RWW139 Hand Cranked Grinding

As a follow up to my conversation with Andrew Detloff about what to look for when buying a hand cranked grinder, this episode details how I use the grinder in my day to day sharpening routine. I managed to pull an Underhill early on in this video and cut myself along the sharp edge of the chisel. I think I had stopped bleeding by the end but let’s see if you can spot when I did it.

I also detail my honing method on my waterstone and talk a little about how I free hand sharpen. Let me first say that there is nothing wrong with honing guides. If they work for you, keep using them. I got into the habit of free hand sharpening while working at the Steppingstone museum and it just stuck. I maintain that it is quick to learn but I also don’t want to lead anyone to believe that using a honing guide is bad. Using dull tools however is very bad! Enjoy.