If you've seen a fair bit of my work then you'll probably know that despite my love of keeping the tool kit minimal I'm a huge fan of the router plane.And this brings up a common question that I've decided to answer today - How do you keep your router plane sharp? The video above explains my … [Read more...]
How To Sharpen Thick O1 Irons On Oil Stones
You can sharpen owt on the humble old oil stone, but that doesn't mean that you’d want to. In our sharpening trilogy, I go on quite a bit about how your choice of tool will tell you what kind of sharpening method and set up you'll need. I’m very firm on how effective oil stones are, … [Read more...]
The Novelty Of Hand Cranked Grinders
Are hand cranked grinders the toy that we all want to work? Now honestly, I've never had any success with them. I can't make much sense of them as a sharpening tool at all, so perhaps I've never given them a fair trial. I avoid grinders altogether until it comes to that horrible … [Read more...]
Which Sharpening Stones Do You Need?
Fast, Efficient Sharpening. At the Best Price! You’ll find that the cost of your sharpening stones scales with the cost of your tools. More expensive stones won't mean they're better for the job if they're incompatible with the type of steel that you're using. If you’re working with the types of … [Read more...]
Iron Cambers – Optimising Your Hand Planes
To become efficient in anything I find it's much better to specialise rather than use one size fits all. So how can a minimal hand tool kit become anything other than a set up for getting you started? The answer is in understanding your cutting edge. We can use various cutting angles and … [Read more...]
Sharpening Narrow Chisels (the Problem & Solution)
A video version of this post has been added to our sharpening series. All 'Get Sharp' customers can LOGIN to watch now. Or You can Learn More about the Series here. We've all done it. Turned a smashing chisel into a left-handed skew! Getting a 90 degree edge on narrow chisels can be … [Read more...]
Dear Tool Manufacturer…
...why can't you make thick irons laminated? Why is it that my Grandad doesn't grind. My Dad doesn't have a grinder. And up until me buying swanky tools, I never had to grind? Hard steels and thick irons. It's a combination which wasn't found in my Grandad's workshop. And that thick hard … [Read more...]
New Series – Work Faster, Neater & Be In Control!
https://youtu.be/OSEOrttE2Ac Our latest video series is all about sharpening edge tools. But it's not just about getting sharp. It's a detailed yet entertaining look at the perfect edge, right from the very concept of sharpening, through to optimising precisely for a given task. There are 7 … [Read more...]
How Often Do You Regrind?
I don’t normally regrind. It's something I've always reserved for when setting up old tools or re-setting knackered edges. But since moving to water stones for my sharpening (I'm still on with that water stone experiment), my usual methods have somewhat let me down. I will talk about them soon, … [Read more...]
Testosterone Free Sharpening
We all need sharp tools. Sharpening is an odd subject because if you can't do it, it seems mysterious. And if you can do it, some become so loyal to their method that they would fight to the death to defend it. Often trying no other method As you may know I have my own strong opinions on … [Read more...]