Rotary water stone with guide the chisel is clamped to. Aka cheap chink Tormek knockoff. Takes 2-3 minutes for a narrow cabinetry chisel (<10mm) and 20 for a broad, thick carpenter's chisel (>24mm).
i dont know why people pass up on them and waste their time on a tormek.
the concept is solid, small footprint, one of my prewar has a tormek like tool holder, a porous 10" corundum wheel and even a water tank.
due to not having a motor its not dangerous to missus, i freehand hollow grind large backs sometime. The one thing it cant do reasonably are long handled lathe tools > or a human age if I'm regrinding the primary on a PM-V11
get a role of good P80 cloth and be done in minutes
Imagine my face when the new kid at work sharpened all our wood chisels with a bastard file.
Be glad he has an interest in sharpening tools. Most guys I have worked with never even thought about sharpening chisels. The few that have were the bench ginder/ belt sander types that but a gnarly 15ish degree bevel. I did see an old Mexican, former cabinet maker, file his chisel with a slim taper once.
To sharpen a chisel. I recommend a double-sided black-white Arkansas stone and some honing oil. You can find those types of stones for about $50, which come in a wooden case. A sharpening guide is unnecessary.
You start on the softer side (white) and finish on the harder side (black). You have your two flat sides creating the edge on your chisel. Always keep them flat and run them straight. No wobbling. Always run your chisel forward on the stone, never backwards, this allows you to consistently run your chisel flat and straight without any wobble. You only want two perfectly flat sides on your chisel, so don't create a slope, an uneven side or a third side by lifting or wobbling. Use the flatness of the chisel as your guide and listen to the sound. Once you get used to it, you can hear when you're running it along the stone properly. Wash your stone frequently, shit will build up on it and reduce its effectiveness.
A lot of people will tell you to run your chisel back and forth on the stone, but that's a recipe for wobble and you'll just frick your chisel up. One of my mentors, the only guy on my crew that actually sharpened anything showed me this and he explained why he cane to thus conclusion. It doesn't take very long to sharpen it if it's in good condition. Maybe 10-15 good runs forward on black if it's still got a good edge and maybe less than that. If you keep the stone near your work piece, then it's quick and easy to keep your chisel sharp and that makes working with it a dream. Fricking with a guide is just a hassle and it's a skill of its own. You can learn to keep sure and steady runs down the stone.
My experience as well. Sharpening skills are nearly non-existent in the current day.
I should add to this that chisels with a long, flat bottom side a good distance away from the handle are best to use with this method. This allows you to produce longer runs along a stone at a better angle to the stone.
To sharpen a chisel. I recommend a double-sided black-white Arkansas stone and some honing oil. You can find those types of stones for about $50, which come in a wooden case. A sharpening guide is unnecessary.
You start on the softer side (white) and finish on the harder side (black). You have your two flat sides creating the edge on your chisel. Always keep them flat and run them straight. No wobbling. Always run your chisel forward on the stone, never backwards, this allows you to consistently run your chisel flat and straight without any wobble. You only want two perfectly flat sides on your chisel, so don't create a slope, an uneven side or a third side by lifting or wobbling. Use the flatness of the chisel as your guide and listen to the sound. Once you get used to it, you can hear when you're running it along the stone properly. Wash your stone frequently, shit will build up on it and reduce its effectiveness.
A lot of people will tell you to run your chisel back and forth on the stone, but that's a recipe for wobble and you'll just frick your chisel up. One of my mentors, the only guy on my crew that actually sharpened anything showed me this and he explained why he cane to thus conclusion. It doesn't take very long to sharpen it if it's in good condition. Maybe 10-15 good runs forward on black if it's still got a good edge and maybe less than that. If you keep the stone near your work piece, then it's quick and easy to keep your chisel sharp and that makes working with it a dream. Fricking with a guide is just a hassle and it's a skill of its own. You can learn to keep sure and steady runs down the stone.
My experience as well. Sharpening skills are nearly non-existent in the current day.
Overcomplicating a simple task long term natural stones are a pain in the ass.
First, there's a difference between grinding to establish the basic shape and/or re-establish it when the edge has a big ding or chip in it, and keeping the tool sharp.
If you hollow grind the basic shape the edge is way easier to keep sharp using a simple flat stone, and you won't need any guides to do it.
