What's the best tool sharpening method? A no BS guide.

hi I'm James Hamilton from stumpy nups woodworking journal and over the last several years we've made many videos on tool sharpening rather than focusing on just one product or method I've tried to include a wide variety of sharpening tools and techniques because we have a wide variety of viewers in our audience with different budgets and different preferences however whenever I make a sharpening video I get some comments from folks who just want to know what's the best way to do it they want to be told do this or buy that and your tools are always going to be sharp and I wish it were that simple but personal preference is a big part of choosing the right sharpening method still I'm gonna try to give you a pros and cons list of the methods I've used so that you can narrow down your own search for the perfect sharpening system first off let's get one thing out of the way no matter the tools are the methods all sharpening is basically the same in that you're rubbing rocks on steel I don't know who coined that phrase Kersh wars the first person that I heard say oh now these rocks may be actual rocks or minerals they may be diamonds or some other substance they may be attached to paper or mix into a paste or formed into a stone you might rub the steel on the rocks with muscle power or you might rub the rocks on the steel with electrical power the rocks are harder than the steel so they scratch away little bits and then by using smaller and smaller rocks you create finer and finer scratches and tell the edges polished that's how sharpening works everything else the machines the jigs the stones and pastes and films they're all different ways to rub rocks on steel with varying levels of efficiency and convenience they all work it's just a matter of finding the right method for you now let's discuss the pros and cons of the 8 different ways I've sharpen tools and then I'll give you my recommendations we couldn't do what we do without folks like the bushy family over at clear Vue cyclones not only do they make the best dust collection cycle is on the market but they're woodworkers supporting woodworkers they're the sponsor of this video and I really hope you'll thank them by visiting their website and using our discount code below this video sandpaper sharpening is often called the scary sharp method this is what many new woodworkers try first because you don't have to spend a lot to get started well he needs a flat surface like some plate glass some fine wet/dry sandpaper some spray adhesive and some kind of honing guide despite the scary sharp moniker this method is not going to give you an edge that is sharper than you can get with other methods and while sandpaper may be a lot cheaper than stones at first it does add up to quite a bit more overtime not to mention the spray adhesives can be a mess oil and water stones had been used to sharpen woodworking tools since the beginning past generations use natural stones and they were less concerned about the finest grits that we have today soft Arkansas stones were the most common and they're comparable to about a thousand grit sandpaper harder and finer stones were available but they're rarely found in the tool collections of common country woodworkers today water stones are available up to 30,000 grit if you want to obsess over an edge but stones require regular maintenance to keep them flat and make it be messy a slurry of oil is never something you want to have around your woodworking area and water stones which often require pre-soaking can make a mess on your bench top to Diamond stones are like oil and water stones but they stay flat without maintenance they come in relatively coarse grits which are handy when you have to remove a lot of steel to reshape or repair an edge but the nature of the manufacturing process makes it difficult to create a durable diamond stone and grits finer than a thousand so you're gonna have to follow up with a strop afterwards diamond stones have to be lubricated which can create a bit of a mess though not as much as some of the other stones and the quality of the stone is a big factor shoddy sized grading can lead to inconsistent grits laminated stones may not remain flat and poor electroplating can cause the diamonds to flake off that's why good quality diamond stones aren't cheap sharpening pastes aren't really used for sharpening they're for honing putting that final polish on an edge that's already been sharpened with this stone or paper or something else they're made by suspending diamonds or minerals in waxes and oils so you can spread them on leather or paper or wood or some other surface they range from about 800 grit to the tiniest fraction of a micron and can put a mere finish on any tool pastes can be used on manual straps or on power sharpening systems and they're relatively cheap certainly less expensive than ultra fine sandpaper and honing films the fastest way to sharpen is free hand with Auto guide if you take the time to master freehand sharpening you'll be doing yourself a real favor naturally though beginners struggle with us and many woodworkers simply don't sharpen often enough to maintain the muscle memory required for freehand sharpening the answer is to find a jig that works for you a simple guide like this one will work with sandpaper oil water or diamond stones and even with some power sharpening systems like the workshop there are others on the market with minor differences in features I recommend choosing a sharpening method first then finding a jig that fits your taste bench grinders are not really sharpening machines