Sharpening tip - Grinding

I recently damaged an edge of one of my go-to chisels. It hit something hard enough to cause a small chip.  Even though I always check all of my wood for foreign objects, there can still be the odd piece of rock or the like, that doesn't show up when using metal detectors.

With the chip, I knew my bench grinder would be the quickest solution, as I likely spend too much time trying to work it out at my water stones. I have a decent sized Craftsman bench grinder that is setup for quick handling of my turning tools, but it takes just a minute to shift it over to handle other edged tools. My grinder is an 8" with adjustable speed, from 1725 to 3450. I've had it for a fairly long time, and were I to buy again, I wouldn't worry about getting the adjustable speed feature. As long as you use a light touch, and wheels that are friable, you'll likely not damage the temper of your tools. I personally like the new Norton 3X wheels.

Since the chip was fairly small, I set the angle of the rest so the wheel makes contact in the middle of the chisel/iron. I work with very light touch and don't try to rush the process. If you take your time, you can easily use a grinder without worry of removing the temper from the steel. I keep contact with the tool with a finger, up close to the working area, so i can feel if I'm starting to overheat the steel.

One tip I want to make sure to share has to do with how I know I'm ready to move on to the next stage of the process. I work the chisel's bevel until I am just a hair's width from the tip, so I don't introduce heavy grooves from the wheel, at the tip. If the damage to the chisel/iron is significant, and not just a minor chip, I change my plans a bit. For these, I change the rest so it is 90 degrees to the wheel. Again, I use a very light slow touch, but with this technique I am ultimately blunting the chisel. I remove as little from the front edge, as possible, to get past the chip. After this is complete, I change the angle of the rest to match my intended bevel angle. As always, I will just take it slow and easy, gradually working up towards the very edge of the chisel. When a hair's width away, I again stop this process, and move to my sharpening stones.

Some ask why I don't take it all the way to the very edge, and I think that's a fair question. The wheels I use, and many use, are usually between a 46 grit and a 120 grit. With the size of that grit, if I grind all the way to the edge, I'll have a lot of extra work on my water stones, to remove the grooves from the wheel's grit. If I stop just before reaching the edge, I can quickly use my water stones to work the tip area, which is all that cuts anyways. It is all personal preference, and if you've already found a different technique that works, I wouldn't change. For those who are either on the fence, having trouble, or just interested to try something new. give this a try and see if it helps your sharpening process, like it did mine.

Feel free to leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Benchcrafted Skraper

I'm not sure how many woodworkers know about Benchcrafted's Skraper. It's a cool tool that does what it sounds like it would, but it's construction is not obvious. It has a nice comfortably sized wooden handle, with a 1/8" thick steel shank attached. It sounds like that could be the end of the construction, but wait, it has a precision ground solid carbide double edge blade on the tip of the steel shank. If you are at all familiar with anything else Benchcrafted builds, you won't be surprised how overbuilt their Skraper is, too.

Benchcrafted Skraper

I've had one of their Skrapers on my workbench for a couple of years. I leave it out in plain sight, so it's readily accessible, since it works so well.

I've used it while building a side table, multiple hand-cut dovetailed boxes and most recently during my not yet complete Les Paul guitar copy. It's amazing how what seems like such a simple design, can be so useful.

If you haven't yet tried one, make sure to stop by the Benchcrafted booth, at one of their hand tool events. I think you'll wonder why you don't have one in your kit.

Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event, April 13 - 14, 2012

Wood World of Texas is hosting the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event this week. Come see (and play with) the full line of Lie-Nielsen tools, and bring your questions for the experts.

They are located at:      13650 TI Boulevard #101
                              Dallas, TX 75243

Stop by and check out Glen-Drake Toolworks, Dowd's Tools and The Heritage School of Woodworking.

Knew Concepts Fret Saws

I've enjoyed making pieces with hand-cut dovetails for many years. When I first started out, I used my chisels to gradually evacuate the wood between the tails and pins. After using this technique on a couple of pieces, I recognized just how much time I seemed to be wasting. I shifted over to using coping saws, but it was hard to find blades thin enough to readily fit down into the kerf left by my dovetail saw. From there, I moved to a fret saw, as they have blades that easily fit into the kerf, but I had a hard time finding any frames that held the blades rigid enough. After snapping blade after blade, I was wondering if there was anything that would do what I needed.

Enter Knew Concepts Fret Saws. I ordered one of their 5" Aluminum versions. I used it for a couple of weeks, and it really surprised me just how well it worked. Not a single broken blade. One of my friends, Chris Schwarz, had one of the 5" Titanium versions, and let me try it, so I could compare the two properly. After using the aluminum version, and with me rating it so high, I didn't think there could be enough difference to warrant the titanium version. Am I glad Chris let me try his saw. The titanium and aluminum versions were like night and day, relating to rigidity, while the weight was very similar. The titanium version is 5.2oz vs. 4.9oz for the aluminum version.  Oh, and for anyone curious, I now have the titanium version in my kit.

Titanium 5" Saw

Aluminum 5" Saw 

It sounds like that would be the end of the story, and I'd have purchased their saws even if there were no additional features, beyond their super rigid frames. But Knew Concepts still have much more to offer. They have a cam-lever that both applies and/or releases the tension on the blade, with a very short throw. Next are the blade clamps, which have three positions: 90 degrees which is oriented like most fret/coping saws, 45 degrees Left and 45 degrees Right. With the 90 degree orientation, a wide board will limit just how far in from the edge it will work, before the distance to the saw frame prevents any further work. The 45 degree orientation allows the blade to cut on the tail shoulder line, while the frame is tilted up enough to prevent it from contacting the board, no matter how wide. With the two different 45 degree settings, it works equally as well for Right-handed as Left-handed woodworkers.

The most recent update is adding exotic wood handles, via Elkhead Tools. They are offering handles made from cocobolo and I have to say they are beautiful. I may just have to add one to my new titanium addition. I guess time will tell.

Cocobolo handle on Aluminum Saw

Let me know if you have any questions.

Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event at Popular Woodworking Magazine, March 30 - 31, 2012

Popular Woodworking Magazine is hosting the Lie-Nielsen event tomorrow and Saturday. If you are in the Cinci area, or can get there quick, you should stop by. Top quality tools, setup and ready to go. Add to that, significant expertise available freely.  Priceless!

Minor(?) disruption

I just wanted to post a quick note for those following my blog. I unfortunately had an acute back situation, that required hospitalization, and that was unrecoverable without immediate surgery.

I'm just getting back home, and hope to have some new content available in the coming days.  I felt compelled to share, so no one thought I'd stopped the blog, nor decided to no longer write.

Cheers,

Lee Laird

The Wood Whisperer needs a little help

Here is a link to Ron Hock's blog, relating to the DDoS attack on The Wood Whisperer, Marc Spagnulo:

http://hocktools.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/the-wood-whisperer-needs-a-little-help/

For those that don't already know, Marc has been sharing enjoyable and informative woodworking information via the web for a number of years. He's a great guy and could use some assistance. It's unconscionable the unwarranted grief someone is causing Marc and his wife Nicole!