Manton Customs Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Hello all, I just thought I would share this tutorial on sharpening which I have put together. I had a full set of chisels to sharpen and thought I would make it a bit more interesting by taking pictures as I go. I'm sure some of the newer people to instrument building will find it useful a long with anyone who perhaps hasn't fully utilised these wonderfully versatile tools in their work. I'm sharpening chisels in the pictures, but the process is pretty much the same for plane and spoke-shave irons. [b][u]Chisels[/u][/b] As we are working on chisels here I'll go into a bit of detail on them. The set you will see below is a vintage set made by Marples, Sheffield dating to probably around 100 years ago. I would advise anyone who is seriously interested in instrument building to buy vintage rather than new, there was a quality to the steel back then which doesn't seem to be matched these days. I'm sure if you were going to spend a lot of money you could get something of similar quality, but the cheaper brands just don't compare. Another great thing about vintage ones is that they are cheap to purchase and once you have done they will last you your life. Some makers of chisels to look out for are Sorby, Marples and Ward. Marples are in fact still going, but the quality is not the same. [b]Ok, lets begin![/b] Here are the very few tools you will need: An Oil Stone, a Honing Guide and some Cutting Oil....plus whatever you will be sharpening! [url="http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Manton-Customs/media/9d01e69c-8040-4c56-bb78-c46423d2b9ba.jpg.html"][/url] Firstly you will need to make sure your Oil Stone is flat, if it is not as this one pictured here isn't, you will need to lap it flat. This can be done over a coarse grit paper attached to a flat surface, the stone is then pushed over this till dead flat (keep checking with a straight edge). [url="http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Manton-Customs/media/1b.jpg.html"][/url] Lets now take a look at the state of the chisels we are going to be working on, or more specifically the bevel. The bevel is the sloped cutting edge, this can vary from 25 degrees to up to 45. Shallower angles are better for shaving while more steep ones for chopping type jobs. In guitar building the latter is rare, so we are going for a 25 degree bevel. The chisels currently have around a 30 degree bevel, so there is going to be quite a bit more work here than simply honing the cutting edge...we need to create a new bevel (or rather re-shape it). As you can see the blade is in good condition with no chips to the edge, if chips were present we would need to re grind it completely on a bench grinder. Another great thing about chisels...they're pretty much indestructible as you can always grind a new cutting edge! [url="http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Manton-Customs/media/7ede93b2-a412-4e2c-80aa-31317eace065.jpg.html"][/url] Now lets look at the honing guide, this is the device that holds the chisel at a fixed angle. You will see the different angles mentioned on the guide with a measurment next to it. This is how far the blade needs to project in front of the guide, for a 25 degree bevel we need 25 mm of blade in front of the guide (as pictured). [url="http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Manton-Customs/media/72f74a7f-7865-42ad-a85e-1bc376b43dad.jpg.html"][/url] Here is the guide in action, the oil stone has been wet with cutting oil and the guide with chisel attached is pushed and pulled backwards and forwards. At first in both direction (back and forth) until we get close to the finish, when it is only pulled along the stone. [url="http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Manton-Customs/media/eaed2cdc-c753-4440-8b0b-c1bd7089f8cc.jpg.html"][/url] You need to be careful to distribute pressure across the guide or you will end up like the picture below (see how the right edge is higher than the left?), this is no big deal, it just means you need to put more pressure on the other corner until it evens out. Don't think you can just put even pressure on it and get it right...you cant! You need to keep checking your progress and putting pressure on different points. You should be able to see what we are aiming for now, we want that silver line close to the edge to come all the way down to the cutting edge. [url="http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Manton-Customs/media/5uneven.jpg.html"][/url] Here you can see we are nearly there, you can just see a tiny silver line on the right edge. This shiny part has yet to be touched by the stone, all the previous grinding has just been grinding the bevel. So we keep going until it has vanished! [url="http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Manton-Customs/media/6nearlythere.jpg.html"][/url] And here we have reached the cutting edge, this is how it should look before progressing onto the finer side of the stone. After a few strokes over the fine side you should be noticing a burr on the back edge (flat side) of the chisel, you want this to be quite pronounced before moving on. Feel for the burr with your thumb nail, you will notice it catch and take a tiny part of your nail with it! [url="http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Manton-Customs/media/7done.jpg.html"][/url] Now we have to remove the burr we have just created, this is done by rubbing the back side along the stone like the picture below. Once you no longer feel a burr on this side, check the other side, it will almost certainly be there having bent over from the flat side, so a couple more passes on this side over the fine stone. Repeat this till there is no burr on either side. [url="http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Manton-Customs/media/8burrremoval.jpg.html"][/url] How do you know when you are done and your chisel is sharp?...When it does this! All that hair you see is from my arm, a sharp chisel should be able to shave the hairs off your arm easily. If it does not, repeat the last couple of steps (creating the burr and removing the burr) until it does. [url="http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Manton-Customs/media/9itssharp.jpg.html"][/url] The final step is a process called stropping, this gives the blade a bit of polish and sharpens even further. Its basically rubbing it up and down a piece of smooth leather as you may have seen people do with straight razors on TV. [url="http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Manton-Customs/media/10stropping.jpg.html"][/url] And here are the chisels with their new bevel all done and ready for the next job. [url="http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Manton-Customs/media/11finished.jpg.html"][/url] Thank