Chisel Sharpening

[Bill Raby]

I have no idea what angle my chisels are. Not much worried about it either. Using 14,000 grit diamond powder for stropping compound works very well.

[P.W.Berkuta]

the Veritas link says it only goes down to 1/2" chisel width, that's unfortunate!

I guess you did not look further because I did state that Veritas has a SMALL version of this guide - "This version of the guide is for those who predominantly sharpen narrow blades. It consists of a narrow-blade clamping head, a standard roller base and an angle registration jig. It clamps blades from 1/8" to 1 1/2" wide using parallel jaws to ensure blades stay square to the jig."

[J. Talbert]

If you plan to be doing this for a while the Work Sharp WS3000 is worth it’s weight in gold.
It is to chisel and gouge sharpening what the Lindsay sharpening system is to engraving, IMHO.
Sharpening chisels is practically fool proof, either single or double bevel.
Gouges are not quite as fool proof, but a clever slotted disc allows you to actually observe the bevel as you are grinding it.

https://www.worksharptools.com/shop/benchtop/woodworking-tool-sharpener-ws3000/

I now spend far less time sharpening and end up with better results than when I sharpened manually.

Best of luck,
Jeff

[45-110]

Berkuta
you posted the link:
 "It can easily accommodate chisels as narrow as 1/2" and blades as wide as 2 7/8" and up to 15/32" thick. "

[Bill Raby]

I have been looking at getting one of those Tormek machines. They sure are expensive. Maybe someday.

[Pukka Bundook]

Boys,
I'm not against devices to help, but dont sell yourselves short of what you can do with your hands and eyes and Practice.

Remember the Precision filing classes from years ago?
Look at the Lock Filers art, from high end British locks. It is all doable by hand, but only if you practice and let natural ability take over. otherwise you will be married to gajets forever.,
Saw setting with a hammer?, just the same!
That's how it Was done..

best,
R.

[44-henry]

I can sharpen by hand without any jigs, but I much prefer using specialized tools and jigs to do it these days. I have reached the midpoint of my life and have to consider carefully what I want to spend my time doing, and sharpening is just not that much fun. I am lucky to have a University shop that has the toys like the Worksharp and Tormach and I use them frequently. I use these technology assists like the craftsman of years past probably used  their apprentices.

[Maroilles]

Maroilles, I'm not sure what people mean by secondary bevels and such. Here's how I sharpen a chisel. I hollow grind the overall bevel on the chisel on a grinding wheel. I hold the chisel bare handed very close to the grinding wheel so I can tell if it's starting to pick up too much heat. After I have a bevel I'm happy with, I take to a flat sharpening stone and proceed to hone a sharp edge on it. I first lay the chisel on the stone with the heel of the bevel just touching the stone. I then elevate the handle of the chisel just till the point touches the stone and push the chisel while maintaining the angle. You don't need to do this a lot. All you need is a small polished surface at the cutting edge. If you look at the heel you will notice a small polished area on the heel. This indicates that you have kept the same angle through all your strokes. Finally I take a couple of strokes on the backside to just knock off the the small wire edge that is left. I always push chisels when sharpening except if I'm stropping them (which I seldom do). I also clamp my stones in the machinist's vise that I have at elbow heighth. I think this gives me more control of my hand movements. Finally after this long winded post, I do want to comment that It's hard to get an even bevel on a narrow chisel.

The issue I'm having is maintaining the angle. I now have a chisel that is both curved and not sharp. I think I'm done trying to do this free hand as I just can't get the hang of it.

If you plan to be doing this for a while the Work Sharp WS3000 is worth it’s weight in gold.
It is to chisel and gouge sharpening what the Lindsay sharpening system is to engraving, IMHO.
Sharpening chisels is practically fool proof, either single or double bevel.
Gouges are not quite as fool proof, but a clever slotted disc allows you to actually observe the bevel as you are grinding it.

https://www.worksharptools.com/shop/benchtop/woodworking-tool-sharpener-ws3000/

I now spend far less time sharpening and end up with better results than when I sharpened manually.

Best of luck,
Jeff

Are you still able to use the tormek gouge jig with this device like in this video?

[J. Talbert]

Maroilles,
I’m afraid I don’t know about the availability of all the attachments in that video.
This is the attachment I use for gouges.  The slots in the disk allow you to observe the bevel itself as you grind it against the bottom of the disk.
Being able to see it in real time adds a tremendous amount of control.
If you notice in the one picture taken with the disk spinning you can see the tip of the screwdriver lying beneath it.






Chisels are sharpened against a solid disk with the angle control by an adjustable ramp.

Hope that helps,
Jeff

[borderdogs]

I use a Tormec 2000 it uses slow grind water wheel for straight chisels its easy to set the jig and angle on the stone its hard to make a mistake. Like Bill said I don't really care about the angles although I do keep son chisels steep on purpose. I have used waters stones, Arkansas stones, and DMT diamond stones and even sand paper over nearly 40 years primarily stuck with water stones and honing. Back in 1999 my wife bought be the Tormec and once I get it going it was my go to machine.
For years I tried the free hand thing I have known lots of people who could freehand sharpen with great results that was just not me. I worked with a guy who was really an expert and could put mirco bevels on chisels freehand the cut beautify and quickly to boot. I could never get his results 

Rob

[BillF/TRF]

To get a 22.5 degree angle without a protractor, make a standard paper airplane. The nose is 22.5 degrees. Grind your chisel to that angle. Then hone the edge for 3 minutes on the coarse stone and 10 strokes each on your finer stones. Slick the back of the chisel for 10 strokes. Done.

