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Thank you so much to Kim for coming out to my shop and teaching us all how to sharpen! You can find Kim on instagram @McIntyreFurniture https://www.instagram.com/mcintyrefurniture or take a class from her at Pratt Fine Arts Center: https://www.pratt.org
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Recommended Sharpening Starter Set:
Norton Water Stone https://amzn.to/3JR4ZTA
Norton Flattening Stone https://amzn.to/4987UBD
Entry Level – ATLIN Honing Guide – https://amzn.to/4p0x6yQ
Leather Strop & Compound – https://amzn.to/3WK3g5q
Small Square – https://amzn.to/4hNUehB
Thin Ruler – https://amzn.to/3JzozDV
Michael’s Setup:
Norton Waterstone Flatstone – https://amzn.to/4oUzzKO
Water Stone – (not the exact one but very similar) https://amzn.to/4ovPNum
Rockler Diamond Stones (all three grits) – https://www.rockler.com/rockler-diamond-sharpening-stones-choose-grit
KM Tools Honing Guide – https://kmtools.com/products/katz-moses-universal-sharpening-jig
Small Square – https://amzn.to/4hNUehB
Kim’s Setup:
Rob Cosman Standard Diamond Stone: https://robcosman.com/products/rob-cosmans-diamond-stone-standard
Shapton 6000 Grit Ceramic Stone – https://amzn.to/4nKWA23
Shapton 16000 Grit Ceramic Stone – https://amzn.to/3WGrOML
Lie-Nielsen Honing Guide – https://www.lie-nielsen.com/products/honing-guide-bladesstandard
Rob Cosman’s Yellow Stuff (Bora HoneRite Gold) – https://robcosman.com/collections/sharpening/products/hone-rite-gold
Sharpening Ruler – https://robcosman.com/products/rob-cosmans-sharpening-rule-2-0
Recommended Tools
Suizan Japanese Chisels – https://amzn.to/47tJe5t
Good Mid-Level Western Style Narex Chisels – https://amzn.to/3JzFQwK
High End Lie-Nielson Bevel Edge Chisels – https://www.lie-nielsen.com/ nodes/4099/bevel-edge-chisels
Flexcut Carving Knives – https://amzn.to/3JosOSN
pfeil “Swiss Made” Caving tool set – https://amzn.to/47tcGbI
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The biggest thing I learned is to make sure that your sharpening station is where you work, that way you don't think about doing it because you have to go to it, take out stones, set it up, etc, always have it ready, sharpen often, get finished straight off the hand plane, ready for whatever oil/finish. I use the Rob Cosman/Charlesworth method, I'm not quite at 32 seconds to sharp, but not far off and when working with hand tools with woods like purple heart, you need to be sharpening often. I use a 300/100 diamond stone and then a 16,000 Shapton glass stone as recommended by Rob, they work. The water additive Rob uses is called Honerite Gold.
I have had many apprentices over the years and the best ones were female. They listen to understand, and they lock the concepts into their minds that way. If your getting old like me you damn well better not tell them erroneous info- because they will catch it and gently and respectfully ask for clarification. Sadly, the boys catch a slip up and try to hold it over your head- the solution to which is to have them sand intricate moldings until those brain cells die off and try again with them.
I am so happy to see people helping others in their shops. I stop at home shops around the neighborhood and always pick up something new and always leave them working safer (OMG the stuff I have seen!)
One thing I would point out is that sharpening is an ongoing process while using your tools. A few minutes of touchup keeps a less than sharp blade working well with frequent sharpening to maintain peak performance. I used to wait until all my blades were dull. By then I dredded sharpening since it took all day to do it. You can distribute that time out and get more shop time and best performance from your tools. The more frequently you sharpen, the easier and quicker it gets that you incorporate sharpening into your woodworking easily. See people like Rob Cosman and Paul Sellers for the ultimate pros that sharpen their blades by hand with no jigs.
Great information! I am ready to go out sharpen some stuff.
I suggest using a coarse wheel on an electric grinder to work the primary bevel of plane irons and chisels. The 2 critical factors are 1. don't overheat the iron/chisel, and 2. grind up to but no closer than 0.5 mm from the edge (or whatever distance greater than zero you can grind consistently). When the secondary bevel is very thin (say 0.5 mm) it takes few stones and few strokes to refresh the edge. The more the secondary bevel widens the more stones and strokes will be needed. If a honing guide will be used the angle of the primary bevel doesn't matter as long as it is at least a few degrees less than the desired secondary bevel angle. As long as the primary bevel grinding does not reach the edge the coarseness of the grind doesn't matter either, and coarse wheels grind cooler and faster. Grinding the primary bevel is a quick rough cut to get rid of most of the waste so that the final/precise trim cut (honing) can be done efficiently.
And that's why it's better to freehand everything. Then the muscle memory is the same for a plane blade, a chisel, a gouge, a knife or a router plane iron. In six hours I assume Kim showed you how to feel (and see) when you're at the pre-existing bevel angle… pity you showed the (faked?) initial silly high presentation of the gouge instead of this. One thing that was telling was you mentioned "following the process" or "going through the motions"… this is why many fail (especially when using jigs) because they're concentrating on the process instead of the objective.
You have the purpose of primary and secondary bevel back to front: the PRIMARY is to speed up the process, as is more acute than the working angle (secondary(or tertiary)) but need not be refined, just coarsely worked so less work is required on the finer stone(s)
Even the worst Stanley cheese steel can be sharpened surgical sharp… it just won't hold an edge… that's when sticking to prescribed bevel angles really lets you down, as it just mean increasing the angle sufficiently to get an edge that remains usefully working sharp for long enough… 2° increments easily done freehand
You're supposed to camber plane irons. Otherwise you leave tracks. A camber is even useful when you're jointing for angle adjusting. It can be a very subtle camber. My scrub planes have radical cambers and it is surprising how flat they can make a surface. Hand honing the primary bevel is for the birds too. Use a grinder to do that. All you're doing is making clearance. The primary bevel never touches the work. There's no such thing as polished air.
Thank you Michael, this has come in handy for me, great timing. Great advice from Kim, so think you too Kim!
Gracias 👌🏽🔥🔥
Like you (and so many of us), I’ve never been comfortable with sharpening, despite reading and watching dozens of tutorials and accumulating multiple jigs and accessories. This video — both Kim’s excellent instruction and your diligent enthusiasm — has definitely given me the inspiration to get out and finally sharpen all my neglected hand tools. Many thanks, Michael!