I don't get the microbevel thing. The only thing that it seems to do is to postpone removing most of the metal to a later date. Unless you have a low speed grinder that can make that job i a hurry those times are going to suck more than the couple of seconds you save on each sharpening. I see a point with the backbevel on a plane iron, instead of requiring the whole back to be flat it is enough to only have the last fraction of a mm that touches the wood flat.
I think Paul Sellers also mentioned once that micro bevels are not necessary, he just polished the whole bevel because his diamond plates were fast enough, I tend to use a microbevel, but after a lot of sharpenings I just rub the primary bevel on my stone a couple of times, so the micro does not get so big
@@j4gs223 you only flatten the back once so I think it is worth that effort in the beginning to not have to worry about it later. James Wright also think that it's better to do it once and be done with it. I just watched an older video with Paul Sellers when he restored an old rusty plane. He had a very practical method to solve a convex back. Give it a good hit with a nylon hammer to take care of the worst problem.
@@haqvor @DoomSlayer wasn't talking about flattening the back. He was talking about how Paul Sellers grinds the whole bevel and doesn't worry about a micro bevel. Flattening the whole back is a slightly different topic.
I was taught by an old craftsman Organbuilder who showed me to put oil on the stone, place the blade/bevel on the stone and tilt it until I see a thin line of oil pop out, and that was my cutting edge and burr. Job done!!
Little tip for you for beginners to free hand sharpening. Get a permanent marker (sharpie or something similar) and colour the end of the blade before sharpening. After each stage, there should be no marker left on the edge of the blade, if there is, you've missed a spot and need to go back over. Not so much an issue for plane blades and the like, but I've found it useful for carving chisels when you're sharpening rounded blades that require a lot of wrist movement to sharpen the whole thing.
It works best if you use a red or blue marker, instead of black. It's easier to see, especially when there's a lot of grit and swarf from the sharpening.
I've tried a lot to do free hand sharpening but I have a shoulder injury and I just can't do it, I've sharpened and resharpened my knife over and over, with dull results every single time. When someone else does it they can get it sharp but I can only dull it. I hate this. :(
@@FringeWizard2 don't be discouraged buddy. It took me about a year to get the edge of my knives sharp. It's all about the angle, if you don't hold it at the correct angle while running it across the stone it won't make it sharp but more likely dull it. I have a bad shoulder myself and it doesn't bother me at all, it might if I were to try and sharpen somethin the size of a katana though lol. Just keep practicing on a cheap dull pocket knife the work your way up. Make sure you progress your way up with different stones though. Accusharp makes a great double sided diamond pocket stone for under $10. With it I can get my knives sharp enough to shave with.
As an amateur with woodworker, i typically feel overpowered with the entire arrangement th-cam.com/users/postUgkxrYREG3-7f1Aqk9ams3ZESRNzGnfdUtyQ . Be that as it may, this arrangements drove me through with much clarity and effortlessness woodplans. Works i now work like a genius. That is great!
Rumaging through my Dad's old workbench, I was chuffed to find his old Stanley No. 5 plane (which I've now identified as Type 19, from 1948-61), plus a bunch of oilstones... and 3 pieces of glass with sandpaper of varying grit glued to each side! Dad passed away just over 10 years ago, and it's a few years before that, that he made his last real woodworking project piece. He was very fussy about caring for his tools, so the plane is in pretty good condition, apart from the blade being blunt. I've now pulled the plane to bits to clean it up, and have made my first attempt to sharpen the blade. The sandpaper looks more or less unusable at this point, and anyway, hard to identify the grits. But I've started to soak the sandpaper off so as to re-use the glass plates... Well, the blade is now sharper than it was - but needs a bit more work to get it back to pro condition. But for me, it's a labour of love, and I've enjoyed following the steps of this tutorial with an actual treasured tool!
I wondered about this micro bevel business some time ago. Then I used a jig, never moved it and just sharpened a plane iron with no micro bevel. It works just fine.... I'm getting the hang of free hand now... what a relief. Thanks for the reassurance.
How refreshing to see someone talk common sense on sharpening. Our forebears in the hay day of fine furniture during the 17th and 18th centuries, and even in the 19th, were mostly illiterate, had no access to a ruler let alone a micrometer, and used locally hewn stones and blacksmith made tools often passed down from father to son and yet they made furniture and carvings that have lasted centuries and which still leave us staring in awe. The closer I work to how they worked the more pleasurable woodworking becomes. I have a shop full of expensive and noisy tools and machines but nothing is ever as enjoyable as using a saw, plane and chisel to make something useful.
I agree w alot of others on here, good on ya for showing microbevels etc arent as important as one thinks. Ive been freehanding for about a year now, and havent seen a problem. What works best for me is something i picked up from a vid on YT, some guy showing how he sharpens chisels. He said to look at the blade edge, when you press it flat on the stone and see the water/oil thats right at the edge of the blade edge get pushed out, youre at the right angle. That has worked for me ever since. Not sure if that makes any sense, hopefully someone understands that and helps them.
👍 👍Craftsmen got by fine for centuries without worrying about a micro-bevel on their tool. I learned to sharpen knifes, chisels and planes by feel way before you could find a jig and before the TH-cam experts decided it was a sin to hand sharpen tools. Sharp is sharp in my world. Thanks for sharing your technique.
Thank you for saying " the unsaid"! I have watched many of the "to the letter" sharpening videos; and wondered how I ever got a shaving edge on my blades without all that technical knowledge. Finally, someone who recognized the fact that we are not machinist, we are woodworkers.
Done this for my vises. Seems like if you are going to take off burr between stones it would be better to take burr off on stone you made it on to keep next stone clean.
Imagine getting your morning cup of joe. You smell it and take your first sip. Perfect. You think to yourself, “today is going to be a good day. Hey, I wonder if anyone hauled off that old chair. I hope some young couple, just starting out, saw it. They’ll throw an afghan over it, to hide the worn parts. It will make their first move. Maybe they’ll have it reupholstered for sentimental reasons.” You walk out onto the front porch hoping to see it has been claimed. Instead someone resembling Lex Luther (from the 90’s animated series) with a buck knife is hunched over the old chair, filleting it away from its skin and your vicarious day dream ambitions. He pauses his gruesome work to raise his head and inspect you; coffee, slippers, flannel pajama pants, Pink Floyd t-shirt. You take a sip and look back at his face. It’s a wild look in his eye.
@merchandise 7X ... As expected, you find the street desolate. Only a grey-striped housecat sits on the adjacent lawn cleaning himself unaware of the events that had just unfolded. The smell of coffee tugs on the neurons on in already confused head, sat down, letting warm coffee massage your dried throat. But like the stench of long deceased death, the doorbell rings and ruins the moment. You eye the coffee in mug on one hand, newspaper in the other wondering, "do they even know if I'm awake? Had they seen me at the front door? "
I've been hoping for this since i started watching a year ago, good wood is really pricey and there is constantly trees and old wood being cut out and thrown away around town. Shame to let it all go to waste. -Edited for spelling.
When I learnt to sharpen, jigs were something machinists used to sharpen paper trimmers. I was taught not to roll my blade, obviously it works for you, but in the sixties it was forbidden. Here on the U.S. East Coast, diamond sharpeners are about $30US for a 2x6 stone; I use tap water and a drop of dish liquid soap on mine. Great presentation, right to the basics. And regarding kitchen knives: 8, 10, 12 inch chef knives need a working edge, not a razor edge, when dicing or chopping you'll destroy a razor edge in seconds.
My dad has a sharpening stone. I never watched a video about sharpening until I came to your channel, and I don't think I ever needed to. You just put oil on, move the blade around to make an angle that you think seems "sharp" and then you're good to go. It's really easy! I'm glad you're standing up to modern assumptions here!
I just like the micro-bevel for honing, I can get a dull edge back to perfection in just a few seconds focusing on that last bit of steel. For me sharpening the whole primary bevel just means more time sharpening, more time for a mistake. I love that tiny polished strip along my edge. To each is own 🤷🏻♂️
Do what works for you is the best. Did woodworking at school and we never had the time to sharpen any tools because we only had 45 minute per day to build what we had to for that lesson. So we had to do what works at that moment to get it done. I still do it today. If it cuts, then carry on. If not then do it again. Muscle memory as you mentioned. Great vid and thank you.
I have watched so many videos trying to understand this process better, only to be left confused on one detail or another. I just want to thank you and commend you for making the content in this video simple to understand for beginners and for taking the extra time/care to break down every minute step so to leave no viewer left wondering if they're sharpening correctly. The most valuable parts, in my opinion, are the "why's". Knowing WHY a process is done the way it is done is priceless, and that information is a top reason I subscribed. Good work! Thanks again.
This is the best sharpening video I've seen because it goes into every detail needed for the whole process without skipping steps. as a beginner its super helpful to get that last 20% everyone skips over that is essential to pull it all together
Great Video, a few things, A great honing oil is 50/50 mix 30 wt and kerosene. Oil stones when new can be used with water (add a little dish detergent) after using with oil stick with oil. If you don't have leather for a strop you can use jeans or any other hard wearing cloth or cardboard on wood. leather is traditional but other things work until you can find a scrap of leather, it is just somthing to hold the compound.
