Christine

I don't use the search at all, I don't know what to look for I get them clicking on threads or even going to the next page, quite often I give up and look at clothes instead

I'm getting a lot of 502 errors, sometimes non but they're getting more frequent and making browsing the site a pain

12 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

I am happier to avoid wafting freshly sharpened implements across my palm if I can.  It's good to have the choice.

It is actually safer than it sounds, try it and see if it makes a difference, I have and it didn't, not a bit.

I have tried most methods in my time, I've even bought diamond and ceramic stones, they just clog eventually but are very good initially but cost a small fortune.

6 minutes ago, Jimothey said:

I agree with what your saying re the burr but I can see how just pulling the chisel backwards will remove the burr as the burr will be on the opposite edge to sharpened edge or do you mean then after sharpening turning the chisel over so the back is flush with the stone then that will remove the burr?? 

I got taught how to sharpen chisels and blades Inc palm slapping by a gentleman in his 80's with over 60 years cabinet making experience so who am I to question his technique and at the Good Woodworking show about 10 years ago  Kevin Leys and Andy Standing did a masterclass on a few topics and 1 of them was Sharpening and that's the method they used to remove the burr so I don't know what to say maybe it's just the old "there's more than 1 way to skin cat" who can say which way is right or wrong if it works for you then that's all that matters 😀

You hone both edges, the bevel by finding the hollow and lifting slightly before dragging back and the back of the blade by holding flat and dragging back, four times each alternated for times or sometimes five but until the burr has gone. That should be plenty sharp enough after a 6000 grit stone if nothing else why do you need to waste time wiping a steel blade across your hand trying to remove a burr that should have already gone. Honestly this method is used in most professional cabinet shops, it was taught to me by my friend the late Alan Peters (massive name drop), it is used today in the workshops of David Savage (another name drop), Malcolm Clubley, Matthew Burt, Lucinda Leech, The Edward Barnsley Workshops, only because it is fast, easy and reliable.

My only aim here is to share a fast easy and reliable method of sharpening tools, there are other methods and anyone is free to use any one they choose

Today was inlaying, joy!!

Briefly, bottom of the design stuck onto masking tape, masking tape on top of headstock. Masking tape to masking tape superglue the inlay in place

Scribe around the design with a sharp marker, I used a scalpel but I'm sure there is a better tool for this than that. Pull off the surrounding masking tape to make sure you've scribed everywhere

Pare off the inlay with a chisel then rout out the design, I forgot to photo this but I used a Dremel, a 1mm bit for the outline and a 3mm bit for the bulk of the waste. I tend with dark woods like this to actually rout half and half through the line leaving something like a 0.5mm gap all around which in reality means some places it's tight and in others there's 1mm gap. Then I mixed epoxy with dust saved from sanding the fretboards and glued them all in with plenty oozing out, messy but in this case it doesn't matter as we are grain filling the lot afterwards and the black on black won't show once it's sprayed.

Sand it all off once dry and see how it looks, there are still some voids that need filling, they have been cleaned out and done but they're being left now for a cople of days, I'm having a day off tomorrow

2 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

The strop is something that I have never understood.

I know it as a strap that was used for keeping an edge on the old hand razors that barbers still use but I know nothing as to whether it is used with abrasive or if it is abrasive in itself.  Now that it's been mentioned here a couple of times, I am off to find out some more.

I am also intrigued by the aforementioned palm slapping technique.  I also saw it mentioned on a webpage about the Scary Sharp technique after @Jimothey mentioned it.

I have an oilstone that came with my late father's tool kit.  It looks like it is made of two different grades of stone, one on either side.  Is that possible?  I am sure it could use a dressing but I am not sure yet whether to do that or take up an alternative technique.  This topic helps a lot in making that decision.

Razors are specialist tools that have an extreme hollow grind, I assume they are sharpened often on some sort of stone but given that keen edge by stopping on a leather strap. They have some form of rouge on them that has become impregnated so provide a very gentle polishing of the edge which as part of the way the razor is used doesn't require that flat back most woodworking edge tools do.

