Thread: Woodworking tools and sharpening

I use pasted mdf bench sized hones atm. Been using those for 4-5 years. They stay flat until they aren’t then I use a #3 bench plane to reflatten them. I use the dmt pastes 6-3-1 micron. I set my bevels with a dmt 1k. Watching rob cosman he goes 1k diamond to 16k shapton glass, which is the direction I’m thinking of going, then using 8k or 6k glass stone to ease the jump. I’ve tried my naniwas but there is too much screwing around. The glass stones would be nice because they’re actually a spray and go. If sharpening isn’t easy and fast you won’t do it often enough.

Sellers way of doing things with pasted leather after setting the bevel is fast but you need straight edges, the action he uses produces an extremely sharp edge, quickly, but at the expense of rounding things. Hand tools can be incredibly accurate but they need to be not only sharp but square.

A micro bevel on the back of the blade will save you a bunch of time for hand planes but on chisels is a no-no. The back must be perfectly flat and as polished as you can get it.

You are very well served for honing just from your experience honing straight razors, it really took my wood working edges to a new level. I use my planes, scrapers and chisels to final finish on everything that I can, sanding produces a muddy look in comparison.

You may want to look into James Krenov as well. He goes deep into how to sharpen and prepare blades for sharpening. His furniture is constantly copied and for good reason. I’ve made a couple of his style of hand planes and they are incredibly versatile and easy to make. Hock sells blades for them as well and can be found on the internet.