Rex, I've used DMT diamond stones for years. I get the big ones, 10"x4". 2 will get you all the grits you need as they are double sided. X-fine/fine & course/X-course. 220/325 grit & 600/1200 grit, respectively. I also use the Norton water stones, not the double sided. They don't ware out as fast as you think if you use them correctly. My most used grits are the 4000 & 8000 grits. After 20 years the 4000 grit is about 1/2 it's original thickness. The 8000 grit is almost like new for thickness. And I sharped a lot of knives, it's kind of a small income for me. Doing knives I don't flatten them very often. In fact I haven't flattened any of them in 5 years doing just knives. Woody's Workshop
I ordered off your list of the stones and compound. Received them yesterday. Sharpened a couple of planes today following the video. All came out as sharp as Rex's video advertised without the guilt of not being perfect. Tomorrow I will be working on a workbench that been begging to be built. As always, I enjoy the humor and quality of your videos.
Coarse silicon carbide grit on a flat concrete garden stone is the best way I've found to true oil stones. And I recommend to get a Norton India stone for the fine sharpening, but start with carborundum oil stone that is not too hard..
LOL, when you say diamond plate, because of my background in semi trailer mechanic-ing, I think of the aluminum or steel with the diamond-ish patterning on the top, that everything from toolboxes for the sides of flatbed to the top of bumpers to give them traction ability. 😄 These are great tips! I'll definitely use them! It'll not only saves time, but money, too! Thanks a lot, Rex! ❤️❤️ Edited to add: I use that shelf liner stuff for tons of stuff, already, so that's perfect - I've already got rolls of it hanging around!
Excellent video! I too am a big fan of Paul Sellers. Just saw the video of him sharpening free hand. I like the mindset of "I just want to get back to woodworking" versus making sharpening into some kind of crazy precision science experiment 😆 Anyway this vid will save me a lot of money and, most importantly, fretting and overthinking.
This is a brilliant video. I watch all these woodworker masters and realize that sharpening is the holy grail of woodworking and I beat myself for not being better at it. This video removes much of the mystery and drama. It's a keeper. Can't wait to get back to the shop and do it. Thanks
Dude I just finished building this (no strop yet... NO ONE is throwing leather around me now that I need it) but even without a strop I sharpened my planes to shaving quality and omg the difference!!! Thank you Rex for sharing this design!!
Interesting video. I’ve used a lot of things to sharpen blades. My front porch steps, a red brick and this great flat spot on my garage floor. Some sandpaper and a piece of leather with green compound. I have no idea what my angles are. The blades cut great. Boards are square and flat. That’s all I care about.
Great video. Kim about 4 years into my hand tool journey. I’ve been a power tool woodworker most of my life and bought a 5 1/2 with stimulus money. I’m hooked. I sold my cabinet saw and my power jointer and my dust collector. I have several sharpening jigs and I’m partial to the easiest one, but mostly just sharpen by hand now. I really don’t notice the difference. I can still get very sharp by registering the bevel and being careful. Sharp enough to shave hair and wood.
I came back to this video after a year. Back then I only owned a cheap water stone; now I have a set of extremely cheap diamond plates from our favorite web store in China, and they're quite great for the price. I got them up to 3000 grit (I know that this scale doesn't really work for diamond plates, but that's what they're labeled at) and they do the work well. Perhaps the only flaw I've noticed is that if you use water to lubricate them during use (and lift off the metal chips), those chips will rust almost immediately when left alone, so you need to wipe them clean after each use. The thin plates also require some proper support to actually keep flat, so I still use them on a piece of glass.
I'd been getting by with a small diamond plate and sandpaper for a couple years now and wasn't attracted to waterstones because of the need to flatten them. My framing chisels and block plane get abused daily, and spending a few minutes tuning them up on these stones and a strop at the end of the day has saved me so much time and I'm getting better results than ever.
Thank you so much. Only started my wood working/carving journey 2 days ago. I feel I have been struggling with no idea on sharpening. I didn't spend much on my tools but I was sure I could get them sharp with my sharpening stone. After watching your video I am happy to say I am now learning what a burr is and seeing results. You've also gained a subscriber. Thank you. :)
Rex, you convinced me. I’ve gotten better hand sharpening plane blades and chisels over the past couple of years on sand paper and cheap stones. Just purchased on amazon Dans set of 8 inch stones. Can’t wait. Cheers.
Are you telling me my pa and grandpa were not plain ignorant for getting along with just 2 stones and a strop? Watching too many sharpening videos I now got loaded with no less than 5 stones - and the more I use them the more I feel the joke is on me. Thanks for making the world round again.
I own 4 stones. Bought one for €30, the rest of them were free or a gift. I only use the one I bought as it has a rough and fine side. Also got a bunch of tiny stones that I use for axes and travel
@@zoutewand I keep a couple of small stones handy for doing yard tools. Some of those vines out there will dull a set of loppers pretty quickly. Few quick swipes with the little stone and we're back in business.
The only justification for microbevels is that honing the edge is faster because you don't have to touch the main bevel, so there's less material to remove. But the freehand rounded bevel has exactly the same advantage. Microbevels are a solution to a problem that didn't exist before sharpening jigs appeared.
I had a similar thought the first time I saw Paul Sellers sharpen - his technique is ALL micro-bevel. The sharpening arguments are mostly a terminology issue.
Paul Sellers calls his single bevel a “macro camber”. Yes, this produces the same advantage of speed as a micro bevel. Good point. But I would imagine that it also solves the problem that freehand sharpening a micro bevel would create, that being the impossibility of reproducing the exact same angle with every freehand sharpening. Varying the microbevel angle every time would create a rounded dull edge. I suppose the macro camber would cut a completely new cutting edge every sharpening.
Sadly, I couldn't find your original sandpaper sharpening vid, so I don't know if you mentioned this, but 3m make some really hi tech sharpening papers (I'm not employed, etc, by 3m) and that system works really well. It is usually used with a guide, but I've used it freehand for about a year and haven't even changed my papers yet. The other important point for sharpening is - don't wait! at the first hint of excess pressure, sharpen again - done in 30 secs and back to good results.
Some of what I practice was learned from watching Norm, it was a ritual each Saturday. And one very important lesson was what Tommy said "Everyone is different",. from this old house. I was already making my living from woodworking long before either show was aired but watch I did because every episode had some tidbit to absorb. If you do the best you can with what you have, no one can do any better. Still practicing at 77, hopefully still learning but for damned sure, enjoying it all. Great episode Mr. Rex
Another method to avoid the bur (aka rollover) is to only push the blade on the stone. The rollover bur is from scraping the metal off the edge of the blade, but if you push the blade only, you avoid this mostly. You can still get this bur, but usually on softer blades. Of course you have to only pull on the strop but you are only polishing at that point. A stroke compromise is to push harder forward and let off on the backstroke so you keep the angle form. Thanks, Rex these are great videos keep them coming.
Good for you. I don't believe that woodworkers hundreds of years ago who had to produce furniture at a rate of knots were fussing over composite angles and using jigs. I reckon the most important thing is going fine enough. The tip about not falling off the edge of the strop is great, too. I did that for months without realising.
I'm happy for everyone that can sharpen without a jig. When I try to freehand, I have trouble sharpening across the entire edge evenly, I have diamond stones and 3M Microfinishing Film. I have a jig. I would not consider "throwng away" any perfectly good option. For those of us that are physically challenged when it comes to sharpening the crutches are helpful. I will continue to attempt to learn to freehand but the jig will be there to help me fix my mistakes. I also find the jig very helpful when I get a chisel that is not square. That happened recently with a new chisel of good quality. I can put a great edge on knives freehand; just not planes and chisels. Yet.
Rex another one of your famous videos with plenty of practical references and no nonsense advertising, I appreciate your quick wit and cut to the chase!!
Your tech is how I learned from my grandfather who was a finish carpenter. Built the same type of finish board just wish I had a place to still play with wood. Miss the smell of a work shop and just playing around with scape wood. Look a board and it tells you what it is supposed to be when you done with it. Thanks enjoy watching you do things.
THANK YOU for presenting this approach which works much better for my particular brain setting. Too much precision and math bogs me down and prevents me from even feeling ready to begin. So honestly you had me at "freehand", and I think I'm finally ready to actually acquire a sharpening system -- as well as acquire something to sharpen, thanks to your video on which planes are most useful. Every time you write something off as "nonsense" or "unnecessary", I internally cheer, because it means that someone else cut through the clutter for me! My instincts are strongly guiding me towards starting simple and building up as I go. So all of your videos are helping me quite a bit. The visuals are incredibly useful too! I'm so excited to get into using more hand tools...
I have been doing leatherwork a long time, but I recently found something that a leather store showed me. That is if you use a little green polishing compound, your stropping will be much faster and your sharpened device will work much easier. You can also buy scraps of leather very cheap at Springfield Leather. I use this compound all the time, whenever I have to strop a blade.
Prices on the Arkansas stones have gone up even more on the link you provided, it's now $45. Found a website that specializes in sharpening stones that sells them much cheaper. They also sell the different grades in kits at a very good price (only a few bucks more for several stones). Not sure if I'm allowed to put a direct link to their site, but it's called "Best Sharpening Stones". You should be able to find easily.
Rex, totally off topic here, but I just purchased your Joiners Bench plan bundle, and I gotta say I'm totally impressed with just how complete and detailed they are for such a good price! Completely satisfied customer here, and I'm looking forward to building this bad boy in the next few weeks. Thanks man!
I use a diamond & water stone & then a strop because it's just a lot less messy than oil. Keeping the water stone in a tupperware box works really well, & (even though it may slightly age the stone) I add just a few drops of lemon juice to keep the standing water from going nasty. Recently, I've started just putting the diamond plate in there too since that also needs a little water, & it seems to be working out well so far. Easy to store & access, no mess.
