This week I am hoping to address a whole bunch of sharpening questions all at once by illustrating how I sharpen my tools now that I have settled on diamond stones and strops. I discuss the process of free hand sharpening, how to use a strop, and the spectre of dubbing.
Dubbing comes mostly from stropping and raising the hand t the end. The old barber shop stroke. On another note, I agree with the simple diamond stone treatment and then stropping. I want to be a woodworker, not a tool grinder, did that for twenty years.
Hi::
Thank you for a simple to sharing your hand tools. Everybody else have so many stones to sharpen tools. God Job.
You are wearing a Apron That I call mid length. It is simple with two hand pockets. Does it slip on or has it got clips or tie? I have a long apron that I like to wear in the winter made by Duluth Trading Co.. It’s hot in the Summer. Your apron looks shorter, which I like. How long is the apron? Do you sell them?
Thank You
I’m one of those strop naysayers. For me it’s less about dubbing and more about edge quality. I’ve found the strop loads with slag, which really decreases the particle size I am sharpening with. I’ve also found its no less work to just hit my highest grit stone instead of the strop. Since I have discontinued using a strop I find my edges do last a lot longer. But I have no increase or decrease in sharpness.
I’ve also switched to Japanese steel for chisels and have found stropping far less effective on those than on tool steel chisels for 2 reasons. The hard steel is a lot harder and requires more effort. And the soft steel loads the strop a lot faster decreasing it’s effectiveness at maintaining a keen edge.
But.. that means waterstones. The DMT EEF is 3 microns – 4000 grit in the waterstone language. I’m accustomed to the super keen edge a sub 1 micron stone leaves and I don’t want to transition backward.
But like you said, sharpening is very personal. I’ve found that process to yield the results that fit how I work, and I’ve developed my methods and processes around having 12k+ edges. Find what works for you and stick with it. Consistency/repeatability is THE most important aspect of the sharpening process
Good video! Thanks for answering the “which side of the strop” question. Interesting to note that my sharpening regimen is heading the same way yours has. I do use a 8000 grit waterstone before the strop though. I like the quickness of the polish. And I don’t have the muscle memory to get rid of the guides yet, but I am back to the simple Eclipse style of guide. As my hands get older, I find it help.s
Thanks again
Hi Shannon
Very interesting stuff about sharpening. I like the idea of no microbevel. I was thinking of buying a belt grinder. I have old chisels and old hand plane blades that i have to rectify. I have tried with a coarse diamond stone but it takes forever.
Your sharpening method looks like Paul Sellers method. I should try it one day. Right now I am using water stone and honing guide.
Keep going with the good work
Shannon – another great and I sight full video -thanks!
I was at a presentation at my local woodworkers club that had Garrett Hack do a presentation on planing. One portion of the presentation he discussed his sharpening method. When he got to the end of honing, he stopped his plane blade but instead of using a leather strop, he used a block of hard maple that was loaded diamond paste ( if my serves correctly). I would think this might help solve the issue of dubbing on a leather strop. His rational for using wood vs leather was that leather is too soft.
Do you have an opinion on this approach?
Chrus
Paul Sellers (youtube) puts a ’rounded’ bevel on the edges simply by the difference in angle, near to far end
of the diamond stone. Theory? Edge is stronger with steeper angle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvTcReENk9g&ab_channel=PaulSellers
the convex bevel idea is probably as old as woodworking and you can find evidence of it in old chisels and plane blades. In other words, if it has been around so long, it might be a good idea. There are some tools however where I often use the bevel as a reference surface and if that is convex then I can’t get the same performance from it.
Great video, Shannon. Thanks for the wisdom. I’ve been suffering trying to get a sharp edge of late. I like your method and especially your comment about getting to the Burr. Keep up the great work
Shannon
I really enjoy your work, both here and on woodtalk. I love having friends, well virtual friend with such diverse expertise. I have a Vaughn broad hatchet and it came sharpened from the factory with what I would call a back bevel, a much smaller bevel on the flat side of the blade. I thought the blade would be sharpened like a chisel. Am I wrong? What is the advantage of the bevel? Should I grind it down ? Thank you for your help. I know that it is not a competition, but the Shop Talk guys couldn’t answer my question.