That assumes that you have the basic skills and patience to operate a chisel to begin with...thatbincludes maintaining a steady angle of orientation to whatever surface you are making contact with.
In fact, time spent using proper sharpening technique on a stone helps to develop that control and patience.
With the proper hollow grind, sharpening a typical chisel takes less than a minute.
The hollow grinding part takes longer but only maybe 15-20 minutes for a 2" chisel and most of that is setup and checking your progress...and you only need to do it once every few years, if that.
Agreed it takes time but if you don't rush it your first timer can do it perfectly... find your flat and if you cant keep it only cut on the backstroke. Also if you are talking about just a carpenters chisel like the one in photo op posted they should be flat ground not hollow ground.
Bench grinder if i fricked up big time and hit some nail.
Aliexpress ruixin clone cheapo knife sharpening kit to get the edge proper sharp.
dont use a bench grinder you will do a hack job
Rotary water stone with guide the chisel is clamped to. Aka cheap chink Tormek knockoff. Takes 2-3 minutes for a narrow cabinetry chisel (<10mm) and 20 for a broad, thick carpenter's chisel (>24mm).
I own a Tormek its a great tool but shouldnt be used for flat grinds. Its great for your lathe tools and other bits and bobs but not for your hand chisels or surface planes. Its a quick job just use some sandpaper or a diamond stone and strop. If you want to make it even quicker use the ruler trick or shim it up using feeler gauges.
All in all use good sandpaper and a flat surface. Theres nothing wrong with a bench grinder or Tormek but they are not meant for that type of grind. Also the problem with those is you aren't going to be able to establish a flat back. A very important part. It's like a scandi grind, you don't want a hollow and ideally you don't want a secondary edge but if you are lazy use the ruler trick. Even then you should get a baseline first it really should be used after you have ground perfect flats and you just want a quick sharpen.
Anon it took me 10s to put it in a honing guide at a leisurely pace. I can sharpen freehand too but the guide makes it too easy to pass up. When you're a quarter up your primary bevel the ability to set a perfectly repeatable angle and just take it directly to a 5k stone makes sharpening almost pleasant.
8 months ago
Anonymous
Didn't mean to disrespect guides, if they work for you great. My main point being I think natural stones are a waste long term and to get the grind right. Natural stones need to be flattened especially if you use a guide as you focus on certain parts of the stone more.
A guide is great as it pretty much makes sure you do a flat grind. That being said even with a guide depending on your chisel it will take a lot longer than ten seconds. It's something you should take your time with and take pride in by the time you are done with it. I even do it to new chisels just taking the machining marks out. This said once you do it once its a pretty quick touch up to bring it back to hair spitting sharp.
8 months ago
Anonymous
I think we're talking past each other here. I replied to a post calling guides a hassle with a video of me setting one up in 10 seconds. You replied to my video but I wasn't sure what part of your post was directed at me and assumed it was the "Overcomplicating a simple task" part.
I have modern synthetic water stones and never intended to claim it takes me 10s to sharpen. It usually takes me a few minutes per chisel, or a human age if I'm regrinding the primary on a PM-V11 bevel up blade because I'm too moronic to get a chinesium Tormek knockoff. All I tried to say was that I use a guide because the repeatable angle means faster sharpening of the secondary bevel during the day and that it's such a non-issue that I can do it in 10 seconds while awkwardly holding a camera under my chin.
First, there's a difference between grinding to establish the basic shape and/or re-establish it when the edge has a big ding or chip in it, and keeping the tool sharp.
If you hollow grind the basic shape the edge is way easier to keep sharp using a simple flat stone, and you won't need any guides to do it.
That assumes that you have the basic skills and patience to operate a chisel to begin with...thatbincludes maintaining a steady angle of orientation to whatever surface you are making contact with.
In fact, time spent using proper sharpening technique on a stone helps to develop that control and patience.
With the proper hollow grind, sharpening a typical chisel takes less than a minute.
The hollow grinding part takes longer but only maybe 15-20 minutes for a 2" chisel and most of that is setup and checking your progress...and you only need to do it once every few years, if that.