The combination stone is a carborundum stone that needs oil as a lubricant, useful for the jobbing joiner/carpenter who can't carry a specialist sharpening setup. To be any use they really need to be flat but a stonemason can flatten it quickly if you want, then use the same technique as above but don't expect the same edge as with more modern types of stone. It will be sharp enough for planing softwoods and most hardwoods but it won't be able to give that shimmering surface a truly sharp tool will and will require more sanding afterwards (this is all about speed at the end of the day).

I read the scary sharp thing, yes well... It will work but not in my shop especially if I'm paying your wages. Hand slapping, I don't know what to say, honestly, it seems it helps get rid of the burr but it should already be gone after the 6000 stone all that realistically does is break any burr off, your hand isn't an abrasive. I suppose it make someone feel more like am old school master or something. Actually you can buy am 8000 grit waterstone, a lot finer than the 6000 I recommend, it is used after the 6000, it also needs a secondary stone called a Nagura stone which helps build up a slurry on the surface. The 8000 grit will add to the overall sharpness, I have one (somewhere) but it gives no real advantage over the edge given by the 6000 grit so it is a waste of time in my eyes and any extra sharpness is probably lost after the first pass of a plane over timber.

Remember though that the wetstone grinder is part of this method in that it keeps your blade in that easy to sharpen state, it is THE most important tool/machine in my workshop

54 minutes ago, Jimothey said:

I meant re the blade overheating when linishing not sharpening

Good to know that I've been doing it wrong for almost 20 years!! 🙄

It's not wrong as long as the blade is sharp and the back is flat, this is only intended as a quick and easy method of getting a blade sharp of course there are other methods. Linishing is just another step, more time and valid when using other types of stone I suppose when they aren't able to produce a result straight from it. The only time I use any form of strop of compound is when sharpening carving gouges as it isn't something I can do well enough and with a carving gouge the flat back isn't critical. usually

11 hours ago, Jimothey said:

I must be a bit weird as I always take the burr off by slapping the chisel at an angle on my hand then the other way (it's a bit difficult to describe??) or by running the chisel edge downwards on the corner of a scrap bit of timber, well that's how I was taught by an old cabinet maker and to never go straight when sharpening always do a figure of 8 so to wear the stone evenly

As far as honing compound you wouldn't use that at the end as honing is getting the chisel/blade to the correct angle or free from chips/dents before you sharpen it well that's what I've always thought anyway?? The compound I've used at the end is more to polish and stop the blade from getting too hot than a cutting compound?? 😀

The figure of eight technique was used with Arkansas stones and carborundum that were very hard. Being so hard the tool was near impossibly to gouge into it and getting even wear was important because you needed to take them to a stone mason to get flattened if they got dished. Waterstones being soft will let the tool dig in but also can the flattened on a piece of sandpaper in a few seconds. Pulling the blade backwards is also better because the burr gets polished off, pushing tends to break it off which can fool you into thinking the blade is sharp. The other reason we pull backwards is it is easy to maintain the tool angle by rocking from one foot to the other with our elbows locked into our ribs, the old figure of eight methods usually ended up with a rounded bevel that needed to become progressively steeper or to hone for longer

There really is no need to use honing compounds, a 6000 grit stone will finish your tools to a mirror finish and more than sharp enough even for planing Satinwood or Snakewood. There is no need to worry about overheating with waterstones, using them is a wet process and self cooling.

I finished sticking frets into the other two fretboards first thing. Then I shaped the headstock veneers and drilled the holes for the tuners.. Lastly I finished off the dragon inlays as my order for more pearl arrived yesterday. Tomorrows job will be inlaying those. I'll be glad to see that job out of the way, it always seems a process prone to the likelihood of flamingoing up

27 minutes ago, honza992 said:

Thanks all for the input.  I'm going to use the MOP.  I spent most of today routing out the channels for the blocks.  More or less I used @Christine's method, ie:

1. Masking tape on the back of the blocks, and the fretboard.  Use centrelines to line them up.  Thin superglue them in place.  Score round the edge with a blade.  Then VERY carefully prise them off.  Very carefully.  I had the corner of one break off because I went at it too quickly.  

