Sharpening Planes / Chisels?


Lee Bussy

Recommended Posts

First - I ASS-u-me that the same sort of setup to sharpen chisels will sharpen planes.  I hope?

 

Before buying a plane or a chisel I want to make sure I can sharpen them.  I don't know much, but I know a sharp cheap tool beats a dull expensive one.  So I have two basic questions:

 

  1. Are there any recommendations for a reasonably priced honing guide for chisels / planes?  I know some guys can just eyeball a quick swipe against a cinder-block wall and get perfect bevels.  I ain't that guy.
     
  2. What are the grit recommendations for sharpening these tools?  1000 to  ... ?

 

(I did check the pinned posts and did not see these answers however links to "read this one dummy!" threads will be accepted.  :)  )

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes.  Same stones.  The only tricky part is when cambering a plane iron.  With no guide to start with, I'd recommend starting with one of the Eclipse clones.

 

If you don't have stones now, PM me quickly.  I know where there is a great starter deal for a hundred bucks shipped.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lee

There are so many different options, I am sure that you will be overloaded. Even watching videos on YouTube can overwhelm. The Lee Valley honing jig is a must in my opinion. Here is what I do.

I use course and extra course diamond stone initially. Then I switch to norton combo waterstones. I believe my grits are 800, 1000, 4000 and 8000. I have used wet dry sandpaper and have gotten good results, if you go this route, get a piece of granite or a piece if thick glass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First - I ASS-u-me that the same sort of setup to sharpen chisels will sharpen planes.  I hope?

 

This is probably so obvious that it doesn't need saying, but (and especially if you're using a honing guide) make sure the stones you buy are wide enough fo sharpen the blades your going to get. A 2" wide stone will accept most chisels, and smaller plane blades, but larger planes have blades wider than that, and a 2.5 - 3" wide stone will definitely be appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As to the grit question, sharp is good, but sharper is better.

 

Well yeah.  I just don't know what normal is so I can gauge "over the top."   :D

 

I have a JNat and a full Tomo Nagura set - I assume that would qualify as over the top?

 

Lee

There are so many different options, I am sure that you will be overloaded. Even watching videos on YouTube can overwhelm. The Lee Valley honing jig is a must in my opinion. Here is what I do.

I use course and extra course diamond stone initially. Then I switch to norton combo waterstones. I believe my grits are 800, 1000, 4000 and 8000. I have used wet dry sandpaper and have gotten good results, if you go this route, get a piece of granite or a piece if thick glass.

 

I do have lapping film and a reference surface actually.  I sharpen my straight razors with that on occasion.

 

This is probably so obvious that it doesn't need saying, but (and especially if you're using a honing guide) make sure the stones you buy are wide enough fo sharpen the blades your going to get. A 2" wide stone will accept most chisels, and smaller plane blades, but larger planes have blades wider than that, and a 2.5 - 3" wide stone will definitely be appreciated.

 

Understood.  I have one REALLY wide 1000 grit but it's only 2" long.   :P

 

Lie Nielsen has a good starter bundle with a jig, metal ruler (for the ruler trick), and a 1000x/8000x combination water stone. That is what I used to get started and it got me off the ground.

 

I did not see anything like a "starter bundle" there .. can you narrow my search a bit?  Saw some very expensive choices.

 

I didn't really enjoy the lapping film and the only Norton I have is a 1K so I'll give that guy a jingle that Tom pointed me at.  Worse comes to worse I pass it along to someone else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

+1 on the Lee Valley Veritas MkII honing jig. I use a granite block with 4 different grits (80 to 600) to establish a bevel using the MKII.

Then they are transferred to waterstones, 1000, 4000 the finest being 8000 grit, with the addition of nagora stone to create some slurry for final polishing. I also use a strop with some honing compound.

I do the microbevels by hand but the MKII does have a couple of click stops to enable you to do it using the guide.

Keep the blades sharp by taking them to the stone often and rehoning the microbevel. Setting up a dedicated sharpening station in your shop where everything is setup and ready for use encourages you to do this.