Excellent video! For many years, I've used a fine... or extra fine? DMT diamond sharpener - a green one. I use it strictly for pocket knives, and I swipe them across it when they start to cut a little more rough than normal, and after about 5 easy swipes on each side, the blade is back to razor sharp. Sharpening doesn't have to be difficult, but it takes practice and creating muscle memory. ***A good note for people new to freehand sharpening. Use an old blade, iron, chisel to practice with before you really get into sharpening a nice edge. Figure out what works for you, and go with it.
I’m glad you mentioned about flattening the stones. It can be surprising how fast they become concave. I flatten mine after every use, otherwise it gets to be a lot of work if you wait too long.
it totally depends on the stone. i have some that become concave immediately, typically it's because they are softer and you're suppose to use less pressure, i would have liked to know that before i used them.
It doesn't require much pressure at all, for any stone. So on a soft one, it could go off flat, but every time? Something is wrong, or you're over obsessing about the stone.
Although this is an older video.. Going on a year. And as a 'beginner' in sharpening or trusting myself to sharpen. It's easy to see that some swear by oil stones, water stones, diamond plates, and sand paper. I've learned this. Learn them all, find what's best for you. I've done the sand paper sharpening as an 'in a pinch' and even tried using a couple water stones I once had. However I'm fully willing to invest in all methods and find what one works best for me personally..
I'm just getting into woodworking and have been wondering what I should do about sharpening equipment. After watching this, I grabbed an old India stone I inherited from my grandfather, used Rex's method on a chisel, and got some decent results in just a few minutes. I'd say that's pretty unbeatable.
been using my dmt sharp 3x8 inch coarse, fine, extra fine and extra-extra fine, then to my strop with green compound for 15 plus years. I use water to lube the bars. On new tools I flatten the bottom of my steels on my coarse stone. I started, using a Canadian hone guide, but I rarely use it nowadays. I quickly get to a mirror finish and a sharp tool. Had I seen your video, I would have gone that route. I think in those days, I did not know about youtube.
Some of us don't have the hand control to sharpen freehand, one slip and the edge is ruined. I envy anyone with the skill to maintain a consistent angle without a jig or guide.
Paul sellers exactly knows his shit. A guy old enough to have had to earn his keep with hand tools is gonna know. Time is money. Some People go way ocd overboard with the sharpening. Hand sharpening also gives you a natural convex edge, more durable for my preference
I've been working with some Japanese whetstones I got for my birthday for the past couple of weeks and I was having trouble with my chisels. I had been using angle guide wedges for knives up until this point and was getting razor-like by locking in that angle. The wedges didn't work for the plane iron I sharpened but I ground the secondary bevel well enough. I had some real trouble with my 1/2 chisel and after getting that sharp enough, I stopped. Wasn't going to do the other chisels until I saw this video (for the second time), and tried the rounded bevel technique and it is SO MUCH EASIER to keep that angle consistent than some arbitrary angle and trying to feel if my fingernail can fit under the edge to check for the angle. business
I was traditionally trained and Paul Sellars is unique in his approach.... I used to sharpen freehand, began sharpening freehand and I defy anyone to be able to sharpen 'traditionally' by hand on a soft Waterstone. You have to remember that Paul is a trained joiner/carpenter who has an 'Everyman' agenda, the complete opposite to the sharpening tzars.
The soft Japanese waterstones are indeed used freehand, for Japanese tools. Japanese planes and chisels have very large bevel surfaces and hollow-ground backs. You are able to reference the bevel of the tool on the surface of the stone because it is so large, and you don't have to sharpen for long because the back is hollow. Also they laminate their cutting edges, so they have a backer of soft steel or wrought iron, with a very thin HARD tool steel edge. They work perfectly well for the tools that were developed for them, it's just more difficult on western tools which were traditionally sharpened on oilstones. All that said, I normally use oil stones, but also own a set of soft water stones and can sharpen on them freehand. With the soft stones if I'm not using a Japanese tool I only sharpen on the pull, and rotate from the top of the bevel to the edge as I draw the tool toward me. You can feel and most importantly, HEAR when you are at the edge. I prefer the oilstones not because they are easier but because I live in Michigan, and water freezing inside a waterstone is over a hundred bucks down the drain. ;-)
I think the curved bevel edge also helps support the edge so you are less likely to chip out the blade. The arc gives some material to transfer force deeper into the iron body. As for Camber you can see at 15:20 as Rex explains the motion how his forearms move. Then at 16:00 as he speeds up you can see that pressure change happen if you watch his arms at the top of frame and not the blade. Easy peazy.
I bought water stones early on. I got an earmoo combination stone 2000/6000. You are right that they require soaking. Mine only take five minutes or so for the bubbles to stop. However, I do feel this is a deterrent to using them as often as I might otherwise. The other downside is that they make a terrible mess on the bench. Interestingly, after a couple of years of soaking/use, the two stones came apart so now I have two stones instead of a combo. I flatten using a DMT diamond plate (cheap one with a plastic base) after every use. For awhile, I just but the green compound on a piece of mdf. Now I have a piece of leather from an old shoe glued down to mdf to use as a strop. Sharpened a couple of days ago, and this afternoon got glorious, beautiful, almost transparent curly walnut shavings while fitting drawer fronts to the openings of two bedside tables. Thanks for your common sense approach to the subject. I see no need to sharpen to 16000 grit or some other ridiculous number. I go to 6000 and then strop. At my skill level, that is perfectly adequate.
Great video as always. The only place where I'd correct you, @Rex, is on sharpening chisels. I saw you using the strop and I wouldn't recommend it for the back side, because it does create a tiny micro bevel at the cutting angle which defeats the purpose for a flat back, which needs to be flat. I used to make the same mistake (then upgraded to shapton 16000 galss stone, but that's beyond the point). Anyhow within two years of using the stop for backs of chisels made them not flat anymore. I'd suggest adding another block of MDF charged with sharpening compound, and using that for honing the backs on chisels for the cheap instead. Or upgrading to a shapton if you can muster up the money. Then again, here's another great tip with MDF (or any softwood for that matter). When sharpening gouges, or profile planes, you may find that a negative you produce with a beading plane for example can be a really good place to hone your edgein reverse when charged with the green compound. Or with gouges for inside for example. I hope this helps.
Nice video, Rex. I find the bevel angle by closely observing the lubricant at the front edge of the blade. Place the blade on the stone/ plate, and raise the back end a little until you see a little lubricant squeezed out from the front. That's your angle.
Nice input to all the sharpening videos out there. I’ve been sharpening edged tools for both my professional work life as a carpenter and my hobby wood work for some time now. I use a variety of different sharpening methods. I wouldn’t discount my sandpaper just yet. It’s super useful for sharpening any curved edges like spoon knives, gouges, adzes and the like. It’s also great for nasty jobs, like getting gunk off of your sharp tools (and not ruining your whetstone in the process). I keep a set of straight beveled chisels for fine carpentry work, sharpened with the Richard Kell jigs, on a combination of first a dmt “stone” then different ceramics to 8000 grit - with a bit of stropping fro that last finish. All the chisels have the same bevel, approximately 27 degrees, that way any bevel down work feels the same across the set, increasing familiarity. Why 27? Idk, feels like a good compromise between sharpness and edge retention. They get used in anything from the softest pine to seasoned oak. I bet quality of steel has a lot to say in that regard. What you, Rex, create is a flat/ convex edge, I use that geometry all the time. For carving axes with inferior steel, for instance, I only ever meet the wood with one side of my axe while carving anyway. Also for many of my carbon steel carving knives. A flat and a curved side is super useful! Besides better edge retention, your knife will work a little bit like a Yakut knife, and that’s not bad at all :).
Hey Rex, I just wanted to add a note about the leather strop, normally what I will do is use the flesh side of the leather to hold the compound, and then the hair side would be used to both burnish and polish. I get an insane edge when using both sides, as opposed to what I consider now an okay edge using just one.
I spent a few hours sharpening a hand plane blade today and couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting a good cut. Watched your other video where you were teaching your editor how to plane, and just came back to this one and realized why I wasn’t getting a good cut. I was putting the blade in upside down. 🤷🏼♂️😬🥲
I love the scavenger approach rex takes. When he said he made the base out of a cabinet someone was throwing out, I cracked up because it reminds me of my fiancée and myself.
TV ruins things. They become commercial politically correct travesties of what they once were or what they could've been. Netflix is just a way to watch TV online, it's not an improvement over regular TV. You get better content from people doing their thing out of passion, at their own pace and willingness, than when they're paid to keep up with the pressure of a continuous contract with time constraints and production demands and limitations.
Someone recommended using the bottom of a mug (the bit that isn't glazed) and I've been using that to sharpen my knives for a couple months, now. A diamond sharpening plate is on my wishlist
80-20 rule. 80 percent of your results should come from about 20 percent of your effort. Thanks for making this way less complicated than it needs to be. My girlfriend and I have been consistently saying for a while now that the genius is in the simplicity.
@@RexKrueger I laughed out loud. Regarding oil stones I sharpen my kitchen knives on them, then drizzle dish detergent on the oiled surfaces and work it in with my fingers. The detergent and oil form a soap precursor (high school chemistry has some uses) that is water soluble. It cleans the stone and removes any oil that may polymerize over time and reduce the cutting efficiency.
