The Best Sharpening System for me

What about flattening a chisel

Some day i will try diamond Stones but normally if i for example buy an old used chisel, so dull you can ride on it with your bare ass , I habe developed simply steps. I Grind it back to a good bevel with my doublesides Wheelgrinder ( double Sander?) and a selfmade holder, made from two Ironbars and Starknobs.
Most Times if i in a good mood, i only have to freehand my Chisels, Gauges and Planeirons on some old Wetstones and they are literally razorsharp. If im in a bad mood, my tools kinda feel this and dont want to be sharp. Yes, in the last time my tools Arent very sharp. But some Woodworking improves my mood everytime!

Thanks.

Common sense is so rare, especially when it comes to sharpening. Thanks James!

Nice!

I had a knife salesman who came to my house years ago try to sell me a quality set of kitchen knives. He told me to get the sharpest knife in my house for comparison. When I went to the garage and came back with a freshly honed plane blade he was puzzled. He put the two to his test and I easily beat his. He was amazed but I told him don't worry I still want the knives for my wife, she is not allowed to touch my tools.😂

Great content so please don't judge my sharpening skills when I bring the draw knife😊

Notice how the real experts, I mean the ones that are truly talented and knowledgeable, tend to also be the ones who are happy if you do something differently and find what works for you?

Now this is gold, or shall I say Diamond.

Thanks, Jim. Great video on staying sharp and keeping your edge.

I got a fine wave too!! Had it for yrs n barely used it, learned to do gouges on a flat stone before I got it...

I have seen in the past fifty plus years a but load of sharpening videos. I much have used everything that was on any market between here and the moon - every jig - a fortune. Surprisingly I have landed on everything you are using minus the Veritas jig (even thought I do have it). Good video.

thanks

I have purchased a Dimond Set of stones, I have not used them yet, because my chisels are still shart from the first time I sharpened them (they do not get enough use)

I was told a long time ago, not to use window cleaner on the diamond plates if the cleaner has ammonia in it. Apparently the ammonia can bother the plating surface, and that may be why that one stone had the diamonds come off. The product from Tormek does prevent rust, and you mix it in a spray bottle. I do have some swarf build up on my 220 stone. DMT told me to use some Ajax or other cleaner then scrub off with a plastic bristle brush. The 400 and up don't seem to have that problem. I have found with the Shapton 16000 and 30,000 stones, I can't feel any burr, but I do strop anyway. I can feel a burr with my 8000 DMT stone. My favorite strop is poplar. It does hold the stropping compounds well, and there is no deflection of the surface as you strop. I tend to push down harder than I should..... I am on the Brute Squad (hope you have seen the Princess Bride). One person commented once that they used balsa wood to strop on. I have been thinking about using that for my carving chisels since it would take little to compress it to the perfect fit. I would probably need a bunch of it.... The green stropping compound, if you got that from Taytools, is 60,000 grit. Some of the big box stores have 'polishing' compounds. The black is about 800 grit. Color is not any real indicator of grit numbers.

Comment down below.

James, I'm restoring an old chisel and find I eventually get a nearly mirror polish even with my atoma plate. Am I not clearing the swarf often enough and letting the filings polish the metal or does that happen?

After a decade of water stones and a four-year journey with the smaller DMT diamond stones, I've got an X-Coarse/Coarse flippable plate, a 600 grit equivalent DMT plate, and an extra-fine stone of unknown grit equivalent (maybe 1200), followed up with green goo on MDF. They work. I still use a sharpening jig because my muscle memory plays piano, not sharpening tools. My chisels and other cutting irons get a cathartic sharpening effort upon completion of each small project. $0.02 I wish it was as effortless as you make it seem to be.

Thanks for an informative video. For sharpening chisels would getting just a fine and extra fine diamond stone be enough or do I also need a coarse stone?

I agree with Mellow. Just not in coffee. I bought my wife some diamonds for our anniversary, turns out a sharpening stone just doesn't cut it! Oh well, I'll keep it in the garage in case she changes her mind! LOL.

Using window cleaner was a godsend for me. I had previously bought lapping fluid from trend, and I treated that bottle like it was 40 year old Scotch. A rubber eraser makes short work of cleaning the plate out.

Thank you for being an effective teacher.

