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I actually find that with my water stones and a gentle touch, I can get sharper results by hand than with my (admittedly cheap) honing guide.

The toots are all good on this subject. At the end of the day I don't think there's any substitute for practice.

I usually start with emery on plate glass(grit depends on how bad it is starting out)then to Norton8000 and then to leather strop. I don't use any machines or guides.

The "Scary Sharp" system is great!! By this I mean using plate glass with progressive finer grits of sandpaper. Cheap and very effective. Go to http://woodworkstuff.net/scary.html and you can find instructions on this method. You can probably get a free piece of 1/4 inch of thicker float glass at a commercial glass shop for free. Ask them to take the time to grind the edges for you or do that with sandpaper on your own. Safer that way.

I am intrigued to see the term "micro-bevel" used here to describe what I have always known, and seen described, as the "secondary" bevel. Unless of course I am missing something and there are actually three separate bevels on these chisels ??? Primary, secondary and then a third, "micro", bevel ??? Unlikely, but possible, I suppose ...

When I see the term "micro-bevel" I automatically think of the (literally) micro bevel which can be honed (advantageously) on the back of a plane iron by placing the iron flat on the stone, then raising the end ever so slightly and giving it a few passes.

You can not, of course, hone such a micro bevel on a chisel, for obvious reasons ...

Nope-there are some people who do three bevels-can't get my head around that. I shape on a Tormek, then hone on 5K and 8K Shaptons and strop on hard leather-rough side with compound and smooth side plain. The strop at hand refreshes easily and I don't have to go back to the stones very often unless I am doing lots of chopping(which I avoid). I have a regimen that is based on Arkansas stones as well and one with diamond plates, Shaptons and strop on diamond paste.

I kind of teach some sharpening classes now and then and I enjoy experimenting with many methods. So, sharpening, itself, is a major interest of mine. I'm doing testing on some very exotic alloys right now-one is a super-sintered chisel-it nearly bested me and I threw the whole arsenal at it.

I have the ubiquitous Eclipse and the old Veritas and the Mk II(I leave the camber roller in it all of the time) and several other interesting jigs. I often recommend the Mk II, but for price, I wish the roller type was an option-ie. camber could be chosen for the original purchase.

I use the jigs for special tasks-I have been honing for 43 years freehand and got my first jig about 5-6 years ago. For lathe tools, the Tormek jigs are excellent. I can get quite good edges using just the Tormek, but not as refined as with going further to stones and flat strop for straight edged tools.

When someone asks me to recommend a package that will suffice from rookie to expert, I commend the large DMT DUO SHARP Coarse/X-Coarse, 5K and 8K Shaptons and a hard leather strop-diamond paste or greenbar compound with an Eclipse and a Veritas , Mk.I or Mk.II. There are some real deviations from that package if carving tools are to be honed.

Interesting link there, Filippo. It is always fascinating to read other folk's opinions on sharpening techniques.

Personally, I find that Derek Cohen's wholesale "stropping" emphasis is certainly applicable to chisels, when you can strop the edge in a few seconds and then return to the workpiece without losing your rhythm, but less so IMHO to plane irons, when you have to disassemble the iron from the body in the first place, and then reassemble again after honing. In this case, you just might as well resharpen the iron and hone the micro bevel, and forget about stropping, particularly as you will not need to hone your plane irons anything like as frequently as your chisels.

As an aside, the well-known luthier, sometimes unkindly referred to as "Grumpy", who regrettably no longer participates on this forum, eschews the use of leather and compound for honing his chisels, he prefers a length of very fine grit sandpaper attached to his surface plate. His contention is that the leather is too "giving" and leads to a microscopic rounding over of the edge, whereas the rigidity and flatness of the granite and the sandpaper produces a truer edge.

I can relate to that ...

I use a mix of methods and tools depending on what and when I'm sharpening.
Initial grinding or repairing a big chip: Norton 60 grit 3X Blue stone with a rounded face on a bench grinder and angle jig.
Chisels and Plane blades honing/touching up: Veritas honing guide and Naniwa "Superstones" http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=MS-SSWAT.XX&Category_Code=CNW
I love these vs regular waterstones because they stay flat longer and don't require pre-soaking.
Knives: Razor Sharp paper wheel and white jeweler's rouge on a bench grinder. http://www.sharpeningwheels.com/index.html
Carving gouges: various diamond encrusted rods-cones, wooden dowels wrapped in wet-dry auto finishing abrasive, and miscellaneous pieces of MDF w/green, gold, white rouge.