 

It's another skill to learn but with continual practice gets real easy.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The above mentioned honing guides are good. Be aware the 'grit' numbers for stones are not necessarily the same as for abrasive papers / films. Since you sharpen your own razors, you probably know this, but the finer the polish, the longer the edge will wear.

There is no such thing as too sharp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I only sharpen to 4000 grt.  Paul sellers has shown that he can be effective at just 240 grt. (and 50 years of experience) freehand and has shown success with dished stones.  Some folks swear by going to extremely high grits.  They are all correct....for them.

 

Don't over think the process.  You want something that will wear away the metal on what you are sharpening and rub the tool on that. (KISS - keep it simple stupid)

 

I use a veritas mkll and I like it. but have been contemplating going back to freehand.

 

You're best tool for sharpening will be experience.  So practice, practice, practice!  Once you get into it, you will develop a system that works for you and gets the results you want.  It's not rocket surgery.  Some folks swear by "X" method and others have just as much success with "Y" method.  I would suggest starting out as inexpensively as possible (sandpaper on a flat surface of glass or a tile) and once you get the body mechanics down and are getting some success, then explore other options that catch your eye.  Sharpening is a rabbit hole that you can spend a lot of time and money on, when all you want to do is some successful woodworking.  Watch lots of videos and something will click with you on a direction to go.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sharpening is a rabbit hole that you can spend a lot of time and money on, when all you want to do is some successful woodworking. 

 

I hear you there!  When I started shaving with straights, honing was definitely a rabbit-hole!  I mean seriously ... vintage Japanese stones?!  

 

If y'all are not familiar with sharpening razors, they have a "built in guide".  You use the spine of the razor against the stone to create and refine your bevel.  aside from tricky things like smiling and frowning edges, sharpening a razor is not as tough as you would think  You do generally want to hit about 10K equivalent though.  Some refine further.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

One thing I've noticed; once the edge is formed and polished, I just strop with white rouge on leather before each use, just a few strokes. My re-honing frequency went waaaayyy down.

 

Interesting - do you do this for both irons and chisels?

 

Obviously I have strops - not gonna put rouge on my good ones though.  Again for razors we use a slab of balsa with a compound (green chromium oxide being common) for stropping.  It doesn't seem like stropping but it's a "with the edge" movement rather than "into the edge so it does the same thing.  Wonder if that would work?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Check out LN Eclipse mod just released. I have become an Eclipse fan due to the side registration for narrower chisels. That said, I had to modify the jig in order to use it on certain irons. I will not invest in the LN tool soon, but I am intrigued by jaws designed to register skews etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We should combine all of these threads for posterity. :)

 

It really comes down to what you want to use. Just pick one, and stick with it.

 

They all have their ups and downs.

 

I have gotten very good results from a combo waterstone I bought at woodcraft for $35 a few years ago, with a diamond coarse plate for "flattening". (in quotes to avoid arguing that anymore). Before that I used sandpaper on a piece of glass I bought from a local glass shop. Got good results with that too. I started with a knockoff eclipse jig, and recently bought the veritas jig. What's the difference? Repeat-ability. (although, you can make a little jig to register your blades to the eclipse jig) And I recently bought some Ohishi stones, well, just because I wanted to try them and I was making an order with LN at the same time.

 

In the end, just pick one. They all get chisels and plane blades sharp. If you don't like a method, just move to the next one. It's like arguing which guitar or pool cue is best... It really comes down to you. Just pick one, and stick with it. Or change a few times for the sake of trying something new. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Check out LN Eclipse mod just released. I have become an Eclipse fan due to the side registration for narrower chisels. That said, I had to modify the jig in order to use it on certain irons. I will not invest in the LN tool soon, but I am intrigued by jaws designed to register skews etc.

Do you mean the video on filing certain parts of it?

We should combine all of these threads for posterity. :)

But then you guys would not be able to get that last argument in! :)

I have gotten very good results from a combo waterstone I bought at woodcraft for $35 a few years ago, with a diamond coarse plate for "flattening". (in quotes to avoid arguing that anymore).

