Fast freehand sharpening: no jigs, no guides, no sandpaper.
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- Learn to sharpen with just your hands and affordable oil-stones.
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Norton Two-Sided Crystolon Stone: amzn.to/33eEfVl
Dan's Whetstone Arkansas Fine Stone: amzn.to/3gkbk5T (These went up in price a little).
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3-in-1 Oil: amzn.to/3gjBrdx
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Kreg Marking Jig (The blue thing I use to set angles): amzn.to/2DrB2qA
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Great video. Kim about 4 years into my hand tool journey. I’ve been a power tool woodworker most of my life and bought a 5 1/2 with stimulus money. I’m hooked. I sold my cabinet saw and my power jointer and my dust collector. I have several sharpening jigs and I’m partial to the easiest one, but mostly just sharpen by hand now. I really don’t notice the difference. I can still get very sharp by registering the bevel and being careful. Sharp enough to shave hair and wood.
As an amateur with woodworker, i typically feel overpowered with the entire arrangement ruclips.net/user/postUgkxrYREG3-7f1Aqk9ams3ZESRNzGnfdUtyQ . Be that as it may, this arrangements drove me through with much clarity and effortlessness woodplans. Works i now work like a genius. That is great!
Best sharpening video ever!
My sharpening station is built, my Narex's turned into Scarex's, and my left arm is clean shaved & covered in band-aids.
I like this no-bs approach. Nice to hear Paul Sellars get a shoutout too.
Dude I just finished building this (no strop yet... NO ONE is throwing leather around me now that I need it) but even without a strop I sharpened my planes to shaving quality and omg the difference!!! Thank you Rex for sharing this design!!
Good for you. I don't believe that woodworkers hundreds of years ago who had to produce furniture at a rate of knots were fussing over composite angles and using jigs.
I reckon the most important thing is going fine enough. The tip about not falling off the edge of the strop is great, too. I did that for months without realising.
Someone recommended using the bottom of a mug (the bit that isn't glazed) and I've been using that to sharpen my knives for a couple months, now.
A diamond sharpening plate is on my wishlist
Some of us don't have the hand control to sharpen freehand, one slip and the edge is ruined. I envy anyone with the skill to maintain a consistent angle without a jig or guide.
Rex, you convinced me. I’ve gotten better hand sharpening plane blades and chisels over the past couple of years on sand paper and cheap stones. Just purchased on amazon Dans set of 8 inch stones. Can’t wait. Cheers.
Rex, totally off topic here, but I just purchased your Joiners Bench plan bundle, and I gotta say I'm totally impressed with just how complete and detailed they are for such a good price! Completely satisfied customer here, and I'm looking forward to building this bad boy in the next few weeks. Thanks man!
I use a diamond & water stone & then a strop because it's just a lot less messy than oil. Keeping the water stone in a tupperware box works really well, & (even though it may slightly age the stone) I add just a few drops of lemon juice to keep the standing water from going nasty. Recently, I've started just putting the diamond plate in there too since that also needs a little water, & it seems to be working out well so far. Easy to store & access, no mess.
Nice input to all the sharpening videos out there. I’ve been sharpening edged tools for both my professional work life as a carpenter and my hobby wood work for some time now. I use a variety of different sharpening methods. I wouldn’t discount my sandpaper just yet. It’s super useful for sharpening any curved edges like spoon knives, gouges, adzes and the like. It’s also great for nasty jobs, like getting gunk off of your sharp tools (and not ruining your whetstone in the process). I keep a set of straight beveled chisels for fine carpentry work, sharpened with the Richard Kell jigs, on a combination of first a dmt “stone” then different ceramics to 8000 grit - with a bit of stropping fro that last finish. All the chisels have the same bevel, approximately 27 degrees, that way any bevel down work feels the same across the set, increasing familiarity. Why 27? Idk, feels like a good compromise between sharpness and edge retention. They get used in anything from the softest pine to seasoned oak. I bet quality of steel has a lot to say in that regard. What you, Rex, create is a flat/ convex edge, I use that geometry all the time. For carving axes with inferior steel, for instance, I only ever meet the wood with one side of my axe while carving anyway. Also for many of my carbon steel carving knives. A flat and a curved side is super useful! Besides better edge retention, your knife will work a little bit like a Yakut knife, and that’s not bad at all :).
80-20 rule. 80 percent of your results should come from about 20 percent of your effort. Thanks for making this way less complicated than it needs to be. My girlfriend and I have been consistently saying for a while now that the genius is in the simplicity.
For years I watch movies where people are saying you need to be extra precise when you sharpening. I am not extra precise. Like you said I don't pay too much attention at the angle I just make sure that the blade is shaving sharp. :)
I've free-handed for most of my life... never had a jig.
