Sharpening wood chisels

[armalites]

I have a Tormek T7 and it does an amazing job but it certainly doesn't come under "I don't want to spend a fortune"

If you can find a second hand one then it would be worth it, they are very good for bringing back stuff that has gone too far to touch up.

It can all be achieved with a diamond stone or even some wet and dry stuck to some glass but the Tormek sorts them effortlessly

 

[mike os]

tormek is the mutts nuts.... bit spendy, but will last a lifetime

 

[brewdexta]

I've gone a bit OTT on the sharpening, but I do find that if I'm struggling to put something on my birthday or Christmas list then a sharpening jig or honing guide comes to the rescue, anything to stop the inevitable novelty crap that is discretely filed in the round filing cabinet a couple of weeks after Christmas/Birthday.

I knocked this up ages ago, Tormek at one end, grinder on the other, tool cab in the middle with plate glass on top, rolls of abrasive sharpening papers and tools waiting to be sharpened underneath. It's on wheels so I can move it close to the job. If I'm wood turning then you need to sharpen your tools quite often so saves leg work. I've temporarily clamped the saw vice to the table for now too.

Grinder with Sorby gouge and finger nail profile jig with the tormek gouge holder. The jig is bolted to a frame that slides fore and aft to adjust the angle. I tend to use this for wood turning tools that are curved so that I don't have to use the diamond truing tool on the Tormek very often.

On top are a couple of Veritas honing guides with depth gauge to the right to get the right angle of the dangle. The left most jig makes it easy to put cambers on your plane blades when you want to flatten a board and it won't fit in the planer/thicknesser. The far right hand jig is a Richard Kell, a bit fiddly to use to begin with as you have to make wooded wedges but OK once you get the hang of it. And a collection of oil stones, the one in the wooden box is GPO standard issue, the others were mostly my dads. I have some Japanese water stones underneath, not that impressed but a) they were cheap so probably crap b) I haven't used them much so should probably give them a second chance.

More jigs including the Tormek drill sharpening jig, it does make a wonderful job of drills, like new with wonderful points but I have drawers full of blunt drills waiting for me to give them some TLC, they may be waiting a while longer

Cheers
Andy

 

[weldingnovice]

I found those trend sharpeners soul destroying I have a diamond lapping plate for quick sharpen on site.

But saying that I find it easier to just carry more chisels with me. Although I do belive in the right tool for the job I don't have any preference or show my tools much mercy, the quality stuff can and does take more punishment.

If one gets knocked or loses its edge I put it away and get another out of the roll. Same with planer irons. Pick them up at car boot sale or ebay for pennies and have come across some gems vintage sorby, mawhood, marples, preston etc.

Got this maybe 5 or 6 years ago from Cleveland woodcraft before it's many incarnations, it wasn't cheap at nearly £600 iirc.

One of the best tools I have purchased in terms of saving labour and money. Work is so much easier with everything razor sharp.

Scissors, knives, axes, tin snipps, screw countersinks, etc.

Has anyone used the drill bit sharpener? I usually just bin drill bits and have loads of old dormer drills that I begged.

 

[brewdexta]

Has anyone used the drill bit sharpener? I usually just bin drill bits and have loads of old dormer drills that I begged.

Here's one from 2014 https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/tool-for-sharpening-drill-bits.18210/page-2#post-508251

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

But saying that I find it easier to just carry more chisels with me. Although I do belive in the right tool for the job I don't have any preference or show my tools much mercy, the quality stuff can and does take more punishment.

Yup. My box has two sets in. Have a further two sets of Irwin's in cases in my hand tool boxes and a crappy set for ab using loose in various boxes in the van. Never taken issue to the fts tbh but it is just for a quick tickle during the day to keep them sharp. Any serious sharpening is done at home.

 

[weldingnovice]

Here's one from 2014 https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/tool-for-sharpening-drill-bits.18210/page-2#post-508251

Might have to get one of those a lot of my sds bits could do with being sharpened too they were bundled in with other purchases from Hilti otherwise I wouldn't have them as too pricey.

How do you get along with yours?
Going to have to pull cobalt spot weld drills out of the scrap bin now

 

[Welderpaul]

I've gone a bit OTT on the sharpening, but I do find that if I'm struggling to put something on my birthday or Christmas list then a sharpening jig or honing guide comes to the rescue, anything to stop the inevitable novelty crap that is discretely filed in the round filing cabinet a couple of weeks after Christmas/Birthday.

I knocked this up ages ago, Tormek at one end, grinder on the other, tool cab in the middle with plate glass on top, rolls of abrasive sharpening papers and tools waiting to be sharpened underneath. It's on wheels so I can move it close to the job. If I'm wood turning then you need to sharpen your tools quite often so saves leg work. I've temporarily clamped the saw vice to the table for now too.

View attachment 162181

Grinder with Sorby gouge and finger nail profile jig with the tormek gouge holder. The jig is bolted to a frame that slides fore and aft to adjust the angle. I tend to use this for wood turning tools that are curved so that I don't have to use the diamond truing tool on the Tormek very often.

View attachment 162182

On top are a couple of Veritas honing guides with depth gauge to the right to get the right angle of the dangle. The left most jig makes it easy to put cambers on your plane blades when you want to flatten a board and it won't fit in the planer/thicknesser. The far right hand jig is a Richard Kell, a bit fiddly to use to begin with as you have to make wooded wedges but OK once you get the hang of it. And a collection of oil stones, the one in the wooden box is GPO standard issue, the others were mostly my dads. I have some Japanese water stones underneath, not that impressed but a) they were cheap so probably crap b) I haven't used them much so should probably give them a second chance.

