Sharpening Kit - Upgrade part 2

[Petey83]

So I am now set up and using the ITS Ultrex diamond stones to good effect and am finishing off after the 1200 grit stone with a home made strop and some green vertias honing compound. I now want to tackle how to regrind tools as am not having luck with corse wet and dry on float glass. I have several of my cheaper Marples chisels that have got knicks in the edge that can't be sharpened out and I am still struggling to get the sort of camber I want on my jack plane iron - the veritas camber wheel is only really good for easing the edges and adding a light camber to irons (worked great on my no4 and BU jointer).

I suspect I will be needing some sort of bench grinder but am lost as to the choices. There does not seem to be many slow speed ones about so have looked at wet stone grinders (Record Power WG200-PK/A 8" Wetstone Grinder specifically). Have also looked at the Roberty Sorby linisher but its a hefty price tag and eats into my budget for building my dedicated work bench with vice.

as always your help and advice are greatly appreciated.

 

[TFrench]

I bit the bullet and got the proedge. I know its not the answer you want to hear! I've restored a lot of old chisels and plane irons with it and it makes life a hell of a lot easier. I've only had to use the bench grinder on a chisel once since I got it and that was to remove some serious steel from an old firmer chisel.

 

[ED65]

Camber on a plane iron is a bit like what car you drive, it doesn't matter much what you have if it gets you to work on time.

To a large degree the amount of camber to add to a jack is a matter of personal choice. There isn't one set curvature that you have to achieve, some users put a relatively modest camber on theirs and others make it much tighter. In between the two extremes is a large zone where it doesn't matter at all what the curve actually is. And as well as that it doesn't necessarily matter if it's a little asymmetrical, especially if the intended use is for rough planing. Many purists will howl at this but quite honestly you'd struggle to notice if your edge isn't even.

Particularly if you're after a roughing jack I would just ditch the guide and have at it freehand, remembering that neither curvature nor bevel angle are that critical so it is a very forgiving process. If you do need it to be more accurately shaped it's actually not difficult at all to get a reasonably even curvature working freehand if you stop and check periodically as you abrade away steel.

I have several of my cheaper Marples chisels that have got knicks in the edge that can't be sharpened out

FWIW I've reground chisels many times by hand, including on media that wasn't as coarse as it should be, sometimes by necessity and sometimes as a test. On that basis I'd say most damaged chisels can be reprofiled by hand in a reasonable amount of time, the exception being anything particularly hard or tough (still doable, but takes too long to be acceptable for most). As these are Marples chisels I doubt they'll fall into the latter category!

A coarse or coarse-ish diamond plate should be able to tackle most jobs of this kind unless your hands aren't up to the sustained pressure needed. One trick that can help that you might not know of is to grind the tip flat until the chip is gone, then work on developing a bevel working up to your new straight edge.

If you decide you absolutely need a grinder Lidl and Aldi do a couple of different types (including ones with a wet wheel) periodically through the year that'll get the job done and they won't break the bank.

As for a linisher, do you have a standard belt sander? They can be used successfully for a lot of rough shaping with a bit of care and some ingenuity.

 

[Petey83]

thanks for the feedback guys. I have picked up a 8" record bench grinder at a decent price and spent the saving on one of the Norton 3x ceramic wheels as everything i read about them suggests they do not heat up like standard wheels thus de-risking tool temper damage. I almost went for a really coarse diamond stone but given i intend hit the boot sales this summer for bits i still want / need (can't splash on Veritas kit indefinitely) i thought a grinder may prove useful.