# Chisel Sharpening Fast Easy and Cheap With Tools You Have



## MrSupercrowe (May 23, 2013)

I have all manner of whetstones, diamond plates, strops, chisel jigs, etc. Sure, after many years I now know how to get an egde to shave with. But it takes so damn long to sharpen my chisels and plane irons. I would like to buy one of those platter sharpeners by Veritas, but at $450, I don't think so. So I found one of those drill sanding attachments that were popular many years ago. This one is quite true with little run out and flutter. I then used a 6" hole saw to cut a piece of Plexiglas and glued it to the drill sanding attachment. This gave me a smooth platter to apply PSA backed sanding disks to. I then chucked this into the drill press and positioned the adjustable work surface so I could steady the chisel on it to get a nice bevel and a 90 degree edge on the chisel or iron. Keep in mind that you are doing this upside down and you must articulate the bevel up and to the underside of the refitted sanding attachment. I only have 290 grit Norton PSA backed disks (bought surplus) but man, talk about a time saver. I can now sharpen a chisel in 5-10 seconds. My tools can cut the end grain of cedar no problem and power through all the other tasks I need to tackle with chisels and hand planes. I respect all the skill and time it took to learn how to sharpen tools, but the time saving is just to attractive and dirt cheap. I will upload my pictures tomorrow.


----------



## DocSavage45 (Aug 14, 2010)

Many ways to sharpen a chisel. Maybe you can get another disk for compound used in sharpening to refine the grind?

Looking forward to the pics.


----------



## MrSupercrowe (May 23, 2013)

I could use a finer compound abrasive, but they don't last long and they are $2-$4 a sheet, depending on finess of grit. However, I have found the difference in sharpness is negligible. It seems the courser the grit gives me a more durable edge too. I happened to stumble on this phenomenon after putting a chisel straight to work after grinding a new bevel on my grinder.

I am a purest. I would work through the grits after establishing a new edge with a diamond plate (1000, 4000, 6000, 8000 grit wetstones). This was usually 4 step process ending with a charged leather strop. But, the keeness of edge and the way I can now knock over a cedar end grain is something that took several minutes beforehand. Now, in 5-10 seconds I am back working instead of praying to the edge God at my ritualistic sharpening station for what seemed like forever at times.


----------



## UncleStumpy (Jan 26, 2012)

Any pictures? Sounds like a super idea!


----------



## MrSupercrowe (May 23, 2013)

I left my camera in the shop and it's too late and I'm too lazy to go and get it. I'll post the pics in the morning.


----------



## MrSupercrowe (May 23, 2013)

Here are the pictures.


----------



## bbc557ci (Sep 20, 2012)

Barry - That's pretty cool…great idea!!

Any reason why the bolt/arbor can't go through the disk so it can be flipped 180 degrees, and the sandpaper is on the top side? ;o)


----------



## MrSupercrowe (May 23, 2013)

I will try that, but I may start from scratch as you need something very close to true. This setup has so little run out and flutter I will leave it alone. I may put together a package and try market it. After all the hours I have wasted sharpening, I wish I would have tried this earlier. There is a reason platter sharpeners sell - they work and work very well indeed. But, there is more than one way to skin a dog, er…cat.


----------



## EPJartisan (Nov 4, 2009)

If you are looking for speed.. you could try hollow grinding your chisels. less metal to worry about.. I need my tools sharp enough to shave with and I keep a sharp edge only about 2-3 mm.. so it is easy to fix, hone, and keep sharp.


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Looks like it works fine for you.Tage Frid use to just grab a belt sander and ba bing sharp in ten seconds.


----------



## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

You should look into power stropping. It works wonders for putting an instant razor edge on things. I use a set of paper wheels (the "razor sharp edgemaking system"), which is meant for knives but works great for carving tools and the like, too. Though for anything that needs a flat edge, I stick with hand sharpening on stones trued with a diamond plate.


----------



## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

Barry, good idea. The same thing could be used on a lathe- Jacobs chuck and the drill/Plexiglass set-up. Got to try on of them.


----------



## pmtottawa (Dec 20, 2012)

I use the one shown on shopnotes issue 61

Works great for me.


----------



## WibblyPig (Jun 8, 2009)

You just made your own WorkSharp 3000. Make a couple of other disks, and make a 25 and 30 degree wedge. Then you can run though a few different papers on the 25degree wedge and when you're done, go back and put a micro bevel on with the 30 degree wedge.


----------



## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

How things get started in the Dungeon Shop









angle is set on a gauge block









Usually @ 25 degrees. After a decent edge is done on the belt, I go to the stones, without moving the guide









even works on sandpaper stuck to a tile









and finish up on that strip of old leather belt.


----------



## MrSupercrowe (May 23, 2013)

I do have big stationary sander with a platter and belt and a portable belt sander. I did not want to use either because of too much material removal if I didn't switch to a much finer belt which could be a pain, especially the big sander. That's why I chose the little platter to chuck into the drill press. Also, I can easily install all manner of abrasives at a low price rather than $7 and $11 for the big PSA disk or 6" x 48" belt, respectively. Lots of good comments and angles, pardon the pun, that I have not thought of.


----------



## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

Instead of buying a new belt for the sander, I use USED ones. As long as they are not torn up, they work nicely on irons and chisels. The belts used to be around 100-120, maybe 150 grit. After they have been used a long while, they MIGHT be around 400 or so.

Floor tile is just that. The flatest piece of flooring tile I could find at Lowes. maybe $4? 12" X 12" in size. A little 3M spray glue to hold the sandpaper down.

Seems to work for some of the planes I use


----------



## Tony_S (Dec 16, 2009)

*********************************** ingenuity….HA!

You guys do realize that you have the 'sharpening guru's' curled up in a corner in the fetal position, rocking back and forth clutching their 20 000 grit Japanese water stones….staring into the reflection of their mirror backed chisels muttering obscenities?

Sacrilege…you filthy beasts!

I love it!


----------



## DocSavage45 (Aug 14, 2010)

I think I mentioned "ingenuity" in your stair rails. Yep you have it! LOL!

Tag Fried had it! Like Jim said and you guys are doin.

Keep on keepin on!


----------



## JakeT (Feb 13, 2010)

The late Tage Frid honed on a belt sande at 220 grit then polished on a cloth wheel, but I can't remember what the rouge was.

I have an old VHS he produced I need to converted.


----------



## MrSupercrowe (May 23, 2013)

I am going to find an old turntable, one that is a mechanical type with speeds up to 78 RPM. I will strip it down and prepare the platter for use as a sharpenng device. I do not want a belt driven near audiophile type, because when you bear down on it, it will bog down. With the nice slow speeds it should be easy to put a nice edge and polish the chisels and plane irons. I will post pictures and comments after this new tangent is out of my system.


----------

