Yes! Last year I bought a WorkSharp WS3000 and first tried it out on my inexpensive Harbor Freight chisels and I could shave the hair off of my arm. I highly recommend the sharpener.

Mike

 

Currently available at Amazon.com: Work Sharp WS3000 Wood Tool Sharpener: Home Improvement

However, with a simple jig, you should be able to do it on an oilstone without spending that much. Chisel Sharpening Jig or Buy Chisel and Plane Blade Sharpening Guide at Woodcraft.com

There is a jig for a D/E grinder at Amateur Woodworker: Sharpening Jig

However, unless your chisels are really b******d up, you really only need a honing guide like Buy Honing Guide at Woodcraft.com

Cheers

Peter

 

Boy, you are opening a can of worms... Here is a long and rambling post that might give you some ideas or just might drive you off to buy some do-all gadget and be done.

I've been using the "scary sharp" or sandpaper method for a while and I'm transitioning into using water stones (IceBear brand, good stuff and less expensive than Norton or other Japan stones). The water stones are a bit more expensive but except for needing to rehab a seriously beat up chisel, I've found them to be faster and less mess than the sand paper. Still a little mess on the bench but not like cleaning up the overspray from sticking down the paper or the metal filing dust.

In general for western style bench chisels, all the sharpening methods will tell you do first flatten the back of the chisel. The whole back doesn't have to be flat, really just the 1/8" to 1/4" down at the business end. Work through the grids/grades of your system of choice until the back is flat and shiny and free of scratches (again, the last 1/4" is really the important part). Next you can either hollow grind or skip the hollow grind. The thing about hollow grinding is that you have less material to remove later with the finer grits and it does make it easier to balance the chisel if holding by hand to sharpen.

The WS2000/3000 does not require hollow grinding (can't do it anyway) and some of the other powered machines don't. I've started hollow grinding and I like it because once done, it isn't necessary again until the chisel has been well used (abused) and it does seem to speed up the later sharpening steps. The speed increase is because you will have only two small edges of the chisel in contact with the honing surface instead of the whole bevel. Less metal to remove so quicker to get through the grit/grade.

Also, you can pick the bevel angle at this time. The average bench chisel is probably around 30 degrees. A good compromise angle. Steeper holds an edge better letting you chop harder. Shallower for paring cuts (say 25 or even 20 degrees) but the edge won't stay as long.

Don't fret getting the bevel exactly at 30.00000. 29 is fine, 31 is fine, etc. Lots of ways to set the bevel, I just give it a quick check with a protractor and then proceed by eye. The key is to have only one facet after honing (unless you are doing microbevels... did I mention a can of worms is involved here!

Seriously, I suggest you google around for the scary sharp method and watch some of the videos at Fine Woodworking, Wood Magazine and on YouTube. You don't have to go nuts making jigs and stuff. Some hardware store float glass and a piece of MDF make a useable sharpening station. Get some wet dry from the auto parts store, up to 1500 or 2000 and have a few sheet of the grades in between down to maybe 80. The really course ones you'll only use once or twice.

Mineral Oil works well as a lube for the swarf, as does water or even WD-40.

As to a honing guide, that is a personal choice. I started with one, about a $40 job so middle of the road in quality and I've stopped using it except for my 1/8" chisel because I can hold by hand and get done quicker. The 1/8" gives me trouble keeping it straight so I still use the guide.

A good sharp chisel or plane blade makes a WORLD of difference!

 

Boy, you are opening a can of worms... Here is a long and rambling post that might give you some ideas or just might drive you off to buy some do-all gadget and be done.

I've been using the "scary sharp" or sandpaper method for a while and I'm transitioning into using water stones (IceBear brand, good stuff and less expensive than Norton or other Japan stones). The water stones are a bit more expensive but except for needing to rehab a seriously beat up chisel, I've found them to be faster and less mess than the sand paper. Still a little mess on the bench but not like cleaning up the overspray from sticking down the paper or the metal filing dust.

In general for western style bench chisels, all the sharpening methods will tell you do first flatten the back of the chisel. The whole back doesn't have to be flat, really just the 1/8" to 1/4" down at the business end. Work through the grids/grades of your system of choice until the back is flat and shiny and free of scratches (again, the last 1/4" is really the important part). Next you can either hollow grind or skip the hollow grind. The thing about hollow grinding is that you have less material to remove later with the finer grits and it does make it easier to balance the chisel if holding by hand to sharpen.

The WS2000/3000 does not require hollow grinding (can't do it anyway) and some of the other powered machines don't. I've started hollow grinding and I like it because once done, it isn't necessary again until the chisel has been well used (abused) and it does seem to speed up the later sharpening steps. The speed increase is because you will have only two small edges of the chisel in contact with the honing surface instead of the whole bevel. Less metal to remove so quicker to get through the grit/grade.

Also, you can pick the bevel angle at this time. The average bench chisel is probably around 30 degrees. A good compromise angle. Steeper holds an edge better letting you chop harder. Shallower for paring cuts (say 25 or even 20 degrees) but the edge won't stay as long.

