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As is often the case, sharpening is a very divisive and polarising woodworking subject. For the record, I don't mind how anyone gets a good edge. If you are happy in your work and everything is going well, you've nailed it.
However, I must make something clear. You don't need to immediately purchase lots of sharpening media and gadgets unless you want to. It's very likely that going to a maximum of 1000# grit will have you covered.
This can be done with a Fine Norton India and strop, a waterstone, diamond plate etc. It really doesn't matter. Every sharpening method makes a mess, just find which mess suits you best.
I have no interest in discrediting others with a different approach to my own. But I am fully entitled to share my experience. If it benefits you, great. If it doesn't, that's equally fine. I'm not here to convert you or have you buy my tools from my shop or use my affiliate links.
One of the major errors of beginners is to avoid coarse media when it's needed. It's easy to assume that if you have a very fine sharpening stone that everything else just falls into place. But you must use a sharpening media at a level that removes all the wear and tear from your edges.
I'm also not here to pretend that a Bailey and a Norton is a short cut to skill. If you are blind enough to dismiss the most successful plane ever made and sharpening media that has been used successfully is a slap dash approach, I won't be able to make you see.
Then there's the cost. Here's and option you could go with, and it's a decent option but not one I'd pick.
Shapton Glass Stone 16000# £172
A Dia Flat Lapping Plate £242
A 1000# Diamond Plate £70
A high end honing guide £179
A high end smoothing plane £450
Total £708
If you have that money, great! Please bear in mind you will need more tools, a workbench. Oh and some wood.
So for a lot of people a £20 Stanley that for 99.99% of woodworkers 99.99% of the time will be just as good as ANY plane. So too sharpening to 1000#grit.
Ultimately, be happy in your shop. Make something and have fun. Time waits for no one.
I'm happy that these superfine grits are available. Some feel they are essential, I have no problem with that. But even relatively modern texts such as Enerst Joyce's "The Technique of Making Furniture" revised by the late great Alan Peters suggest a 1200# to 1600# waterstone is just perfect. It also mentions Norton India stones and does not dismiss them.
16 окт 2024