I use a mix of methods and tools depending on what and when I'm sharpening.
Initial grinding or repairing a big chip: Norton 60 grit 3X Blue stone with a rounded face on a bench grinder and angle jig.
Chisels and Plane blades honing/touching up: Veritas honing guide and Naniwa "Superstones" http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=MS-SSWAT.XX&Category_Code=CNW
I love these vs regular waterstones because they stay flat longer and don't require pre-soaking.
Knives: Razor Sharp paper wheel and white jeweler's rouge on a bench grinder. http://www.sharpeningwheels.com/index.html
Carving gouges: various diamond encrusted rods-cones, wooden dowels wrapped in wet-dry auto finishing abrasive, and miscellaneous pieces of MDF w/green, gold, white rouge.

At the risk of offending . . .

The "which system gives the sharpest edge" question is one of those topics that people take way too seriously.

All systems can give you a great edge. That's not the problem with any of the systems. The problem is that too many of them are like excercising: You know you should be doing it, but it's really not the thing you most want to do right now, and it's a bit of a hassle. So you put it off a little bit. "This chisel is not perfectly sharp, but it'll last me this one more time, and I'll hone it next time."

The best system is the one you are most likely to use consistently, every single time a chisel or plane seems even a tiny bit dull.

For me, that means the one that is fastest. If I have to take the time to set up a honing jig, or wait for the Tormek stone to get soaked, that's one more obstacle that makes it that much easier to say "I'll wait until next time."

The one system that works for me (i.e., that I use consistently) is freehand sharpening. It takes a while to get your technique down, but once you do, it takes 30 seconds tops to hone a blade. If I get a nick, I pull out the Tormek and set aside 5 minutes. But other than that, freehand is the only way you'll consistently take the time to sharpen your blades every time they need it.

I've tried freehand sharpening of my chisels and plane blades. I can't get the consistent edge I need for the results I want. Some people have that gift. I don't and have tried many times over my 40+ years of woodworking. The tiny amount of time to put the blade in a jig to get a near perfect edge is worth it to me and many others. The Veritas is a Cadillac jig but the side clamping style jigs with a setup board like Deneb from Lie-Nielsen uses in this excellent How to video only take seconds:


http://www.lie-nielsen.com/pdf/AngleSettingJig.pdf

anyone tried one of these? :

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.a ... 43078&ap=1

that do the trick or is it worth it to step up to Mk II?

_________________
If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason. - Jack Handey

Kuul, thanks guys, last time I went to pick that up they were out, but I'll try again soon then:)

_________________
If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason. - Jack Handey

I've run into Deneb a few times over the years at The Woodworking Shows. While the jig in the video is nifty, every time I've seen his demos live, he sharpens freehand.

Not a knock on people who use jigs. Use whatever works for you. But everything people complain about with freehand sharpening -- rounded edges, knicks in the stone, etc. -- is a function of poor technique, which you overcome fairly quickly with practice. It does not take years to be able to sharpen freehand effectively. It does not even take months. It takes a few hours of practice tops, assuming someone has taken the time to show you the proper way to move your body as you hone. Once you have it down, it's foolproof, easy, and fast. But if you feel more comfortable keeping the training wheels on . . .

Having a bench grinder in general is I would say a must, for that micro bevel, as well as many other uses, and you can find them cheap. Occasionally my blades get dinged up on something metal like a screw and having that grinder is a life saver. I also have a few diamond plates which come in handy when leveling frets as well. My main stones now are Japanese water ones, 800, 2000, 6000 grit, and an all necessary black DMT (rough grit) diamond stone for lapping plane soles. Larger sizes are well worth it for anything other than pocket knives or utility blades, and you'll need something to flatten water stones when they wear down.

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

Re: Todd's comment about boatbuilders and tool fascination. Probably the most prolific "teacher" on tools that really builds working boats is Bob Smalser. He is quite practical but at the same time he respects good tools. Many of his very useful writings have been collected by my friend Cian Perez. If you google him you will find access to two quite complete libraries on both handtool and powertool use and toolmaking. Sharpening is well covered in Cian's assembly.

He, Smalser, is a genuine "old salt," slightly more so than our friend Todd, who transforms into a more sodium chloride -based fellow with each passing day. .

I really enjoy handtools but I am a definite mixer with handtools as my detailing and finishing method. So, I do have tablesaws, a 10-20 drumsander, drillpresses, beltsanders,a 4" jointer and two bandsaws-countless routers/trimmers.

I would say I am a student of shaping and honing-the student has been permitted to teach on the topic at times-even got paid for it-Chicago Pizza and great beers. These are a respected currency among my students and pals.(OK, I did get gas money for my not quite 400 mile round trip to the "city of big shoulders. ) And I got to spend some time with great people-many from the Midwest Tool Collectors Association as well as some newcomers.

For all us deficient souls unable to hold our mouths, arms, hands, etc correctly while we hone, here's a quick tip for getting blades to fit squarely in our "training wheels":
http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/Video+Stupid+Shim+Tricks.aspx