I make a 22.5 degree wood wedge (unlike Ellenwood's paper/cardboard wedge) and lay my gouge or chisel on it periodically to check if I am maintaining the same attack angle.  Eventually the body memorizes that angle and I only use the wedge after long periods between carving.

[TommyG]

I've been using a Worksharp for a few years now as well.  I am not afraid to do sharpening by hand and still do quite a bit that way, but V parting tools for carving are hit and miss at best.  Most builds you might get away with just stropping a V tool to freshen them up, but my last gun was a stumpcut piece of figured maple that I believe had a lot of mineral, thus touching up and resharpening my V tools was a must do, and frequently as well.  Jeff is right about the availability of the fixture posted.  I made my own for use with the Tormek gouge sharpening fixture.  For doing this kind of work, sharp tools are a must, and I do like sharpening, but I like carving as well and would rather spend my time building and carving.  Here are a few pics of the set up I fabricated for the Worksharp.








cortisol emojis

[J. Talbert]

TommyG,
Nice improvisational setup.
I’ve been contemplating a similar homemade jig for the same reason..

Jeff

[LSR948]

This is what I use to sharpen gouges.

[rich pierce]

This is what I use to sharpen gouges.

I like your style!

I’ve never used guides or machines on chisels but they clearly work well. Sure help for engraving tools.

[LSR948]

Calculations I used to get to this design.

[P.W.Berkuta]

This is what I use to sharpen gouges.

LOVE it -- looks easy to use, quick to use, handy to use, no fussing set-up, CHEAP, boy - this is something that will come in handy -- I got to build one for my bench !! Gouges are tough to sharpen, and I spend a LOT of shop time getting a gouge just right during a build.

[Mike Brooks]

Calculations I used to get to this design.

Fortunately,  I failed geometry. Dumb luck always gets me a sharp tool.

[shortbarrel]

i make all the chisels i use from high grade steel. they are harden and tempered by me. they work just fine and sharpen just fine. got a draw full of them.

[Scota4570]

I have no idea what angle my chisels are. Not much worried about it either. Using 14,000 grit diamond powder for stropping compound works very well.

That is my approach also.  I sharpen with the same diamond stones I use for engraving tools.  I strop with jeweler's rouge on leather glue to a piece of wood.  For knives I kick up a burr on a buffing-polishing wheel with polish-o-ray.  All of my hand cutting tools end up shaving sharp.  I do not believe that, within reason the angle matters.  The cutting edge is at a slightly higher angle than the main bevel.  To some degree it has to be that way.  It would be a waste of time, for me, to take the length of the bevel to a mirror polish. 

[Nordnecker]

I have been looking at getting one of those Tormek machines. They sure are expensive. Maybe someday.

I’ve had one for a while. The truth is, it’s not that great. If I had it to do over again, I’d buy a knock-off. When I first got it, I spent about a week sharpening all of my chisel. Then I loaned it to a few friends and they got their chisels and plane irons sharp. It bogs down if you apply any pressure. I find the sliding attachment for chisels and plane irons to be awkward. In fact, it won’t hold larger chisels at all. The Tormek comes with all sorts of expensive, proprietary gizmos to sharpen everything if you want to spend the money.

[borderdogs]

Nordnecker,
I have been using the Tomek and have sharpened all sorts of stuff on it including axes and big slick chisels and I have never had it bog down on anything ever. You shouldn't need to press down on it I have found a fairly light pressure works great. You can buy all sorts of jigs but what comes with a Tormek grind kit is enough to do A LOT of different stuff especially chisels, plane irons and knives.  You can buy the different jigs in groups but you certainly don't need all the jigs. I had the original stone on mine for 20 years before I upgraded the machine I have and replaced it. With all the sharpening I have done with it I could still use it it didn't loose a lot of diameter over  the years.

As far as the jig that holds chisels and plane irons its pretty big and the new one allow for micro adjustments. I admit they are expensive but so are Arkansas stones. I bet I have more than a few hundred in them too. What it comes down to is what works for you obviously the Tomek system doesn't work for everyone but having used Work Sharp and some other systems it works better than those for me.
Rob 

[Clowdis]

This is what I use to sharpen gouges.

So you sharpen with a left to right motion instead of a front to back?

[LSR948]

No.

You sharpen front to back, right to left, arc - doesn't matter, works for all - the base follows.  I had a front to back only fixture but dropped it because it only went in one spot on the diamond plate - you had to move the plate to grind in a different area.  This method allows you to use whatever motion across anyplace on the diamond plate you wish and keeps the bevel angle constant.

[RAT]

One thing I didn't see anyone commenting on... The height of your stone. I sharpen by hand and mount my stone in my bench vise. That puts the stone at about 44" from the floor, and about 3" above my navel (I'm 5' 6"). It's the same mistake I see people make with filing... their work is too low. Here's some rules I follow...

Stand while sharpening... don't sit.

The stone should be close to the center of your chest... not at or below your waist.

Push the blade into the stone... don't pull.

I run the back of the chisel flat on the stone first for 10-12 strokes.

Hold the chisel firmly with both hands... one on the handle and one on the shaft.

Lock your arms into your chest... don't hold the chisel out away from the body.

When moving the blade forward... your whole body pushes the blade back and forth... not your arms... my legs do all the moving.

For chisels 1/4" and larger, I can feel if the chisel is flat against the stone. For chisels smaller than that, I can't feel it well enough, so I use a sharpening guide.

Use a black marker to color the surface of the cutting edge. Sharpen a couple of strokes, then flip it over to check. This will tell you instantly if it's flat to the stone.