To start off the best way is to get a flat surface, ie a piece of glass or if you want to upgrade invest in a surface plate. Grizzly makes a decent cheap option and its a nice versetile tool to add to most shops. Other than that go for a solid wet dry sandpaper and go through the grits to your liking. I have always liked rhynowet redline but do your research, I've been a bladesmith since I was young and its a hard brand to beat but 3m and nortan are up there. On that note i love the 3m cubitron series but am not sure if it comes in sheets, it seems like the woodworking community respects it a lot. Other than that I've invested probably thousands in all types of stones imaginable... even own a tsprof and a gen 3 pro from wicked edge. Stick with diamond stones if you go that way it will just save time and mess. Other than that its all the same, profile the whole edge and especially the back and never forget to strop. You will spend the majority of your time, depending on the chisel, removing material. Once you do it once it's quick. Also look up the ruler trick for chisel sharpening.
get a small sheet of glass, glue some different grit sandpaper to it, and go to town
Wetstone and wedge of wood to hold it at 25°
Like, 3-4 minutes per chisel
Then get a strop with compound and spend a few seconds swiping the chisel often an you will barely have to resharpen it.
Water stone + honing guide set with a protrusion board. Takes a couple of minutes.
Rotary water stone with guide the chisel is clamped to. Aka cheap chink Tormek knockoff. Takes 2-3 minutes for a narrow cabinetry chisel (<10mm) and 20 for a broad, thick carpenter's chisel (>24mm).
Cheap Amazon diamond plate kit and awful Stanleyhoning guide
5-15 minutes each depending on size and condition
Bench grinder if i fricked up big time and hit some nail.
Aliexpress ruixin clone cheapo knife sharpening kit to get the edge proper sharp.
crank grinder and oilstone
1 minute
Hand-crank grinders should get more love. Mine lives with my other manual backups in my SHTF toolkit.
i dont know why people pass up on them and waste their time on a tormek.
the concept is solid, small footprint, one of my prewar has a tormek like tool holder, a porous 10" corundum wheel and even a water tank.
due to not having a motor its not dangerous to missus, i freehand hollow grind large backs sometime. The one thing it cant do reasonably are long handled lathe tools
> or a human age if I'm regrinding the primary on a PM-V11
get a role of good P80 cloth and be done in minutes
Where the hell do you even get one in the year of our lord Current Year Plus Eight?
ebay, cl, whatever used market there is? buddy just got me one from a flea market, that one didnt even cost a penny after haggling
40 seconds on the concrete garage floor
Or belt sander if present
Be glad he has an interest in sharpening tools. Most guys I have worked with never even thought about sharpening chisels. The few that have were the bench ginder/ belt sander types that but a gnarly 15ish degree bevel. I did see an old Mexican, former cabinet maker, file his chisel with a slim taper once.
To sharpen a chisel. I recommend a double-sided black-white Arkansas stone and some honing oil. You can find those types of stones for about $50, which come in a wooden case. A sharpening guide is unnecessary.
You start on the softer side (white) and finish on the harder side (black). You have your two flat sides creating the edge on your chisel. Always keep them flat and run them straight. No wobbling. Always run your chisel forward on the stone, never backwards, this allows you to consistently run your chisel flat and straight without any wobble. You only want two perfectly flat sides on your chisel, so don't create a slope, an uneven side or a third side by lifting or wobbling. Use the flatness of the chisel as your guide and listen to the sound. Once you get used to it, you can hear when you're running it along the stone properly. Wash your stone frequently, shit will build up on it and reduce its effectiveness.
A lot of people will tell you to run your chisel back and forth on the stone, but that's a recipe for wobble and you'll just frick your chisel up. One of my mentors, the only guy on my crew that actually sharpened anything showed me this and he explained why he cane to thus conclusion. It doesn't take very long to sharpen it if it's in good condition. Maybe 10-15 good runs forward on black if it's still got a good edge and maybe less than that. If you keep the stone near your work piece, then it's quick and easy to keep your chisel sharp and that makes working with it a dream. Fricking with a guide is just a hassle and it's a skill of its own. You can learn to keep sure and steady runs down the stone.
My experience as well. Sharpening skills are nearly non-existent in the current day.
I should add to this that chisels with a long, flat bottom side a good distance away from the handle are best to use with this method. This allows you to produce longer runs along a stone at a better angle to the stone.
>Fricking with a guide is just a hassle and it's a skill of its own
Yes anon, major hassle.
Overcomplicating a simple task long term natural stones are a pain in the ass.
