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Woodworking in America video: How to grind your tools (properly)

October 14, 2010 By

This is about the life cycle of a frog, Cincinnati Edition, October 2010, Room 3.

In this episode Christopher Schwarz shows how to properly grind tools. The emphasis throughout the session was on properly. Of course, I have never done it properly. But, after this session, I will – the best part is that I know I will!

That is the true significance of attending the Woodworking in America conferences. The sheer number of sessions, and the teaching and learning that goes on in the classrooms is truly amazing. But how does one go about selecting a class, when so many are offered? It is a simple process – and it involves planning ahead of the conference. Don’t get me wrong; I can get a sharp edge on my chisels and plane irons, as they are mostly flat edges. But what about grinding a plane iron that has a curved edge? This was the key point as, in my case, I wanted to get a good perspective (OK, a great one…) from someone who knows a lot more about sharpening tools than I know. This session was a perfect fit, and a great way to kick off the conference (for me). I set off to learn how to grind that iron, and how to do it right.

Let me know in the Comments section if this video helps you in any way. And if you already knew this technique, I request that you also let me know. I edited the video down to over 8 minutes, from a 40-minute session.

Enjoy!

— Al Navas

Right-click to download the low-resolution video (92MB)
Right-click to download the high-resolution Quicktime video (529 MB)
Duration: 8:20 minutes

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Filed Under: Blog, Cincinnati, Conference, Popular Woodworking, Sharpening, Tools, Video, Woodworking in America Tagged With: , , ,

I rescued a wooden hand plane made in the 1800s

June 2, 2010 By

It is not often that local garage sales or estate sales advertise hand planes in our area. But when they do, I like to look in case there is something worth buying. I bought this one for $5; it was originally marked $10:

Call me sentimental — originally made in St Louis, MO, by Child Pratt & Co:

The mouth looked fine, but the blade was very rusty. I hoped it was not badly pitted (it was not):

I was not sure if I would be able to remove the wedge, to allow access to the iron. But I succeeded — the wedge was in perfect condition, but the iron needed much help:

I spent way too much time sharpening the iron; I like the fact I can do this free-hand, as “feeling” the bevel seems to be easier than four years ago, when I first started (truly) sharpening hand plane irons:

The iron started to look like a hand plane iron, as some of the surfaces became shiny once again. The pitting I feared was not present; but it still took me a while longer to get it nice and truly sharp:

A few very light passes on the power jointer, and the bottom was flat. I tried the sharp blade on some cherry; the curlies produced made me smile:

Maybe now I can clean up the sides of this plane, to give it a semblance of a nice working tool. In the process I will try to keep its character with some judicious cleaning.

I like its looks — what do YOU think?

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog, Sharpening, Tools Tagged With: ,

Preparing a hollow mortise chisel

February 4, 2010 By

One question from a reader prompts me to illustrate the process I use to prepare hollow mortise chisels before I even approach the benchtop mortiser.The process is called “tuning a hollow chisel”; it prepares the chisel for efficient cutting of the mortise, and eases penetration into the wood while minimizing burn marks. This results in smoother mortise walls, faster cutting, and better chip ejection while keeping the chisel cooler. So far I have not had to sharpen any of the drilling bits on any of the chisels.

In this photo you see the hollow chisel as received. The grinder marks are plainly visible:

Just like a bench chisel, the sides of the chisel should be lapped using either sandpaper or, as I show here, with sharpening stones. Following preliminary lapping on the 1,000-grit stone, I continue with the 6,000-grit or finer stone:

In this next photo you see how the steel begins to shine, and the tool marks have disappeared near the cutting edges – not quite ready for work, the chisel is getting close to being ready to cut:

Next I use a diamond-covered abrasive cone, to sharpen the inside surfaces of the tip of the chisel. The cone holder is part of a set available from various sources:

Careful inspection is a must, before using the chisel. Look carefully at the inside surfaces, to make sure the cone has left smooth, shiny surfaces:

Yup, that is the BenchCrafted tee shirt. And it is a shameless plug for the company that makes, along with 11 other winners, the Popular Woodworking magazine’s Best New Tools for 2009, the BenchCrafted Tail Vise. I was the lucky recipient of one tee shirt at the Valley Force conference:

To my friend Jameel Abraham, of BenchCrafted.com, and his brother Fr. John, congratulations for winning the award – it is well deserved!

Disclosure: I am a happy owner of one BenchCrafted tee shirt; I have no commercial or any other interests in BenchCrafted.com. And I love the vises they make.

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog, Education, Joinery, Mortise, Sharpening, Tenon, Tutorial Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

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