Welcome back. As I said in my previous video, today I'm
going to show you how to sharpen our chisels and plane blades. This operation comprises two steps: smoothing
down the tools on a grinding wheel and then sharpening them with stone or sandpaper. But before we begin, we must take the state
of our chisels into account. If they're not jagged or uneven, we can skip
the first step entirely. Here you can see how some of my chisels are
jagged and need to be ground on an emery wheel, whereas some others, such as this one, don't. I'm going to mount the sharpening wheel and
set the speed to 1500 rpm. I'll also change to P220-grit sandpaper, which
will be more than enough. Now I look for the appropriate angle. The contact point between the wheel and the chisel should be slightly above the center of the wheel. Ideally we should record in some way the toolrest's
angle for future sharpening jobs and so that all of our chisels and plane blades have the
same tilt angle. By doing this, besides making sharpening easier
in future, our tools will last longer because we won't wear down the metal so much trying
to find the exact angle every time. This angle is usually at around 30 degrees. This operation requires some practice. In my case, I mark the distance to the wheel
with my right index finger, and with my left thumb I move the chisel back and forth. We could also make a jig to put on the toolrest
to make the job easier, although a little practice should make it unnecessary. With this homemade sharpening wheel, the operation
could take a little longer than if we were to use the standard wheels grinders are equipped
with. However the advantage of using this wheel
with sandpaper is that the metal barely heats up and needn't be cooled down with water to
avoid ruining the metal's temper, which is a concern when using emery wheels. The steps we need to take to sharpen our plane
blades are exactly the same. Every so often, we should make sure the edge
is properly aligned; and when the wheel touches all the cutting edge of the chisel, as we
can see here, it's time for the next step. To sharpen our chisels, we will use a flat
stone slab, although a thick glass sheet could do as well. We could use an oil stone such as this one, with two different types of grit, but these kinds of stones tend to deform over time, making it difficult to obtain good results when sharpening. Besides, water is better suited for lubricating
and washing off metal shavings, whereas oil has the opposite effect. There's also this type, made of metal with
a diamond surface. This can be lubricated with water and works
quite well. However, they are rather expensive and we
would need three or four different grits. That's why, after many years, I decided to
stick with waterproof sandpaper. I normally use four grits: P320, P800, P1500,
and finally P2000. Some models are self-adhesive, but failing
that we can use double-sided tape or spray adhesive. First I sand the backside of my chisels with
the P320, using plenty of water for lubrication. Now I place the chisel in the sharpening jig
I built a few days ago. It's important that the chisel be parallel
to the surface of the sandpaper at the appropriate angle. I make a few passes with the P320 grit and
check whether the sharpening jig is set up correctly, which seems to be the case. The sandpaper is touching the entire edge,
and logically, there is a point with no contact in the middle due to the curvature of the
sharpening wheel. Having made sure everything is working properly,
the process can continue. About 30 passes with each grit should be enough. And at the end, a few passes with the finest
grit on the backside of the chisel. Once the jig has been adjusted, the process
is quite fast. You can sharpen one chisel per minute. Here you can see a properly sharpened chisel. The process is the same for plane blades and
narrower chisels. All that's left is to run a few tests. Nothing like starting a project with chisels
honed to perfection!