sharpening tools

[yanmarman2007]

Does anyone have tips for shop made jigs to help me sharpen my chisels

 

[ehpoole]

I don't have any great tips for shop-made jigs, but I can recommend one commercial jig that I really like. The Veritas Mark II Honing Guide (www.veritastools.com).

I've tried a number of jigs over the years and the Veritas Mark II, along with a good set of waterstones (220, 1000, 4000, and 8000 grit), is the only commercial-made jig that I have really found to be worthy of a rave.

Pinnacle also has an interesting jig, but I haven't tried it.

For shopmade jigs, I know some simply cut wooden wedges of the proper angle to serve as a sharpening guide -- the jig gets worn down over time as well, but they are simple enough to remake.

 

[eyekode]

I have the Veritas Mark II as well. I mostly use it for grinding with sandpaper (I don't have a grinder).

Recently I have been using oil stones for regular sharpening. It takes me less time to touch up a blade free hand then to get the blade in the jig. Most of the time I can get a functionally sharp blade in a couple minutes.

Here is the article that convinced me to try freehand: http://antiquetools.com/sharp/

Note that I am no where near an expert here. Just my limited experience .

 

[Ray Martin]

I don't know if I have a better answer on what jig than the ones given above, but I know where you can get some instruction on technique. Lie-Nielsen has a bunch of short vid clips on YouTube that talk about sharpening, care for, and use of chisels and planes. Try this one... http://www.youtube.com/user/LieNielsen

 

[robliles]

I'll be the third to recommend the Veritas Mark II. It is a little pricy, around $70.00 but the precision of the angle and edge you can put on a blade is excellent. The ability to also put a secondary bevel on an edge with precision is a plus. I, like Ethan, use a combination of water stones. My only objection is the instructions for the jig were a little confusing--or maybe that was just me--but once I had the set up figured out, it was quick and easy.

Good Luck

 

[CatButler]

There's a design of a home made jig that works pretty well with scary sharp. It is shown in the book Hand Tool Essentials. There's a good chance that is a duplicate that has been in Woodworking magazine some where.

Personally, I just do it free hand.

I cant' find the story on the Old tools group that made me decide to do it but it went something like this "A guy was hanging out with his FIL who was a well known, high quality furniture maker. His plane got dull, and the guy figured he would get to see how a pro sharpened his tools. The FIL popped the blade out, spit on his sharpening stone, rubbed the blade around a bit, did the back, then popped it back in and kept going. The guys asked the FIL why he didn't use some fancy jig. FIL replied "Some people like to play with their tools, some people like to make things with them"

That was good enough for me.

 

[yanmarman2007]

Thanks, always looking for a easy way out.
Jody

 

[Mike Davis]

The easy way out is to learn (takes 15 minutes to learn) to sharpen free hand.

I'd be happy to show you how i do it. Once you get the idea and have a little practice you can sharpen anything, anywhere with just about any abrasive you might have. I have sharpened knives on the bottom of a coffee cup and shaved hair with them.

I like diamonds because they are a girls best friend, no wait that's a different song. I like DMT diamond plate sharpeners because they work fast, last a long time and stay flat. I carry a small DMT duo-sharp in my pocket and use it every day for knives, scissors and anything that needs a quick touch up.

I use the scary sharp sandpaper and anything flat method to set up chisels and plane blades but will touch one up in a heartbeat with my DMT. 2500 grit sandpaper makes a mirror polished edge on a plane blade but 600 grit beats dull any day.

 

[junquecol]

For getting the hollow grind, I use Ian Kirby's jig from his book "Sharpening with Waterstones. For actual sharpening, I do "free hand" on sandpaper, with a final honing on a piece of MDF with some Tormek paste applied. I do side to side, not back and forth on the sandpaper, so no jig would help me. (I'm basically helpless.) By doing side to side, I can rest the hollow on the paper and have a go at it. In back and forth (free hand), on every stroke, you have to feel for contact of hollow on paper. I can get my chisel sharp enough that the hair on my arms jump off just ahead of the actual cutting edge:rotflm:.