they're grinding machines they're designed to remove a lot of steel rapidly and if you aren't careful you can overheat and ruin your tool or even grind it away to nothing that said they do have a place in many sharpening routines many prefer the speed of a grinder to quickly reshape and repair a damaged bevel then they'll move on to one of the other methods for the sharpening and honing stages wood Turner's especially like bench grinders because they favor what's called a coarse sharp edge rather than the finely polished edges required for planes and chisels cbn wheels have also changed the way grinders are used for sharpening not only a CBN available in finer grits than standard grinder wheels but its unique properties help keep your tool from overheating we have a whole video about cbn wheels which I'll link to in the notes below this video we have two power sharpening systems here in the Stampede absord working journal shop so we have the work sharp 3000 and the tormek so those are the two that I can talk about here's how they compare first the workshop we've made several videos about it over the years the most extensive of which I'll link in the notes below this video it's relatively inexpensive as far as power sharpeners go but it's very well designed and I you could really compare it to a powered version of the scary sharp sandpaper method the chisel port is convenient for small tools but hand planes have to be sharpened up on top and at the time of this video which is spring 2019 workshop is no longer making the platform attached for the top of their system I hope they reconsider because it's the only effective way to sharpen a wide plane iron with this system by using a honing guide on top in the meantime we do have a set of plans available on our website that shows you how to make a stand with an integrated platform on top so that you can sharpen those white blades with a regular guide those plans also teach you how to use honing compounds on MDF wheels instead of the expensive sandpaper and films these upgrades make the work sharp far more versatile in my opinion I'm not sure the workshop is the ideal system for woodturners while gouges and turning tools may be freehand sharpened using the work sharp special slotted wheels the technique requires some practice to master the other power sharpening system we have here is the tarmac if the work sharp is a powered version of the scary sharp sandpaper method then the tarmac is a powered version of water and diamond stones both of which are available wheel form it's a slow-speed water-cooled sharpener so you can't overheat your tool and with the leather strapping wheel you can achieve as fine an edge as with any method the real advantage of the tormek though is found in its range of very precise and well designed jigs woodturners in particular like the system because they can repeat the exact same setting quickly which generally which greatly reduces the time it takes to sharpen and significantly extends the life of your tools so those are all the methods i've used over the years which should i recommend it depends remember all are merely a different route to the same destination a sharp edge now if you like to keep things simple I recommend a double sided diamond stone this isn't the cheapest way to go at first but sandpaper will end up costing you more overtime and a good set of water stones will cost you as much or more as a good diamond stone plus you're gonna have to maintain the water stones to keep them flat diamond stones are coarser than water stones though but after sharpening to a thousand grit with diamonds you can then use a strop and some paste to put on that final mirror finish I went to a video about diamond stone scharping in the notes below this one if you have a bench grinder use it instead of just the diamond stone when you have a lot of Steel to remove like if your reshape repairing a bevel if your budget allows consider CBN wheels for an upgrade but a bench grinder with cbn wheels will not replace the diamond stone and the strop in my opinion so you repair and reshape with your grinder then you sharpen on the stone and hone with the strop now if you're an all power guy you can't go wrong with either the workshop or the tarmac if you're just a weekend woodworker who mostly sharpens chisels and hand planes the workshop may be your best bet because of its lower cost if you're a woodturner in particular or someone who sharpens a wide variety of tools or you're a professional that's going to use the machine quite a lot then the tarmac may be your best option now I'm not saying that sandpaper and water stones are bad some people prefer those methods like I said sharpening is a personal thing everyone has their favorite way of doing things but for me it's either diamonds and leather or power again I'll put links to a bunch of resources in the notes below this video for you to check out wait don't go yet if you're new here please subscribe and remember to ring the bell I would really appreciate that give us a thumbs up or better yet leave us a comment I always read them and be sure to check out the latest issue of stumpy nubs woodworking journal it's always packed with tips tricks and tutorials designed to make you a better woodworker

Channel: Stumpy Nubs

Views: 62,158

Rating: 4.9533186 out of 5

Keywords: woodworking, stumpy nubs, tips, workbench, table saw, scroll saw, drill press, quick tip, band saw, bandsaw, lumber, hack, hand plane, sharpening, tormek, worksharp, diamond stone, water stone, wood turning, bowls, lathe

Id: ADN_EbSihEM

Length: 10min 13sec (613 seconds)

Published: Fri May 03 2019