Rockler sells a simple kit to get you're started if you think the sandpaper method is right for you: www.rockler.com/plate-glass-sharpening-system-fine?sid=AFN86 And if you need some really inexpensive chisels, try these Amazon Basics chisels: amzn.to/2WRH8e6
Wow. I must have watched 20 chisel sharpening videos, many by so called experts in this. Some videos in excess of 20 minutes. But yours is without doubt the best I have seen. And all this in under 6 minutes. Including that excellent pose showing the correct body position - can't remember when last I laughed so much. Absolutely love you videos. Master!
I thought the same thing!!! I've seen so many sharpening videos... Marc gets right to the meat of it and makes it approachable to the common guy without adding any unnecessary extra info or fluff!
I love this method and use it all the time. 2 tips- Get a can of 3M super77 spray adhesive to hold down the paper, it works much better than tape. If you go to your local granite counter shop, they have small pieces of polished granite cutoffs in the dumpster that work great for sharpening.
Have rewatched the body posture scene 8 or 9 times. Your facial expression is absolutely priceless. You have a second career awaiting you as a comedian!!!!
This is a great way to learn how to sharpen. I've taught many young finish carpenters using this exact set up. As far as body position, you need to point your toes a little more on the elevated foot #comeon 😜
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Thank you for your very simple and easy to follow directions. I've never sharpened my chisels because I thought it was too hard. I am now going to follow your method and it should help me a lot in my beginning woodworking.
I've been using Scary Sharp for years....8.5x3" strips of sandpaper adhered to a glass panel with low-tack adhesive and a Veritas Mk.2 honing guide. I use about 8 different grits of sandpaper though, 80 through 2000. That way I can look at the edge, figure out how coarse I need to start, then maybe 15-20 quick passes on each grit in rapid succession gets things razor sharp in just a minute or two. One thing I do when flattening the back of a blade is to angle the tool maybe 30 degrees backwards on the first grit, then 30 degrees forward on the next, and repeat the pattern. Makes it super easy to tell when you've sanded away the scratches from the previous grit
And if you do go with stones, spend a little extra and get a diamond stone, like the double sided ones from DMT. They'll always be ready to use and you don't have to buy extra stuff like a flattening stone. Plus, they last forever.
surface bonded diamond stones do wear out over time. i haven't used mine too much but it used to be nicer. i think the best option would be a fairly hard ceramic stone it doesn't need much work to keep flat and they tend to be sort of cheap.
@@FearsomeWarrior I've used enough sharpening thingy to know when one become dull and diamond stone do eventually get there. Some are more prone to that DMT are on the good size although not the best in the market, but saying it "last forever" is simply a false statement. Even DMT marketing say it last for "years" not decade or century and certainly not "forever". But hey the stone a use the most are shapton "soft" water stone, i got them for about 8years of heavy use (including frequante flatening) and the 1000 (the one I spend the most time on) still has about half of it's thickness left. So we are about on the same scale you see
@@lolaa2200 I’m partial to DMT because I’ve used them for a few decades sharpening alpine skis. I’ve been tempted to try the Trend diamond plates to compare them to the DMT.
This is one of those videos where I watch it and think "That's so simple, yet so genius. Why the hell didn't I think of that?" Thanks for the share, this is a perfect solution for my current needs.
I use the Scary Sharp system, but the one I’ve bought (in the UK) uses 3M micro finishing and lapping film and it’s been absolutely fantastic. When I got into woodworking 3 years ago, I bought some water stones and diamond stones, but I just couldn’t get on with them. Once I started to use the Scary Sharp system, I got the results I wanted/needed. I may go back to diamond stones again in the future (Atoma or DMT), but for now, I’m happy just using the finishing film since it works so well. Great video, Mark. Quick and simple.
A large floor tile is a cheap and easily gotten alternative to a sheet of glass. I use 5 grits and a strop. With practice, I spend longer setting up my guide than I do sharpening.
I loved the glass idea, I use plywood and I think glass will be far more better. I have to say John is good actor too, he looked really scared in the end🤣. Thanks for sharing.
One other issue with using a stone is that you have the have the equipment to dress/level the stone. In my experience, this is especially an issue with water stones.
I’ve been using this method for years. I have a 9x12x1/2” glass and sandpaper up to 5,000 grit but rarely go over 2,000. Also, the top of a table saw works as good as glass and you can get all the different pieces of sandpaper down at the same time.
You deserve credit for your girt choice. 320 and 1000. Shape your blade, sharpen you blade. It's the Ak-47 of grit choices, no pretentiousness, no romanticism. Just pure unadulterated functionality.
OMG 🤣🤣🤣 that's why my chisels and plane irons aren't Scary Sharp! I'm not using the correct body posture position!!! HAHA 😂! Plate glass and wet or dry! Simple and easy. Great info!👍
I used this when I 1st started and it builds confidence cheaply, but.......it sucks for knives. Just get a set of diamond stones (300, 600, 1000) a 2 sided wet stone (4000/8000) and a strop. For the hobbyist, this will last most of a lifetime and every single smooth blade that could possibly be owned can be sharpened.