Been watching your videos for a while despite having essentially a storage cupboard too full of other junk I cant get rid of to do what woodwork I can. Yesterday found a random sharpening stone, came back inside and found you made this video. No idea what grit it is but with this video I at least got my tools to a point that they bit into my thumbnail and dont need a sledgehammer to pair a surface. Thanks Rex!
This is a very eye opening video-I have always hated sharpening chisels and plane irons because I’ve had a problem keeping that perfect angle; so as a result, I just didn’t do it... thanks Rex👍🏻
Back when I started I was "taught" to freehand (more like told how to and attempted to remember days later) on a set of whetstones I picked up at an estate sale. When I began watching videos I found it weird that people were obsessed with sharpening to a specific angle.
One of my first responsibilities as an apprentice was to sharpen blades and chisels. My master taught me how to hand sharpen in about 30 minutes. After that, it was my ass if the tools were not sharp. Years later, I saw all of this stuff about exact bevels and whatnot and I was very confused. I was wondering how these people got any work done by obsessing over the exact angles of their bevels so much.
@@nealsterling8151 Maybe a carryover from metal cutting ? In high productivity metalworking edge geometry is insanely important to make sure you can dissipate 20 hp in the cut, get a mirror finish, not break the tool and not get a huge birds nest of scalding hot, razor sharp barbed wire like swarf - all at the SAME time.
@@Zonkotron I must admit that having been taught how to freehand grind tool steel (that there should be some clearance, but not too much) then putting those first attempts into a shaper and taking heavy cuts into mild steel with no trouble, that the clearance for woodworking *hand* tools needed to be exactly this or that angle. I'm sure there's an optimal angle that balances the life of the edge against the finish, but if you're going to be sharpening whenever the tool feels like it's lost it's edge then the only thing you need to optimise is getting back to your project.
I like it. I hand sharpen my drill bits. It takes a small amount of practice but it's very easy. You can make it very aggressive or not much at all, for whatever application you wish.
You always present interesting topics and this was certainly one of the most interesting. Sharpening methods always brings out the opinions among woodworkers. I spent nearly 40 years working as a high precision machinist and oddly enough sharpening tools is also a topic with lots of opinions among those of us who manipulate metal. Keep coming up with interesting topics. I really like your approach to woodworking.
I use similar stones with an added files for cutting bevels and sharpening all my home forged chisels. Takes a little patience with the filing but once you're onto the stones it's a couple minutes for a finished chisel
I saw a suggestion to have a tiny bit of vegetable oil on the strop to make the compound less dry and easier to apply. It seems to work as advertised. I bought Trends polishing compound bar and I found that it was a bit hard to apply and get to stick, the oil seems to have solved that.
I use a double sided stone that cost like ten bucks and after I use the fine I wrap it in 600 grit then polish up the either plane iron or chisel I’m polishing. But I build outdoor furniture out of pine so it works for me. This is a level that maybe someday I’ll get to
I really thought you were going to say, about strops, “if there’s that much violent disagreement about which face to use, then it probably is just a matter of preference. I mean, look, nobody argues about which end of the chisel is the cutting edge, because there is a clear difference. But here? play with it and see what you like.” Left me hanging, dude.
Thank you so much once again Rex! I've always used a honing guide bc I was too overwhelmed by sharpening by hand but I didn't know it wasn't that complicated.
I agree completely. ... (1) Perhaps apart from establishing an initial bevel, or repairing a damaged bevel-- as you say -- a sharpening guide is simply not necessary. The people who try to convince you to get fancy jigs and sharpening machines are also the one's trying to sell them to you. They are not trying to build your skills; they are trying to sell you their tools. I go with Warren Buffet on this: "Never ask the barber if you need a haircut." ... (2) As for micro-bevels? Seriously? Just flatten the backs of your blades once when you get the tools and then get on with it. Establishing a micro-bevel is an additional, pointless step in my estimation. For what it is worth, I think you are spot on here. Micro-bevels have potential uses if you have to modify a blade to deal with difficult grain in hard wood, but then you need to either resharpen the blade for regular use (considerable work) or use a separate blade entirely. Then, why would you not grind that blade at an appropriate angle in the first place? I use either a cabinet scraper or a low-angle jack plane for these tasks, and I find the cabinet scraper (properly sharpened) more effective than the plane most of the time. -- not to mention that a good cabinet scraper is less than a third of the cost of a low-angle jack plane, at a minimum. Further, such scrapers are usually sold inexpensively at flea markets, garage sales, etc., unlike low-angle jack planes. ... I have a handful of sharpening guides, ranging from cheap to expensive. I haven't used them in years. I have a sharpening machine that will establish really precise angles and micro bevels on chisels and plane blades. It gathers dust in my shop. They are simply not necessary. .. These days, I free-hand sharpen almost everything in my house: knives, planes, chisels, cabinet scrapers, shop utility knives, lawn mower blades (file), chain saw blades (file) , gardening tools (file) -- all of it. All the time -- almost. I use a low-speed grinder for my lathe tools because it is faster and allows for more control than hand sharpening for these particular tools. To each their own. ... Free-hand sharpening has several real benefits. It doesn't take much practice to get good. It is then fast and reliable. It saves time. Lots of of time. It is also quiet. It is even relaxing. And, as the video emphasizes, don't forget the honing strop. A leather honing strop is key to achieving a beautiful, hair-popping edge. Finally, once you have made your sharpening station and a board for your honing strop, there is no more set up required when you stop to sharpen your tools. By the way, free-hand sharpening is also cheaper IF you learn to do it before you buy all the other jigs and machines mentioned above. Good luck with that part. Says the guy with all the unused gear. ... Free-hand sharpening works with whatever sharpening medium works for you. I use diamond stones for sharpening my knives and woodworking tools because they will sharpen even the hardest steels, they stay dead flat, and they are very durable. That's worth a lot to me. I can even use them to flatten my water stones and glass stones -- that is, if I ever use them. [Wet-or-dry sandpaper works, too, but it works best with a sharpening jig, so that takes us in the wrong direction, in my opinion. Been there, done that.] ... Will natural stones work? Absolutely! I have used them all, extensively. Water stones, India stones and Arkansas stones work well. Hard Arkansas stones are flat out amazing, as are ceramic stones and glass stones. However, all but the Hard Arkansas and ceramic stones need to be flattened regularly if they are used regularly. This is not necessarily a deal breaker, but it is what it is. ... And, very importantly, you do NOT want to drop ANY of these natural or manufactured stones on a concrete floor. Ever. Don't drop anything on them, either. There is a good reason that many of the natural stones or man-made stones you see in garage sales, etc., are cracked, have crumbled edges, or have chunks missing. It is either because they were dropped on a concrete floor or because they had something dropped on them. Sadly, I speak from personal experience here. ... On the other hand, if you were to drop a diamond sharpening plate on a concrete floor, you are more likely to damage the floor than the plate. Now, I am not saying it is impossible to damage a diamond sharpening plate. However, I find it hard to imagine what it would take to accidentally damage a diamond sharpening plate in a woodworking shop under normal conditions. This is one person's experience and opinion. These are observations, not recommendations. Sharp edges are crucial for woodworking, to be sure, but how you get your tools sharp is up to you. Whatever works is what works. Having said that, I believe this video offers great advice. Thanks!
I'd add an important note if someone is willing to try waterstones, based on my own mistakes: the soft japanise waterstones won't work well at all on a fancy Cr-V steels and powder steels. I've got several chisels of this kind. Also, sharpening of small chisels or curved blades is extremely difficult on a soft stones, as they tend to dig into the stone, damaging both the stone and the blade.
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Thank you for being the voice brave enough to speak up against microbevels
I don't get the microbevel thing. The only thing that it seems to do is to postpone removing most of the metal to a later date. Unless you have a low speed grinder that can make that job i a hurry those times are going to suck more than the couple of seconds you save on each sharpening.
I see a point with the backbevel on a plane iron, instead of requiring the whole back to be flat it is enough to only have the last fraction of a mm that touches the wood flat.
I think Paul Sellers also mentioned once that micro bevels are not necessary, he just polished the whole bevel because his diamond plates were fast enough, I tend to use a microbevel, but after a lot of sharpenings I just rub the primary bevel on my stone a couple of times, so the micro does not get so big
@@j4gs223 you only flatten the back once so I think it is worth that effort in the beginning to not have to worry about it later. James Wright also think that it's better to do it once and be done with it. I just watched an older video with Paul Sellers when he restored an old rusty plane. He had a very practical method to solve a convex back. Give it a good hit with a nylon hammer to take care of the worst problem.
@@haqvor @DoomSlayer wasn't talking about flattening the back. He was talking about how Paul Sellers grinds the whole bevel and doesn't worry about a micro bevel. Flattening the whole back is a slightly different topic.
@@jjbailey01 sorry about that, I'm obviously too tired to read straight...
I was taught by an old craftsman Organbuilder who showed me to put oil on the stone, place the blade/bevel on the stone and tilt it until I see a thin line of oil pop out, and that was my cutting edge and burr. Job done!!
Little tip for you for beginners to free hand sharpening. Get a permanent marker (sharpie or something similar) and colour the end of the blade before sharpening. After each stage, there should be no marker left on the edge of the blade, if there is, you've missed a spot and need to go back over. Not so much an issue for plane blades and the like, but I've found it useful for carving chisels when you're sharpening rounded blades that require a lot of wrist movement to sharpen the whole thing.