It depends on the blade and purpose, though. For hefty, thick, chopping type utensils, I round that bevel a bit on purpose to get the extra substance right up to the leading (cutting) edge.
For thinner, slicing type utensils, I want it as low as I can consistently keep it. I try not to round anything if I can avoid it... I sit carefully, raise the station/stone(s) so my elbows are straight to the side, and take a little extra time to pay attention to keeping the edge clean and as flat as possible...
For certain tools... say a draw-knife, it pays dividends to have two of them. This lets you assign one to each of the two types of sharpening for specific purposes. The "rough cut" drawknife in my shop has a slightly rounded bevel, plenty beefy enough for "yanking" and getting really aggressive... The "fine cut" drawknife will leave a damn nearly polished surface behind, BUT if someone gets rough with her, I'd have to beat him like a red-headed step child.
Of course, that's just me and my experience sharpening literally tons of things since I got my first fixed-blade knife (like Rambo had) at 10 years old... some 30+ years ago... so there's lots of unsupervised experience involved...
I've seen a few of those movies/videos, too. I've hated most of them. ;o)
I sharpen with my dad's friend's ww2 razor hone he used when he was a barber in the army.
@@apcolleen Just happened on a memory for some reason... you can laugh (I hope)...
I was once running late and the car wouldn't start, so I "hitched" a ride into the shop on a buddy's go-kart, and sharpened a chisel on the asphalt at 40 mph... stupid, but it worked.
...probably the most ridiculous sharpening job I ever performed. ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 and kids today would have just gotten an Uber lol. Wheres the fun in that?
@@apcolleen If you accidentally find a serial killer, or if Uber started hiring motorcyclists... I don't know... It could get adventurous.
Mostly, I don't see it. I've hitched a ride with the Hell's Angels... Got picked up in South Side Chicago by a "no-name" band of hippies (never so drunk or high for so long in my life)... AND even caught a horse-back ride from a nearby rodeo-show once...
Kids today are too damn cautious. You gotta get out of the library (or Scroogle or whatever) and LIVE once in a while. Right?
Anyways, thought you'd like that little snippet of my often less than responsible life. I like to occasionally do something BECAUSE upon thinking of it I have to ask, "Should I get my head examined?" ;o)
I hate to be that one person, but I have to advocate for ceramic stones they last for long time almost never ever go out of flat, they do get dirty quite fast, but the durability of the stone and not having to be flattened every 10 or so things sharpened saves time and money
That's a totally useful comment. I just have no experience with those.
I agree with you. I love my chosoras, but they are not cheap.
Im working on a 303 british stock and need the info. Now i know how to sharpen my chisels. The draws were oily and cracked so the wood came off pretty easily by hand so i took out both side of the draws and some of the rear stock. Now im squaring off the inside so i can epoxy in the new walnut wood pieces. Then i reshape the wood and then add more wood. It takes 3 pieces of wood about the size of a large smoke lighter. Prbably like 1 inch by 3 inches or something. The stock will be really strong once its finished in about 2 or so weeks. Fun, fun, fun.
I really appreciate your budget conscious approach to acquiring woodworking tools. How do we determine the grit count of unmarked sharpening stones we buy at flea markets, garage sales, etc.?
Natural stones, if they are novaculite stones anyway (Arkansas stones and relatives) aren't actually graded by grit size but by density. Denser stones are finer. If you have a bunch of stones and want to make a progression, you feel the stones. I have a fine ark and a fine black ark, and you can feel a difference between them. The fine ark is very smooth, when oil touches the black ark it feels smoother than glass. You may also be able to roughly guess how fine a stone is by how fast it removes steel and/or how big/fast it makes a burr.
Not sure what method Rex uses for his stones, but I assume he grades them through feel.
Hey Rex, I think you should do a video on card scrappers. They are a great and affordable alternative to sand papper.
Thank you for putting out such a great, simple video on sharpening! I'm still "honing" my skills (pun intended, I'm a Dad!), so this really helped. Happy woodworking!
Thank you very much for this video. It helped me a lot!
Excellent. Now to practice
Trashpicking. The ultimate source of obtainium
There's a LOT of "new" leather-craft items on the market today because of old jackets and vests I've found in the dumpster in the past...
ANYTHING free is better than the stuff you pay for. ;o)
I take the time to pull apart old furniture rather than just taking it to the dump. I figure the time spent is time spent in the shed (so that's a win to start with), and I can't begin to count the number of times that I've been able to pull a piece of timber out from under the bench that has cost me nothing, rather than heading down to the hardware store with dollars in hand. I even built a very small home office when COVID began - apart from fasteners, every single piece was recycled timber, brackets, hinges, etc.
thanks Rex
That slightly rounded bevel is like a single-sided "appleseed" edge. So many ways to sharpen, but the one thing that seems to be the same for all of them: consistent angle and method.
