Steve Sawyer wrote:I haven't tried that new PM-V11 tool steel that Lee Valley has been offering. Very $pendy but looks interesting. They claim that it's no harder to sharpen than A2 but is more durable.
I had not heard of this. Thanks for the link and I'm reading about it now.
" Time spent sharpening is time not spent on revenue-producing activity."
One of the few times I might disagree with Todd. Sharp tools make fewer mistakes and save time. But I'm with Bob Gramann and eschew the fancier sharpening systems, "grind" blades on a belt sander, use sand paper, a few old oil stones, and a Makita motorized stone I picked up cheap at the flea market. I have more chisels and planes than I use, and sharpen them when I want to screw off and contemplate life's mysteries.
I have been using diamond paste for the last 6 months for chisels, plane irons, spoke shave blades and cardscrapers and love the speed and low cost of this "system". The diamond paste comes from a seller on aliexpress and 6 syringes with 5 gms each of different grits was ~$8.00 including shipping. I use a few small pearls of paste (~.5gram) on a piece of copy paper spring clamped on top of a piece of MDF. I have 28, 14, 7 and 3 micron paste and use green polishing compound for the final polish and each one gets its own piece of paper. I apply the pearls of the paste about 2 inches down from the top of a piece of copy paper and about an inch in from one of the long edges of the paper. As I pull the blade backwards towards me I keep the paste in a ~2 inch wide stripe along the long edge of the paper. The diamond takes a while to break down if I relax and let it do its job lasts me 4-5 sessions before more is needed. Using copy paper prevents dishing of the substrate and allows multiple uses of the same smear of paste. The white paper starts to show steel particles on the first trip back towards you and cuts quickly on my mix of A2, PM-V11 and O1 blades. When the stripe is completely black it's time to rotate the paper 180 degrees and use the other long edge with fresh paste. When that edge is used up the paper goes in the trash and a clean piece is included in the rotation. I'm using about twice as much of the 7 and 3 micron paste than the others as I don't use the coarser grits every time.
For card scrapers I'm using a paint scraper with piece of 1/8 inch square carbide mounted vertically in a vise. I lay the scraper face down on the bench and square the edge against it. I smooth any ragged face corners by smoothing them on the coarse diamond paste/paper/mdf and then burnish and turn a burr.
For carving knives I use green compound on a strop made out of mdf with 5lb strap leather glued to it. If a bevel gets rounded the diamond paste/mdf/copy paper system makes quick work of re-establishing it.
I love disagreements, Clay - it's central to getting better methods and results - so thanks!
If the choice is dull or sharp, I prefer sharp...but the choice with so many good options is really more either 'sharp fast' or 'sharp slow.' I like sharp fast because I am very, very time-constrained, with an seven day, 96 hour work week the norm, so that's the nature of my recommendations. Any system that needs a half dozen grits or disks to hone and a swipe on a strop is too slow for me. I usually have a dozen serious repairs going on and 3-4 new guitars under construction, plus one or more students, so if it takes much more than a minute to get a good edge back on a tool, I start looking for other options. The two stone system (diamond and 8000 waterstone reflects the end result of that impatience, but I also recognize that for most folks here, this is a hobby, so anything that goes along with it is probably an element of the pleasure derived from building.
Todd Stock wrote:I love disagreements, Clay - it's central to getting better methods and results - so thanks!
If the choice is dull or sharp, I prefer sharp...but the choice with so many good options is really more either 'sharp fast' or 'sharp slow.' I like sharp fast because I am very, very time-constrained, with an seven day, 96 hour work week the norm, so that's the nature of my recommendations. Any system that needs a half dozen grits or disks to hone and a swipe on a strop is too slow for me. I usually have a dozen serious repairs going on and 3-4 new guitars under construction, plus one or more students, so if it takes much more than a minute to get a good edge back on a tool, I start looking for other options. The two stone system (diamond and 8000 waterstone reflects the end result of that impatience, but I also recognize that for most folks here, this is a hobby, so anything that goes along with it is probably an element of the pleasure derived from building.
That makes perfect sense, Todd. We need to be hyper-productive in our money-making work. Every second saved on something done thousands of times results in huge time savings. In my day job I've worked for years to develop an efficient way to create the materials I use. For my hobbies I am not so efficient yet. My budget is low and I can't try many options. I have to use what I have on hand and make due. Getting tips from you pros is great, though, and I appreciate your input. You point me in the right direction and that's worth a lot. I'm getting closer every time I go to my shop. Even if I have a day of frustration it helps me get further along.
I've been away for quite some time but am starting to have some free time again (the high cost of getting by). Anyway here is an option that I have in my shop, a CBN wheel on a hand cranked grinder. I originally had the wheel mounted to an electric grinder, it cuts very fast and most importantly very cool. Unfortunately my bench grinder doesn't have a dedicated bench and I have to take time to set up a workmate to use it. The hand grinder I can clamp most anywhere.
