Monday, December 30, 2019

Sharpening Posts Are The Crack Of Woodworking

I have some A2 iron in the shop, there I've said it and I'm so ashamed. But the truth is the truth. I've some LN mortise chisels for two reasons, the first is the square profile and the second is the Hornbeam handles. I've a set of Japanese mortise chisels with square profiles as well, I'm not sure which will end up being my go to set when a square profile is needed and the decision may end up made over sharpening.

Because of the A2 I was looking on the web for sharpening advice and ran across this video, It has nothing to do with sharpening A2 but is the best freehand instructional video I've seen. I've just a small quibble with the secondary bevel portion but that can be overlooked. The video is from Norton hosted by Joel from TFWW with a demo of how to freehand cutters.  Norton video

There is so much misinformation on most sharpening threads it can be like playing “Whack a Mole” to correct ‘em. That’s the bad news, the good is in the end almost anything will work.

ken

6 comments:

  1. Steve D7:42 AM

    I will have to watch for schist when hiking in NH.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Steve,

      Planing on starting a mine?

      ken

      Delete
  2. Steve D6:14 PM

    Just for personal use.
    When my daughter was young there was a place known for quartz crystals at the other end of the White Mountains so we grabbed a rock hammer and went exploring. It's indescribable what an acre of land that has been picked at by the rock hound masses looks like. Mounds of coarse broken rock and holes that looked like human sized termite mounds.

    The hiking guide book mentions the rock types on some trails. I suppose I could stumble on some schist for a stone but the trouble would hardly be justified.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous3:31 AM

    Some years ago I have been using the un-glazed ring at the bottom of a tea cup to sharpen the big kitchen knife wit good results. The blackening disappear in the dishwasher. My wife never objected. I now use a sharpening iron.
    In case of necessity, the flat bottom of a ceramic oven plate might save your day.
    Sylvain

    ReplyDelete
  4. Personally... I don't read anyone's opinion on sharpening ever. I follow your blog, but didn't read your sharpening articles! My sharpening setup is super simple, no jigs, just diamond plates, a strop, and occasionally a freehand grinding session, and back to work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jeremy,

      Pretty smart move. Find something that works and then make furniture. My problem is I'm endlessly curious but after giving it a go I almost always go back to the basic system; a grinding stone (Norton India or 1000 water), a honing stone (Washita or Tsushimi Nagura) and a natural polishing stone (Black Ark or JNat).

      ken

      Delete