Ok--the old guys were right about sharpening

busbus · 2007-02-06T03:01:27+00:00

Well, I heard what was being said in the recent sharpening threads andrealized that a lot of people were very right: years and years ago,before wet paper, before jigs, before everything, there were oilstonesand look at the craftsmanship that was performed. That made merealize how, I don't know, stupid I was trying to find some magic pillthat would instantly make everything I own sharp without some work onmy end.So I sucked it up and grabbed the old combination oilstone a friend ofmine gave me when her father died. This sucker has to be 50 years oldand nothing has touched its surface except for the box it was in.I took it out, put some oil on it, and grabbed a chisel that has beenused and abused and attempted to sharpen it on the stone by hand.No sandpaper. No jig. No, well, nothing. This was the first time Ihave ever tried this and the results were unbelieveable. I think, no,I KNOW the chisel came out sharper than any I have done in the past.And faster, too. I couldn't stop and I grabbed an old block planeblade and gave that a shot. (I admit I lapped the back with somesandpaper but there was a heck of a divot in the back of the iron.)After an incredibly short time, I had as sharp a plane iron as I everhad before.I admit it. I was totally wrong. The "old" way was hugely betterthan any of the newfangled trinkets.

Feb 06, 2007 24 Replies

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Prometheus 19 years ago

Figure 8's are just dandy. Some guys will claim that that pulls the burr under and knocks it off so lapping the back isn't as important, but I couldn't say if that is true or not. Whatever works for you.

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Andy Dingley 19 years ago

Don't use 3-in-1

It oxidises and goes gummy
It costs a fortune!

Honing oil needs to be used in generous (or at least adequate) quantities. A couple of drops from a dropper bottle of 3-in-1 really aren't the thing.

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Bruce Barnett 19 years ago

A URL someone posted yesterday suggested a W pattern. He said figure 8's are too hard to keep perfectly square.

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Puckdropper 19 years ago

Prometheus wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Serious, I asked because I didn't know.

Thanks for the information. I may try sharpening a chisel or two again this weekend.

Puckdropper

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Prometheus 19 years ago

Ok. Sounded like it could have been sort of mocking- but since it wasn't, I'm glad I answered.

No problem- and good luck!

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