A 400/1000 grit diamond stone can be bought on aliexpress for about 25 $. it is 8 mm thick steel (not like those really thin plates) and it is dead flat. Together with a strop, it is all you need.
A lot of cheap diamond plates have problems with the diamond particles delaminating after only a few uses. Even some of the more expensive plates have a similar problem since many of them now outsource their manufacturing to the same places making the cheap plates.
I had this happen with some DMT stones I got off Amazon. Didn't take long before they were useless.
That oil is actually clogging the stone, you should use a lapping fluid like trend.
Fantastic tips, Rex! Thanks a lot! 😃
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
I understand your reasoning when it comes to bevel down plane blades, but it fails when it comes to chisels and bevel up planes, right? Then the angle starts to matter more, or am I missing something?
Hi Rex, your ethnicity is quite odd, but your videos are excellent and incredibly helpful, thank you!
Not a wood worker, but I sharpen a ton of custom knives. Diamond, all day. And, yeah, don't buy a strop; make a strop. I use strips of heavy hobby leather left over from other projects. But, you don't even need that. You can strop just fine on a decently flat piece of cardboard. I know some professional knife makers that only use cardboard. The stones, I have diamond grit down to ridiculously fine. You don't need that. Most steel won't take an edge better than what about 1200 grit will provide anyway. Most commercial knives and chisels, 1000 grit is about as good as you need, and going finer won't do anything for you. Have a 600, a 1000/1200 and a strop. Maybe have a 250-350 for fixing accidents like concrete drops, but that's all you need. And, yeah... that micro bevel. Lol. Bugger that. I grind that out of any knife or chisel that I have.
Rex how do I make a curve on the blade. I am asking this because in your video about Stanley hand planes you mentioned a harsh curve on the blade and in no video you said how to make them with a curve. I hope what I am saying makes sense.
Thank you for what you do!
While on the sharpening topic, can I sharpen my lathe tools by hand? I have a very small space, and don't want to introduce a grinder into the mix. I have been using fine sand paper and then honing, it's workable, but not terribly efficient. Thanks Rex, the videos are great, informative and engaging!
Great information. Thank you Rex. Question: what about for newbies like me who need to start with grinding the back and bevel, is the oil stone method still the same? just without oil? or do I absolutely need to start with dry sandpaper to grind then move to oil stone to sharpen and hon. Appreciate any advice.
Rex, what to do if your stone is not flat?
This is the video I've been wanting to see for over a year!
It probably doesn’t matter but what grits are you oil Stone?
It really comes down to preference. And everyone talking about non-sense this or that, and against micro bevels...Lets not forget that some of the best woodworkers and furniture makers swear by micro bevels..there is a reason they are at the top of their game. As far as using guide or by hand, its preference. I personally hand sharpen up to at 12000 glass stone. But it took alot of practice and muscle memory to get there. I've seen some HIDEOUS bevels with 4 or more angles on them from inconsistent sharpening. So for those, take the whopping 20 seconds to put your chisel or plane blade in a honing guide and keep the angle consistent. For for those that get all grumpy and say they don't need all those fancy stones, and I use a angle grinder. Give me a break. This is fine woodworking in most cases, not freshman woodshop. Great video though Rex. Very well-rounded.
Being closer to freshman-level than fine-woodworking level, I'm seeking to understand why it's important to hone to so fine an edge. How much of that 12000 grit edge is lost on the first pass? What is it that can't be achieved with Rex's set-up, or Paul Sellers's, who goes to a 1000 on a uninterrupted diamond plate?
But if I don’t spend an hour getting my iron absolutely perfect down to the atoms, how do I know that I’m a good woodworker??
Love it!
Hey Rex - great vid. I'm thinking of moving to Oilstones when I burn through my (pretty-cheap-n-cheerful) double-sided waterstone in the next year or so. However, would you have any advice on buying old, used oilstones - specifically, how to pick a good course-to-fine array?
I just sort of go by touch. You can feel which stone is finer or coarser.
Huh, the oil stone i have home doesnt really leave the oil on the top like that, it just absorbs it draining the surface no matter the amount i add to it, i wonder if thats fine
a lot of artificial oil stones do this, it's not good for the stone or the tool if the oil isn't sitting on the surface of the stone to suspend the metal particles created when you sharpen things on them. I was taught that when an oil stone absorbs oil in that way you can 'fix it' by filling the stone with melted wax. While liquid the wax is absorbed the stone and then the wax cools and fills in all the voids and pores of the stone so when you put oil on the stone it stays on the surface and does what it's meant to do, carry all those particles away from the surface of the stone so they're not impacted into it.