Good for Japanese kitchen knives too
It works best if you use a red or blue marker, instead of black. It's easier to see, especially when there's a lot of grit and swarf from the sharpening.
I've tried a lot to do free hand sharpening but I have a shoulder injury and I just can't do it, I've sharpened and resharpened my knife over and over, with dull results every single time. When someone else does it they can get it sharp but I can only dull it. I hate this. :(
GREAT tip! Use this technique every time I strop my wood carving knives. Learned it from a Ben Orford sharpening video.
@@FringeWizard2 don't be discouraged buddy. It took me about a year to get the edge of my knives sharp. It's all about the angle, if you don't hold it at the correct angle while running it across the stone it won't make it sharp but more likely dull it. I have a bad shoulder myself and it doesn't bother me at all, it might if I were to try and sharpen somethin the size of a katana though lol. Just keep practicing on a cheap dull pocket knife the work your way up. Make sure you progress your way up with different stones though. Accusharp makes a great double sided diamond pocket stone for under $10. With it I can get my knives sharp enough to shave with.
As an amateur with woodworker, i typically feel overpowered with the entire arrangement th-cam.com/users/postUgkxrYREG3-7f1Aqk9ams3ZESRNzGnfdUtyQ . Be that as it may, this arrangements drove me through with much clarity and effortlessness woodplans. Works i now work like a genius. That is great!
Rumaging through my Dad's old workbench, I was chuffed to find his old Stanley No. 5 plane (which I've now identified as Type 19, from 1948-61), plus a bunch of oilstones... and 3 pieces of glass with sandpaper of varying grit glued to each side!
Dad passed away just over 10 years ago, and it's a few years before that, that he made his last real woodworking project piece. He was very fussy about caring for his tools, so the plane is in pretty good condition, apart from the blade being blunt. I've now pulled the plane to bits to clean it up, and have made my first attempt to sharpen the blade.
The sandpaper looks more or less unusable at this point, and anyway, hard to identify the grits. But I've started to soak the sandpaper off so as to re-use the glass plates...
Well, the blade is now sharper than it was - but needs a bit more work to get it back to pro condition.
But for me, it's a labour of love, and I've enjoyed following the steps of this tutorial with an actual treasured tool!
I wondered about this micro bevel business some time ago. Then I used a jig, never moved it and just sharpened a plane iron with no micro bevel. It works just fine....
I'm getting the hang of free hand now... what a relief. Thanks for the reassurance.
How refreshing to see someone talk common sense on sharpening. Our forebears in the hay day of fine furniture during the 17th and 18th centuries, and even in the 19th, were mostly illiterate, had no access to a ruler let alone a micrometer, and used locally hewn stones and blacksmith made tools often passed down from father to son and yet they made furniture and carvings that have lasted centuries and which still leave us staring in awe. The closer I work to how they worked the more pleasurable woodworking becomes. I have a shop full of expensive and noisy tools and machines but nothing is ever as enjoyable as using a saw, plane and chisel to make something useful.
I agree w alot of others on here, good on ya for showing microbevels etc arent as important as one thinks. Ive been freehanding for about a year now, and havent seen a problem. What works best for me is something i picked up from a vid on YT, some guy showing how he sharpens chisels. He said to look at the blade edge, when you press it flat on the stone and see the water/oil thats right at the edge of the blade edge get pushed out, youre at the right angle. That has worked for me ever since. Not sure if that makes any sense, hopefully someone understands that and helps them.
👍 👍Craftsmen got by fine for centuries without worrying about a micro-bevel on their tool. I learned to sharpen knifes, chisels and planes by feel way before you could find a jig and before the TH-cam experts decided it was a sin to hand sharpen tools. Sharp is sharp in my world. Thanks for sharing your technique.
Right on
Thank you for saying " the unsaid"! I have watched many of the "to the letter" sharpening videos; and wondered how I ever got a shaving edge on my blades without all that technical knowledge. Finally, someone who recognized the fact that we are not machinist, we are woodworkers.
"when my neighbors throw out their furniture, I go out there and skin it like a dead buffalo"
Out of context quotes are sometimes brilliant.
Done this for my vises. Seems like if you are going to take off burr between stones it would be better to take burr off on stone you made it on to keep next stone clean.
Imagine getting your morning cup of joe. You smell it and take your first sip. Perfect.
You think to yourself, “today is going to be a good day. Hey, I wonder if anyone hauled off that old chair. I hope some young couple, just starting out, saw it. They’ll throw an afghan over it, to hide the worn parts. It will make their first move. Maybe they’ll have it reupholstered for sentimental reasons.”
You walk out onto the front porch hoping to see it has been claimed. Instead someone resembling Lex Luther (from the 90’s animated series) with a buck knife is hunched over the old chair, filleting it away from its skin and your vicarious day dream ambitions. He pauses his gruesome work to raise his head and inspect you; coffee, slippers, flannel pajama pants, Pink Floyd t-shirt. You take a sip and look back at his face. It’s a wild look in his eye.
AND When my neighbors through out their old dead buffalo, I get after it like Rex's neighbor's couch! ;o)
@merchandise 7X ... As expected, you find the street desolate. Only a grey-striped housecat sits on the adjacent lawn cleaning himself unaware of the events that had just unfolded. The smell of coffee tugs on the neurons on in already confused head, sat down, letting warm coffee massage your dried throat. But like the stench of long deceased death, the doorbell rings and ruins the moment. You eye the coffee in mug on one hand, newspaper in the other wondering, "do they even know if I'm awake? Had they seen me at the front door? "
The crazy eyes he did at the end really sold that shit. It was fucking hilarious.
Best sharpening video ever!
My sharpening station is built, my Narex's turned into Scarex's, and my left arm is clean shaved & covered in band-aids.
Can you make a video about finding wood and identifying it? Maybe “scavenger hunting” with Rex.
I've been meaning to for the longest time!
I've been hoping for this since i started watching a year ago, good wood is really pricey and there is constantly trees and old wood being cut out and thrown away around town. Shame to let it all go to waste. -Edited for spelling.
Chasen Wayne Beau Miles has a cool video about using wood he found on his commute to work to make a canoe paddle if you are interested.
I second the request! Wandering around the stores and scrap piles aimlessly here! Outside of pine and cedar, I have no clue!
Now that would make a great video 👍😃
When I learnt to sharpen, jigs were something machinists used to sharpen paper trimmers. I was taught not to roll my blade, obviously it works for you, but in the sixties it was forbidden. Here on the U.S. East Coast, diamond sharpeners are about $30US for a 2x6 stone; I use tap water and a drop of dish liquid soap on mine. Great presentation, right to the basics. And regarding kitchen knives: 8, 10, 12 inch chef knives need a working edge, not a razor edge, when dicing or chopping you'll destroy a razor edge in seconds.
My dad has a sharpening stone. I never watched a video about sharpening until I came to your channel, and I don't think I ever needed to. You just put oil on, move the blade around to make an angle that you think seems "sharp" and then you're good to go. It's really easy! I'm glad you're standing up to modern assumptions here!
Glad I could help!
I just like the micro-bevel for honing, I can get a dull edge back to perfection in just a few seconds focusing on that last bit of steel.
For me sharpening the whole primary bevel just means more time sharpening, more time for a mistake. I love that tiny polished strip along my edge. To each is own 🤷🏻♂️
Do what works for you is the best. Did woodworking at school and we never had the time to sharpen any tools because we only had 45 minute per day to build what we had to for that lesson. So we had to do what works at that moment to get it done. I still do it today. If it cuts, then carry on. If not then do it again. Muscle memory as you mentioned. Great vid and thank you.
I have watched so many videos trying to understand this process better, only to be left confused on one detail or another. I just want to thank you and commend you for making the content in this video simple to understand for beginners and for taking the extra time/care to break down every minute step so to leave no viewer left wondering if they're sharpening correctly. The most valuable parts, in my opinion, are the "why's". Knowing WHY a process is done the way it is done is priceless, and that information is a top reason I subscribed. Good work! Thanks again.
This is the best sharpening video I've seen because it goes into every detail needed for the whole process without skipping steps. as a beginner its super helpful to get that last 20% everyone skips over that is essential to pull it all together
Great Video, a few things, A great honing oil is 50/50 mix 30 wt and kerosene. Oil stones when new can be used with water (add a little dish detergent) after using with oil stick with oil. If you don't have leather for a strop you can use jeans or any other hard wearing cloth or cardboard on wood. leather is traditional but other things work until you can find a scrap of leather, it is just somthing to hold the compound.
Rex, I've used DMT diamond stones for years. I get the big ones, 10"x4". 2 will get you all the grits you need as they are double sided. X-fine/fine & course/X-course. 220/325 grit & 600/1200 grit, respectively. I also use the Norton water stones, not the double sided. They don't ware out as fast as you think if you use them correctly. My most used grits are the 4000 & 8000 grits. After 20 years the 4000 grit is about 1/2 it's original thickness. The 8000 grit is almost like new for thickness. And I sharped a lot of knives, it's kind of a small income for me. Doing knives I don't flatten them very often. In fact I haven't flattened any of them in 5 years doing just knives.
Woody's Workshop
I ordered off your list of the stones and compound. Received them yesterday. Sharpened a couple of planes today following the video. All came out as sharp as Rex's video advertised without the guilt of not being perfect. Tomorrow I will be working on a workbench that been begging to be built. As always, I enjoy the humor and quality of your videos.
Wonderful!
