House in Progress Diary

Chisels and block plane blades can be given a reasonable edge by "grinding" them on a belt sander. Good enough for basic uses; look for a grinding wheel with a blade holder for more presion tools and knife edges. Got mine at a garage sale :)

VERY CAREFULLY!!!!!!POPS"30"

Water stones or oil stones. Lee Valley makes a jig to hold the blade at the correct angle. I'm sure there are other companies that make this kind of thing.

http://www.hocktools.com/sharpen2.htm

Here's a sharpening tutorial

Seriously now,For precision tools I always preferred an oil stone. Takes a while but works to a very sharp edge. For rough tools I used to use a disc sander in an electric drill. Of course you need a vise to hold the tool. Shovels, mower blades etc. POPS"30"

I've used oil stones, water stones, and sandpaper. Sandpaper has given me the best results in the least amount of time.

Here's a link to a funny description of how to use sandpaper to sharpen tools.

http://www.shavings.net/SCARY.HTM

The link Derek posted is a good one for technique. The other question is what to use -- he mentions oil stones and water stones. A third way is to use successive grades of sandpaper (Aluminum Oxide in grits 50, 80, and 100, and Silicon Carbide (wet-or-dry to you lay people) in grits of 150, 180, 220, 320, 400, 600, 1200, and 2000.) on a piece of plate glass or marble tile. See http://www.shavings.net/SCARY.HTM#condensed for a "how to". The lowest initial cost is the "scary sharp" system -- but the more sandpaper you use the more it will cost in the long run.

Any of them work well and each has its advocates. A good comparison can be found at http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp

I'd go with the Lee Valley combination water stone and honing guide set.

dc

when you all mentioned Lee Valley, is this the set that you are thinking of?

yeah, that's the set. I was going to post a link, but I don't know html

The link to the "Scary Sharp" method is the way to go. Most of the sandpaper can be found at an auto parts store (pep boys) near the spray paint. Some of the finer grits are next to impossible to find anywhere else (at least in the burbs). If you like the Lee Valley options, but want to see/purchase in person, the local Woodcraft stores (Woodridge and Palatine) should have everything that you would want/need.

Well I know this is likely too expensive, but it WILL pay for itself over the years--not to mention that you can use it with your new knives for your future kitchen....It works like a dream.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=214

I got my kitchen knives sharpened at Northwestern Cutlery on Lake Street near Halsted.
It cost me $3.50 a knife and they're sharper than they were when they were new!

Their website says they also do tools. May be worth a try.

http://www.futurechef.com/northwesterncutlery_sharpening.asp

Oooh, and you could stop by Bari Foods on Grand while you're down there! Yumm!

In theory, I endorse the Scary Sharp system, but in practice, I just use a diamond coated sharpening stick, because I'm too lazy to do it right.

It's not my story, but I once knew a fella who made his own knives, and his favorite sharpening tool was a grinding wheel with a circle of cardboard in place of one of the wheels. He claimed it put an edge on the likes of which you've never seen, and quickly, too. But I can't personally vouch for it, having never tried it.

Hey I am a first timer to your blog. I think it´s great fun, but I am wondering if you spend more time with the blog than with your house?

;-) I am also using water stones for sharpening...

I believe the plane in the picture is a smoothing bench plane, I don't know of any block planes which have a grip on the rear (I believe it's because of the purpose a block plane serves that there is no need for the grip).