The gray silica stones will do that. Eventually they will "fill up" with oil and then the oil will float on the surface. Or you can just soak the stone in oil for a few days.
Thank you for being the voice brave enough to speak up against microbevels
I don't get the microbevel thing. The only thing that it seems to do is to postpone removing most of the metal to a later date. Unless you have a low speed grinder that can make that job i a hurry those times are going to suck more than the couple of seconds you save on each sharpening.
I see a point with the backbevel on a plane iron, instead of requiring the whole back to be flat it is enough to only have the last fraction of a mm that touches the wood flat.
I think Paul Sellers also mentioned once that micro bevels are not necessary, he just polished the whole bevel because his diamond plates were fast enough, I tend to use a microbevel, but after a lot of sharpenings I just rub the primary bevel on my stone a couple of times, so the micro does not get so big
@@j4gs223 you only flatten the back once so I think it is worth that effort in the beginning to not have to worry about it later. James Wright also think that it's better to do it once and be done with it. I just watched an older video with Paul Sellers when he restored an old rusty plane. He had a very practical method to solve a convex back. Give it a good hit with a nylon hammer to take care of the worst problem.
@@haqvor @DoomSlayer wasn't talking about flattening the back. He was talking about how Paul Sellers grinds the whole bevel and doesn't worry about a micro bevel. Flattening the whole back is a slightly different topic.
@@jjbailey01 sorry about that, I'm obviously too tired to read straight...
"when my neighbors throw out their furniture, I go out there and skin it like a dead buffalo"
Out of context quotes are sometimes brilliant.
Done this for my vises. Seems like if you are going to take off burr between stones it would be better to take burr off on stone you made it on to keep next stone clean.
Imagine getting your morning cup of joe. You smell it and take your first sip. Perfect.
You think to yourself, “today is going to be a good day. Hey, I wonder if anyone hauled off that old chair. I hope some young couple, just starting out, saw it. They’ll throw an afghan over it, to hide the worn parts. It will make their first move. Maybe they’ll have it reupholstered for sentimental reasons.”
You walk out onto the front porch hoping to see it has been claimed. Instead someone resembling Lex Luther (from the 90’s animated series) with a buck knife is hunched over the old chair, filleting it away from its skin and your vicarious day dream ambitions. He pauses his gruesome work to raise his head and inspect you; coffee, slippers, flannel pajama pants, Pink Floyd t-shirt. You take a sip and look back at his face. It’s a wild look in his eye.
AND When my neighbors through out their old dead buffalo, I get after it like Rex's neighbor's couch! ;o)
@merchandise 7X ... As expected, you find the street desolate. Only a grey-striped housecat sits on the adjacent lawn cleaning himself unaware of the events that had just unfolded. The smell of coffee tugs on the neurons on in already confused head, sat down, letting warm coffee massage your dried throat. But like the stench of long deceased death, the doorbell rings and ruins the moment. You eye the coffee in mug on one hand, newspaper in the other wondering, "do they even know if I'm awake? Had they seen me at the front door? "
The crazy eyes he did at the end really sold that shit. It was fucking hilarious.
Little tip for you for beginners to free hand sharpening. Get a permanent marker (sharpie or something similar) and colour the end of the blade before sharpening. After each stage, there should be no marker left on the edge of the blade, if there is, you've missed a spot and need to go back over. Not so much an issue for plane blades and the like, but I've found it useful for carving chisels when you're sharpening rounded blades that require a lot of wrist movement to sharpen the whole thing.
Good for Japanese kitchen knives too
It works best if you use a red or blue marker, instead of black. It's easier to see, especially when there's a lot of grit and swarf from the sharpening.
I've tried a lot to do free hand sharpening but I have a shoulder injury and I just can't do it, I've sharpened and resharpened my knife over and over, with dull results every single time. When someone else does it they can get it sharp but I can only dull it. I hate this. :(
GREAT tip! Use this technique every time I strop my wood carving knives. Learned it from a Ben Orford sharpening video.
@@FringeWizard2 don't be discouraged buddy. It took me about a year to get the edge of my knives sharp. It's all about the angle, if you don't hold it at the correct angle while running it across the stone it won't make it sharp but more likely dull it. I have a bad shoulder myself and it doesn't bother me at all, it might if I were to try and sharpen somethin the size of a katana though lol. Just keep practicing on a cheap dull pocket knife the work your way up. Make sure you progress your way up with different stones though. Accusharp makes a great double sided diamond pocket stone for under $10. With it I can get my knives sharp enough to shave with.
