I'm still crippling around on a bad wheel so not much is happening in the shop even sharpening is too much some days. There have been a few days where whisky and a elevated foot was all I could do. On one of the good days I did install a stitched cotton wheel on the grinder and have taken a couple of my old Freud Chrome Vanadium chisels (BTW, they were the first "good" chisels I bought from the Garret Wade catalog many years ago) and ground a Unicorn profile then buffed on the buffing wheel with green stuff.
First go, David Weaver may be on to something. First it is very quick, grind a bevel on the grinder, hone a secondary with a Washita, Medium India or other quick 1000 grit or so stone. Use whatever you have handy, then maybe 15 to 30 seconds on the buffing wheel. The chisel comes out very sharp and the edge is long lasting, maybe longer lasting and sharper than off a polishing stone.
That's the good news, the process seems to work, it is very quick, and the equipment is inexpensive. That may also be the bad news. What do I do with the tens of thousands USDs I have in sharpening stones when to get a sharper, longer lasting edge all you need is a grinder with a buffing wheel, a little green stuff, and a $30 USD India stone. Also maybe a meal or two of crow.
Check out the Unicorn profile posts on Wood Central, wear your masks and stay safe,
ken
Ah yes, there are many, many ways to get to a good sharp edges.
ReplyDeleteAnd they all works, if you follow each steps correctly. Most people problems are that they stop before finishing a step before moving on.
As usual your results may very well varies, but what ever work for you...stick to it.
Bob, who has also a few bucks invested in various sharpening system :-)
Bob,
DeleteSo true, kinda comes down to what blows your skirt.
It is a sickness, even worse than a chisel or plane addiction but as I have posted: JNATs sure are pretty.
ken
Looking at Woodcentral you would think they cured cancer.
ReplyDeleteWhole lot of hours spent to say what you said in a few lines.
Steve,
DeleteSo true :-).
Well as you know, Texans are men of few words.
I hate to jump on the latest bandwagon but this time it may not be so bad. In reality the process just takes what I've maintained for years to an easy, fast, and cheap way to get there. That what is important is the smoothness of the cutting edge. Much more so than the angle or shine.
A buffer is a hell of a lot cheaper than a cabinet full of JNATs.
ken
40+ years ago I used to sharpen on a buffer made from a washing machine motor tied to a board. It's OK but eventually you have to get back to flat. It works great for carving tools and is the "factory" sharpening for a lot of the presharpened tools.
ReplyDeleteAccording to some of the unicorn posts I endured, the buff was not charged with compound and both sides of the bevel were touched up. That is not what I was doing years ago since I used compound. If there is no abrasive the size of the secondary radius (not a bevel) is minimal.
Any practice that grows the secondary bevel will eventally need to be dealt with. A secondary in a jig works because the secondary minimizes the metal removal to achieve a burr. The buffing is being used to remove burr, so the next sharpening would involve reestablishing a new burr. As such, the more rounded the edge by using abrasive buffing the more material to be removed to get the burr at next sharpening.
Joel at TFWW advocates a very hard strop with no abrasive. Really no difference in principle from this except the motor and consistent angle of presentation.
You should be able to fit a cloth or felt wheel on your grinder if you have one. You can also get an adapter to put the wheel on a spare motor, lathe or drill press. Not worth buying a buffer IMO.
Steve,
DeleteI've a 8" grinder and that had two grinding wheels, one came off and was replaced by a cotton buffing wheel. The foot is still acting up and I've been working the back side of the clock so no real chance to test it out.
The good news, this has finally got me off my butt and now have a microscope to check my work. Once I'm up and functioning photos will be published.
ken
I am far from a sharpening hero like you are but one thing I noticed quickly is that I am unable to use any jig or whatever it may be called. I tried two of them and each time got fedup few minutes later and went back to my hands.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I do it well or in the best way but that works for me and gives me the result I expect for the simple small work I do so I stick to it.
Lionel, soon going for some vacation away from the garden
Lionel,
DeleteSounds like me and jigs as well although I'm going to run some A&B tests of Arkansas, Shapton, and JNAT stones to compare each with the Unicorn system. For those I may suck it up and use a jig just to keep apples to apples.
I guess your Summer is ending soon while ours is just hitting its stride ;-). 1900 MST here and the temp is still 102F, about 39C. BTW, the tomatoes and peppers we moved to Oregon are doing great the ones that stayed behind are long gone.
ken
Hi Ken, after your previous post I checked out David’s videos and realized that they presented a method that was not only fast, but checked every other box that I believed about sharpening, just a different (did I mention fast) way to get there. Fortunately, I already had a buffer, suitable wheel and compound and although I had been a dedicated jig user, decided to go freehand. I had quite a few chisels, some gouges and a couple of plane irons that needed sharpened - the total number of tools is one of the reasons I went freehand, otherwise it would have taken about three time as long to get it all sharpened. Anyway, it went quickly, and the results were great! I was able to achieve a consistently sharp edge and the couple of tools I checked for durability held up well. There are other ways to achieve the same goal, but I think they all cost more time, more effort, and most cost more money. Thanks for pointing out David’s videos.
ReplyDeleteRawolf,
ReplyDeleteGood, I'm glad it was helpful. I expect I'll spend the weekend doing some A&B with different stones and Unicorn.
Maybe photos to follow.
ken
Hey Ken - anymore playing around with the unicorn method? I just finished watching all of David's videos related to this, as well as a couple not related. Wondering if you've gained any AZ insight or tips.
ReplyDeletefestus (your neighbor in New Mexico)
Festus,
ReplyDeleteMy shop time is limited because of an injury to my right foot but I have worked a little with using a buffer. Bottom line, as best I can tell, you end up with a very sharp cutter but because of being a gimp for the last few weeks I have not tested longevity. Today for the first time in weeks I'm not needing a cane to walk and the pain is low grade enough I can stand for short periods of time. I plan to start A&B longevity tests this coming week.
I expect several boring blog poss on sharpening to follow :-). Maybe even with photos if I can figure out how to work the new microscope and camera attachment.
ken
Ken, I am venturing into chisels, which also means adding ‘sharpening’ to the repertoire. There are thousands of types of chisels, methods, and madness. I’m simply going to enjoy the process of finding my own way while gleaning here and there from others.
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog and will likely be back!
Stay off that foot. And remember, you can always sit and paint.