lee Valley or Amazon. Even if you get the Veritas later on, you are only out ~12 bucks.

Like Terry said, starting out, a plate of glass or granite tile and some abrasive sandpaper will get you started (Scary Sharp method). Later on, you can evaluate what dedicated route you want to go. The downside of Scary Sharp is that the life of the abrasives will be short, and thus more expensive - in the long run. As a temporary solution, it will get you by with minimal investment up front.

For what it is worth, I purchased two double-sided DMT DuoSharp diamond plates (XCoarse/Coarse, Fine/XFine) and some honing compound from Lee Valley and can get a serviceable edge.

Whatever route you go, be prepared to drop roughly 100-300 bucks on sharpening supplies - it is deceptively expensive investment for something that seems trivial in nature.

[drzaius]

I recently picked up a couple of Sigma stones from Lee Valley to replace 2 worn out ones, Norton, I think. The Sigmas are very good, much better than the old ones.

[Chet]

Just as a primer you might want to watch Marc's video on his free site.  It can be helpful in getting started.  His stones are on the pricey side but you get the idea.  He does use the Veritas guide mentioned above.

[estesbubba]

The Shaptons can be had on Amazon for about 1/2 off if you don't mind Japanese instructions and no warranty. I've heard they are the same stones but do you own research 

[Tom King]

I haven't spent any money on sharpening stuff with anyone other than Tools from Japan in a number of years.  Shipping is not exactly fast, but their prices can't be beat.

https://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store/                Notice the box to change to US currency to start with, so you can get prices that are understandable.  If you want to pass a bunch of experimenting, and spending money you don't need to, get his three stone set (comes with good flattening plate), and you will be done until you want to spend more money on sharpening stuff.  The Sigma Power stones cut so fast that you don't need to bother with micro-bevels, ruler tricks and such, so you don't need an expensive guide.

Watch Stu's video of him using the three stone set. 

I have the MkII, a couple of original Eclipses, and a Record for guides.  If I use a guide, the one that gets used the most with these stones is one of the Eclipses.  The MkII is good if you get slow cutting stones, and need a microbevel.

 

[jmaichel]

Save yourself the money on the MKII guide and  buy a combination stone instead and a plain single wheel honing guide. Then build a simple sharpeing guide jig to always set the same angle. When I first got into sharpening I haxd an MKII and hated it. I then went with a simple single wheel honing guide but have recently switched to the LN, which is amazing but expensive. 

 

I personally would stay stay away from sand paper, paste or anything that requires effort to setup in order to sharpen. Sharpening needs to be easily accessible, easy to setup and easy to setup and efficient.

[sheperd80]

Sharpening is a world all its own and pretty subjective. Buy some cheap stones that are atleast 2" wide preferably wider, and learn to sharpen free hand. It doesnt matter what they are. Diamond, water, arkansas, etc they all work well.

.

I wouldnt get too invested in any one system or buy any guides to start. Watch some vids (paul sellers and rob cosman), learn the ropes and get a feel for what your individual sharpening needs are, then you'll have a better idea what you really want.

.

Fwiw im currently using king water stones. Theyre cheap, they cut fast and give a great edge but they wear down quickly and require regular reflattening which is not really a big deal.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[Tulsa_juggler]

I also got the Veritas MKII as a honing guide and feel like it is a great tool.  For stones, I picked up 2 double-sided Waterstones ranging from 800 grit up to 8,000 and a flattening stone.  I can put a razor sharp edge to all my chisels and planes pretty quickly.  I noticed the Waterstones wear pretty fast on the lower grits.  They cost about $100.  Of course the glass method is cheapest, but if you have the dough, I would opt for the Tormek system but it costs like $700.  If I were doing it over I would probably go with diamond stones and the Veritas guide.  Make sure you do the micro bevel at the end to save you time tuning them up each time after that.