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I make it a point to avoid blogging about sharpening. It is the simplest thing to do that is made confusing by too much talk and too many commercial products.
I honestly do not care how you sharpen your tools. If you can get a zero-radius intersection and then polish the two surfaces, then you are in the club.
This video shows how I do it – start to finish – with a 3/4” A2 chisel, a cheap honing guide and waterstones. The orange stone is #1,000. The purple is #4,000 (I think). The green is #8,000.
Take a look. The whole process (including flattening the stones) takes 2:30 or so. The resulting edge is keen, mirrored and good for chopping out a drawer’s joints in abrasive teak and pine before it will require sharpening again.
I ask you this favor: Do not reply with words in your comments. The only reply is to shoot your own video, post it on YouTube and share the link below.
— Christopher Schwarz
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Here’s mine
http://mcglynnonmaking.wordpress.com/2013/08/03/shut-up-and-sharpen-my-take/
Here is the video I made. I sharpen a plane iron with oil stones.
http://trialanderrorwoodworker.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/sharpening-a-plane-iron-mid-project/
http://toolerable.blogspot.de/2013/06/shut-up-and-sharpen-my-entry.html
Here’s mine.
Chris,
When you asked for a video we had just finished sharpening all the planes in the shop in preparation for HandWorks. We didn’t have time to do a video until now. Here it is:
http://youtu.be/Z0ClNp_Eknw
Here is my entry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL2xjcSeggU
Rob Millard
http://youtu.be/bINuTKohzvA
that will just about do it. not much different, just the diamond stones and a strop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-2A20A3KJc
please provide credit for background music, want to hear more!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSzq45W0LTk
I made this a few years ago.
Hadn’t you gone back to oilstones?
Free hand sharpening
http://youtu.be/y3XZmC5FjgI
Where do you sharpen if it’s raining?
Chris, just be careful you aren’t wearing too much metal off your wedding ring when you swipe your hand across the stones. 🙂
I have spent my musings on sharpening for some time on youtube. Here is my try about plane blades. Just say my favorite and actual combo of japanese waterstones is almost the same as yours: 800 grit, 4000 grit and 8000 grit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3brLrUm5gY
A photo of the flat face wear bevel on a plane iron. This has to be addressed/removed at each sharpening or you’re only working on half your cutting edge. You don’t get sharp by ignoring half of the cutting edge you’re trying to create.
http://www.planemaker.com/photos/wear-bevel.jpg
Stanley’s sharpening instructions on the back of a block plane iron from the 1970s. While the instructions don’t mention the wear bevel, they do mention the important indicator of the wire edge created and removed on each grit of stone. One can’t remove the wire edge without removing the wear bevel on the flat face. Dealing with the flat face wear bevel is why “absolutely flat” is important.
http://www.planemaker.com/photos/Stanley.jpg
This method of moving the “stone” rather than moving the tool seems to make perfect sense. I think it’s WAY beyond just another gizmo. Am I missing some flaw in their approach? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&list=UUUB419ucuJKvVAYQb7as1KA&v=p8NrP0Zub0U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ehSrX1Dx78
I hope it works. On my computer at work it only runs halfway, while on my cellphone it works allright.
Here you go, fast and sharp!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFRJIAOGSJI
Regards
Aled
Your purple waterstone is #5000. Yes, I’m that much of a geek.
Video to come.