sharpeners

[3thumbs]

I have a drawer full of dull chisels. I have been looking at the Work Sharp and the Grizzly wet sharpener. I know that a lot of you use sandpaper and glass to get them "scary sharp," but that hasn't worked for me. Which of the machines would you recommend?
DM

[dbhost]

Are you using a honing guide?

regular chisels are super easy to sharpen. My method hasn't been glass, but scrap hardboard (good and flat!), sandpaper, and a honing guide, unless for some reason I need to regrind the bevel, which I have a bench grinder and the Wolverine setup for...

The only part of the sharpening that I skip is buffing, I do not have a bench buffer, although I could put a buffing wheel on my drill press I guess...

Anyway, I am curious what about the sandpaper method isn't working for you? How exactly are you going about this?

[charliex]

I've used the scary sharp method and 2 different grit diamond stones to keep some of my chisels and plane blades fairly sharp. The motion required to sharpen using this method was hard on my shoulder, elbow and wrist joints. I recently acquired a WorkSharp 3000 and spent about 6 hours sharpening 15 chisels and 9 plane blades, some of which were fairly bad condition. They all now are what I would call "Very scary sharp". With the initial sharpening and grinding blade angles you'll use up disks quite quickly. Touch up sharpening on the other hand is fast and hardly puts any wear on the disks. The wide blade attachment is necessary for most plane blades. It took a lot of tweaking to get the thing level and square to the sharpening disk. The instruction sheet for the WBA has pictures for setting the blade in the holder which don't coincide with the written instructions. No regrets as to the purchase. It does what the manufacturer says it will.
Chas

[SARGE..g-47]

I am also curious as too why you haven't been sucessfull with scary sharp DB. I used oil stones from 1972 until around 1988. Since I have used water stones.. diamond stones.. ceramic stone.. you name it as I couldn't get good grade oil stones. Then one day I tried scary sharp.

What I found is that it the easiest.. less messy.. quickest way to sharpen in all the methods I have been through over the years and in the long run the cheapest as I don't use any guides. So.. what is it that you are having a problem with that you are in the chase for a new method?

Have you not properly flattened a portion of the back first before proceeding with the bevel and tip.. Have you not removed the grind marks from a chisel left by factory grinding? You have to invest in both of those before you have a plane iron or chisel to the point it only take minutes to re-sharpen. Not doing so will never gain a sharp edge. If you haven't been sucessful with what I consider the simplest method I have found over the years... do you suppose one of the more expensive and more complicated machines will solve your problem?

Not trying to insult.. just make you think about why you have not been sucessful with standard scary sharp when many find it so simple. Just give it some thought and ask questions which many that love the method can probably help you determine the why it isn't working for you!

Good luck...

[master53yoda]

i have the 8" version of the Grizzley and it works very well for me.

[BrazosJake]

+1 on Sarge's observations, though I've never used anything else.

The only reason I can think of to use a machine or jig is establishing a new bevel.

I use Corian as a reference plate.

A quick and cheap machine method is 220-grit sandpaper on a belt sander followed by jewlers rouge on a stitched wheel (grinder).

[Alex Franke]

I highly recommend the WorkSharp. I use it a lot and I love it. It takes all the guess work out of the equation.

And -- just the be sure I was getting good results -- I actually shaved some with one of my sharpened chisels. It works very, very well.

[Alex Franke]

BTW, "scary sharp" can mean different things to different people:

* something (anything) that is very, very sharp
* a way of sharpening with sandpaper & glass
* a specific product or sharpening tool

[herb fellows]

Haven't tried the Grizzly so I can't compare, but the worksharp has worked out well. If you do go this route, get additional abrasive sheets elsewhere, they can be found a lot cheaper.

[woodturner]

BTW, "scary sharp" can mean different things

The term "scary sharp" was coined by Patrick Olguin on the OldTools list, around 1985 IIRC. There was a discussion about how to tell if a chisel is sharp, and someone mentioned that a sharp chisel would cleanly cut a piece of paper. The response was that if you approached the paper with a "scary sharp" chisel, the chisel would be so sharp that the paper would run away in fear.

Others may have since used that term to mean other things, but that's the first usage I had ever heard of the phrase "scary sharp". Usage seems to have been limited to the OldTools list until the 1990's or so, when a "sleeper" from the rec.woodworking list posted it there. From that point it spread to other woodworking forums.

[Bruce Cohen]

I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I've been using Lee Valley's Honing Guide Mk II since it came out along with a set of Norton water stones for my chisels and plane blades.

Somehow, I really don't think I would want them any sharper.

Bruce

[mpc]

I used the sandpaper-on-glass technique for a while. Holding the tool by hand didn't work for me though; I could never keep the angle constant. When I bought the Lee Valley Honing Guide Mark II though suddenly "sharp" really meant sharp. This method works easily and well for tuning up a blade that isn't too bad... but some of mine were in miserable condition. Such blades took a fair bit of time to bring back to life.

Enter the WorkSharp 3000: sharpening even the miserable condition tools is now quick and easy. And you really don't have to pay much attention when using the WS3000... I set mine on a towel on top of the living room coffee table and tune up chisels & plane blades during TV commercials.

I looked at the WS2000 and didn't think it was anywhere near as good as the 3000. One fixed blade angle (vs several detents on the 3000) and a higher RPM (more tool heat) took it out of the running. The wide blade attachment, as others noted, takes some fiddling to get mounted & aligned properly but it does work. It includes a gizmo similar to the Lee Valley honing guide that does the job.

These tools work for chisels, plane irons, etc... basically flat blades. If you get into turning or carving you'll need something different for the curved blades on those tools or you'll have to hold those by hand. Slipstones are great for touching up such tools. Various attachments can be purchased for the dedicated grinders (like the Griz unit pictured in master53yoda's reply and the Tormek, HF, etc units that look similar) to work with both flat and curved blades. Such tools do a "hollow grind" sharpening; the smaller the grinding wheel diameter the more hollow you'll get. It's not a big deal - hollow grind vs. flat grind has pros & cons like everything else.

mpc

[leehljp]

I have the WS 2000 and use it to get nicks out and to get chisels in the correct shape. They are sharp for sure, but I use the scary sharp - (PSA sandpaper of 5 grits 600 800 1200 2000 4000. Can't find those in PSA now) Those do exceptional and add the extra bit of sharpness that makes huge differences in paring excess dowels or squaring up a hole with little effort.

To me the WS takes the guess work out without having to have a full set of jigs and add ons. Don't get me wrong, I am going to get me a Tormek like grinder after I get back home for retirement and a good set of jigs to go with it. There is a place of each and the more you have, the more options you have for getting the right edge on the right tool in the time allowed.

[master53yoda]

here is a site that has a video on sharpening that pretty well goes over everthing


http://www.woodmagazine.com/woodvisi...ctid=979196111

[3thumbs]

Sorry that I haven't replied back sooner. I have been away.
I am just now getting to the point that a sharp chisel can help my projects get better.
So far my attempts have yielded an edge that is not square, and I have trouble holding the chisel at the correct angle to match the factory angle. That is why I have decided that a machine designed for this purpose will help me to have some sharp tools.
When I become as polished as "Sarge" I probably will be able to use the more educated methods.
DM