SS sharpening guide

[Ed in Tampa]

I have had my sharpening guide for a number of years and have used it on my lathe tools. The other day I tried using it to sharpen some bench chisles and I can't figure a good way to do it.

The instructions say mount the sharpening guide to your main table and tilt the table 9 degree toward the sanding disk. Then it shows where to place the chisel on it's side in the guide. However the walls of the slot where you place the chisel has a slope which is close to 9 degrees. This slope adds to the slope of the table so when you tilt the table toward the disk the blade of the chisel is about 18 degrees out of parallel with the disk. If you tilt it away from the disk I think slope of the table offsets the slope of the wall of the sharpening guide and places the chisel blade parallel to the disk. When I say parallel to the disk I'm not talking about the cutting bevel but rather that the blade which is on its side is vertically parallel to the sanding disk. You then are to adjust the angle of the guide to get the right cutting bevel. However I don't have chisel long enough to span the gap between guide and sanding disk.

I finally sharpened the chisel holding it to a simple jig I built, but I'm convinced I'm doing something wrong with the sharpening guide.

Has anyone had any luck sharpening bench chisels on the sharpening guide? If so how did you do it?

As I was writting this I wonder if the sanding disk angles are for the conical disk? I didn't think it was but perhaps that is where my problem lies.

Like I said if you have it figured out how about letting me know.
Ed

[ericolson]

I got the sharpening guide for the specific purpose of sharpening my bench chisels and was not too happy with the result. Following the directions in both the directions with the guide and PWTFE, I ended up with a couple of skew chisels before I called it quits. Granted, skew bench chisels are great for cleaning up corners, but not what I wanted. I ended up re-grinding them on my bench grinder and honing them on my flat stones.
The directions I followed specified the flat sanding disc.
Anyone else have any ideas?

[reible]

Hi,

I don't have the information in front of me but as I recall there is a limit to how short the chisels can be... maybe like 4-1/2"??? I have one set of Stanley ones which are too short....

You start with the table height I think about 2" above center then tilt the table down towards the sanding disk the 9 deg. Make sure you have the right type sandpaper installed AL oxide (no velco stuff) and the speed set right ... move the headstock over about an 1" way and then set the angle on the sharpener to match the chisel (or what ever you like). Make sure you hold it against the right part of the guide and slide it out to touch and make sure the angles all look right. Good time to darken the edge with a marker then turn the machine on and "grind" a bit and look at what is happening. If you don't like what you see make some adjustments at this point. A small machinest square can help to make sure the edge is square... I have gotten new chisels that were not square so even the companies don't always get it right.

If you have a good set of chisels and what to get them sharp start by polishing the backsides... I use sandpaper on glass plates up to about 2000 grit. I then do the "grind" operation to make sure they are square and have the correct angle. I then polish the cutting edge and keep doing that until I find I've messed an edge up bad enough to require a re-"grind".

General purpose chisels I do the "grind" and then just enough hand work to get the wire edge off and that seems to work fine too.

Anyway just a few thoughts I had.

Ed

[Ed in Tampa]

Hi,

I don't have the information in front of me but as I recall there is a limit to how short the chisels can be... maybe like 4-1/2"??? I have one set of Stanley ones which are too short....

You start with the table height I think about 2" above center then tilt the table down towards the sanding disk the 9 deg. Make sure you have the right type sandpaper installed AL oxide (no velco stuff) and the speed set right ... move the headstock over about an 1" way and then set the angle on the sharpener to match the chisel (or what ever you like). Make sure you hold it against the right part of the guide and slide it out to touch and make sure the angles all look right. Good time to darken the edge with a marker then turn the machine on and "grind" a bit and look at what is happening. If you don't like what you see make some adjustments at this point. A small machinest square can help to make sure the edge is square... I have gotten new chisels that were not square so even the companies don't always get it right.

If you have a good set of chisels and what to get them sharp start by polishing the backsides... I use sandpaper on glass plates up to about 2000 grit. I then do the "grind" operation to make sure they are square and have the correct angle. I then polish the cutting edge and keep doing that until I find I've messed an edge up bad enough to require a re-"grind".

General purpose chisels I do the "grind" and then just enough hand work to get the wire edge off and that seems to work fine too.

Anyway just a few thoughts I had.

Ed


Ed
First your probably right the chisel is probably too short.
However the thing that bothers me is the table tilt. why is the table tilted?
What is the right part of the guide. If I use the slot they picture where should the bottom edge of the chisel be?

I think it should be facing away from me and pressed against the front or leading edge of the slot is that correct? If is it then my problem is my chisel is too short.

Now my next question short of getting the strip sander is there a good way to sharpen my short bench chisels on the SS?
Ed

[reible]

It warm up just a little in the shop today as the outside air reached 41 so I took a few pictures of the setup. Mind you these are just for reference as I might not have all the things set up right on but it should at least give you some idea if we are on the same page here.

Pictures here:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/elv60504@sbcglobal.net/album/576460762387059581

Take a look at the pictures and then if you have questions ask away. Just a few things I want to point out first. The yellow handle chisel are the ones that are too short to work on... the controlling factor is where the flare of the tang starts, the chisel needs to set flat against the guide so you can slide it to the point where the round effects it and see if you have any chisel hanging out the other side to work with. In my case I could if I cheated but after one or two uses they would be to short to work anymore. In the case of the wood handled one the blade is much longer and the tang is made a lot different so a lot of this has to do with what the chisel looks like.........

Also note the angle of the table down towards the sanding disk... and I tried to show that the chisel will be square to the disk and have the correct bevel once you set things up right.

You can also see my two fat fingers method of holding things in place... you can play with how you want to do it but it needs to stay against the guide and still be able to move to touch the disk. The main thing is not getting your fingers sanded off, as in safety first.

Hope this helps a bit,

Ed

[Ed in Tampa]

Ed
Thanks! I was trying to use the other side of the slot because it would allow a shorter chisel, and there just ain't no way to make it work with the table tilted. MY problem is short chisels.

Got any good ideas on how to sharpen short chisels on using the sanding disk on the SS?

Thanks again
Ed

[james.miller]

In an older PTWFE there was a jig for sharpening with the disk sander. It had a small wood base about 7" x 9" with a runner under it for the miter slot. There was a half circle on top of it with a 3/4 x 3/4 piece of wood mounted to the center of the circle that could be adjusted for the desired angle, see attached photo.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

Jim in Tucson

[dusty]

Jim

Does this run in the t-track? If it does, what do you use for t-nuts?