How to sharpen chisels

[WabbitPoo]

I have a bench grinder, with a coarse and a fine wheel. Can I use it to sharpen a chisel really well? If not, what's the best way, and does it take hours of honing? I know it sounds lazy but I'd rather buy a new one instead!

[splinter]

You can reset the angle and get rid off any nicks on the chisel with the wheel , keep the chisel cool with water ,then finish it of on a oil stone.
To hone it on a oil stone use a figure of eight motion ,turn the chisel over lay it flat on the stone and rub it up and down to remove any burr ,repeat process until you are happy with the sharpness of your tool
Ps don't forget to put some 3in1 oil on the stone first,I would also recemend to people to keep one chisel for any work where it is going to get abused and not any from your best set that the wife bought you for your birthday

[Thermo]

i have two sets of chisels. One set in a leather roll thats for decent inside work and another cheaper set for the landscaping work (theyre still looked after but cheap enough to be replaced after the abuse of the rain and the outside conditions)

I bought the veritas sharpening system from axminster (about £35) which sets and holds the angle very accuratly and is very easy to use. Also does plane blades. Also buy a couple of decent indian oilstones rather than the crap ones they make now. they tend to wear out and gouge very quickly. You can still buy the real indian ones on e-bay as i dont think theyre made anymore. Cost around £20 but they will last a very very very long time.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/3/product-Veritas-MkII-Honing-System-377359.htm

[gcol]

I hold a belt sander upside down and use that - takes about 10 secs. Obviously it's not an edge that you can shave with, but it's sharp enough and quick enough for my needs.
I have a decent pocket knife that gets sharpened with the Lansky system - now that is sharp!

[Deluks]

http://www.diynetwork.com/webdiy/channels/woodworking/

(Tricky to show the exact link as it's all in flash)

Look at the hand tools section from last week, the first part shows how to sharpen chisels.

[gcol]

What a horrible site! You can't do anything for the adverts.

[David P]

splinter wrote:

To hone it on a oil stone use a figure of eight motion

hey splinter, thats the first time i've ever heard of anyone else using the figure of eight trick to sharpen a chisel. Only thing is it only works for gauges, (chisels with a curved blade) it gives a really even edge all around the curved cutting edge. surely if you try and use it for bevel or mortise chisels it will end up giving you a slightly curved edge, the last thing you want.

one more trick, if you want your chisel to be Uber-sharp, try stropping it.
in other words lay a peice of tough leather on the bench and give it a final buff with that, just as you would if it were a stone. If you get fanatical about it you can get the cutting edge to a mirror finish and it will be as sharp as a scalpel. got no leather? use the suede palm of a safety glove, or at worst the palm of your hand, it still works.

edit: I am assuming that you never 'push' a chisel blade when sharpening. if you do - forget using the palm of your hand.

[splinter]

David P wrote:

splinter wrote: To hone it on a oil stone use a figure of eight motion hey splinter, thats the first time i've ever heard of anyone else using the figure of eight trick to sharpen a chisel. Only thing is it only works for gauges, (chisels with a curved blade) it gives a really even edge all around the curved cutting edge. surely if you try and use it for bevel or mortise chisels it will end up giving you a slightly curved edge, the last thing you want. one more trick, if you want your chisel to be Uber-sharp, try stropping it. in other words lay a peice of tough leather on the bench and give it a final buff with that, just as you would if it were a stone. If you get fanatical about it you can get the cutting edge to a mirror finish and it will be as sharp as a scalpel. got no leather? use the suede palm of a safety glove, or at worst the palm of your hand, it still works. edit: I am assuming that you never 'push' a chisel blade when sharpening. if you do - forget using the palm of your hand.

Beleive me,
You can still do a figure of eight holding the chisel flat to the oil stone, the idea behind it is ,it helps to keep the stone flat

[bazzil]

The best tool to sharpen chisels is a diamond wet stone, it does not use oil, but water "available at any good tap near you", it does not groove with constant use & is a lot lighter to carry.

[masona]

If you don't mind paying out, it's here

[Tozzy]

How To Sharpen A Chisel

[bazzil]

bazzil wrote:

The best tool to sharpen chisels is a diamond wet stone, it does not use oil, but water "available at any good tap near you", it does not groove with constant use & is a lot lighter to carry.

I bought mine quite cheap through here

[blister]

grind the end square then try to get an edge using water to cool the blade every 10 sec or so ,if the edge of the chissel goes black repeat the process again