Right.

Father Christmas is bringing me a nice new set of chisels, I’m also on the hunt for an antique Stanley jack plane to restore.

I have a bench grinder for the occasional full re-grind.

But what about honing? What stones do people use? Strops?

Thanks in advance

If you haven’t already seen it, then this is a great video clip for running through a plane restoration:

A honing guide (can be used for plane blade and chisels) 2 stones

You should not really need to use a grinding wheel

Yep, but WHAT guide and stones? 🙂

We use those cheap Eclipse type guides as above. They do the job fine. I’d personally get a diamond stone over an oil stone. About £30 at Axminster.

This Rider guide is a copy of the Eclipse guide.
These diamond stones are fine. we’ve used them for a while.

OK excellent thanks.

Sharpening:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252593551078?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Guide:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Veritas-Honing-System-Guide-for-Planes-Chisel-Blades-/190837750931?hash=item2c6ed0fc93:g:db4AAMXQs~ZRjhS2

Not books: waterstones

and get a nagura stone off there while you are at it.

I hand sharpen no guide.

Wet and dry paper, a piece of glass and a honing guide.

aka: The Scary Sharp Method

Even I can get chisels and a plane iron genuinely razor sharp.

If you hollow grind, sharpening freehand would be less faff than a honing guide.
I would buy a 300 / 1000 double sided diamond stone
And a 6000 or 8000 Japanese water stone, dependent on your budget.

Workshop heaven do a well priced range of Japanese stones, King stones if I remember rightly
Shapton glass back stones are fantastic, but quite pricey

Which chisels did you buy ?

As above, diamond stone for rough + water stone for finishing 4/6000 is my taste.

Diamond stone from Axminster for £30 is best value you’ll find, I’ve been using mine all year very happily. I use a cheap honing guide but check workshop heaven for nicer ones.

I used to do wet+dry paper but was a faff, this is much quicker and hetter

I have the gadget in Stoners pic and it works ok. I also have the equivalent made by Stanley which runs on two wheels and is more stable with narrow chisel blades. I found it here as part of a kit…

https://stanleytools.co.uk/product/147345

The Veritas guide as mentioned above is excellent. As for whether to use a guide or not, they are your tools and whatever approach gives you the best edge wins.

As for ‘stones’, back in the summer I bought one of the Axminster Ryder diamond stones, a double faced metal block with 1000 & 600 (IIRC) and so far it has been really good as a budget sharpening stone.

As has been said earlier, don’t use a grinder, unless it is one of the Tormek one similar wet stone wheel systems, which are very good for re-establishing an edge.

There’s always a bit of an insinuation that if you use a honing guide you are unskilled or cheating or something, which is silly really.
Quick, repeatable and reliable.

We start our furniture students off with them. Believe me, I’ve seen the results of what a hundred different student’s idea of 30 degrees can do to a shared chisel! 😯

Work Sharp system took the lottery out of it for me. Got one in the sales a few years back but didn’t invest the additional wide blade attachment but still does plane blades with a great edge.

have a look at Paul Sellers on you tube

have a look at Paul Sellers on you tube

😀 Yep they’re great videos, very inspirational, but he hones freehand and makes it look easy!

I’m going to go with a cheap honing guide, Axminster diamond stone and a fine water stone.

Thanks all

I bought a nice 2 sided diamond stone in a non slip holder from my local timber yard. £18 and made by Old Faithfull (make a lot of dirt cheap stuff for the trade that is quite reasonable quality e.g. multitool blades for £4 that have large set teeth so they don’t overheat). I never use a honing guide as it makes it hard to spread the wear over the whole stone and stops you applying welly when you’re in a hurry.

I bought a nice 2 sided diamond stone in a non slip holder from my local timber yard. £18 and made by Old Faithfull

Ooh thank you for that – they’re on Amazon.

Which chisels did you buy ?

Well Father Christmas might be bringing me a set of these, after seeing them at a considerable discount at the Northern Power Tools and Woodworking Show 🙂

There not going to hold an edge for long, thats the problem with the cheaper chisel, hence the price drop

Have a look at Ashley Iles, a bit more money but a far better chisel, easy to sharpen and hold a good edge

Ashley Iles chisels

There not going to hold an edge for long, thats the problem with the cheaper chisel, hence the price drop
Have a look at Ashley Iles, a bit more money but a far better chisel, easy to sharpen and hold a good edge
Ashley Iles chisels

Well thanks for telling me that my Christmas present from the woman I love is no good 😀

Given unlimited funds, we would all buy the best possible of everything. But otherwise, we use what we can afford and enjoy it 😉

That Axminster set looks far better than anything that I, a total amateur, have used. Those Ashley Iles might be vastly superior, they certainly cost a lot more, but would they be suitable for a beginner? You know, the learning curve, mistakes, and all that.

That Axminster set looks far better than anything that I, a total amateur, have used. Those Ashley Iles might be vastly superior, they certainly cost a lot more, but would they be suitable for a beginner? You know, the learning curve, mistakes, and all that.

Yeah – this is just a typical bloke/hobby/equipment thread, with a range of opinions, and very enjoyable for it.

So if I’d said I was getting the Ashley Iles chisels, someone would have come along and said they were no good, and I should have got the Lie-Nielsen ones 😀
…
…
…
Then someone would have come along and said they’ve only ever used Aldi chisels and find them great.

We pick our entry point into the market and go from there.

No insult intended to your nearest and dearest, just passing on a good piece of advice.

The reason the AI chisels are that little bit more is due to the backs being real easy to flatten
And the O1 high carbon steel blades, which again are real easy to sharpen.

So as a beginner you wouldn’t have to spend 4 hours per chisel to prep the backs before you even start sharpening. Only to find the cutting edge folds after the first time you use them.

Yes the Axminster’s are half the price of the AI’s but its a false economy, in reality
you only need 3 chisels to get you started.

A 6mm, 12mm and a 25mm just add more as you need them.

So the cost of 3 chisels you will use daily come to roughly the same price as the budget chisels.

[video]https://youtu.be/ENqMrvsR3q8[/video]

You kept the receipt for the Axminster chisels right ? 😉

Good diamond systems last a long time I had a dmt one that lasted 15 years. I get a year out of cheapo ones but still good value at £10 a pop.
1 grind with fine wheel on bench grinder mostly after heavy abuse
2 bring the back into shape with course grit stone
3 edge angle depends on the wood or blade (my block plane works better at a steeper angle or in my mind it’s better)
4 old leather belt strop for my posh stuff.

Then drop them on the edge of the workshop floor shortly after.

As for chisels marples jellys for nice site work / sandvic black handles for general nail finding although they are nice and stay sharp.
Workshop is marples jellys again and my boxwood marples that are so old they have the old stamp on the blade and where made before he became a dad. So just marples not marples&sons
If I had to buy new it would be Japanese for my workshop

No insult intended

None taken! And I do hear your viewpoint. I’ll see how I go on with the Axminster chisels.

As a slight aside, I do own a 3-pack of very cheap chisels (£5 off Amazon or whatever) and I’ve just spent the last hour chiselling out two blind mortises with them.

They did the job 🙂