Plane/Chisel Stone Sharpening/Terry Farrell

[Joseph Garrett]

Terry,
I was very suprised that this question came from an experienced Boat
Builder! <G>
In my experience, all these gadgets and fro-fro for sharpening Chisels and
Plane Blades is a total waste of money and your time. It usually takes me
about 10 minutes to completely resharpen a chisel. The only fancy thing
needed is a Chisel Bevel Gauge. The rest of the tools necessary are: A good
grinder that turns at 1750rpm, (this speed is the fastest you should ever
need. Any thing faster will ruin you "cutters", Big Time"!) The grinder HAS
TO HAVE a good adjustable grinding platform that is solid when set. The
"fixture" for grinding a consistent, correct angle is your hand.
>From the grinder, I go directly to a fine Arkansas, 6", oil stone. The
slight curve that is made from the 6" grinder, provides a two point
stabilizer for stoning correctly. (We don't need no steenkin' guide/gauge,
here pardner!<G>) With a little practice you can do this in the dark. From
the Arkansas stone, I go to my Crystalon (sp?) Slip, (mounted on the same
sharpening platform, so that it has a horizontal flat surface exposed.)(BTW,
this "platform" is made out of salvaged Teak, from an olde derilect ship.
[G] The Teak is a natural for this, as it coexists with the oil quite
nicely.) Next, I go to a ceramic Razor Stone, for the final "curl" removal.
(all these stones are "oil" type. And....I've had them for years, (as
apposed to water stones that wear out almost annually!). The next step, has
a definate criteria: Ya hast ta be wearing Jeans! Flick the final "curl" off
the edge, by stropping on your pant leg. (I'm serious here!) Lastly, I strop
on leather. First the course side of the leather and then the smooth side.
This strop is made from Player piano bellows valve leather blanks. Cut one
of the leather blanks in half. Mount on a block of wood, of the appropriate
size that fits the leather. Make sure you have a handle on it. It's easier
to strop, if you are using both of your hands, rather than trying to have
the leather on the bench top. These things I learned in High School Shop,
from a really great teacher who had an almost reverance towards tools.
This whole procedure takes about 10 minutes to come to an extremely fine
cutting edge on a chisel.
For Planer blades it takes a bit longer, but the same procedure is used.
Hmm? maybe I should make a video? Naaaaaw!~
Best Regards,
Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)

Been There, Didn't Like It, So I'm Here To Stay! [G}