Let me preface this by saying this is not a sharpening how-to or ultimate guide. I don’t talk about sharpening theory, optimal bevel angles or tool steels. There are a plethora of books, blogs and videos out there dedicated to every fine detail of sharpening. These posts are just some reflections on my experiences with sharpening as a hobbyist and DIYer figuring things out by myself.
I bought my first set of chisels in 2020, three butt chisels from Home Hardware for $15. Here’s a reference of the price point. I assumed they came ready to use, and stayed that way. Looking back, I think I believed they were hard enough to just stay that way for… ever.
Lesson #1: Tools do not just come sharp and stay sharp forever. Tools need to be sharpened.
It wasn’t for a while, until I discovered the world of hand tools, that I stumbled upon sharpening as a process and a skill for woodworking. Actually, I realised I wouldn’t get very far with hand tools without learning how to sharpen. Since my DIY education started in Youtube University, the road took some twists and turns. I searched around, experimented, and found a way that works for me.
I sharpen freehand, mostly out of necessity. No jigs, no machines, no grinders. and I have never used any machines for sharpening operations. Sometimes it is time-consuming, but with some practice has gotten a lot more efficient over time.
I like to think of sharpening as having three parts – your equipment, your technique, and your process in the shop; integrating sharpening into your workflow. Maybe this is lesson #2. I’ve learned a few other lessons in all three facets beginning with my $15 butt chisels, and absolutely no knowledge or experience about creating a sharp edge. I watched a few videos – Paul Sellers, Rex Krueger as a starting point – but I was on a tight budget, chose the cheapest up-front cost, and what seemed the least scary (diamond stones, oil stones, water stones, too complicated at that point). Rex has a video from a few years ago about sandpaper sharpening so I went for it.
Three grits of wet/dry sandpaper, spray glue, and a particleboard Ikea shelf. I can’t remember exactly what I sharpened first, I think it was the blade of a plane I restored. Maybe the blue one in the photo above.
I followed the steps, had a general idea of what I was trying to accomplish and actually got an edge that would cut paper. The moment of taking that first shaving was triumphant. After feeling the glassy smooth surface of the oak, I was hooked.
That being said, minor accomplishment of taking one shaving aside, sandpaper glued to particle board does not a perfect sharpening system make. Over time, it wasn’t sustainable for a few reasons.
The paper tears. Very easily. Corners catch and just slice it up. I did try to work around it, maneuver the blade, but once it’s torn it’s done for. Then it’s a whole mission just to change the paper – removing the glue, scraping it off, glueing another strip. It’s messy and time consuming. There are also lots of parts to this system – the board, sandpaper, glue, gear for replacing the sandpaper. Too many consumables. At this point my technique and process weren’t working either but I boil that down to experience.
In terms of technique, when I started I tried to mimic what I saw. And people who have been sharpening for a few years, and teach others about it, sharpen fast. I tried to sharpen fast with the mindset of “30 seconds and back to work” and at the time had no idea this was completely unnecessary and only caused problems starting out.
Some other notes at this time – I ground bevels down to 25 degrees on coarse sandpaper with a honing guide. This takes a lot longer than anyone tells you it does, and takes a lot more sandpaper. I was also trying to copy the “rounding” method on the bevel as taught by Paul and Rex, and skewing it. Like I said, I copied what I saw.
I actually used this system for quite a while, maybe a year, for chisels and planes and I think even a spokeshave or two, but it was riddled with frustration. When something so important is so frustrating that you purposely avoid it, it’s time to change. Eventually it wasn’t worth the time, money and effort and I needed to upgrade.
Setup-wise, after shopping around I decided on diamond stones for their durability and low maintenance. They are completely different to the sandpaper setup and take some getting used to. For anyone who has the budget I would highly recommend them. Although I haven’t used water stones or oil stones so I can’t honestly compare. But I have virtually no criticisms of the diamond stones. I made a new holder, modelled off Rex Krueger’s holder for oil stones, with a rough stone, my fine and extra fine diamond plates, and a strop. So no more changing paper, no more ridiculously huge IKEA shelf but this was still bulky so I downsized again eventually.
Technique-wise, at this time I hadn’t bought in to the microbevel idea, instead choosing to follow the rounding approach. I like this idea – it’s less rigid, less surgical and strict in exacting angles. I learned quickly that trying to sharpen the full bevel every time has some downsides. Mainly, it is challenging to keep it flat against the surface (freehand) and secondly, the friction created by the full bevel needs more energy to actually work, and third, it takes more time to work that amount of steel all at once.
