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
|
sharpen freehand.