Coarse silicon carbide grit on a flat concrete garden stone is the best way I've found to true oil stones. And I recommend to get a Norton India stone for the fine sharpening, but start with carborundum oil stone that is not too hard..
LOL, when you say diamond plate, because of my background in semi trailer mechanic-ing, I think of the aluminum or steel with the diamond-ish patterning on the top, that everything from toolboxes for the sides of flatbed to the top of bumpers to give them traction ability. 😄
These are great tips! I'll definitely use them! It'll not only saves time, but money, too! Thanks a lot, Rex! ❤️❤️
Edited to add: I use that shelf liner stuff for tons of stuff, already, so that's perfect - I've already got rolls of it hanging around!
Excellent video! I too am a big fan of Paul Sellers. Just saw the video of him sharpening free hand. I like the mindset of "I just want to get back to woodworking" versus making sharpening into some kind of crazy precision science experiment 😆 Anyway this vid will save me a lot of money and, most importantly, fretting and overthinking.
This is a brilliant video. I watch all these woodworker masters and realize that sharpening is the holy grail of woodworking and I beat myself for not being better at it. This video removes much of the mystery and drama. It's a keeper. Can't wait to get back to the shop and do it. Thanks
Great info ! I’m gonna switch from water to oil stones 👍
Dude I just finished building this (no strop yet... NO ONE is throwing leather around me now that I need it) but even without a strop I sharpened my planes to shaving quality and omg the difference!!! Thank you Rex for sharing this design!!
It's so nice to hear someone speaking english instead of "woodworkerspeak" Thank you.
You are welcome!
Interesting video. I’ve used a lot of things to sharpen blades.
My front porch steps, a red brick and this great flat spot on my garage floor. Some sandpaper and a piece of leather with green compound.
I have no idea what my angles are. The blades cut great. Boards are square and flat. That’s all I care about.
Great video. Kim about 4 years into my hand tool journey. I’ve been a power tool woodworker most of my life and bought a 5 1/2 with stimulus money. I’m hooked. I sold my cabinet saw and my power jointer and my dust collector. I have several sharpening jigs and I’m partial to the easiest one, but mostly just sharpen by hand now. I really don’t notice the difference. I can still get very sharp by registering the bevel and being careful. Sharp enough to shave hair and wood.
I came back to this video after a year. Back then I only owned a cheap water stone; now I have a set of extremely cheap diamond plates from our favorite web store in China, and they're quite great for the price. I got them up to 3000 grit (I know that this scale doesn't really work for diamond plates, but that's what they're labeled at) and they do the work well. Perhaps the only flaw I've noticed is that if you use water to lubricate them during use (and lift off the metal chips), those chips will rust almost immediately when left alone, so you need to wipe them clean after each use. The thin plates also require some proper support to actually keep flat, so I still use them on a piece of glass.
I'd been getting by with a small diamond plate and sandpaper for a couple years now and wasn't attracted to waterstones because of the need to flatten them. My framing chisels and block plane get abused daily, and spending a few minutes tuning them up on these stones and a strop at the end of the day has saved me so much time and I'm getting better results than ever.
Thank you so much. Only started my wood working/carving journey 2 days ago. I feel I have been struggling with no idea on sharpening. I didn't spend much on my tools but I was sure I could get them sharp with my sharpening stone. After watching your video I am happy to say I am now learning what a burr is and seeing results.
You've also gained a subscriber. Thank you. :)
Rex, you convinced me. I’ve gotten better hand sharpening plane blades and chisels over the past couple of years on sand paper and cheap stones. Just purchased on amazon Dans set of 8 inch stones. Can’t wait. Cheers.
0:52 "when I first started woodworking I was broke" kind of sums me up :)
Are you telling me my pa and grandpa were not plain ignorant for getting along with just 2 stones and a strop? Watching too many sharpening videos I now got loaded with no less than 5 stones - and the more I use them the more I feel the joke is on me. Thanks for making the world round again.
I own 4 stones. Bought one for €30, the rest of them were free or a gift. I only use the one I bought as it has a rough and fine side. Also got a bunch of tiny stones that I use for axes and travel
@@zoutewand I keep a couple of small stones handy for doing yard tools. Some of those vines out there will dull a set of loppers pretty quickly. Few quick swipes with the little stone and we're back in business.
The only justification for microbevels is that honing the edge is faster because you don't have to touch the main bevel, so there's less material to remove. But the freehand rounded bevel has exactly the same advantage. Microbevels are a solution to a problem that didn't exist before sharpening jigs appeared.
I had a similar thought the first time I saw Paul Sellers sharpen - his technique is ALL micro-bevel. The sharpening arguments are mostly a terminology issue.
Paul Sellers calls his single bevel a “macro camber”. Yes, this produces the same advantage of speed as a micro bevel. Good point. But I would imagine that it also solves the problem that freehand sharpening a micro bevel would create, that being the impossibility of reproducing the exact same angle with every freehand sharpening. Varying the microbevel angle every time would create a rounded dull edge. I suppose the macro camber would cut a completely new cutting edge every sharpening.
Sadly, I couldn't find your original sandpaper sharpening vid, so I don't know if you mentioned this, but 3m make some really hi tech sharpening papers (I'm not employed, etc, by 3m) and that system works really well. It is usually used with a guide, but I've used it freehand for about a year and haven't even changed my papers yet. The other important point for sharpening is - don't wait! at the first hint of excess pressure, sharpen again - done in 30 secs and back to good results.
Some of what I practice was learned from watching Norm, it was a ritual each Saturday. And one very important lesson was what Tommy said "Everyone is different",. from this old house. I was already making my living from woodworking long before either show was aired but watch I did because every episode had some tidbit to absorb. If you do the best you can with what you have, no one can do any better. Still practicing at 77, hopefully still learning but for damned sure, enjoying it all. Great episode Mr. Rex
Another method to avoid the bur (aka rollover) is to only push the blade on the stone. The rollover bur is from scraping the metal off the edge of the blade, but if you push the blade only, you avoid this mostly. You can still get this bur, but usually on softer blades. Of course you have to only pull on the strop but you are only polishing at that point. A stroke compromise is to push harder forward and let off on the backstroke so you keep the angle form. Thanks, Rex these are great videos keep them coming.
Good for you. I don't believe that woodworkers hundreds of years ago who had to produce furniture at a rate of knots were fussing over composite angles and using jigs.
I reckon the most important thing is going fine enough. The tip about not falling off the edge of the strop is great, too. I did that for months without realising.
I'm happy for everyone that can sharpen without a jig. When I try to freehand, I have trouble sharpening across the entire edge evenly, I have diamond stones and 3M Microfinishing Film. I have a jig. I would not consider "throwng away" any perfectly good option. For those of us that are physically challenged when it comes to sharpening the crutches are helpful. I will continue to attempt to learn to freehand but the jig will be there to help me fix my mistakes. I also find the jig very helpful when I get a chisel that is not square. That happened recently with a new chisel of good quality. I can put a great edge on knives freehand; just not planes and chisels. Yet.
Rex another one of your famous videos with plenty of practical references and no nonsense advertising, I appreciate your quick wit and cut to the chase!!
Your tech is how I learned from my grandfather who was a finish carpenter. Built the same type of finish board just wish I had a place to still play with wood. Miss the smell of a work shop and just playing around with scape wood. Look a board and it tells you what it is supposed to be when you done with it. Thanks enjoy watching you do things.
Wow, the whole sharpening process finally all "clicked" for me. Thank you so much.
Great to hear!
I always appreciate your common-sense, down-to-earth, old-time approach. Thank you.
THANK YOU for presenting this approach which works much better for my particular brain setting. Too much precision and math bogs me down and prevents me from even feeling ready to begin. So honestly you had me at "freehand", and I think I'm finally ready to actually acquire a sharpening system -- as well as acquire something to sharpen, thanks to your video on which planes are most useful. Every time you write something off as "nonsense" or "unnecessary", I internally cheer, because it means that someone else cut through the clutter for me! My instincts are strongly guiding me towards starting simple and building up as I go. So all of your videos are helping me quite a bit. The visuals are incredibly useful too! I'm so excited to get into using more hand tools...
I like this no-bs approach. Nice to hear Paul Sellars get a shoutout too.
I have been doing leatherwork a long time, but I recently found something that a leather store showed me. That is if you use a little green polishing compound, your stropping will be much faster and your sharpened device will work much easier. You can also buy scraps of leather very cheap at Springfield Leather. I use this compound all the time, whenever I have to strop a blade.
Prices on the Arkansas stones have gone up even more on the link you provided, it's now $45. Found a website that specializes in sharpening stones that sells them much cheaper. They also sell the different grades in kits at a very good price (only a few bucks more for several stones). Not sure if I'm allowed to put a direct link to their site, but it's called "Best Sharpening Stones". You should be able to find easily.
Rex, totally off topic here, but I just purchased your Joiners Bench plan bundle, and I gotta say I'm totally impressed with just how complete and detailed they are for such a good price! Completely satisfied customer here, and I'm looking forward to building this bad boy in the next few weeks. Thanks man!
This is the kind of no-nonsense sharpening guide for woodworkers I've been looking for. Thank You!!!
I use a diamond & water stone & then a strop because it's just a lot less messy than oil. Keeping the water stone in a tupperware box works really well, & (even though it may slightly age the stone) I add just a few drops of lemon juice to keep the standing water from going nasty. Recently, I've started just putting the diamond plate in there too since that also needs a little water, & it seems to be working out well so far. Easy to store & access, no mess.