Can you make a video about finding wood and identifying it? Maybe “scavenger hunting” with Rex.
I've been meaning to for the longest time!
I've been hoping for this since i started watching a year ago, good wood is really pricey and there is constantly trees and old wood being cut out and thrown away around town. Shame to let it all go to waste. -Edited for spelling.
Chasen Wayne Beau Miles has a cool video about using wood he found on his commute to work to make a canoe paddle if you are interested.
I second the request! Wandering around the stores and scrap piles aimlessly here! Outside of pine and cedar, I have no clue!
Now that would make a great video 👍😃
Rumaging through my Dad's old workbench, I was chuffed to find his old Stanley No. 5 plane (which I've now identified as Type 19, from 1948-61), plus a bunch of oilstones... and 3 pieces of glass with sandpaper of varying grit glued to each side!
Dad passed away just over 10 years ago, and it's a few years before that, that he made his last real woodworking project piece. He was very fussy about caring for his tools, so the plane is in pretty good condition, apart from the blade being blunt. I've now pulled the plane to bits to clean it up, and have made my first attempt to sharpen the blade.
The sandpaper looks more or less unusable at this point, and anyway, hard to identify the grits. But I've started to soak the sandpaper off so as to re-use the glass plates...
Well, the blade is now sharper than it was - but needs a bit more work to get it back to pro condition.
But for me, it's a labour of love, and I've enjoyed following the steps of this tutorial with an actual treasured tool!
Are you telling me my pa and grandpa were not plain ignorant for getting along with just 2 stones and a strop? Watching too many sharpening videos I now got loaded with no less than 5 stones - and the more I use them the more I feel the joke is on me. Thanks for making the world round again.
I own 4 stones. Bought one for €30, the rest of them were free or a gift. I only use the one I bought as it has a rough and fine side. Also got a bunch of tiny stones that I use for axes and travel
@@zoutewand I keep a couple of small stones handy for doing yard tools. Some of those vines out there will dull a set of loppers pretty quickly. Few quick swipes with the little stone and we're back in business.
The only justification for microbevels is that honing the edge is faster because you don't have to touch the main bevel, so there's less material to remove. But the freehand rounded bevel has exactly the same advantage. Microbevels are a solution to a problem that didn't exist before sharpening jigs appeared.
I had a similar thought the first time I saw Paul Sellers sharpen - his technique is ALL micro-bevel. The sharpening arguments are mostly a terminology issue.
Paul Sellers calls his single bevel a “macro camber”. Yes, this produces the same advantage of speed as a micro bevel. Good point. But I would imagine that it also solves the problem that freehand sharpening a micro bevel would create, that being the impossibility of reproducing the exact same angle with every freehand sharpening. Varying the microbevel angle every time would create a rounded dull edge. I suppose the macro camber would cut a completely new cutting edge every sharpening.
@7:00 is an instant classic! And something I would do. My first hard laugh of the day. Thank you for the education and entertainment.
I was afraid that was creepy, even though I hoped it would be funny.
@@RexKrueger it was funny because it was creepy!
@@RexKrueger I laughed out loud. Regarding oil stones I sharpen my kitchen knives on them, then drizzle dish detergent on the oiled surfaces and work it in with my fingers. The detergent and oil form a soap precursor (high school chemistry has some uses) that is water soluble. It cleans the stone and removes any oil that may polymerize over time and reduce the cutting efficiency.
I laughed way too hard.
@@theeddorian I do something similar, but using simple detergent and water when using my DMT plates.
I wondered about this micro bevel business some time ago. Then I used a jig, never moved it and just sharpened a plane iron with no micro bevel. It works just fine....
I'm getting the hang of free hand now... what a relief. Thanks for the reassurance.
Hey Rex, thank you for taking the time to make all of these amazing videos.
I just picked up an antique draw knife, still very sharp. I've been wondering if you use those at all. If so, can you do a video on how to use it and sharpen it? I have a few stumps of oak and hickory I've been wanting to test it out on so I can have some wood to work with.
Great Video, a few things, A great honing oil is 50/50 mix 30 wt and kerosene. Oil stones when new can be used with water (add a little dish detergent) after using with oil stick with oil. If you don't have leather for a strop you can use jeans or any other hard wearing cloth or cardboard on wood. leather is traditional but other things work until you can find a scrap of leather, it is just somthing to hold the compound.
I really thought you were going to say, about strops, “if there’s that much violent disagreement about which face to use, then it probably is just a matter of preference. I mean, look, nobody argues about which end of the chisel is the cutting edge, because there is a clear difference. But here? play with it and see what you like.”
