Prior to the power tool revolution, woodworkers used sharpening stones to keep the tools in great shape. Chisels, plane blades, carving tools, and gouges for use on a lathe were all sharpened by hand. A new woodworker quickly learned how to make their life easier with good sharpening techniques.
There is still a place for hand chisels, hand planes, spoke shaves and o course woodturning gouges to be properly sharpened by hand.
Jesse and I have been formulating an idea for a class on hand sharpening. Het would work on the part for flat blades such as planes and chisels, I would cover the use of the dry grinder for woodturning and other tools that would best be sharpened there.
Our discussion has been prompted by questions, observation tools that have been sharpened incorrectly, and the use of the dry grinder resulting in un-even wear on the wheels.
We decided to post this last night, to see the interest from members in how to sharpen these types of tools.
We know there will be lots of thoughts, so post away.
As someone who recently learned how to sharpen his leather tools (and who needs to make more knives) I’m interested. I hope we cover stroping because I dont feel I have the hang of it quite yet.
A sharp tool is a happy tool. Leatherwork will look and feel 200% better just by stroping your blades before starting IMHO.
I’ve sharpened a few tools and knives over the years. I’ve used a grindstone, whetstone and buffing. I think I used a razor strop before. My grandfather taught me this stuff because I was always pestering him so, he put my curiosity to work. It would be good for me to take a class on this. I need a refresher course.
I will focus on plane irons and chisels–sharpening 101. John will cover lathe tools. No time for kitchen knives this go around, and planer blades are above my pay-grade. Our motivation is preserving the lathe tools (because they get shorter each sharpening) as well as the grinding wheels by teaching basic, utilitarian sharpening technique. Also, it makes woodwork easier and better to use sharp tools. Not sure if we will use the strop. I can show you how to get a chisel or plane “shaving sharp” without a strop.
I’d take your class @Jesse and @John.Nicholas I have an old hand plane that I’ve considered trying to restore. I’ve seen them sharpen blades like that on YT but having an in-person demo is easier to learn from sometimes.
As Jesse said, our discussion has been so far limited to essential woodworking hand tools.
Power blades, such as saws, planers, jointers may or may not have blades that can be sharpened. They can have carbide teeth. Yes, carbide can be sharpened, but first you have to know how to recognize carbide, especially if it was not labeled as such or the label has worn off.
All these sharp edges may eventually be covered. Some specialty edges may have to wait until we find someone that knows enough about that specific. This post was made to judge interest starting with the basics.
So on to the next part. When to schedule? Late Afternoon Weekday. Evening Weekday. Saturday.
Keep in mind the classes will be limited and those limits will depend on how many sharpening set ups students can practice with.
The goal would be to keep the classes around 90 minutes.
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