Sharpening Media - Oil, Water, Diamond or Abrasive Paper?

[GazPal]

Hi Folks,

My own experience stems from a solid grounding in the use of oil stones (Natural and man made) and finally settled upon the use of diamond sharpening plates, with finish whetting on Black Arkansas and leather strop. My son (Now apprenticed) is one year into his journey as a trainee cabinetmaker and will soon enough begin his own personal search for preferred sharpening media and - as he develops his own techniques - will doubtless discard some of my methods in favour of his own.

This got me thinking - without prejudice - about the way others approach the use of sharpening media and wondering what your preferences might be and why you settled upon them?

Just try and remember there is no one true way of sharpening, as there are more ways than one to skin a cat.

 

[Racers]

Hi,

Waterstones and a strop for me, I have a sink in my garage so its easy to do and clean up.

Pete

 

[GazPal]

Hi,

Waterstones and a strop for me, I have a sink in my garage so its easy to do and clean up.

Pete

Hi Pete,

Nice one

Have you found any need to fit a silt trap/regularly clean the trap on your sink outlet due to grit build up from stone wear and flattening?

 

[Racers]

Hi, Gary

Mine goes straight out no U-bend into a drain out side, it shares the piping with the washing machine that's in the garage as well , I haven't had any problems yet, I think the hot water from the washing machine helps keep the pipes clean.

Pete

 

[Scouse]

...what your preferences might be...

Waterstones

...why you settled upon them?

Cheap, fast, don't have to think too much about sharpening. Simples.

El.

 

[DTR]

Hand cranked grinder, oilstones and a leather strop. Quick and cheap (I got a charnley stone for a pound!)

 

[Jacob]

Oil stones freehand. Though I've tried many alternatives (except scary sharp and waterstones both of which seem so inconvenient and expensive).
I've also got a Sorby Proedge as I realised that an ordinary belt sander is a fire hazard. Pity really as belt sander does a brilliant grinding job and runs cooler than a wheel.

 

[GazPal]

I thought long and hard about delving into using water stones and - for a while - test drove a selection from among my brother's arsenal (He's also a cabinetmaker and we're always making comparisons), but thought the trade off between wear, time spent - in terms of repeated flattening - and long term cost was a tad prohibitive for my liking. I prefer to try and keep my sharpening technique as minimal (Fast) as possible and although I like the rate at which water stones can create an edge, the higher maintenance aspect tends to put me off. It's much the reason behind my moving on to using diamond plates in conjunction with whetting stones and strop (Depending on the degree of sharpness desired), as flattening tends to be a non-issue, plus they have an extremely reasonable lifespan that'd see out my days as a pro craftsman.

 

[GazPal]

Hand cranked grinder, oilstones and a leather strop. Quick and cheap (I got a charnley stone for a pound!)

Ye olde worlde Charnley's are nice aren't they

 

[Richard T]

Oil stone for sharpening, coarse diamond plate for rescuing, hand (or foot) cranked wheel in the pipe line.

 

[AndyT]

For routine touch-up sharpening, a hard Arkansas oilstone used freehand with 3-in-1 oil. For more severe cases, a Norton medium oilstone first. Quick and easy, always ready to hand.

But I do also like the abrasive films from Workshop Heaven, stuck onto an old bit of mirror glass, and prefer to use a jig with them - the common Eclipse one. The disadvantage of that is that it needs a lot more space on the bench, so it's more for a dedicated sharpening session than it is for touching up during a job. I use them with water from a garden spray bottle.

 

[Elapid]

Coming from the meat trade where knives need to be more than razor sharp and stay that way with just a quick refresh on a steel I've always used oilstones with a bit of washing up liquid for lubricant.

I've tried other methods but I stick to what works for me which is what everyone should do.

 

[GazPal]

I've tried other methods but I stick to what works for me which is what everyone should do.

I honestly think this is the way to go, but would add the provisor "unless shown a better method or sharpening medium" IMHO the same stands in terms of the debate surrounding the use of guides versus freehand honing and it's up to the individual to work in the manner he/she finds him/herself best suited.

------------

One good tip for water stone users is for you to add a touch of bicarb/baking soda to the water you're using, as it's properties help prevent/reduce flash rusting on newly exposed ferrous metals. :wink: I picked this tip up from a Japanese sword smith during a visit to Japan many moons ago.

 

[Silverbirch]

Jacob, I`m interested to know why a belt sander is a fire hazard - and what makes a Pro Edge different in this respect.

Ian

 

[GazPal]

Jacob, I`m interested to know why a belt sander is a fire hazard - and what makes a Pro Edge different in this respect.

Ian

Hi Ian, I'm not Jacob, but feel I can help. Belt sanders tend to have sanding dust lodged within their mechanism and this can cause a fire hazard (Smouldering embers. etc.) whenever sparks from grinding are added. The Pro-Edge has an open plan belt layout and - being intended for metal grinding - there's far less fire hazard.

 

[James-1986]

Freehand on DMT diamond stones for me. My only regret is getting ones that are like a mesh as its not possible to sharpen pointed tools and small chisels, so I have an oil stone for that. Finish them off on a leather strop.

 

[Silverbirch]

Hi Gary
That makes sense. Thanks for your reply.

Ian

 

[GazPal]

Hi Gary
That makes sense. Thanks for your reply.

Ian

Never a problem Ian

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I started with an oilstone, but the oil soaked the wooden case and started contaminating everything it touched. So I tried waterstones, which were very fashionable about fifteen years ago. They work very quickly, but the mess (they're not 'bench friendly') and faff involved in flattening them caused me to try a ceramic stone (medium). I've recently supplemented this with an ultra-fine ceramic stone. Advantages - 'bench friendly', easy to clean (sling them in with the washing-up), hard-wearing, quick-cutting, and the ultra-fine imparts a superb polish. Disadvantages - high first cost, and the medium stone isn't as flat as I'd like (the ultra-fine is, but only on one side).

Actually, the subject of sharpening is quite broad - apart from grinding and stropping, there are techniques and equipment for sharpening saws, non-straight plane irons, in-cannel gouges, carving tools, drills and brace bits, scrapers, screwdrivers, and for the power tool users, such things as morticer hollow chisels, planer knives, router cutters....Then there's the refurbishment of secondhand purchases. I suspect most of us would be mildly startled with how much we had if we put all our sharpening gear on the bench at once!

 

[Jacob]

Jacob, I`m interested to know why a belt sander is a fire hazard - and what makes a Pro Edge different in this respect.

Ian

Hi Ian, I'm not Jacob, but feel I can help. Belt sanders tend to have sanding dust lodged within their mechanism and this can cause a fire hazard (Smouldering embers. etc.) whenever sparks from grinding are added. The Pro-Edge has an open plan belt layout and - being intended for metal grinding - there's far less fire hazard.

That's it.
Even if a belt sander is dust free the sparks can get carried around to impact on the same bit of the plastic casing and melt it, or even set it on fire. I know this from experience, although it was more a smouldering than actually bursting into flames. A pity really as it is a Bosch with a square chassis so you could just place it on its back to turn it into a convenient tool grinder.