View attachment 162183

More jigs including the Tormek drill sharpening jig, it does make a wonderful job of drills, like new with wonderful points but I have drawers full of blunt drills waiting for me to give them some TLC, they may be waiting a while longer

View attachment 162184

Cheers
Andy

How do you find the Tormek drill grinding attachment Andy? Going by the You tube vids it looks fiddly to set up?

 

[Welderpaul]

When it turns up i'll give some feedback on it. Looks like I've made a good choice.

'Don't want to spend a fortune' has gone out of the window but it doesn't hurt to have decent tools does it!...does it?!

 

[brewdexta]

How do you find the Tormek drill grinding attachment Andy? Going by the You tube vids it looks fiddly to set up?

If you look at my post a couple before yours there's a bit about me using it for the first time. Here's my summary from then.

"Verdict, does a lovely precise job at the angles you want and its pretty simple once you have used it a couple of times. It's not too bad speed wise but as the manual suggest, on bigger or damaged drills its probably worth taking some meat off on the grinder first, especially on the secondary facets/. Cost wise, only really makes sense if you already have the Tormek grinder. You can use Tormek jigs on a standard grinder with an adaptor I think it would work fine as long as the wheel diameter is reasonably large, the drill holder easlily comes off so you could quench the drill frequently if the grinder wasn't water cooled"

I would say that if you like spot on drills then it's very good especially on smaller bits. But if your good at grinding by eye and don't mind your bits not being as new then probably not worth the faff.

 

[Welderpaul]

If you look at my post a couple before yours there's a bit about me using it for the first time. Here's my summary from then.

"Verdict, does a lovely precise job at the angles you want and its pretty simple once you have used it a couple of times. It's not too bad speed wise but as the manual suggest, on bigger or damaged drills its probably worth taking some meat off on the grinder first, especially on the secondary facets/. Cost wise, only really makes sense if you already have the Tormek grinder. You can use Tormek jigs on a standard grinder with an adaptor I think it would work fine as long as the wheel diameter is reasonably large, the drill holder easlily comes off so you could quench the drill frequently if the grinder wasn't water cooled"

I would say that if you like spot on drills then it's very good especially on smaller bits. But if your good at grinding by eye and don't mind your bits not being as new then probably not worth the faff.

Thanks Andy - sorry. missed that!

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Seems like this tool will not remove any dings and the angle really needs to be correct before using or it will be a long job.

Been a few years since I used my old one (stolen on site)

Not the best situation. On the kitchen table. No way of clamping or screwing the unit down.
Pulled my newest set of Irwin's out. All looking a bit tired but still cutting.
6 piece set like these minus two larger sizes. https://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+hand-...ovctoijw_Zk9DZVAIB8il3wjf7eaAzxhoCpt0QAvD_BwE
Good price there. Resisted the urge to click buy.
Hold an edge very well.

Smaller sizes were pretty good and took 5 mins a piece to get up to scratch. Bevels were bang on from factory and the backs were perfectly flat with no work required.
The two larger were notched probably less than 0.5mm deep. Twice as long per chisel but took them back to super sharp no problem.
Would have been easier and quicker with it clamped down and still waiting for the 100 grit to turn up but happy enough.

Il make a little bench board to screw it down to so I can chuck it on any table or bench easily and chuck a clamp on.

 

[Keith 66]

Sharpening is a bit of an art, Half of it is having good steel to start with. I have a rather large selection of wood chisels collected over many years. I have a set of old red plastic handled marples ones & a few black ones that i keep for rough work & dismantling. I dont mind if i chip the edge when clipping a screw or nail. Then theres the good ones, half a dozen made by Mathesion of Glasgow, trade mark of their best was a little crescent moon & star, they take an edge like a razor. James Howarth's John Bull brand also superb. Ward & Co, Sorby, Addis, James Deakin, mostly made in Sheffield long ago. I have picked up many on boot fairs & rehandled them. I also have a few expensive japanese chisels with laminated blades. Then theres the oilstones, I have about six. The red arkansa ones are mediocre at best.Two best ones are grey & cut real quick but are soft. I have one large japanese waterstone & it is also very good.
I grind freehand on the bench grinder being careful not to burn the edge, cool the edge in water frequently.
Oil stone used with parrafin or WD 40 as lubricant, Oil tends to clog the stone. I dont use a guide its just practice. Quick strop on palm of my hand & good to go
At school i have about 30 chisels to sharpen & do it at least once a week, takes about 10 minutes.

 

[jordan1]

I still prefer light oil on my stone, occasionally leave it in the sun to sweat old oil out, wipe it clean, good to go again.

 

[bigegg]

At school i have about 30 chisels to sharpen & do it at least once a week, takes about 10 minutes.

grand-dad was a cabinet maker
he was obsessive about sharp tools.
He used a pair of stones: a rough, oval, stone. and a rectangular oil stone.

when he died, I inherited them and took them to school for woodworking class, as I was the *only* person who ever sharpened chisels. (teacher was *not* a woodworker)

someone stole them out of my bag...

 

[Keith 66]

I keep an oilstone on my desk in the workshop, I show the kids how to use it (and most of the teachers lol)
They very quickly see the benefit of sharp tools, if they ever get to use them that is.