Richard, Dick, John and Mike provided and interesting and comprehensive discussion of sharpening for various woodworker tools.

Richard started with a discussion of the theory of sharpening. He first described some tools for sharpening that are not always considered. These included glass cleaner for your glasses and magnifier, a magnifier or jewelers loop, a light source for close examination of edges, and a first aid kit.

Sharpening can be performed a number of ways such as grinding wheels, various stones, abrasive paper and a diamond block/stick. The types of grinding media include emery, corundum, quartz, bluestone, diamond and silicon carbide. These come in many grain sizes or grits. The grit sizes differ considerably between the US and Japanese systems. There are advantages and times to use the different types of methods and media depending on what you are sharpening.

The grinding angles differ markedly for the edges of various tools. The basic process is to:

Dick Heckman spoke about sharpening of plane blades and chisels. He emphasized his view that most amateurs cannot reasonably expect to develop the skill to hand-hold chisels or plane blades while sharpening them. Therefore, for them, guides are important. He went on to complain about the design of most guides, specifically as they apply to sharpening narrow chisels. Most guides rest the chisel (or, for that matter the plane blade) on its back, that is on the surface that is beveled. For narrow chisels this surface is often not wide enough to provide for reproducible clamping. An exception is the Stanley guide.

The sharpening technique he demonstrated and the one used by him is known ( at least on the internet) as Scary Sharp. He uses a sheet of glass 1/4 inch thick and a variety of grits of "sand paper", finishing with 2000 grit emery paper. Most available papers have abrasives that are hard enough to cut steel quickly. They include silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, and garnets. Sand (silicon dioxide) will work too and may, or may not, actually be used to make today's sand paper. The advantages of the scary sharp method are that it can be inexpensive, you can have available many grits, and, unlike stones, the working abrasive surface remains flat.

John described sharpening techniques for carving gouges and knives. Some of his recommendations are not to buy inexpensive tools as they won’t hold an edge buying tools with a Rockwell hardness of C58-C62. The four sharpening steps are coarse, fine, finer and strop. He develops a burr and uses a strop or slip to remove it. John also recommends using a special purpose edge tester rather that your thumb nail. Gouges have special shapes and often require special sharpening techniques.

Mike described sharpening techniques for drill bits. He described jigs which can be used with grinders to ensure the proper angle and grind for drill bits. Even badly damaged bits can be reground to work well with a few minutes of work. Some of the inexpensive jigs or fixtures seem to work as well as more expensive tools for sharpening drill bits. He recommends a variable speed grinder and a hard abrasive wheel.

Thanks to the team for an informative and educational workshop.