Chisel Sharpening - Help!

[Ron Nossaman]

>The thing to remember is that you have to have a wire edge
>on the opposite side of the tool all across the tool before
>you can go to a finer grit.  The wire edge has to be moved
>to the other side from the back side by holding the tool
>flat on the grit and back sharpening is not permitted.  That
>wire edge is what Ron was referring to.  
>-- 
>		Newton Hunt

Sorry Newton, 
For the usual woodworking chisel that's the conventional approach that
serves most folks very well, but it's not what I do for my bridge notcher
(or most of my general purpose chisels either, for that matter - at least
not for hardwoods). Seems like I do everything weird, I know, but I've
tried all sorts of approaches and this is most comfortable for me. I back
bevel the flat side very slightly, and scoop notches with the blade flat
side down. I also get rid of that wire edge as soon as possible with a
light stroke at an increased angle because too delicate an edge turns with
the first notch and doesn't do me any good. I find edged tools that other
folks have sharpened to be very awkward for me to use, though I don't see
that I'm doing anything particularly different when I use them. It's just a
feel thing.

I see more photographs all the time of factory notchers notching from the
side in, rather than scooping from the top out. Do any of you out there do
that? 

Ron N