Excellent video!
For many years, I've used a fine... or extra fine? DMT diamond sharpener - a green one. I use it strictly for pocket knives, and I swipe them across it when they start to cut a little more rough than normal, and after about 5 easy swipes on each side, the blade is back to razor sharp.
Sharpening doesn't have to be difficult, but it takes practice and creating muscle memory.
***A good note for people new to freehand sharpening. Use an old blade, iron, chisel to practice with before you really get into sharpening a nice edge. Figure out what works for you, and go with it.
I’m glad you mentioned about flattening the stones. It can be surprising how fast they become concave. I flatten mine after every use, otherwise it gets to be a lot of work if you wait too long.
it totally depends on the stone. i have some that become concave immediately, typically it's because they are softer and you're suppose to use less pressure, i would have liked to know that before i used them.
@Nevermind how unnecessarily mean.
It doesn't require much pressure at all, for any stone. So on a soft one, it could go off flat, but every time? Something is wrong, or you're over obsessing about the stone.
I have a 300/1000 trend diamond plate. Anytime I use my 8000 or up stones, I use the 300 to flatten. Takes 10 seconds literally.
Although this is an older video.. Going on a year. And as a 'beginner' in sharpening or trusting myself to sharpen. It's easy to see that some swear by oil stones, water stones, diamond plates, and sand paper. I've learned this. Learn them all, find what's best for you. I've done the sand paper sharpening as an 'in a pinch' and even tried using a couple water stones I once had. However I'm fully willing to invest in all methods and find what one works best for me personally..
I'm just getting into woodworking and have been wondering what I should do about sharpening equipment. After watching this, I grabbed an old India stone I inherited from my grandfather, used Rex's method on a chisel, and got some decent results in just a few minutes. I'd say that's pretty unbeatable.
been using my dmt sharp 3x8 inch coarse, fine, extra fine and extra-extra fine, then to my strop with green compound for 15 plus years. I use water to lube the bars. On new tools I flatten the bottom of my steels on my coarse stone. I started, using a Canadian hone guide, but I rarely use it nowadays. I quickly get to a mirror finish and a sharp tool. Had I seen your video, I would have gone that route. I think in those days, I did not know about youtube.
Some of us don't have the hand control to sharpen freehand, one slip and the edge is ruined. I envy anyone with the skill to maintain a consistent angle without a jig or guide.
This video explains how he gets such a clean shave on his head
Paul sellers exactly knows his shit. A guy old enough to have had to earn his keep with hand tools is gonna know. Time is money. Some People go way ocd overboard with the sharpening. Hand sharpening also gives you a natural convex edge, more durable for my preference
I've been working with some Japanese whetstones I got for my birthday for the past couple of weeks and I was having trouble with my chisels. I had been using angle guide wedges for knives up until this point and was getting razor-like by locking in that angle. The wedges didn't work for the plane iron I sharpened but I ground the secondary bevel well enough.
I had some real trouble with my 1/2 chisel and after getting that sharp enough, I stopped. Wasn't going to do the other chisels until I saw this video (for the second time), and tried the rounded bevel technique and it is SO MUCH EASIER to keep that angle consistent than some arbitrary angle and trying to feel if my fingernail can fit under the edge to check for the angle.
business
I was traditionally trained and Paul Sellars is unique in his approach.... I used to sharpen freehand, began sharpening freehand and I defy anyone to be able to sharpen 'traditionally' by hand on a soft Waterstone. You have to remember that Paul is a trained joiner/carpenter who has an 'Everyman' agenda, the complete opposite to the sharpening tzars.
The soft Japanese waterstones are indeed used freehand, for Japanese tools. Japanese planes and chisels have very large bevel surfaces and hollow-ground backs. You are able to reference the bevel of the tool on the surface of the stone because it is so large, and you don't have to sharpen for long because the back is hollow. Also they laminate their cutting edges, so they have a backer of soft steel or wrought iron, with a very thin HARD tool steel edge. They work perfectly well for the tools that were developed for them, it's just more difficult on western tools which were traditionally sharpened on oilstones.
All that said, I normally use oil stones, but also own a set of soft water stones and can sharpen on them freehand. With the soft stones if I'm not using a Japanese tool I only sharpen on the pull, and rotate from the top of the bevel to the edge as I draw the tool toward me. You can feel and most importantly, HEAR when you are at the edge.
I prefer the oilstones not because they are easier but because I live in Michigan, and water freezing inside a waterstone is over a hundred bucks down the drain. ;-)
I just watched the two vids with Nate and this one.
Thanks for teaching this old man a lot.
I think the curved bevel edge also helps support the edge so you are less likely to chip out the blade. The arc gives some material to transfer force deeper into the iron body. As for Camber you can see at 15:20 as Rex explains the motion how his forearms move. Then at 16:00 as he speeds up you can see that pressure change happen if you watch his arms at the top of frame and not the blade. Easy peazy.
I bought water stones early on. I got an earmoo combination stone 2000/6000. You are right that they require soaking. Mine only take five minutes or so for the bubbles to stop. However, I do feel this is a deterrent to using them as often as I might otherwise. The other downside is that they make a terrible mess on the bench. Interestingly, after a couple of years of soaking/use, the two stones came apart so now I have two stones instead of a combo. I flatten using a DMT diamond plate (cheap one with a plastic base) after every use. For awhile, I just but the green compound on a piece of mdf. Now I have a piece of leather from an old shoe glued down to mdf to use as a strop. Sharpened a couple of days ago, and this afternoon got glorious, beautiful, almost transparent curly walnut shavings while fitting drawer fronts to the openings of two bedside tables. Thanks for your common sense approach to the subject. I see no need to sharpen to 16000 grit or some other ridiculous number. I go to 6000 and then strop. At my skill level, that is perfectly adequate.
Great video as always. The only place where I'd correct you, @Rex, is on sharpening chisels. I saw you using the strop and I wouldn't recommend it for the back side, because it does create a tiny micro bevel at the cutting angle which defeats the purpose for a flat back, which needs to be flat. I used to make the same mistake (then upgraded to shapton 16000 galss stone, but that's beyond the point). Anyhow within two years of using the stop for backs of chisels made them not flat anymore. I'd suggest adding another block of MDF charged with sharpening compound, and using that for honing the backs on chisels for the cheap instead. Or upgrading to a shapton if you can muster up the money. Then again, here's another great tip with MDF (or any softwood for that matter). When sharpening gouges, or profile planes, you may find that a negative you produce with a beading plane for example can be a really good place to hone your edgein reverse when charged with the green compound. Or with gouges for inside for example.
I hope this helps.
Nice video, Rex.
I find the bevel angle by closely observing the lubricant at the front edge of the blade. Place the blade on the stone/ plate, and raise the back end a little until you see a little lubricant squeezed out from the front. That's your angle.
That is a good way to do it. I should have mentioned that!
Nice input to all the sharpening videos out there. I’ve been sharpening edged tools for both my professional work life as a carpenter and my hobby wood work for some time now. I use a variety of different sharpening methods. I wouldn’t discount my sandpaper just yet. It’s super useful for sharpening any curved edges like spoon knives, gouges, adzes and the like. It’s also great for nasty jobs, like getting gunk off of your sharp tools (and not ruining your whetstone in the process). I keep a set of straight beveled chisels for fine carpentry work, sharpened with the Richard Kell jigs, on a combination of first a dmt “stone” then different ceramics to 8000 grit - with a bit of stropping fro that last finish. All the chisels have the same bevel, approximately 27 degrees, that way any bevel down work feels the same across the set, increasing familiarity. Why 27? Idk, feels like a good compromise between sharpness and edge retention. They get used in anything from the softest pine to seasoned oak. I bet quality of steel has a lot to say in that regard. What you, Rex, create is a flat/ convex edge, I use that geometry all the time. For carving axes with inferior steel, for instance, I only ever meet the wood with one side of my axe while carving anyway. Also for many of my carbon steel carving knives. A flat and a curved side is super useful! Besides better edge retention, your knife will work a little bit like a Yakut knife, and that’s not bad at all :).
Thank you for this video. All of my tools need sharpening, but I've thought it was complicated and expensive. I appreciate an alternative.
Hey Rex, I just wanted to add a note about the leather strop, normally what I will do is use the flesh side of the leather to hold the compound, and then the hair side would be used to both burnish and polish. I get an insane edge when using both sides, as opposed to what I consider now an okay edge using just one.
I spent a few hours sharpening a hand plane blade today and couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting a good cut. Watched your other video where you were teaching your editor how to plane, and just came back to this one and realized why I wasn’t getting a good cut. I was putting the blade in upside down. 🤷🏼♂️😬🥲
I love the scavenger approach rex takes. When he said he made the base out of a cabinet someone was throwing out, I cracked up because it reminds me of my fiancée and myself.
Rex Kruger, Paul Sellers, Tom Johnson, Lost Mountain Restoration. Woodworking greatest hits. Should be on Netflix.
TV ruins things. They become commercial politically correct travesties of what they once were or what they could've been. Netflix is just a way to watch TV online, it's not an improvement over regular TV.
You get better content from people doing their thing out of passion, at their own pace and willingness, than when they're paid to keep up with the pressure of a continuous contract with time constraints and production demands and limitations.
"...Leather for years!" You sir have just earned yourself a new subscriber.
I got a $20 two sided oil stone and a $2 bit of leather and it's the best setup I've used yet
Someone recommended using the bottom of a mug (the bit that isn't glazed) and I've been using that to sharpen my knives for a couple months, now.