Don't fret getting the bevel exactly at 30.00000. 29 is fine, 31 is fine, etc. Lots of ways to set the bevel, I just give it a quick check with a protractor and then proceed by eye. The key is to have only one facet after honing (unless you are doing microbevels... did I mention a can of worms is involved here!

Seriously, I suggest you google around for the scary sharp method and watch some of the videos at Fine Woodworking, Wood Magazine and on YouTube. You don't have to go nuts making jigs and stuff. Some hardware store float glass and a piece of MDF make a useable sharpening station. Get some wet dry from the auto parts store, up to 1500 or 2000 and have a few sheet of the grades in between down to maybe 80. The really course ones you'll only use once or twice.

Mineral Oil works well as a lube for the swarf, as does water or even WD-40.

As to a honing guide, that is a personal choice. I started with one, about a $40 job so middle of the road in quality and I've stopped using it except for my 1/8" chisel because I can hold by hand and get done quicker. The 1/8" gives me trouble keeping it straight so I still use the guide.

A good sharp chisel or plane blade makes a WORLD of difference!

Great sharpening summary... !!
Instead of reading many articles on sharpening..., for a start ^^^ those "summary" will do. :agree: :moil:

 

Hi levon,

I have had about every sharpening device on the market at one time or the other. Last year I settled in with the Worksharp 3000 and have never looked back. Simple, fast and a real no-brainer for folks like me :yes2:

It gets my chisels sharp enough to shave Harry's cat and that is plenty sharp enough for me :sarcastic:

 

thanks to all who answered!

Bob, i thought sooner or later i might hear from you as you are a real wood turner.

i think as hot as it is here, Harry's cat would probably need a shave. cats are great aniamls and they serve a purpose, i just dont know what that purpose is? lol lol

 

Now levon.... I don't use the Worksharp for my turning tools as I use a grinder with the Wolverine system for that task, but everything else gets the Worksharp :dance3:

 

I
ve been using the Makita wet stone for well over 12 yrs, they might not even make it anymore. It get's my chisels very sharp, (hair shaving).

I've never used mine to carve for the sake of carving. Don't carving chisels have long handles like lathe chisels for controlled pushing?

 

I would like to point out the arm shaving trick is really just a gimmick. You can shave the hair off your arm with what is really a pretty dull chisel.

A good test of sharpness is how easily you can pair end grain on a soft, sloppy piece of pine or poplar. If you can create a whisper thin shaving, the full width of your chisel with just light, guiding pressure of your hands, it is a sharp chisel.

A dull chisel will catch in end grain and chatter across it. A sharp chisel, even one with a steep bevel angle will pare end grain easily.

 

Rob is 100% correct as to chisel sharpness. You can sharpen just about any chisel to "shaving" sharpness. The question is; how long will it stay that way? If you have a set of inexpensive (read cheap) chisels they will not hold an edge for any time at all because of the soft steel used in manufacture. The edge will likely roll on the first use.

 

I have settled on a green Tormek water wheel with jigs. I also use diamond stones. I have a beard and hairy arms. But my tools are sharp. All my wood lathe tools are HSS and they really cut and give a good finish. My plane blades are Japanese laminated steel, and they are really sharp and longlasting.

 

Just for the record most of my hair shaving chisels can shave end grain pine. 1" and up won't do it. Currently 3 of my 9 hammer chisels in the shop are ready for sharpening, after reading the last posts in this thread I went down took the 3/8 with nicks in it and shaved an end grain strip close to 3/4" long of white pine. Not comparable to a plane strip, (uneven) but solid.

I made an 1/8" chisel out of a standard screw driver many yrs back and it shaves end grain pine.

 

PUSHING a 1" chisel through endgrain is pretty tough, but a sweeping paring cut should be easy.

A really sharp chisel can make a whisper thin (ie controllable) cut with very little effort behind the handle. Yes, you can push a dull chisel through but the key is the word "PUSH". A very sharp edge takes very little effort.

The take home from this or any sharpening discussion should be to pick a method (scary sharp, WS, Tormek, stones, combination of these) and stick with it for a while. They all have a certain degree of skill involved (even the Worksharp but seemingly less so) in getting good, useable edges. We all have our personal idea of acceptable sharpness. And in the end, it isn't so much about how sharp the chisel is but what the end product is like. I bet you can make a perfectly wonderful mortis or dovetail even if the end of your chisel is more than one atom thick.

My goal is more to become proficient and restore an edge quickly so I don't feel I'm wasting time. I have the chisel out because I want to use it on the wood, not fuss hours sharpening it.

 

I too have the WS 3000 one of the best investments I have made it works great. Easy to use and the results are marvelous.

 

I did a write up on the scary sharp method. At least my version of it.
http://www.routerforums.com/tools-woodworking/5692-sharpening-your-tools.html

 

Excellent presentation well done!

 

Agreed, I have little experience with carving, most of it yrs ago when I 1st got into the trade, the 1st couple water bed frames I did were based on wooden ship bunks my 1st WB frame had nordic ship bunk motif carvings.

Most of my chisel work is in carpentry/framing where chisels are used to get rid of junk not finesse it.

I've done a little veining, and from that meager experience I learned that much of my success was due to the control I had over the gouge as much as its sharpness.