Plenty of RU-vids site this. Basically the projection of the blade out from the guide sets the angle. Marc's guide shows the amount of projection for 25 and 30 degrees, for chisels or for plane blades. Take a board, use a metric rule, mark the distance from the edge of the board, and attach a stop block inset that much distance from the edge. Next time you want to set your chisel out planned blade to that angle, place the tool loosely in the jig, butt the guide against the edges of the board, slides the tool to butt up against the stop. Tighten the screw on the guide and go to town. FWIW, I put both 25 and 30 degree stops for chisels on one end of the boards, and the same for plane blades on the other. Normally when I sharpen, I grind my bevel to 25 degrees and hone to 30 degrees. Set to 30 degrees I hone just the tip with 1000 grit followed by 8000 grit.
I hated using a honing guide like that one although mine was cheap and it showed. IT mostly just messed up chisels and was a very big pain to try and get them in there. I have yet to use it but got the Veritas delux guide so hoping I get much better results with the $$ spent on this honing guide.
I got similar results with that style of honing guide. The only useful thing to come from it was the fact it forced me to learn to freehand sharpen fixing all my irons and chisels.
I'v tried the cheap one, i'v tried the fix for the cheap one, i'v tried the veritas supper dupper shmig and never was i able to have an edge square to the side of the chisel, it's always slightly skewed. I bought the veritas because that's the one lot youtuber where commanding back in the days (product placement ? Marc tell the truth) but it's actually more complicated than good in my opinion, the roller has lot of play (aka not rolling flat) so no matter how precise the tuning little thingy the operation is never that precise. So i returned to hand sharpening and it's actually more accurate where it's really needed, just take a little practice. So yes by hand you don't have a precise number to give about the exact bevel angle. But who really care about that ? Certainly not the wood. Anyway if the edge is skewed the effective cutting angle also shift so ...
Im surprised you skipped the most important part, buffing // polishing // stropping. I make native flutes and if the chisel is not crystal mirror buffed, it tears micro grain. Stropping produces bullet proof edges that dull at a fraction of the speed of say even 10,000 grit edges. A simple piece of leather is all thats need to avoid sand paper. If you strop every few uses, you never need to sharpen.
It's not the fastest method, but sure is the cheapest method for the short and medium term. But Mark's right the biggest thing is to pick a system, stick with it, AND KEEP IT ACCESSABLE so you actually use it when you need it. Seen too many people who continue to work with dull tools rather than take a break to sharpen because their gear is strewn about or buried/hidden.
A stone never stays flat long... you end up with a groove somewhere. Then you have to flatten the stone with another tool, which itself will develop problems... it never ends. At least with glass+sand paper, you habe two cheap and easily replaceable parts
Ya probably got a solution since you posted this, but in theory it should work fine. If it's one with curved edges you'll need to spin the tool instead of slide it, so the edge is properly shaped of course.
I think scary sharp is a great method and relatively inexpensive to get into. But if you are looking for long-term cost savings, water stones - and if you can afford them, diamond plates - are the way to go.
Is there anything wrong with mixing different sharpening mediums? I.e course diamond plate, 1000 grit water stone and 4000 grit sandpaper? I’m a bit confused when it’s advised to stick with one system? Does that just mean free hand vs guide vs electric device?
One system really just means whatever combination of things gets you from dull to sharp. You can mix up sharpening mediums all you want as long as you know where they lie in the hierarchy of coarse to fine.
I have an old stone that belonged to my grandfather. I would guess it's from the 1930's or earlier. How can I figure out what grit it is? The label is almost completely missing, but it says something about an eagle so that's no help determining the grit.
What about the side edges. I bought some chisels for my son and they have course streaks on sides. If you remove them the width of the tool has changed , gotten smaller so a 1/4 inch chisel will not be 1/4.
I wouldn't worry about the sides at all. If they are really rough and it bothers you, go ahead and smooth it a little. As for the width changing, that won’t change it any considerable amount.
Best tip i can give on sharpening ? STROP !!! Seriously i sharpen my blades about once a year, maybe less, but then i strop every 1-2hours of use (you feel when you need to, that's the point when the chisel start to feel like it felt back in the day when i was not stropping). By the way, don't need super duper shmig piece of unicorn leather hand tanned by a vegan nude maiden a night of full moon. I use just a scrap of 3/4" MDF and it's just perfect.
I remembrer my Grandfather saying that spitting on his stone to smoothly sharpen his chisels was the best lube 😫😝🤮. I never thought using sandpaper, flat glass and, above all, water could do the job even better 😆 ! Sorry Grandpa, Marc's technique suits way better to me! Thanks Marc!
Spit works great on oil stones. It’s the way I learned too. Still works great if your only doing a single thing. I’d say use something else for bigger jobs save yourself the dehydration.
Sharpening isn't the real problem I have, I have gotten great cutting edges just fine using 220, 400, and 600 grit. The real problem is the metal. Most chisels aren't tempered correctly, or are so cheaply tempered, by sharpening, you removed the hardened material, thus loosing all the benefit. Paying 30 dollars a chisel is out of the question. I think I need to look into hardening metal, not sharpening metal.
Old fashioned and out of date . Here’s the modern way. Buy a small belt sander. Order ceramic belts 180 or 240 from the online American company you know the one starts with E. Deerfos/ Norton is ok. Back off blade then sharpen. Ceramic allows you to grind to a thin edge with no heat build up. If that’s not sharp enough make an mdf disc on an old grinder, and use jewellers compound, this will be ridiculously sharp, far beyond what most joiners have ever used. That’s it really.
