4 questions about chisel sharpening station

[louis mason]

I am looking for help getting a good chisel/plane sharpening set up. Someone gave me an old Sears 6 inch grinder and I was thinking of building around that.

First question, what about adding the following grinding wheels to the Sears grinder?

80x Wheel - 6" x 1" $24.50
120x Wheel - 6" x 1" $20.95
Blade Honing Compound, 6.5 oz $7.50:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32981&cat=1,43072,43080

Second question, is it unnecessary, or really helpful, to have the following clamp attached to the bench in front of the grinder for holding the blades?

Basic Grinding Set
Item 05D1302 $55.00:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&cat=1,43072,45938&p=32975

Third question, is the following honing device redundant with the previous sent up? Or does it help in the final honing process?

Veritas® Mk.II Honing Guide
Item 05M0901 $48.50:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&cat=1,43072,43078&p=51868

Last question: for estimated $160.00 should I be looking at another set-up?

thanks and tell me what you guys use to sharpen chisels... Louis

[SteveJ]

Personally, I don't use a grinder for fear of my chisel getting too hot. I use the Veritas system with sandpaper. I start at 150 and work my way up.

[gmack5]

I am looking for help getting a good chisel/plane sharpening set up. Someone gave me an old Sears 6 inch grinder and I was thinking of building around that. ... Louis

Just my opinion but I think you're trying to make a "Silk Purse out of a Sow's Ear"!
I have serious doubts as to the suitability of that 6" grinder for anything other than a "standard" electric powered Grinder and to use it on a Chisle is asking for trouble. That thing turns at approximately 1740 RPM, or 3480, or higher, and would therefore probably heat up the edge on your Chisles very quickly and cause them to lose their Temper.

Those Jigs and fixtures that you referenced in your post are, more than likely, designed for use with a SLOW SPEED Grinder, not a "normal" grinder.

My thought would be that you'd be better off looking at a "real" Slow Speed Grinder, rather than trying to adapt what you have in hand now. YMMV

[sacherjj]

For the price of those two wheels, you can almost get the Slow Speed grinder at Woodcraft. It is $70 and comes with two good white wheels. I haven't heard anyone prefer a 6" over an 8" for sharpening.

[louis mason]

helpful

wow, thats some good advice.

i actually am trying to save some money. maybe i'll can the sears device and go with just the honing tool for now and pick up the slow speed sharpener instead.

thanks

[foneman]

here is my opinion

Louis,

I have tried several different methods and always come back to the sandpaper, "scary sharp" process. It is cheap, requires very little equipment, and has a quick learning curve. Quite a few people recommend using thick glass to put the paper on, but I have had good luck with a couple of granite or marble floor tiles from one of the BORGS, Lowes or Home Depot. I have tried using the roller type guide and it works well, but takes setup time. My preference is to sharpen without any guide, which once you get used to it, will get you back to using your tools much quicker. I agree with what others have to say about the 6" grinder. Keep it for sharpening and shaping larger items, like mower blades or grinding down a bolts. The 8" Woodcraft grinder is really good for lathe tools and rough shaping your chisels, but again sandpaper will do the same thing and not overheat your blades. A good tool rest for the Woodcraft grinder is a big improvement on it.

The one thing I see on your list that I would recommend is the "Blade Honing Compound". If you live where there are lapidary stores, they should stock some of the "green" buffing compound. I use it on a hard piece of leather glued to a board and also on a flat piece of MDF without the leather. They both work fine. The MDF will not roundover your edge like the leather would if you use too much pressure.

Here are the steps I use:
80 or 120 grit on Blades that need major repair
220 grit on blades that need moderate reshaping
400 grit to remove scratches from the previous step
800 grit to remove the 400 grit scratches
1000 to start polishing
1500 before the honing compound
Hone about 5-10 strokes with green rouge

For plane blades, I would go one or two grits higher to 2000 and 2500, but have had good results without it.

Once you get the hang of it, you will be be pleasantly surprised how simple it is and your chisels will be sharp enough to shave with.

Good luck!

[jziegler]

I'm new to the whole sharpening thing myself, and not so great at it, but to start out, you might just try a basic charpening set from Lee Valley or somewhere similar. For about $60 you get a combo waterstone and their honing guide (Mk II is a little more, I have the older style personally). Look under the cabinetmakers sharpening kits. It seems to be a good bang for the buck, although the scary sharp system (with or without a guide) would be too. I have been able to take a couple really cheap chisels and a really cheap plane and make them usable with this kit and about an hour or so of my time. It also saves a good bit of money over buying the stone and guide separately (about $10).

It certainly is not a solution for all sharpening, but for me it has been a good starting point.

Jim

[Ken Massingale]

I'm with Jim. The little system from Lee Valley does a real nice job, fairly quickly and easily. The SS method is great, but I don't have the patience for it. IMHO, forget the grinder, how are you going to get the backs flat with a grinder? Once you get the backs flat and with a mirror finish, do the bevels. After the initial elbow grease is done with, touching up with the guide and waterstones is quick, uh, as long as you don't put-off doing the touch-up too long, like I do sometimes.
k

[scorrpio]

A ginder like that is handy for quick material removal - like when you need to grind out a major nick. Of course, a major nick is something you should not have to deal with if you pay attention to what you are tryng to chisel/plane. Be sure to keep coolant oil handy and dip the tool into it often to avoid heating it up. Again, this is for the real rough work, and should be followed with progressive gits of ~200 and ~400. Personally, I can't recall when I last had to go through all that, though.

My primary sharpening tool is a 1000/8000 Japanese waterstone. I also have a lapping plate along with some compounds to lap the backs of chisels/blades flat. During normal use, a few strokes on 8000 is all that's needed to keep the tool in shape.