you for reading this, I hope its clear enough and it helps someone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gelfin Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Nice one. Perhaps this should be pinned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Lovely work. Thanks for the guide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manton Customs Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 Thank you both, that'd be great, I'd love to have a thread pinned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myke Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 This is really good actually If you could do more with different tools than you might be able to get a whole little sub forum for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Excellent tutorial - thanks for taking the time to post that. I may print it out and leave it in my workshop - not that I do any luthiering but I'm always fiddling with bits of wood and I really should buy a honing guide instead of doing things by eye (badly). I also had never thought of finishing off with a leather strop. I've seen them used with razors but never thought of using one on chisels. It always amazes me how leather can sharpen steel! Where did you buy your strop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threedaymonk Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 I love this kind of thing. My grandpa was a joiner, and used to sharpen his own tools - even his saws. He boiled his own glue from fish bones, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manton Customs Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1393367230' post='2379527'] Excellent tutorial - thanks for taking the time to post that. I may print it out and leave it in my workshop - not that I do any luthiering but I'm always fiddling with bits of wood and I really should buy a honing guide instead of doing things by eye (badly). I also had never thought of finishing off with a leather strop. I've seen them used with razors but never thought of using one on chisels. It always amazes me how leather can sharpen steel! Where did you buy your strop? [/quote] Thank you, no problem, I like sharing stuff like this. Ah, that's how I got started really...carving bits of wood at a young age and progressing onto guitars! Yes, a honing guide is a really good idea, you'll get great results first time I bet. A strop can be as simple as a leather belt to get you started, though it would be easier to use once attached to a flat piece of wood. Some prefer a smooth leather while others suede, I prefer suede personally as it just seems to work better for me. Either way you can attach your chosen piece of leather to a piece of wood, just make sure its flat, other than that it can be as fancy or rough as you like. Threedaymonk: Glad you like it, I have a lot of tools from my grandad also and love to use them, in fact one of the strops I have was his. I haven't tried making my own glue before though! Though hide glue works great, which I imagine would be a similar type of thing. Thanks all, I'm glad it has proved useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Indeed, useful stuff here. I built a bass in my parents shed when I was 18 and had no idea about sharpening tools. A few years later, I got hold of a Japanese water stone and a honing guide and learned how to do it properly. The first time I did anything using properly sharp tools, I was startled at just how much easier woodworking became. I've never tried finishing them with a strop, but I have a scrap of thick saddlery strap somewhere, so I might give it a go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manton Customs Posted February 26, 2014 Author Share Posted February 26, 2014 [quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1393446099' post='2380484'] Indeed, useful stuff here. I built a bass in my parents shed when I was 18 and had no idea about sharpening tools. A few years later, I got hold of a Japanese water stone and a honing guide and learned how to do it properly. The first time I did anything using properly sharp tools, I was startled at just how much easier woodworking became. I've never tried finishing them with a strop, but I have a scrap of thick saddlery strap somewhere, so I might give it a go. [/quote] Thanks. Yeah, I think a lot of people probably fall into the same camp you were in before learning, so thought this may be a useful tutorial. As well as being easier to work with sharp tools, its also safer. That sounds like it would work well, give it a go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davedave Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Thanks very much for this. I'm a very inexperienced builder without a woodworking background. Stuff like this is incredibly useful. Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manton Customs Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 [quote name='davedave' timestamp='1396429190' post='2413361'] Thanks very much for this. I'm a very inexperienced builder without a woodworking background. Stuff like this is incredibly useful. Dave. [/quote] You're welcome Dave, really glad to help you on your way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rk7 Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Brilliant. A really informative thread. Looking forward to more of the same? A honing guide is now on my shopping list. I recently had a go at refurbing an old plane my Dad gave me. Mixed results, but an overall improvement. Thanks for this thread RK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manton Customs Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 [quote name='rk7' timestamp='1397290274' post='2422469'] Brilliant. A really informative thread. Looking forward to more of the same? A honing guide is now on my shopping list. I recently had a go at refurbing an old plane my Dad gave me. Mixed results, but an overall improvement. Thanks for this thread RK [/quote] Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. Yes I do intend on putting up a few other tutorials, hand plane use being one of them as they are a very useful tool which few people actually bother with these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 that's a really nice tutorial there, i think i must be one of the few people who was taught this at school, more tutorials like this would be very welcome, maybe a little sub-forum for skills tutorials would be an idea? Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manton Customs Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 Thanks Matt, still intending to put up a few more hand tool tutorials....Finding time can be difficult, but it will happen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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