Left me hanging, dude.
"When my neighbor throws out a leather chair, I skin that thing like a buffalo." I almost died 🤣🤣🤣🤣.
I know some sharpening noobs might be intimidated by the process, but really, freehand sharpening chisels and irons with a big, flat bevel is a treat compared to, say, knives with a teeny tiny secondary bevel. I mean you can make the bevel convexed like Rex does, lickety-split, and if you want to take longer, you can keep an angle very close to the original bevel, which can speed up future touch-ups (less guesswork about whether you're getting the right 'curve' of angles on a convex if you don't have it programmed in to your muscle memory).
For folk who are maybe halfway budget-wise between having a set of stones and using sandpaper, consider investing in a stone of whatever grit you'd use prior to stropping, since you'll probably be going back to it for touch-ups more often than you would be re-profiling the whole edge. As long as you're not drastically changing the angle of the microbevel, frequent touch-ups with a fine stone and strop will actually reduce the amount of work you'll need to do re-establishing the bevel like you would if you let it get really dull. Save the sandpaper for those occasional re-profilings, and have extra in your lower range of grits as they'll be doing most of the work. I've been surprised how long a given set of grits will stick around before I need to replace them when I have a fine stone and strop to do the bulk of the daily touchups. That said, I do hope to afford a full set of diamond plates eventually!
I hope, just like you, to purchase a set of diamond plates someday (preferably as soon as possible).
This is the best sharpening video I've seen because it goes into every detail needed for the whole process without skipping steps. as a beginner its super helpful to get that last 20% everyone skips over that is essential to pull it all together
Wow, the whole sharpening process finally all "clicked" for me. Thank you so much.
Great to hear!
Back when I started I was "taught" to freehand (more like told how to and attempted to remember days later) on a set of whetstones I picked up at an estate sale. When I began watching videos I found it weird that people were obsessed with sharpening to a specific angle.
One of my first responsibilities as an apprentice was to sharpen blades and chisels. My master taught me how to hand sharpen in about 30 minutes. After that, it was my ass if the tools were not sharp.
Years later, I saw all of this stuff about exact bevels and whatnot and I was very confused. I was wondering how these people got any work done by obsessing over the exact angles of their bevels so much.
I never understood that obsession some ppl. seem to have.
I guess they just need something to feel better than the rest, lol.
@@nealsterling8151 Maybe a carryover from metal cutting ? In high productivity metalworking edge geometry is insanely important to make sure you can dissipate 20 hp in the cut, get a mirror finish, not break the tool and not get a huge birds nest of scalding hot, razor sharp barbed wire like swarf - all at the SAME time.
@@Zonkotron I must admit that having been taught how to freehand grind tool steel (that there should be some clearance, but not too much) then putting those first attempts into a shaper and taking heavy cuts into mild steel with no trouble, that the clearance for woodworking *hand* tools needed to be exactly this or that angle. I'm sure there's an optimal angle that balances the life of the edge against the finish, but if you're going to be sharpening whenever the tool feels like it's lost it's edge then the only thing you need to optimise is getting back to your project.
Actually, a good diamond stone is cheaper compare to all your set. Just check the Sharpal 162N on amazon. The price is around $55 USD. It a 3x8 inch with a 325 and a 1200 grit side. I use it with a strop and a touch of green compound. It work great for my kitchen knives. They also sell a cheaper 2.5x6 version.
Just a word of warning about cheap diamond plate. Make sure it monocrystalline and electroplated on a thick metal backing. Chinese junk is often polycrystalline diamond glued on a thin sheet of metal glued to a soft plastic support... That mean in plain English "TROUBLE".
It won't stay flat because the backing is not enough rigid. The polycrystalline structure mean you won't get a uniform grit to work with and it will change with use. Also because it glued and not electroplated. It won't last a long time... It's basically junk.
Great video, it's a very good reality check. Buuut..... What about bevel-up planes? Your cutting angle on, for example, a low-angle jack plane - is very much determined by the bevel.
LOL, when you say diamond plate, because of my background in semi trailer mechanic-ing, I think of the aluminum or steel with the diamond-ish patterning on the top, that everything from toolboxes for the sides of flatbed to the top of bumpers to give them traction ability. 😄
These are great tips! I'll definitely use them! It'll not only saves time, but money, too! Thanks a lot, Rex! ❤️❤️
Edited to add: I use that shelf liner stuff for tons of stuff, already, so that's perfect - I've already got rolls of it hanging around!
Excellent video! I too am a big fan of Paul Sellers. Just saw the video of him sharpening free hand. I like the mindset of "I just want to get back to woodworking" versus making sharpening into some kind of crazy precision science experiment 😆 Anyway this vid will save me a lot of money and, most importantly, fretting and overthinking.
