>I am using Shapton ceramic sharpening >stones: http://www.shaptonstones.com/ (Professional Series) and the >Veritas Honing Guide and Bevel Setter: http://www.garrettwade.com/ (type >in "veritas honing guide). > >Am I missing something here? Or is this a universal problem? Or is this >one of those skill/experience things (damn, I hate those)? > >Terry Farrell I use a 2"x6" coarse diamond grit DMT for roughing in (after the bench grinder), and a 2"x6" Eze-Lap fine diamond grit "stone" for final sharpening. I'll eventually replace the DMT with a coarse Eze-Lap, because I like the continual surface rather than the perforated steel, plastic embedded surface of the DMT. Diamond grit surfaced steel plates mean I don't have to waste time flattening a sharpening stone - ever. I have a sharpening bevel guide I got somewhere (??) years ago, but I retired it after the first attempt. I just don't sharpen chisels or plane irons that way. I grind and rough hone a primary bevel, probably slightly shallower than the books and bevel gage instructions suggest, then finish the edge with a fine stone at a slightly steeper angle then the primary bevel. This gives me an edge I could shave with (if I were to suddenly lose what little mind I have left), that is still tough enough to use in actual work for a while without turning it on a piece of maple at the first stroke (like an X-Acto, or single edge razor blade). The secondary finish bevel means I can touch up the edge periodically as I work without having to take a half pound of material off of the entire primary bevel each time. Touching up the edge takes seconds, at least with chisels and knives. Plane irons take seconds too, just more of them for disassembly, retrieving dropped parts, frog control, and the like. Eventually, I hone the secondary bevel deep enough that I have to take it to the coarse stone and re-establish the primary bevel. Stupidly dropping it on it's edge means I have to start at the beginning with the bench grinder - again. It's all freehand. Ron N
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