A diamond sharpening plate is on my wishlist
80-20 rule. 80 percent of your results should come from about 20 percent of your effort. Thanks for making this way less complicated than it needs to be. My girlfriend and I have been consistently saying for a while now that the genius is in the simplicity.
This man is correct! By hand is so easy.
"When my neighbor throws out a leather chair, I skin that thing like a buffalo." I almost died 🤣🤣🤣🤣.
@7:00 is an instant classic! And something I would do. My first hard laugh of the day. Thank you for the education and entertainment.
I was afraid that was creepy, even though I hoped it would be funny.
@@RexKrueger it was funny because it was creepy!
@@RexKrueger I laughed out loud. Regarding oil stones I sharpen my kitchen knives on them, then drizzle dish detergent on the oiled surfaces and work it in with my fingers. The detergent and oil form a soap precursor (high school chemistry has some uses) that is water soluble. It cleans the stone and removes any oil that may polymerize over time and reduce the cutting efficiency.
I laughed way too hard.
@@theeddorian I do something similar, but using simple detergent and water when using my DMT plates.
Rex, you are absolutely the best. Clear, smart, entertaining and just plain fun. Thank you!
Been watching your videos for a while despite having essentially a storage cupboard too full of other junk I cant get rid of to do what woodwork I can. Yesterday found a random sharpening stone, came back inside and found you made this video. No idea what grit it is but with this video I at least got my tools to a point that they bit into my thumbnail and dont need a sledgehammer to pair a surface. Thanks Rex!
That is awesome!
This is a very eye opening video-I have always hated sharpening chisels and plane irons because I’ve had a problem keeping that perfect angle; so as a result, I just didn’t do it... thanks Rex👍🏻
Glad it was helpful!
Back when I started I was "taught" to freehand (more like told how to and attempted to remember days later) on a set of whetstones I picked up at an estate sale. When I began watching videos I found it weird that people were obsessed with sharpening to a specific angle.
One of my first responsibilities as an apprentice was to sharpen blades and chisels. My master taught me how to hand sharpen in about 30 minutes. After that, it was my ass if the tools were not sharp.
Years later, I saw all of this stuff about exact bevels and whatnot and I was very confused. I was wondering how these people got any work done by obsessing over the exact angles of their bevels so much.
I never understood that obsession some ppl. seem to have.
I guess they just need something to feel better than the rest, lol.
@@nealsterling8151 Maybe a carryover from metal cutting ? In high productivity metalworking edge geometry is insanely important to make sure you can dissipate 20 hp in the cut, get a mirror finish, not break the tool and not get a huge birds nest of scalding hot, razor sharp barbed wire like swarf - all at the SAME time.
@@Zonkotron I must admit that having been taught how to freehand grind tool steel (that there should be some clearance, but not too much) then putting those first attempts into a shaper and taking heavy cuts into mild steel with no trouble, that the clearance for woodworking *hand* tools needed to be exactly this or that angle. I'm sure there's an optimal angle that balances the life of the edge against the finish, but if you're going to be sharpening whenever the tool feels like it's lost it's edge then the only thing you need to optimise is getting back to your project.
I made Paul Sellers jig with steel diamond plates and freehand the sharpening. Works a treat. Great Video Rex 👍👍
I like it. I hand sharpen my drill bits. It takes a small amount of practice but it's very easy. You can make it very aggressive or not much at all, for whatever application you wish.
You always present interesting topics and this was certainly one of the most interesting. Sharpening methods always brings out the opinions among woodworkers. I spent nearly 40 years working as a high precision machinist and oddly enough sharpening tools is also a topic with lots of opinions among those of us who manipulate metal. Keep coming up with interesting topics. I really like your approach to woodworking.
I use similar stones with an added files for cutting bevels and sharpening all my home forged chisels. Takes a little patience with the filing but once you're onto the stones it's a couple minutes for a finished chisel
I saw a suggestion to have a tiny bit of vegetable oil on the strop to make the compound less dry and easier to apply. It seems to work as advertised. I bought Trends polishing compound bar and I found that it was a bit hard to apply and get to stick, the oil seems to have solved that.
I use a double sided stone that cost like ten bucks and after I use the fine I wrap it in 600 grit then polish up the either plane iron or chisel I’m polishing. But I build outdoor furniture out of pine so it works for me. This is a level that maybe someday I’ll get to
Really appreciate the info on oil stones. I followed your advice and bought them. I really like the results.
On my sharpening station I actually built it like a bench hook that I secure in one of my vises.
Same here and I can hook it on any table edge if I'm not near a vise.
I really thought you were going to say, about strops, “if there’s that much violent disagreement about which face to use, then it probably is just a matter of preference. I mean, look, nobody argues about which end of the chisel is the cutting edge, because there is a clear difference. But here? play with it and see what you like.”
Left me hanging, dude.
Thank you so much once again Rex! I've always used a honing guide bc I was too overwhelmed by sharpening by hand but I didn't know it wasn't that complicated.
I agree completely.
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(1) Perhaps apart from establishing an initial bevel, or repairing a damaged bevel-- as you say -- a sharpening guide is simply not necessary. The people who try to convince you to get fancy jigs and sharpening machines are also the one's trying to sell them to you. They are not trying to build your skills; they are trying to sell you their tools. I go with Warren Buffet on this: "Never ask the barber if you need a haircut."
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(2) As for micro-bevels? Seriously? Just flatten the backs of your blades once when you get the tools and then get on with it. Establishing a micro-bevel is an additional, pointless step in my estimation. For what it is worth, I think you are spot on here. Micro-bevels have potential uses if you have to modify a blade to deal with difficult grain in hard wood, but then you need to either resharpen the blade for regular use (considerable work) or use a separate blade entirely. Then, why would you not grind that blade at an appropriate angle in the first place? I use either a cabinet scraper or a low-angle jack plane for these tasks, and I find the cabinet scraper (properly sharpened) more effective than the plane most of the time. -- not to mention that a good cabinet scraper is less than a third of the cost of a low-angle jack plane, at a minimum. Further, such scrapers are usually sold inexpensively at flea markets, garage sales, etc., unlike low-angle jack planes.
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I have a handful of sharpening guides, ranging from cheap to expensive. I haven't used them in years. I have a sharpening machine that will establish really precise angles and micro bevels on chisels and plane blades. It gathers dust in my shop. They are simply not necessary.
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These days, I free-hand sharpen almost everything in my house: knives, planes, chisels, cabinet scrapers, shop utility knives, lawn mower blades (file), chain saw blades (file) , gardening tools (file) -- all of it. All the time -- almost. I use a low-speed grinder for my lathe tools because it is faster and allows for more control than hand sharpening for these particular tools. To each their own.
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Free-hand sharpening has several real benefits. It doesn't take much practice to get good. It is then fast and reliable. It saves time. Lots of of time. It is also quiet. It is even relaxing. And, as the video emphasizes, don't forget the honing strop. A leather honing strop is key to achieving a beautiful, hair-popping edge. Finally, once you have made your sharpening station and a board for your honing strop, there is no more set up required when you stop to sharpen your tools. By the way, free-hand sharpening is also cheaper IF you learn to do it before you buy all the other jigs and machines mentioned above. Good luck with that part. Says the guy with all the unused gear.
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Free-hand sharpening works with whatever sharpening medium works for you. I use diamond stones for sharpening my knives and woodworking tools because they will sharpen even the hardest steels, they stay dead flat, and they are very durable. That's worth a lot to me. I can even use them to flatten my water stones and glass stones -- that is, if I ever use them. [Wet-or-dry sandpaper works, too, but it works best with a sharpening jig, so that takes us in the wrong direction, in my opinion. Been there, done that.]
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Will natural stones work? Absolutely! I have used them all, extensively. Water stones, India stones and Arkansas stones work well. Hard Arkansas stones are flat out amazing, as are ceramic stones and glass stones. However, all but the Hard Arkansas and ceramic stones need to be flattened regularly if they are used regularly. This is not necessarily a deal breaker, but it is what it is.
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And, very importantly, you do NOT want to drop ANY of these natural or manufactured stones on a concrete floor. Ever. Don't drop anything on them, either. There is a good reason that many of the natural stones or man-made stones you see in garage sales, etc., are cracked, have crumbled edges, or have chunks missing. It is either because they were dropped on a concrete floor or because they had something dropped on them. Sadly, I speak from personal experience here.
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On the other hand, if you were to drop a diamond sharpening plate on a concrete floor, you are more likely to damage the floor than the plate. Now, I am not saying it is impossible to damage a diamond sharpening plate. However, I find it hard to imagine what it would take to accidentally damage a diamond sharpening plate in a woodworking shop under normal conditions.
This is one person's experience and opinion. These are observations, not recommendations. Sharp edges are crucial for woodworking, to be sure, but how you get your tools sharp is up to you. Whatever works is what works.
Having said that, I believe this video offers great advice. Thanks!
I'd add an important note if someone is willing to try waterstones, based on my own mistakes: the soft japanise waterstones won't work well at all on a fancy Cr-V steels and powder steels. I've got several chisels of this kind. Also, sharpening of small chisels or curved blades is extremely difficult on a soft stones, as they tend to dig into the stone, damaging both the stone and the blade.
A big thanks from Brasil. Your videos helped me a lot and encouraged me to begin on hand woodworking.
It's brave of you to challenge the sharper than though crowd!