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hey all, what is a good way to sharpen chisels, keeping in mind that i am a newbie and i don't have any fancy sharpening tools. i bought a set on ebay (probably not the best quality) and they are very dull. it frustrates me because i watch my luthier videos and their chisels cut through wood like butter. thanks, brandon.

I use both waterstones and the sandpaper-on-glass (Scary Sharp) method, and can't honestly say which I think is better. Probably any method, followed carefully, works.
Be sure to flatten and polish the back of the chisel first, and do it well. Then work on the primary bevel; i.e., the entire slanted cutting portion of the blade. Finally, it is useful to hone a secondary bevel which only involves the very tip of the blade. This gives you more meat right at the cutting edge, reducing some of the wear and tear on the blade, and it also gives you a smaller surface needing re-honing when you touch up the blade.

I use a Veritas (Lee Valley) honing guide, which I like and which sets the secondary bevel angle. But, some "real men" sharpen freehand.

http://www.shavings.net/SCARY.HTM for a description of the sandpaper method.

Jim Kirby

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

hi brandon,

welcome to the olf...i'm a newbie hear myself, but everyone seems real friendly.

an inexpensive way to sharpen your chisels is to use wet and dry sandpaper on a piece of plate glass,before you start if your bevels are very badly chipped or rounded, then you will want to find someone helpful to grind them true again. you then start with 400grit paper, work the flat side until you draw a burr then work the bevel, go up the grits until about 2000 and you should have chisels with a decent cutting ability, then in future just use the coarser grits on the bevel side and use fine grits only on the back,

for more info there is a book by a guy called brian burns called scary sharp or something..... in my own opinion though a set of japanese water stones is the best way to go... the edge you will get is phenomenal, gnat-circumcision type of thing!!!

hope that this is some help

paddyPaddyD38739.5070138889

Welcome to the OLF Brandon, stick around, great folks will help you here!


Serge

http://luthiersforum.3element.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID= 4159&KW=sharpening+chisels#forumTop

http://luthiersforum.3element.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID= 3907&KW=sharpening+chisels#forumTop

http://luthiersforum.3element.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID= 3904&KW=sharpening+chisels#forumTop

Here is the one I was looking for in the Archives of all places, check this out! Honing on Leather

http://luthiersforum.3element.com/forum/search.asp?KW=Leathe r+chisels&SM=1&SI=PT&FM=2&OB=1

Here is a link in the archives: check this and you'll have a bunch of knowledge.

I'm new to guitar building but have been building furniture for a few years
now.

Scary Sharp - aka sandpaper on plate glass - is attractive because it's
inexpensive to get set up. One thing proponents will say is that you need
a perfectly flat substrate and recommend 1/4" thick "float" glass. I
couldn't find that anywhere, and I ended up buying a granite surface plate
from Woodcraft. That has worked great. In terms of the sandpaper, I was
able to find 400-2000 grit in small increments at a K-Mart auto
department and at a Pep Boys (auto parts store) in their paint department.
FYI, I couldn't find all grits at either place, so don't be discouraged if you
have to look around. People also talk about just wetting the back of the
paper with water to hold it to the glass/substrate. I found that 3M spray
adhesive works better for me. YMMV.

The only other method I've tried is oilstones, and I just didn't get as good
results. I think I wasn't patient enough - one of the things about scary
sharp is that if you use a lot of grits, you only have to spend a small
amount of time on each grit.

I have not tried waterstones, and the reason is because they lose their
flatness and you have to re-true them occassionally. Also, it looks like
they make quite the mess! That being said, waterstone fans seem even
more in love with that method than scary sharp fans - it's obvious that
waterstones are an effective sharpening method.

If you've got some money to throw at the problem, you might consider a
Tormek sharpening system. It's essentially a slow speed grinder with a
water-lubricated stone and 10,000 jigs to aid you in sharpening whatever
edged tool you happen to be working with. I'd go that route myself
except for the cost involved.

No matter what the method, the idea is always pretty much the same.
Lap the back of the chisel flat (you only have to lap about the last 1 inch
or less, not the whole bloody thing), and then work on the bevel. Finally,
once you've got a good sharp edge that way, you'll maintain it by putting
a microbevel on the edge and just honing that microbevel until you have
to resharpen again.

Another tip: if you have trouble keeping a consistent angle while
sharpening the bevel, there's no shame in buying and using a sharpening
jig that maintains the angle for you.

A sharp chisel really is a joy to work with, and is much safer than a dull
one!

FYI, basically everything said here goes for your plane irons as well!

Good luck!

Jay

I am new too, but I did have the same question a few weeks ago and searched the Web. All said aboove is true - of course. As for the angles, in liue of buying a jig, I cut bocks from a 1X3 with a Miter Saw. I set one angle at 30 for one block and one at 25. SO I understand you use the 30 first, then the 25 for the final edge of edge.

Funny as I just cut the blocks for the first time about 1 hour ago and I am about to sharpen my chisels on an oil stone -- where you need oil for lubrication. I like the idea of the sandpaper too. Might try that.

Dennis

A Guide to Honing and Sharpening

_________________
Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Also

http://hocktools.com/sharpen.htm

This is one of those skills that you keep honing (pun intended). Even after decades, I and many others are still working on their techniques.

Pat

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now known around here as Pat Foster
_________________
http://www.patfosterguitars.com

I only used the scary sharp method with paper and flat surface. Works superbly for the money you invest. I also use a honing guide I bought at HomeDepot. I would love to have good water stones but the prices are out of this world...
   Use the wet-dry paper with a half/half mix of turpentine and mineral oil and you should have very good results.

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

dennis

you have the angles reversed in order; use the 25 degree then the 30.

I've been using "Scary sharp" for some time, and am quite happy with the results. I was lucky enough to find a large piece of 1/2 in. float glass at the local glass shop for $5.00, and got the finer grit papers from the local body shop. I also use the Veritas honing guide, and really like the way the blade-angle jig works. The Veritas also has a simple, consistent adjustment to hone the micro-bevel.

The only time I use a stone is for initial edges on new tools; then I use the coarsest diamond stone I can find.

Paper grit - 220, 400, 800, 1200, 2000. Haven't found the need for finer grits, 2000 seems to put a mirror finish on them...

-Mark

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Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

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I also use the scary-sharp method. I also use a granite block as the flat surface. Grizzly carries some that are probably a couple dollars cheaper than Woodcraft although the shipping cost was more than the cost of the stone.

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