Sharpening - which method?

[OPJ]

In that case then, I should add that I primarily use my Work Sharp for grinding! I do have a set of oil stones and one 'ultra-fine' ceramic stone for freehand honing. Truth be told, they probably create more mess than the Work Sharp!! :wink:

 

[Philly]

Froggy
I don't think it matters which sharpening medium you use - its getting a repeatable result that matters. Keep using your scary sharp until you can easily and quickly get your tools sharp - you can try other stones, etc later.

I prefer to see sharpening as two separate operations - grinding and honing.

Use a grinder to grind a fresh primary bevel (most people end up using their Tormeks for this, but a cheap bench grinder with a suitable grinding wheel is perfect)

Use sharpening stones or paper to hone - this is putting an actual "sharp edge" on a tool. You can spend a small fortune on stones, but as I said, practise using whatever stones you have until you can easily and repeatably sharpen an edge. Then you will WANT to sharpen your tools, instead of putting it off. And it is so much better working with sharp tools - and it will show in your work.

Hope this helps,
Philly

 

[Froggy]

Hi Philly, What do you call a 'suitable grinding wheel'? Is it the white wheels that are on the expensive machines like the Tormek? Are there different grades? And can you change the wheels on grinders or do I have to buy another grinder? I only have a cheap one at the moment.

Thanks Froggy

 

[yetloh]

Yes, I agree with Philly, a grinder (Tormek or whatever) is for grinding, not sharpening unless you are going to be satisfied with an edge which really isn't truly sharp.

It depends how fanatical about sharpness you really want to be - and I confess to being pretty fanatical about it. I use a Cruesen water bath grinder for forming a primary bevel and water stones for sharpening where I go up to 16000 grit. At this level it gets expensive business in terms of stones and the gains beyond 10,000 are small. If you stick to 8 or 10,000 as a maximum the cost of stones is relatively modest. I flatten my water stones using a black (coarse) DMT diamond stone which I also use for removing a nick if I get one soon after regrinding.

This system gives me very sharp edges. Having made the investment I am very happy with the results and find it hard to see how anything else could be better. I guess it is still cheaper than a Worksharp. Not having tried one of these I cannot say whether the results are comparable.

Jim

 

[Philly]

Froggy
Yes, keep your cheap grinder and get a replacement wheel - most tool suppliers sell white or ruby wheels, the coarser the better (46 grit?). I personally use a Norton 3X blue wheel, from Classic Hand Tools - cuts very fast and I have yet to overheat a blade when grinding - worth every penny!
Here's a link..

http://www.classichandtools.com/acatalo ... heels.html


Hope this helps,
Philly

 

[Harbo]

I use a cheap Clarke one - replaced the original ones first with a white Sorby one and then later changed the other with a Norton 3X. Very quick and easy to use with less setting up time.

I now use it more than my Tormek though I still use that for planer blades, turning gouges and when I am more concerned about accuracy.


Rod

 

[jorgoz]

Hi Chaps, I'm going round in circles trying to decide which is the best and most economical way of sharpening my blades. I've recently learnt the 'scary sharp' method and I'm delighted with the results, but I have nothing to compare with. So I decided to buy some water stones, but when I saw the prices it made me think that it might be cheaper in the long run to buy a Tormek? I suppose it depends on how many stones I have to buy and how often they need replacing?
If I decided to buy a system (e.g. Tormek) is there a massive difference (besides the price) between the T3 and the T7? And what about alternative systems like Scheppachs? How do they compare?
It's all very confusing for a beginner, especially as I don't just want the cheapest, we all want sharp tools, but what is the best value for money?
I'm sure you guys have covered all this before but I can't find a thread...if there is one already just point me in the right direction please.

Cheers Froggy.

For the beginner there's no better system in in my view than a set of king waterstones and an eclipse jig. It will be more economical than the scary sharp method in the long term and you've already got the plate glass for flattening your waterstones.

 

[mr grimsdale]

For the beginner there's no better system IMHO than a trad double sided oil stone, tin of 3in1, and a bundle of old rags.
A beginner especially needs to avoid power grindstones and blued edges.
Jigs immediately add a level of complexity (need for perfect flat stones for starters) and make life more difficult - all that stuff about primary, secondary bevels. What's more you become jig dependant and never learn to sharpen properly by the easiest and quickest method.

 

[yetloh]

That depends whether you want to work with the really sharp edges that make such a difference, especially for the beginner. I think the King stones are a much better bet.