Hi James another fantastic video what are the other brands of diamond stones I’ve just started out in woodworking and I’m not very rich so would be very grateful if you could point me in the direction of some cheaper ones also I live in 🇬🇧 and we don’t have the vast array of woodworking stores you guys have keep up the good work your videos have been so helpful to me as I go on my journey through this process cheers Duncan

I have a very similar three diamond plate setup to you. The one addition I've made recently is to add a second strop loaded with jewelers rouge, that I now regularly go to after the first strop. The result is a lovely mirror finish with little extra effort. I'm not sure it cuts any better, but there's a certain satisfaction to getting the mirror effect.

What a sharp idea!

This answers so many questions about diamond plates that I've had for months! You're the best--thank you!

I use the same system. 2 things I love about it:
1. Never needs to be flattened. I hated that with waterstones. I barely want to sharpen things, I really don't want to be out there flattening stones so I can then sharpen.
2. Diamond does not care what steel you bring it, it will devour any and all. I had dull high carbon stainless steel kitchen knives that I couldn't get sharp until I had an (overdue) epiphany - I have diamond stones for chisels...I can shave with those kitchen knives now. NOT hard to sharpen stainless on diamond stones. Are my edges perfect? No I'm not that good at freehand knife sharpening. Are they really sharp? Yes, yes they are.

The 'coarse' diamond plates get a bit less coarse with use not badly so. I had a similar 3 plate board but I cut the edges flush after a while to help restore my spear points, router plane cutters etc.

What a great video and introduction to your channel. So glad I stumbled across it today. I'm a subscriber and can't wait to dig into your videos and content. Thanks a ton from a new wood worker who's going to need a lot of help. Cheers.

I love to sharpen things...the sharper the better...but how sharp is sharp??? :)

Great video James! My biggest problem is using the strop; I think I’m rounding over the edge. I have thin leather glued to mdf with green compound from Lee Valley. Do you have any tips specifically for stropping?

Comment down below.

I’m not keen on sharpening either to me it’s just a need rather than a want to do
The only thing I do differently is my stropping I don’t use leather instead under my bench always ready is a small bench grinder fitted with stitched cotton buffing mops a little compound applied gives a razor’s edge in seconds and it copes with any shaped gauge or chisel just as easy as a flat chisel or plane iron
As usual a great easy going video
Most enjoyable to watch
K
Yorkshire
England

Yep. Don't need to be pfaffing around with sharpening. I have the Mpower three plates on a stand thingy with the strop covers. Gets me a an edge that will split atoms in a matter of seconds. Match that with the Veritas MK2 and good to go.

I like to set up a quick guide for my jugs

Great Video as always! And for beginner woodworkers there almost can't be too many videos about sharpening. 😂

Thanks James

Great video info packed gut-level ready-to-hand type approach I can appreciate. Thanks! Love the coffee compoarison, that works too!

Thanks James!

That was awesome. Im with you on the I want to get things sharp and onto making and yep I want my coffee ready to go as well. Grab coffee on way to shed drink coffee while sharpening finish coffee and sharpening same time now lets rock. Great vid

Sharp as a tack as always

Well done, as usual

Wonderful video. I have a honing guide, but I much prefer the free hand sharpening, it is what works best for me. I have a similar set up to yours, but I followed Rex Krueger first for the set up, and used leather from my old work boots as the strop (I just seemed like the right retirement for them). Thank you for the link to the wave plates, something I will definitely look into. Thank you for sharing, your videos really do mean a lot to me.

Here's a comment: do you have any videos on making a scarf joint? Thanks in advance 👍

Pretty much the system I've settled on for sharpening, although I do use the Veritas honing guide religiously. I just have never gotten the hang of freehanding it.

One of the reasons I find it enjoyable to watch your videos (appart from content) is that you present on the basis of "this is what I do /what works for me" and the caveat that everyone "needs to figure out what works for them". Also, you make non-judgemental budget appropriate recommendations. Thanks for another interesting and informative video.

The handle on that cheap triangle file looks disgusting :)

I'm actually a big fan of a light oil on diamond, no risk of rust on anything and you don't really need to worry about cleaning very frequently since it doesn't really dry, the tiny amount of oil left on the blade also seems to be slightly beneficial for the strop too

Well, that was cutting edge 🧐