"[Oilstones] almost never go out of flat."
Man you should see my first oilstone 😂
Key word "almost" 😂😂
I just like the micro-bevel for honing, I can get a dull edge back to perfection in just a few seconds focusing on that last bit of steel.
For me sharpening the whole primary bevel just means more time sharpening, more time for a mistake. I love that tiny polished strip along my edge. To each is own 🤷🏻♂️
Sadly, I couldn't find your original sandpaper sharpening vid, so I don't know if you mentioned this, but 3m make some really hi tech sharpening papers (I'm not employed, etc, by 3m) and that system works really well. It is usually used with a guide, but I've used it freehand for about a year and haven't even changed my papers yet. The other important point for sharpening is - don't wait! at the first hint of excess pressure, sharpen again - done in 30 secs and back to good results.
Prices on the Arkansas stones have gone up even more on the link you provided, it's now $45. Found a website that specializes in sharpening stones that sells them much cheaper. They also sell the different grades in kits at a very good price (only a few bucks more for several stones). Not sure if I'm allowed to put a direct link to their site, but it's called "Best Sharpening Stones". You should be able to find easily.
The difficulty for beginners and long-time amateurs is that the experts disagree about sharpening methods. So, experiment for yourself. I like the Paul Sellers method but unless you're an absolute pro the cambered bevel ends up steeper and steeper meaning you have to laboriously regrind with a jig or powered machine. The same can be said for the Rob Cosman method which essentially uses micro bevels without a jig. One solution, especially with thin Stanley irons is to use a jig and hone the whole bevel. This gives a more durable edge and you don't have to regrind - just use coarse/medium/fine stones. A strop is unnecessary and just spoils the edge. Just another idea from the zillions of methods out there!
Wear a respirator when cutting or sanding MDF. It's impregnated with formaldehyde! TOXIC
I came back to this video after a year. Back then I only owned a cheap water stone; now I have a set of extremely cheap diamond plates from our favorite web store in China, and they're quite great for the price. I got them up to 3000 grit (I know that this scale doesn't really work for diamond plates, but that's what they're labeled at) and they do the work well. Perhaps the only flaw I've noticed is that if you use water to lubricate them during use (and lift off the metal chips), those chips will rust almost immediately when left alone, so you need to wipe them clean after each use. The thin plates also require some proper support to actually keep flat, so I still use them on a piece of glass.
Paul sellers exactly knows his shit. A guy old enough to have had to earn his keep with hand tools is gonna know. Time is money. Some People go way ocd overboard with the sharpening. Hand sharpening also gives you a natural convex edge, more durable for my preference
Awesome video! Just putting together a sharpening station since I found some planes over the weekend. So the fine Arkansas stone has been out of stock on Amazon for a while...the manufacturer charges twice as much on their website...has anyone found a similar product that's cheaper?
I hate when usually reasonable stuff gets turned into obsessive myths - a bevel angle is important cause it's not the same if you cut or shave with a fat edged blade or a thin edged one, and that's all fine, but the difference between 25 and 30 and jig vs. freehand is so minor and nonconsequential that to argue about is a waste of good woodworking time. There's nothing wrong with having some guidelines and keeping your tools in good order but when that in itself becomes a "club" - I'm out. Thanks for the video!
Hey Rex, I don't know if you'll see this but is the new Stanley #4 plane any good?
Let's pretend I don't have access to a relic Stanley plane but want to get a good plane nevertheless.
Thank you for saying " the unsaid"! I have watched many of the "to the letter" sharpening videos; and wondered how I ever got a shaving edge on my blades without all that technical knowledge. Finally, someone who recognized the fact that we are not machinist, we are woodworkers.
It saves everybody time pull a 20 min sharpening job at the jobsite with the customers standing there paying you 50 an hour see how long you last. They don't want to see that want you building . Very important to sharpen tools fast
Question: is there a difference between oil and water wet stones? I purchased a set through Amazon, in my mind I thought they would all be oil since you're using it for metal, but the instructions say to wet with water?
There is no stone finer than a true black Arkansas stone. They can give you a surgical sharp edge on your blade. Either that's not a true black Arkansas or someone got you when you got that "ultra" fine stone.
Excellent vid with the usual good advice re freehand sharpening. It’s my preferred method until I get to the small stuff eg the 1/4” chisels etc.. I find it a lot easier to use a honing guide for these because it’s so easy to go off square freehand, ending up with a squint edge.
Who knows maybe another 20 years of practice will fix this?🥴
I used to watch my father (a professional carpenter and joiner) sharpen his irons freehand. He never put microbevels on them, so I never have either.
