Tool Tip: How to Sharpen a Chisel

Step 2 They're Called Waterstones For a Reason

Put your stones in water and let them sit there a while. The few articles I've read about it suggest that only 5-10 minutes is needed. You may also choose to store your stones in water (like in a tupperware container); I know some who do, and some who caution against it.

Comments

[see spot run]

nice Instructable-- couple things for other people to remember -- sharpen early; sharpen often; 1. in step six you say to look for the thin line on the chisel edge. this line is on the bevelled side of the chisel. The back needs to be dead flat. If you see a thin line on the back of the chisel, then it's time to flatten the back again and sharpen. 2. another thing that took a little while for me to figure out is that the stones need to be flattened periodically to keep them flat too. when using a honing guide the center of the stone tends to get dished out because as from the metal rubbing on the stone. the back of the chisel is only going to get as flat as the stone. To "dress" the stones, I rub the wetstone back and forth on a thick piece of glass (3/16" min for me) with some wet/dry sandpaper spray-mounted to it, sprinkled with some water. Typically the ends of the stone rub when first dressing. After a few minutes of work the whole surface of the stone shows wear equally. At this point I know the stone is flat (or at least as flat as the glass.) I got my current piece of glass for free from an architect friend as a 12"x12" left-over sample. my previous piece was a scratched up glass tabletop.

[Broom]

Thanks!

[trooperdog]

wow , thanks thats good info ....

[offseid]

Hey thanks for the comment! Yes, thanks for the clarification if it wasn't clear enough in my post - the thin line (microbevel) should be on the bevel edge. And yes, a flat back is essential and should only really need to be done once for the life of the chisel. And thanks also for the tips about flattening the stones. I didn't get to that (seemed a bit tangential) but it is really important so I appreciate what you said. I have a sanding screen (180 grit) glued to a piece of glass to flatten my lowest grit stone, and I flatten the other ones with the next lower grit stone. I've also heard that polished granite makes a good dead-flat surface if you don't want to go with glass.

[mauriceh]

OK, I *KNOW* you will laugh at this, but please think about it:
One of the very best ways to "true' your stones ( making them flat again is called "True'ing" them) is to pour some water on a flat concrete sidewalk, and work the stone on this surface.
I find a "figure 8" pattern is best.
This cuts the stone to flat very quickly and effectively.
Once it is flat, I then finish it with sandpaper, wet, on glass, as you described above. That is just to take out any scratches on the stone.

[Broom]

Should work, if you vary the path of the stone a good bit (to avoid an area of cement with locallized wave).

[amclaussen]

 I have found that sharpening with progressively finer wetordry sandpaper over glass is both very practical and comparatively inexpensive.  A flat thick glass piece and the required 3M sandpapers are way cheaper than a set of stones; and you don't need to flatten them.  Only the worst cases of badly dented chisels will benefit from a complete treatment on a set of 3 to 4 stones.


In my case, I bought a somewhat similar adjustable angle guide from "General" brand of tools that uses two small wheels that can roll freely at both sides of the sandpaper strip if you cut it a little wider than the blade to be sharpened, so that they don't have to roll over the sandpaper.  Cutting the sandpaper in those widths gives several strips from every sandpaper sheet, which means even more savings!


To sharpen the narrow chisel blades, I made a wooden base with a lateral guide rail, so that the sharpening guide can roll straight and paralell to the sandpaper strip.


The glass plate is 3/8" (9 mm) thick, which is very rigid and ensures flatness even with some heavy down pressure; and was not expensive since the size is not large.

For me, the glass and wetordry sandpaper is the way to go.

amclaussen, Mexico City.

[Broom]

Brilliant.