2.  I found it useful to use masking tape to make clearer where the edge of the block is.  Being a bit ditzy, I can very happily rout away, completely forgetting that I'm supposed to be stopping at the line.  So the pink masking tape is there as a reminder!  I then routed with my palm router (not a dremel) and a 3mm mill bit.  I thought this stage was going to be the most difficult.  Actually it wasn't.  The router rode on two stacked pieces of 18mm mdf, either side of the neck and it went very smoothly.  My palm router (a Dewalt, the best designed tool I own) has a light underneath so I was able to see pretty clearly.  I hand routed to within 0.5 - 1mm or so.  

3.  Chisels to then cut up to the line.  This was....less easy.  Other than for prising templates off😲, I've never used a chisel in my life. I'm not even sure quite how to use them.  Am I supposed to be hitting them with a malet?  Just pushing then to sort of slice wood off?  I used a combination of both techniques.  I found that the most important thing was that they were sharp...(I'm a slow learner!).....I sharpened them before I started and half way through.  Actually I think I should have sharpened them 3 or even 4 times.  This was the end result...

Not perfect, (and this is the best one) but I'm pretty happy.  I'm hoping that epoxy and sanding dust will make up for my sloppy work....

 

That looks excellent!! A happy bunny?

20 minutes ago, samhay said:

Thanks for taking the time to write this all down. The only pulling backwards on the stones techniques is bringing back distant memories. Must give it a try.

Do you ever use honing compound at the end?

No, never, any type of stropping causes rounding even if only microscopic which seems to make sharpening more difficult next time. The edge off a 6000 grit waterstone is as sharp as you'll ever need.

The idea of pulling the blade backwards is for two reasons, the most important being that you polish the burr off rather than break it off and also so you don't dig into the stone damaging it as well as your blade

A busy day, I'm getting too old for all this, I'm looking forward to a holiday in a couple of weeks

First job was to tidy up the veneers, trim the edges, open out the bridge recess and cut out the bit where the fretboards fit. I then cut the truss rods to size, threaded the ends and fitted the anchors, I flattened the threads to lock the anchors and I wrapped the rods in cling film to stop them getting glued in place, I also greased the adjusting threads with copperslip.. After that I fitted them and glued in the filler strip. When dry I planed that down and fitted the small wedge to go under the headstock veneer. Then I trimmed the headstock to shape and stuck on the veneers. Finally for the day I fretted the Satinwood board so that can be glued on tomorrow

Just now, honza992 said:

Stupid question. When you say to flatten the rear face of the blade, do you mean the whole thing or just a few millimetres next to the cutting edge are flat? 

Good question!

Chisels need the lot doing.

Start off doing the whole of the front of the blade on a plane iron, after a short while you will see a change in colour where the usable steel is, once you see that stick to just that bit, then when you sharpen the blade keep doing the lot and it will always stay flat

1 minute ago, honza992 said:

Christine could I ask what glue (with sanding dust?) you used to glue in your blocks and how much pressure it needs? I would hate to have one crack. 

Thanks for your invaluable advice. 

I used medium CA and I only pushed them in place with a click. If you have small gaps that need filling with dust I would use epoxy and just press the blocks down with your fingers that will be plenty just leave it overnight to fully set before sanding flush and polishing. If the blocks are springing out then use something that will apply light pressure, just enough to hold them down, you don't want to crack the inlay by being over enthusiastic

It seemed that if they were so much in demand you would see more of them, after all they are not difficult to make. I am keeping one fitted to my own one though, I think but today is decision day for that

4 minutes ago, fryer said:

the vacuum press. To hold the veneer onto the necks while the glue dries ?

Yes, the pump sucks all the air out and then air pressure holds the veneer down, it's really strong too and being a bag it presses curved surfaces too

After a bit of a think and a play I think I can get by without removing the headstocks. I'm going to shallow the angle of the face a tiny bit which will shorten it by a couple of mm and add a tiny wedge under the gap backing onto the nut and that I think will do with no real consequences, it will also give more support to the nut

I cut the rest of the truss rod slots to hold the anchor and the spokewheel. I cut out the rough shape of the neck and lastly I sorted out some veneers for the centre section. The Maple veneer is the bit for my bass and the other two are getting Macassar Ebony. Note the triangle drawn on the veneer, a useful way of getting orientation and alignment on the wings later on. The veneers were pressed in my vacuum press, I'll leave them there until about 8 tonight then take them ot so they can fully dry by morning

Can't believe I missed this?