I started out using a jig, but it didn't take long before I decided it was too much of a time waster.
I was taught by an old craftsman Organbuilder who showed me to put oil on the stone, place the blade/bevel on the stone and tilt it until I see a thin line of oil pop out, and that was my cutting edge and burr. Job done!!
Here's how I get my angle just right. I use DMT Diamonds($80ea), so I use window cleaner as lube, not oil, but it works any which way. Wet the stone, place the blade on the stone, roll it forwards, watch the liquid squeeze out. When it stops squeezing out the front and starts sucking in the back, you've gone just a hair too far.
I do the same with water on Japanese / BBW water stones
Interesting tip.
Coarse silicon carbide grit on a flat concrete garden stone is the best way I've found to true oil stones. And I recommend to get a Norton India stone for the fine sharpening, but start with carborundum oil stone that is not too hard..
Is there a Norton style inexpensive alternative to the Arkansas stone? It's doubled in price is all. I also don't want to jump into water stones.
I was traditionally trained and Paul Sellars is unique in his approach.... I used to sharpen freehand, began sharpening freehand and I defy anyone to be able to sharpen 'traditionally' by hand on a soft Waterstone. You have to remember that Paul is a trained joiner/carpenter who has an 'Everyman' agenda, the complete opposite to the sharpening tzars.
The soft Japanese waterstones are indeed used freehand, for Japanese tools. Japanese planes and chisels have very large bevel surfaces and hollow-ground backs. You are able to reference the bevel of the tool on the surface of the stone because it is so large, and you don't have to sharpen for long because the back is hollow. Also they laminate their cutting edges, so they have a backer of soft steel or wrought iron, with a very thin HARD tool steel edge. They work perfectly well for the tools that were developed for them, it's just more difficult on western tools which were traditionally sharpened on oilstones.
All that said, I normally use oil stones, but also own a set of soft water stones and can sharpen on them freehand. With the soft stones if I'm not using a Japanese tool I only sharpen on the pull, and rotate from the top of the bevel to the edge as I draw the tool toward me. You can feel and most importantly, HEAR when you are at the edge.
I prefer the oilstones not because they are easier but because I live in Michigan, and water freezing inside a waterstone is over a hundred bucks down the drain. ;-)
"I go out there and skin that thing like a dead buffalo" ROFL just the right amount of crazy that was hilarious
If you need leather, harbor freight welders apron. Super cheap and one is enough for a lifetime.
Bevel angle is more important in low angle planes. The bevel angle is actually the cutting angle in that case.
cannot agree more. one to few minutes of sharpening really is sufficient for the craftsman in the shop. spending hrs sharpening a tool is kind of nonsense
holy crap I've bee putting the blades in my planes backwards this whole time. I wondered how they cut so easily for you
It's brave of you to challenge the sharper than though crowd!
I have never used a honing jig. My planes will shave off really long curly shavings. I will admit that my "honing experience" spans more than 60 years and back in the 1950's my sharpening skills really sucked but as with most acquired skills practice is extremely important.
This is a brilliant video. I watch all these woodworker masters and realize that sharpening is the holy grail of woodworking and I beat myself for not being better at it. This video removes much of the mystery and drama. It's a keeper. Can't wait to get back to the shop and do it. Thanks
Rex reminds me of the guy who played Imhotep in the Brendan Fraser Mummy movie
You should think about taking a screen cap at 7:07 and making it your channel icon.
Thank you for this video. All of my tools need sharpening, but I've thought it was complicated and expensive. I appreciate an alternative.
I think the curved bevel edge also helps support the edge so you are less likely to chip out the blade. The arc gives some material to transfer force deeper into the iron body. As for Camber you can see at 15:20 as Rex explains the motion how his forearms move. Then at 16:00 as he speeds up you can see that pressure change happen if you watch his arms at the top of frame and not the blade. Easy peazy.
Makes sense for bevel down...but bevel up planes make the angle more critical and a curved bevel would not work, right? No big deal - just means using guides. The point with either is that it doesn’t have to be a half hour exercise. Nice video.
I do this with my bevel-up planes with no trouble.
Another method to avoid the bur (aka rollover) is to only push the blade on the stone. The rollover bur is from scraping the metal off the edge of the blade, but if you push the blade only, you avoid this mostly. You can still get this bur, but usually on softer blades. Of course you have to only pull on the strop but you are only polishing at that point. A stroke compromise is to push harder forward and let off on the backstroke so you keep the angle form. Thanks, Rex these are great videos keep them coming.
I never get any burs even if i sharpen for like 5 minutes... any advice?