Y'all argue about that here too? The "broken off diamonds get embedded ...." Or the "microchips on the edge" argument?

What's the difference? Repeat-ability. (although, you can make a little jig to register your blades to the eclipse jig) And I recently bought some Ohishi stones, well, just because I wanted to try them and I was making an order with LN at the same time.

 

That makes sense to me. Without trying one it's hard to make sense of all the "features".

It's like arguing which guitar or pool cue is best...

If I was on my computer I'd post a pic of the Amboyna Burl in my new cue. :)

Thanks for all the replies. While I am sure there's a rabbit hole waiting for me here, at least right now I am concerned with the pure utility as I add hand tools to my repertoire. This week.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love burl in cues! Post away! :)

 

Well, as long as we're veering off the original subject - here ya go!   :)

 

Here are the pieces we chose:

 

post-17943-0-79785900-1437502790_thumb.j

 

Here it is coming off a rough pass on the lathe:

 

post-17943-0-97361900-1437502779_thumb.j

 

It's still in-flight, maybe ready next month.  Can't wait to play with it though.  I went with a radial-lam core, still deciding on the shaft.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, as long as we're veering off the original subject - here ya go!   :)

 

Here are the pieces we chose:

 

attachicon.gifIMG_2029.JPG

 

Here it is coming off a rough pass on the lathe:

 

attachicon.gifIMG_2918.JPG

 

It's still in-flight, maybe ready next month.  Can't wait to play with it though.  I went with a radial-lam core, still deciding on the shaft.

 

Looks awesome! Who's making it?

 

Shafts... If you want a laminated shaft, I'd use a Jacoby shaft. Very nice shafts. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's my suggestions 

 

A review of an affordable honing guide is here  see this style used by folks like David Charlesworth, Christopher Schwarz, LN until recently and Paul Sellers so it can't be all bad.

 

In regard to stones and how far you go that's up to you and how far you want to go. If supreme value is what you're after an India combo stone, some baby oil, a bit of leather and and some polishing compound will take you a long way.

 

If you want to go fine, which can be nice, waterstones and ceramics are a good option. Although they are expensive if you want to do this for a while the cost is diluted. Diamonds are good for the lower grit sizes but the higher grit sizes are still a touch expensive. But as I mentioned if that's diluted over time it's not an issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks awesome! Who's making it?

 

Shafts... If you want a laminated shaft, I'd use a Jacoby shaft. Very nice shafts.

A gent by the name of Cameron Mathis here in KC. He's not well known but I love his attention to detail. For instance the veneer in the layup for the points is actually mitered so that it comes to an exact point. He's not fast so he'll probably not get widespread notice, but he's well respected in the right circles here.

The shaft will be his design, he calls them "Cam shafts" of course. I don't think he thought it was amusing when I pointed out camshafts had bumps, but he does them well. Considering radial-lam there too.

  

Here's my suggestions 

 

A review of an affordable honing guide is here  see this style used by folks like David Charlesworth, Christopher Schwarz, LN until recently and Paul Sellers so it can't be all bad.

 

In regard to stones and how far you go that's up to you and how far you want to go. If supreme value is what you're after an India combo stone, some baby oil, a bit of leather and and some polishing compound will take you a long way.

 

If you want to go fine, which can be nice, waterstones and ceramics are a good option. Although they are expensive if you want to do this for a while the cost is diluted. Diamonds are good for the lower grit sizes but the higher grit sizes are still a touch expensive. But as I mentioned if that's diluted over time it's not an issue.

I prefer water stones for razors, no sense in mixing my limited skills up. The stones I have are not for chisels however so I'm trying to chase down that set mentioned earlier.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Who's Online   0 Members, 0 Anonymous, 32 Guests (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online
  • Forum Statistics

    31.2k
    Total Topics
    421.7k
    Total Posts
  • Member Statistics

    23,756
    Total Members
    3,644
    Most Online
    FaithMoody
    Newest Member
    FaithMoody
    Joined