Sharpening Hand Tools

[crokett]

So last night I attempted to sharpen the blade for the the #7 I got last week. The edge had some nicks and the bevel was a little pitted after derusting. I have a Veritas MKII. I've read enough that I understand (or thought I did) the basic process with the various grits of sandpaper. I've also watched some of the Lee Valley videos. Anyhoo, as per one of the videos I held the blade perpendicular to the paper to flatten the edge and get rid of the nicks. Of course this gave it a flat secondary bevel. Then I put it in the jig and started honing. A half hour later I'd used up all my 80 grit paper, most of my 120 grit and the secondary bevel blade didn't seem even close to gone. However, most of the pitting on the bevel was gone, so I know something was being removed So either:

a) I am being optimistic about what the paper can do and should have put it on a grinder first to get rid of most of that flat edge.
b) I screwed up and should have moved up in grits as I went along.

My understanding was the lower grits get rid of waste in a hurry and take you to sorta sharp but the finer grits let you sneak up on it.

Any suggestions?

[Rich P]

I assume you are talking about the #7 jointer. If so, honing is the last step. Seems to me you are trying to shape the edge/bevel on a larger iron using a honing setup when this is best done on the (white wheel) grinder. Once you get the hollow grind, honing the edge is a snap. I have both the Woodcraft slow speed 8" and the HF water wheel and the Woodcraft is far superior (in terms of speed) in shaping the edge. Just don't forget to lap the back of the iron.

[natausch]

Typically you'll want to use a grinder to establish a new edge. Paper is great for sharpening a fresh edge or removing very tiny nicks.

Once the pits are gone and you have a new bevel then you can move from 240 on up.

Also, are you using wet or dry paper?

Best investment I ever made was a Delta 23-710 off of eBay. It isn't as precise as a Tormek, but it's built like a brick... well it's durable and cuts sharpening time down to minutes. Grind on the left, hone on the right and then move to jig and paper to complete the process.

[pelligrini]

Getting rid of deep nicks, wrongly ground bevels, etc. on the big wide irons is a chore. Quality paper makes a big difference. Keep it clean too, I'll vacuum and or brush mine off frequently. I should have used a grinder to do the primary bevel, but my grinding skills and hardware are poor. I've got a #7 iron from ebay that I probably will take a file to it first as it is a mess. I'd probably use a belt sander on it if I had one. Sometimes I am absolutely amazed at the shape of the cutters I get from some auctions.

I ended up getting a Worksharp because I wasn't looking forward to regrinding a couple #7 irons and a #8. That WS3000 made it a breeze, even doing the primary bevels too.

[crokett]

Thanks fellas. I've had a HF 20% coupon I've been saving... I think I am going to get the wet/dry grinder and go from there. I have a couple other irons that need work as well as a chisel that my wife thought was a screw driver.

[JimD]

I was able to take almost all the nicks out of the 10 inch blades of my Ryobi AP-10 planner on my horizontal wet wheel sharpener. I think the stone is about 1000 grit. It took awhile. They make a coarser wheel that would have been nice to start with.

Jim