Agreed it takes time but if you don't rush it your first timer can do it perfectly... find your flat and if you cant keep it only cut on the backstroke. Also if you are talking about just a carpenters chisel like the one in photo op posted they should be flat ground not hollow ground.
dont use a bench grinder you will do a hack job
I own a Tormek its a great tool but shouldnt be used for flat grinds. Its great for your lathe tools and other bits and bobs but not for your hand chisels or surface planes. Its a quick job just use some sandpaper or a diamond stone and strop. If you want to make it even quicker use the ruler trick or shim it up using feeler gauges.
All in all use good sandpaper and a flat surface. Theres nothing wrong with a bench grinder or Tormek but they are not meant for that type of grind. Also the problem with those is you aren't going to be able to establish a flat back. A very important part. It's like a scandi grind, you don't want a hollow and ideally you don't want a secondary edge but if you are lazy use the ruler trick. Even then you should get a baseline first it really should be used after you have ground perfect flats and you just want a quick sharpen.
Anon it took me 10s to put it in a honing guide at a leisurely pace. I can sharpen freehand too but the guide makes it too easy to pass up. When you're a quarter up your primary bevel the ability to set a perfectly repeatable angle and just take it directly to a 5k stone makes sharpening almost pleasant.
Didn't mean to disrespect guides, if they work for you great. My main point being I think natural stones are a waste long term and to get the grind right. Natural stones need to be flattened especially if you use a guide as you focus on certain parts of the stone more.
A guide is great as it pretty much makes sure you do a flat grind. That being said even with a guide depending on your chisel it will take a lot longer than ten seconds. It's something you should take your time with and take pride in by the time you are done with it. I even do it to new chisels just taking the machining marks out. This said once you do it once its a pretty quick touch up to bring it back to hair spitting sharp.
I think we're talking past each other here. I replied to a post calling guides a hassle with a video of me setting one up in 10 seconds. You replied to my video but I wasn't sure what part of your post was directed at me and assumed it was the "Overcomplicating a simple task" part.
I have modern synthetic water stones and never intended to claim it takes me 10s to sharpen. It usually takes me a few minutes per chisel, or a human age if I'm regrinding the primary on a PM-V11 bevel up blade because I'm too moronic to get a chinesium Tormek knockoff. All I tried to say was that I use a guide because the repeatable angle means faster sharpening of the secondary bevel during the day and that it's such a non-issue that I can do it in 10 seconds while awkwardly holding a camera under my chin.
First, there's a difference between grinding to establish the basic shape and/or re-establish it when the edge has a big ding or chip in it, and keeping the tool sharp.
If you hollow grind the basic shape the edge is way easier to keep sharp using a simple flat stone, and you won't need any guides to do it.
That assumes that you have the basic skills and patience to operate a chisel to begin with...thatbincludes maintaining a steady angle of orientation to whatever surface you are making contact with.
In fact, time spent using proper sharpening technique on a stone helps to develop that control and patience.
With the proper hollow grind, sharpening a typical chisel takes less than a minute.
The hollow grinding part takes longer but only maybe 15-20 minutes for a 2" chisel and most of that is setup and checking your progress...and you only need to do it once every few years, if that.
This, but worrying about the constant angle isn't as important as a lot of guys think. A little rounding of the edge angle doesn't hurt anything.
Imagine my face when the new kid at work sharpened all our wood chisels with a bastard file.
that would only do harm to trash chisels anyway
To start off the best way is to get a flat surface, ie a piece of glass or if you want to upgrade invest in a surface plate. Grizzly makes a decent cheap option and its a nice versetile tool to add to most shops. Other than that go for a solid wet dry sandpaper and go through the grits to your liking. I have always liked rhynowet redline but do your research, I've been a bladesmith since I was young and its a hard brand to beat but 3m and nortan are up there. On that note i love the 3m cubitron series but am not sure if it comes in sheets, it seems like the woodworking community respects it a lot. Other than that I've invested probably thousands in all types of stones imaginable... even own a tsprof and a gen 3 pro from wicked edge. Stick with diamond stones if you go that way it will just save time and mess. Other than that its all the same, profile the whole edge and especially the back and never forget to strop. You will spend the majority of your time, depending on the chisel, removing material. Once you do it once it's quick. Also look up the ruler trick for chisel sharpening.