The microbevel is a good solution to this but I didn’t want to have to maintain that exact angle, it seemed too strict. Anyway, I did try the rounding, and it does work to an extent but problems arose. I overaggerated it instead of feeling it naturally, so yes I got an edge but after a few sharpenings it would get too steep and I would have to grind it back down to 25 degrees which was a heck of a lot of work and time. I got better at the rounding technique – purposely lowering your hand/the blade on the end of the push stroke – but this same thing kept happening eventually.
At the same time I was skewing the blade. The other problem I started facing was my blades would go out of square in no time. For some reason skewing the blade removed material at the front corner first, no matter how hard I tried to press evenly across the blade. This created problems when setting the planes again.
Then followed a whole process of re-squaring the edge, taking one side down and checking constantly, and trying to keep the bevel equal across the width.
So the sandpaper on a board setup only lasted so long. I upgraded to diamond stones. The technique of rounding the bevel and skewing didn’t work out. Seems like Paul and Rex’s techniques just weren’t working for me. What next?
I decided to switch to straight-on sharpening as it was the best way for me to sharpen square. Skew didn’t work – just go square. It was more comfortable. At the same time I came back to trying to hold the blade flat at a consistent angle. The goal wasn’t to keep the bevel dead flat but just not purposely round it.
I slowed down and tried to sharpen purposefully instead of just going hell for leather and trying to plough through it in 30 seconds and get back to work.
Lesson number something – it’s my shop, nobody is rushing me. I can take as long as I want. And the priority is a good edge. Not speed. Ironically, the slower I went the faster I got where I wanted to go. I find this to be a theme with hand tool work in the shop.
One thing I do remember that changed my perspective was seeing a video about sharpening very slowly, and sharpening sideways. Next was a tip about working the primary bevel every time you sharpen, to maintain it at the same level of the microbevel. Another good idea.
Eventually I got to the process part of things after building my Nicholson workbench. I used to put my setup away and out of sight (partly due to space limitations) so I had to actually go get it every time I needed to sharpen. When I got my new shop set up with my new bench, I decided to change that. I had to. Sharpening is non-optional. I had to make it as accessible and smooth a process as possible. After downsizing the plate holder, as inspired by Richard Maguire, I stopped putting it away at all. It lives on the far corner of my bench at the ready. Zero friction to getting started.
Nowadays I have my 600, 1200 and strop on a small piece of plywood with a couple of screws holding them in place. It’s compact and convenient. It’s always bench-top. I have the water and tools that I need always to hand. I added a double-sided 400/1000 diamond stone in Japan while I was there and now I use the 400 for heavy material removal, working the bevel sideways which is easier to hold and moves smoother than straight-on.
Most of the time my process is:
– Work the top of the bevel sideways on the 400 stone to bring it to 25 degrees. or less.
– I’ll give it a quick pass on the fine and extra fine too, just to clean it up.
– For the cutting edge I hit the 600, 1000 and strop. I sharpen square-on, forward and back in a slightly circular motion to make it a smoother movement. I find it easier to hold it at the same angle this way.
– I end up with around a 35 degree edge on most of my tools which seems to work just fine.
– I check the angle of the cutting edge now and then just to make sure I’m staying in the ballpark.
– I feather the corners by lifting maybe 1/8th for a few strokes and slowly dropping, and for straight blades I camber them the slightest bit by putting pressure on one side for a few strokes, then the other.
This process works for me and has emerged from a few years of experimenting. Will it change again? Definitely. There are so many things I would like to test and experiment with. But all these things take time and money, and for now I have found a minimal process that works in my workflow. I’ll keep learning and taking in the lessons from those more experienced than me, and assess whether different tools or techniques will improve my process.
This is probably my biggest lesson – it is a constant process. Everything takes maintenance, everything changes slightly over time, you will need to re-square the edge, you will need to refine or re-grind the bevel, just like with Japanese blades, you eventually do need to tap down a new edge from the laminated hard steel as it wears away over time. Expect this. Get used to it. Work it into your processes instead of avoiding it, it is fundamental.
Some other closing notes on the topic:
- Don’t be too dogmatic about angles and bevels. Get in the right range and think of the process, within your system, the flow of work, and find the best way to maintain.
- Understand the basic ideas, the reasons why, and find your way of practicing the fundamentals.
- Sharpen often. Practice often. Test out techniques. Find your way to get the job done.
- I spent $15 on a 9×9 square of veg tan leather, I have used ⅓ of this for the past 2.5 years. If you need to, spend the money instead of dumpster diving. It’s worth it.
- I use a honing guide every now and then when I want to flatten a bevel but have used it less and less over time.
Next up check out some lessons learned in sharpening other blades.
Leave a Reply