Jim

 

[Alf]

Oh lawks...

Oilstones, waterstones, diamond stones, scary sharp, Tormeks, Worksharps, 3Xs - they're all just abrasives, guys! Some of them go round and round, some of them don't. Some come in sheets, some in stones, some in wheels. The idea is to get exhibit A, a piece of metal, to a point of sharpness as painlessly as possible - what variety of abrasive you use is personal choice and snake oil.

For example, at least one advocate of the Tormek on here has said elsewhere he's never experienced as sharp a blade as one I'd sharpened - with a hand grinder (coarse grey stone) and finished on a Hard Arkansas oil stone. Does that make my system the ultimate and everyone should use it? Nah. Just that I went to a finer grade of abrasive.

Froggy, you're delighted with the results from 'Scary Sharp'? Hooray! Rejoice. Why d'you want to fix it? :wink: When - if - you reach the point where you're not delighted, that's when to look for something else, and by then you'll probably have a much better idea of what you're looking for anyway.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Chems]

For example, at least one advocate of the Tormek on here has said elsewhere he's never experienced as sharp a blade as one I'd sharpened - with a hand grinder (coarse grey stone) and finished on a Hard Arkansas oil stone. Does that make my system the ultimate and everyone should use it? Nah. Just that I went to a finer grade of abrasive.

Thats a good point alf, your blade was the sharpest I'd ever seen! The best thing about the Tormek for me is its silly person proof you can get a very sharp blade that does the job without having to learn a lot of diffrent methods.

 

[mr grimsdale]

For example, at least one advocate of the Tormek on here has said elsewhere he's never experienced as sharp a blade as one I'd sharpened - with a hand grinder (coarse grey stone) and finished on a Hard Arkansas oil stone. Does that make my system the ultimate and everyone should use it? Nah. Just that I went to a finer grade of abrasive.

Good point. Freehand you can go down the extra grit size because more of your effort goes on to the edge instead of being shared with the jig.

 

[Mattty]

Another vote here for the Worksharp 3000. I've just sharpened a roll of 10 Marples site chisels ready for a weeks work. It took around 2 mins.
Perfect repeatable results.
I seriously think the worksharp would cost similar to most of the waterstone/diamond stone set ups when you included the cost of honing guides etc which you don't need with this system.
The worksharp is basically just a mechanised version of the Scary sharp system.

 

[Froggy]

Froggy, you're delighted with the results from 'Scary Sharp'? Hooray! Rejoice. Why d'you want to fix it? :wink: When - if - you reach the point where you're not delighted, that's when to look for something else, and by then you'll probably have a much better idea of what you're looking for anyway.

Cheers, Alf

Hi Alf, When I got my first £5 plane I was happy with it until I tried a Stanley plane and then I was delighted with Stanley plane......until I tried a friends LN plane etc. I've only ever sharpened with SS system so I wanted to try others to compare them.
But I have realised from this exercise that sharpening methods are a matter of choice and opinion and lets face it you all produce stunning results (from what I've seen) with the different methods you employ. So they must all have their merits.
I'd just like to thank everyone for their input - I've learnt alot from this little exchange, but now I'm going skiing for the week :lol: Speak to you soon. Froggy

 

[studders]

Oh lawks...

Oilstones, waterstones, diamond stones, scary sharp, Tormeks, Worksharps, 3Xs - they're all just abrasives, guys! ..........

Cheers, Alf

How dare you bring common sense into the argument.

What were you thinking?


:wink:

 

[John Smith]

A combination of the Tormek, Shapton Stones and the DRLP give me results I can not yet improve on

 

[Henning]

Well,

I've just had my first try with my brand new Tormek T-7 and 5 minutes after unpacking the machine and getting the stone wet enough i had an old chisel restored to former glory sharp enough to cleanly cut end grain pine.

I've never had results like that with anything else. Great machine, great instructions.

 

[Chems]

Well,

I've just had my first try with my brand new Tormek T-7 and 5 minutes after unpacking the machine and getting the stone wet enough i had an old chisel restored to former glory sharp enough to cleanly cut end grain pine.

I've never had results like that with anything else. Great machine, great instructions.

I remember that feeling when I got my Tormek!

 

[Aled Dafis]

Can anybody point me towards any reviews of the Worksharp machines? I'm intrigued.

Cheers

Aled - (always on the lookout for the ultimate, hassle/mess free sharpening kit)

 

[Chems]

Olly has one on his blog thats good.