The Rule of Three: Sharpening 101
Grind, hone, polish: the basics of all sharpening. Among the fundamental skills necessary for good woodworking, I’d put knowing how to sharpen your edge tools at the top of the list. Even if you [...]
New Road for Old Drivers
I use lots of Phillips-head sheetrock screws, which are made of hardened steel. They’re tough on bits. A worn-out bit can’t be re-sharpened, so I reshape it to fit a slotted screw [...]
The Convenient Dremel
Tool: 7350 Rotary Tool Shop Now Manufacturer: Dremel MSRP: $29.99 (includes grinding stone, 2x sanding bands, felt polishing wheel, mandrel, and USB cable.) A few years ago I reorganized [...]
Centering a Hollow Grind
A felt-tip pen is the best tool I’ve found for adjusting a grinder’s tool rest. When you need to find the center of a bevel in order to duplicate an angle, color the whole bevel with a Magic [...]
Tool Test: 3M Convolute Deburring Wheel
Tool: Scotch-Brite Deburring Wheel Shop Now Manufacturer: 3M MSRP: $50+ Someone saw this deburring wheel on Instagram and clued me in to it; sold. It’s really a metal-working tool for [...]
Heirloom Awl
Heirloom Awl Metal and wood are the basic ingredients in most woodworking tools. As woodworkers, we’re familiar with working wood, but what about metal? Actually, the level of metalworking [...]
‘The Last Word on Sharpening,’ by Christopher Schwarz
I still remember the first time I achieved a truly sharp edge on my smoothing plane iron. Suddenly, I was able to make whisper thin shavings and achieve a shimmering surface…without a [...]
Using a Hand-cranked Grinder
Many woodworkers fear the act of grinding. And “fear” might be too kind a word. I’ve had several woodworkers send me tools to grind for them (please don’t do this). Other woodworkers spend [...]
