Tips for chisels please

footprints

footprints

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My Son-in-Law wants some new wood chisels for his birthday, there are lots to chose from and that's not a problem but as you well know even new chisels can benefit from a touch up on an oil-stone.
Chisels dull quite quickly and if you want good results they need fairly regular TLC.
I tend to use an oil-stone with a guide to get the right angle but it is fiddly and doing it freehand when you are in a hurry needs practice.
Are there any good easy to use sharpening devices I can treat him to, preferably ones that don't involve setting up a drill etc.. on the workbench.

If they are really simple I might treat myself too ;)
 
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Simple diamond sharpening plates, available at many outlets (I have three from Lidl) came in a set rough, medium and fine. I only use the rough and the fine which I've silicon'ed onto wooden bases. The thing is to make sure they are absolutely dead flat in all directions once set, if not do them again until they are.
I served my time being taught and perfecting hone by hand, but now use a cheap 'Faithful' brand honing guide and get perfect results with my diamond honing plates and slightly soapy water as the lubricant...pinenot :)
 
Thanks guys often looked at the Trend just wondered if it was a bit of a gimmick interesting to hear it seems to work OK, and yes my guide is very like the Faithful one I got some diamond ones but the ones I had seemed to wear out very quickly.
 
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iirc dmt are the best diamond stones.i bought a diamond block from travis a few years back and it soon wore out,i now have the faithful version and thats still going.
but i still go back to my Indian stone.
 
footprints said:
Thanks guys often looked at the Trend just wondered if it was a bit of a gimmick interesting to hear it seems to work OK, and yes my guide is very like the Faithful one I got some diamond ones but the ones I had seemed to wear out very quickly.
Click to expand...

That's not so good, had these Lidl ones now for about 3 or 4 years. They've got those colourd plastic bases, which I'll admit had to be scraped dead flat, I them mounted them on some hardwood skirting cuttings I had spare, then fixed to these with carpet layers double sided tape. Checked them for absolute flatness and been using them ever since. The rough one is great for re-cutting first angles with (30deg. and so forth) gets a great amount of wear but is standing up to it so far. A lot of people make the mistake of not cleaning them and this makes them appear to be worn but a good spirit clean brings them back to full sharpness. I've used white spirit, acetone and a multi purpose thinner, again from Lidl, can't fault them...pinenot :)
 
I'll try a set of those Lidl ones myself next time they're in. I had wondered if they were any good. I've had one of their round diamond sharpening sticks for some time now, and that's going fine.
I've always used the fine side of an India stone, followed by a quick strop on an old piece of leather drive belt, very sparingly (a small smear every few years!) dressed with fine valve grinding compound. Sharp enough to shave with!
I've always put the grinding angle on with the bench grinder. Nice clean and "open" medium grit wheel. Light touch and keep on cooling the blade. Chisels just by hand. Plane blades with a "jig", really just a clamp across the blade to keep the angle right off the rest.
 
Dave54 said:
I'll try a set of those Lidl ones myself next time they're in. I had wondered if they were any good. I've had one of their round diamond sharpening sticks for some time now, and that's going fine.
I've always used the fine side of an India stone, followed by a quick strop on an old piece of leather drive belt, very sparingly (a small smear every few years!) dressed with fine valve grinding compound. Sharp enough to shave with!
I've always put the grinding angle on with the bench grinder. Nice clean and "open" medium grit wheel. Light touch and keep on cooling the blade. Chisels just by hand. Plane blades with a "jig", really just a clamp across the blade to keep the angle right off the rest.
Click to expand...

Flatness is most esential, I can't stress this enough. Mounted on the wood blocks, as I've described, I keep the blade in the guide whilst honing the flat of the blade across the width of the diamond plates...pinenot :)
 
Bought a Tormek T3 wet grindstone system about five years ago and it's brilliant. Has various jigs that make it dead easy to grind chisels, knives, shears etc at the right angle. Not cheap but an excellent tool.
 
oh if your still wanting to buy him a set of chisels,
alsfords are doing a blinding deal on a set of marples.
iirc £70 for the set up to 2".
 
Looks much the same as mine Mason and yes the black wheel is a sort of leather burnishing wheel. TBH I've never used it, getting the chisels ground right on the stone does me fine, and it's so easy to use I'm happy to touch them up every time I use them. A sharp chisel is a joy to use and IMHO much less dangerous than a blunt one.
 
Had a Tormek for years, and never used it that much. Gives a good edge, but just too fiddly for me. When you're working oak in particular you're sharpening every few minutes. I prefer the stone and strop. Whatever you use is just preference though. And yes, whatever you use to get an edge and whatever you are working on a razor sharp edge is a must. Blunt tools are useless and dangerous.
 
masona said:
Difference model, I wonder what's the difference is?
Click to expand...
The main difference in the models is that the cheap one has a plastic body - the expensive one has a metal body
 
D

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