What pickups have you bought?

Big change of plan, I'm building these with a zero fret but I've decided against it, so today's job will be removing the headstocks, shortening the neck by 10mm and re glueing them. Why do I do these things?

It's been a bit of a weird day, I worked quite hard but there isn't much to show for it.

First job was to rout out the two slots for the carbon rods, I'm using quite thin rods 4 x 4mm rather than 4 x 8mm, I sank these down to 9mm and glued them in place with CA then used a filler on top to bed them in. After that I turned to fitting the truss rods, I'm using a traditional rod, I got some with the spoke wheel adjuster from StewMac, I'm not over impressed with the anchor, being a drilled rod it sets the truss itself a little low for my taste but it is still good. I didn't have a jig so much of the day went into making that. Once I'd made it I routed the slots but had to stop there, so first job tomorrow will be to fit the anchor and spoke wheel before setting them in permanently although I might actually leave that but until later on after veneering the body section

How about those chrome or nickel Chinabuckers? Nice pups y all accounts

Today I didn't do much (as usual by the sound of it!! ). I cleaned up the top of the scarf joints with a nice sharp plane. Then I used the circular saw to cut off the wedge of body under the neck that was parallel with the neck not the body before planing it all flat. Finally I cut out the bridge recess with a router. As yet I haven't found a suitable tail piece to suit the body of the Dragons so I have decided to make my own, this will need setting in too but untill I get them semi made I don't know what size the recess will need to me

2 hours ago, Si600 said:

Do I flatten the back of my no-name B&Q DIY chisel before I try and sharpen it?  I've got access to a bench grinder and an oil stone, but haven't got one.  (The revered parent, who's grinder it is also made a tool and cutter grinder. http://www.lathes.co.uk/quorn/).  The last time either of my chisels went anywhere near a grinder we set it up wrong last time and ground the chisel to an angle.  Whoops.  It was OK to hack out a door latch hole, which is it's usual habitat.

If you're going to do accurate work with it yes, it has to be flat. If you just want to chop out lock mortices on a door then there probably isn't a need. Be very careful with a grinder, they can overheat the tool steel before you know it. The steel only needs to get to a straw colour and it is only fit for opening tins of paint

1 hour ago, LukeFRC said:

thanks Christine. This should be pinned

Thank you

I can't stress enough how important sharp tools are. Yes there are loads of different ways to get them sharp but the easier it is, the more likely it is you will sharpen them regularly. As an example, when I make drawers, I will cut the dovetails with a dovetail saw, then I will used a jewellers saw to remove the waste, finally I will use a chisel to pare down the the gauge mark, just a few light cuts along the whole drawer side but I am likely to sharpen that chisel twice on each side and at least twice on every socket on a drawer front

16 hours ago, Jimothey said:

After reading your earlier post I dug out my whetstone grinder (but I had lost my clamp bar when I moved so I had to make a new one) my version has got the leather linisher on it to polish the blade up afterwards the only difference I do to you is use and 1000grit oilstone

Very informative and a great guide for people who don't have that much experience in sharpening!! 😀

Have you ever tried the Scary Sharp system as one of my mate swears by it and it does live up to the name!! 

No I haven't, I've just had a look, it probably does work but it looks a bit of a faff, just too many stages to be convenient but if it works for your friend I wouldn't dream of trying to stop him, the important thing is sharp tools

I have a leather wheel on mine too. I do use it occasionally for things like carving gouges or a quick fresh up of a scalpel blade. \the trouble with those is they can put a slight rounding to the edge, whilst it is still sharp it takes more time next time to hone the edge flat again, also if you use it on the back of a plane iron then it takes the vital flatness away. That probably sounds daft in isolation, I'm going to do something similar for plane set up or how to turn your cheapo Record or Stanley plane into a thing of wonder, it will become clear then why that flatness is so important not just a load of pretentious crap because i have shares in Japanese water stones