So often we see posts and questions about sharpening in WW forums. After all, sharp tools are a necessity for success in any material removal undertaking whether it be wood or another medium like metal, leather, stone, paper or a multitude of others. I always try to offer advice when such questions come up and I've been thinking for quite a while now that I should just start a blog detailing MY choice of sharpening methods for different situations. I was noticing quite the pile of "needs sharpened" tools on my sharpening bench last week so I figured now is a good time. This will likely be a perpetual series where I just add a post when I sharpen a particular type of tool (and remember to take pictures when I do).
I do want to state up front that the methods and tools presented in this series are MY chosen methods. They are by no means the only options or even the best options. They're just what works for me to obtain the results that I'm happy with. Also, you'll see a lot of powered sharpening and I know that not everyone has, or wants, a Worksharp or a 2x72 belt grinder available. But when I use a powered tool, the methods can be applied to sharpening the same tools on oil stones or diamond plates. I will try to remember to point out how certain things can be done manually if you sharpen that way but no promises that I won't forget to do that more often than not 😉
There are so many possible ways to sharpen and I doubt many of us have access to every one of them. I certainly don't. But below I'll list the ones I use most frequently.
- "Oil Stones". I have a lot of different natural stones I use for a lot of different purposes. The majority of them are small and are used for machining so you probably won't see those much, if any, in this blog series. But I do have a variety that I use for woodworking tools. These are all generically referred to as "Oil" stones because you need to lubricate them when you sharpen with them to prevent clogging and to keep the metal swarf from becoming embedded in the porous surfaces. The best lubricant is one of those things that is widely debated. Recommendations range from water to gasoline. Personally I use mineral oil but I don't feel strongly about it. I've used water (don't use water on a stone that has been oiled previously, it won't get into the pores) and kerosene and special "sharpening oil" blends that you can buy. I don't really see any difference.
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Arkansas Stones. These are natural oil stones used for sharpening. I have bench stones and slipstones (small stones with odd geometries) in Soft (coarse) Hard (medium) Black (fine) and Translucent (very fine). I use these primarily for free hand sharpening knives. But, if that's what you have, they will work fine for sharpening most woodworking tools, they're just slower cutting any harder to use with something like a honing guide because they wear and go out of flat relatively quick compared to other mediums.
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India Stones. These are similar to Arkansas stones in use but rather than being naturally occuring and quarried and processed, India stones are an Aluminum Oxide formed with a binder. Similar to sandpaper or a bench grinder wheel. I rarely use these and the ones I have are mostly smaller ones used to fine-tune cutting tools for machining. But they can be used generally interchangeably with Arkansas Stones. This is most likely the only mention you'll see of these in my blog but be aware that if you have them, anywhere I mention Arkansas Stones, you can do the same thing with India stones. They do cut notably faster than Arkansas stones so they are a good option if you are grinding a cutting edge from a blank or heavily modifying an existing cutting edge. But they make a heckuva mess and even the fine grades don't produce what I would call a finished edge. If you use India stones, I highly recommend picking up a Black Arkansas stone to compliment them and use it to finish the final edge.
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Carborundum Stones. These are manmade stones similar to India Stones but they're made of Silicon Carbide. My SiC stones get used exclusively on HSS machining tools. They cut really fast and are a good option for fast material removal. But even the fine grade doesn't produce even an acceptable cutting edge for woodworking tools IMO. If you have these, they are fine for removing chips from an edge or modifying/creating new geometry but I would switch to a different medium to sharpen and finish your final edge.
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Diamond Plates. Most woodworkers are familiar so I won't say much here. They're just diamond particulate of different sizes bonded to a (usually) steel plate. I prefer ones that are a flat surface without holes or grooves. And in general I would steer clear of the cheap ones. Quality diamond plates have the abrasive embedded in a plating that is bonded to the steel. Cheaper versions have the abrasive bonded to the substrate with an adhesive. The longer and wider the better if you are going to use a honing guide for things like chisels and plane blades. I have a set of DMT Dia Sharp in coarse, medium, fine, and X fine. I definitely recommend them but they are by no means the only good ones available. Good diamond plates can be a hefty investment but diamonds can sharpen almost anything (and certainly anything used for woodworking) and will likely last for life in a hobby shop. Until I got a Worksharp, I used my diamond plates for practically everything. Lubricate them with water or glass cleaner or you can buy special fluids.
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Diamond Hones. Essentially the same as the plates and work the same way but I have smaller ones and diamond needle files for specialty uses. I don't use them often other than a small flat one for touching up the edges of carbide router bits.
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Sandpaper. A lot of people overlook this as a perfectly good sharpening media. I use it primarily for freehand sharpening when I need to work an edge that isn't flat. But google "scary sharp" and you'll see you can use it from rough shaping all the way to a finished edge with excellent results. For woodworking tools, you'll probably want to have a hard, flat substrate like a piece of glass or a granite plate. When I started using sandpaper several years ago, I went to Home Depot and bought about a dozen smooth granite tiles and took them home and used a straight edge to find dead flat ones. I kept two and returned the rest. Sandpaper is available in grades from very coarse to exceptionally fine (ultra fine grades are usually called lapping films) and can fit the bill for most any woodworker's sharpening needs. The downside is that you have to change it frequently and find a way to bind it to your substrate so it can be time consuming and in the long run if you have a lot of tools you sharpen frequently, it can get expensive.
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Powered Sharpeners. I won't go into a lot of detail here because these will probably be pretty prolific in the following blog entries.
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2x72 Belt Grinder. I built mine but there are a variety available for purchase and they can be had in different sizes. A hefty investment and IMO overkill for sharpening but I made mine for other uses so I use it for some sharpening when it's the best choice.
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Work Sharp 3000. You'll see this a lot in this series. Far and away my preferred method for most everything these days. My diamonds are getting lonely.
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Bench Grinder. I don't use this much in general because I don't like hollow grinds but it's used almost exclusively for HSS tools. You're bound to see my setup in posts about turning tools.
So that's the background. The meat and potatoes will be in future installments.