Are you guilty of sharpening laziness?

[RJsumthn]

Okay be honest, how many of you are guilty of being lazy when it comes to sharpening?

 

This is my first winter as a woodworker and since I work in a garage without climate control I can't keep my waterstone soaking all the time. I noticed today while chopping mortises that instead of just putting my stone in water and waiting for 20 minutes then sharpening my 1 1/2" chisel I would go to the 1" chisel, then the 3/4" and so on until I was using my 1/4" chisel. (I was chopping 1 3/4" square mortises). Who else is guilty of this? I know I can't be the only one

[duckkisser]

as a wood turner and starting carver i cant afford to let my tools stay dull.  and for as often as i would have to sharpen if i use a stone i would spend more time sharpening then actuly working.  when i was turning all day i had to sharpen every 20-30 min.  so i use grinding wheels regualar stone for shaping, white stone for sharpening, paper wheel for honing, and loose felt wheel for the burr.  so i can touch up in a second and move on to what i like most. 

[Dlhunter]

Now instead of having to sharpen one chisel you have to sharpen them all. That's not being lazy, it actually sounds like a lot more work. Lol

[Trip]

and proud of it....

[Nick2cd]

Guilty

[Tom Crawford]

Well, somewhat guilty but when your chisels are Marples purchased in 1970 and not particularly good steel there is not much choice.  Every time I'm about to replace them something comes up and the money gets used for that. 

[Bombarde16]

One would hope there will soon be a corresponding poll such as, "Are you guilty of obsessive sharpening?"

 

I used to be lazy about sharpening, primarily because I didn't have a dedicated space for my stuff.  I took the plunge last year and built a sharpening station that hangs on the wall next to my bench.  It's nothing fancy:  I use a cheap, dry grinder with a home-made tool rest that cuts a fixed "house" bevel angle of around 20 degrees.  My finest waterstone only goes up to 4000 grit.  I have never tried shaving with my tools nor do I intend to invest in scanning electron microscopy to photograph the edges.  But it works well enough and I can touch up an edge as needed without breaking my rhythm.

 

Quoth Xenophon, "Moderation in all things good."

[areynoldsre]

not guilty.  Bought some good waterstones just last year and expect to use them later in the year...

[drzaius]

I have long feared and avoided sharpening.  I can do it, but it's always been so difficult and the results somewhat hit or miss.  But this winter I've started building a heavy maple workbench with lots of mortises and tenons to cut & trim so dull tools are not an option. I started by setting up a sharpening station & leaving it set up.  Then by the time I was a few hours into chopping mortises I'd gotten enough sharpening practice that now I'm pretty good at it and actually enjoy it (I know, hard to believe & kind of pathetic).  For major edge rebuilding I use a Veritas jig, but otherwise just free hand on an 8000 grit water stone.  It only takes about 30 seconds and the edge is razor sharp.

[RJsumthn]

I am hoping that when the weather warms up to the point that I don't have to worry about my stone freezing up and break that I will not be so lazy when it comes to sharpen. If I could remember to put my stone in water when I first go out to the garage that would help but I always forget until I start to use that dull tool and I don't want to wait for it to soak.

 

When the weather gets nicer I want to build a rack that sits on my slop sink in that garage. That should help a lot. 

[CessnaPilotBarry]

My sharpening setup is simple...

 

A side clamp guide, angle setting jig, two double sided DMT plates, and two waterstones, 4000 and 8000 grit. 

 

90% of the time, it's clamp to the microbevel angle, 5-10 strokes on the 4000, and 5-10 strokes on the 8000, DONE!   I can get back to work in less than 120 seconds.  (I timed it... 

 

The other times, it's touching up the back on XC-C-F-XF diamonds, clamp, 5-10 strokes on each DMT to reestablish the primary bevel, slip the guide to the microbevel, and hone on the waterstones.  In these cases, it's maybe 3-4 minutes.

 

So...  I've made it simple, so there's no reason to be lazy... 

[G S Haydon]

I like to keep it quick and simple. I usually sharpen freehand which saves time on setting up honing guides or the like. We do have a tormek water stone at work but unless I have caught a nail in reclaimed or repair work I don't really use it. I also don't go too far with ultra fine stones. Having a quick and simple systems means it's just as quick to sharpen the tool you are using rather than use another perhaps less well suited one.

[Byrdie]

Hey RJ.

 

Living in MN with an unheated garage as a workshop I feel your pain.  I think the other posts here are missing the point of your original post - it's not how you sharpen or even how often, it's how do you deal with an environment that's unfriendly to the circumstances and are you guilty of a "work-around?"

 

Guilty and by the same method.  Use smaller and smaller chisels in my set until they're all dull because to sharpen I've got to leave the shop and go into the house, breaking the rhythm of my work.  It's not that I can't sharpen or that I don't want to, it's that it's inconvenient to stop to sharpen.

 

Don't know the exact circumstances of your shop, if it's completely unheated or that you only heat it when you're working in it.  If it's the later, perhaps you could set up some kind of container with your sharpening equipment that you take out with you when you begin to work and that you take back in with you when you're done.