# Home made chisel honing jig



## WHWoodworking

New to the forum and did a search for this topic, didn't find much. Has anyone made their own honing jig for chisels? I bought one of those $12 single-wheeled things but of all the chisels I own, it doesn't clamp any of them. I've looked at the Blum sharpening box and not a bad idea, something similar could be built. I also need a jig to sharpen 4" jointer knives. Not just a matter of being cheap (which I kinda am) but I like building jigs, figuring things out on my own.

Any idears appreciated.


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## WHWoodworking

Wow, 152 views and no replies... I take that as a "No"? :no:

I did find the link for the jointer/planer knife jig, gonna build one for jointer, one for planer. http://www.superwoodworks.com/Projects/JKnifeJig.htm Guess I'll just have to keep rackin my brain for a chisel jig design. If I come up with something, I'll post it.


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## thegrgyle

*I got the worksharp system.....*

and I have been very happy with it..... I happened to come across the Worksharp system when a local Sears was going out of business, and got it for 30% off. Couldn't pass it up.

So far, I have only sharpened my chisels, but they end up with a mirror finish, and are VERY sharp. I was a little leary of the whole "sandpaper" disc sharpening the chisels, but have not had a problem with them losing their edges, from what I can tell. I am fairly new to using chisels, but I think they have held their edges for along time.


I also have since bought the Knife sharpening attachment, and like it for my knives I use at work, as well as our steak knives.

I realize this may not answer your question, but it is a reply :blink: 

Hope it helped.

Fabian


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## CNYCarl

WHWoodworking said:


> Wow, 152 views and no replies... I take that as a "No"? :no:
> 
> I did find the link for the jointer/planer knife jig, gonna build one for jointer, one for planer. http://www.superwoodworks.com/Projects/JKnifeJig.htm Guess I'll just have to keep rackin my brain for a chisel jig design. If I come up with something, I'll post it.


Repeat after me: you cannot build an accurate tooling jig out of wood. It might work today, but if the moisture content shifts, it won't work as well tomorrow.

I've seen several homebrew chisel honing schemes that involve glass plates and triangular chisel holders to produce a razor edge. I'm sure they work, but I've never needed a chisel that sharp.


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## firemedic

I built this to improve on the one wheel diswonder as you mentioned nd it works very well for irons. Won't work for a chisel but it could have just as easily been guilts to accommodate them instead.

~tom ...it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt...


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## Pirate

I made the jig in the picture, to do a basic grind, using my belt sander, on yard sale chisels.


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## BWSmith

CNY Carl,I sort of agree with you and sort of don't.

Wood vs metal tooling-yes metal wins almost everytime.BUT,that dosn't mean a whole lot on some tooling.A honing quide kinda fits into that category.Further,we have a climate controlled shop so moisture issues are held positively in check(ha).Which IMO is a direction that makes a whole lot of sense if a craftsman is wanting to chase close tolerances with wood.........WAY moreso than a machineshop.To the point that comparing the two environments is a blow.

The second point or slight disagreement is on sharpness......I simply can't get enough in woodworld.Maybe that comes from bowhunting?.....naw,it comes from working with handtools professionally for 40 years or so.Its quite simple....when you're working "piece work",the sharper you start with the longer the interval between touch-ups.Since we're being paid on a,what you produce standpoint this ain't no small matter.Thats a plane,chisel or handsaw.And yes there's still folks who make a living wielding these tools.

To OP.....I'm a hollow grinder kind of guy.To the point that don't/won't even consider NOT doing it that way.Some folks are,some aren't.........one things for sure,on a properly hollow ground chisel you sort of don't need a honing guide.The secondary bevel is so bloomin narrow that anything but the slightest of touches on a bench stone is wasting time and setting up for error.But hey,thats me.We call it stupid sharp....which might be a source of confusion.......How about protocol sharp?What these two terms mean is:you touch it,you're gonna get cut.So protocol would be,"uhhhh don't touch it".See if this link works.....BW


http://antiquetools.com/sharp/index.html


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## tcleve4911

That was a very nice read on sharpening 101
Thanks for posting that BW


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## Pirate

Pirate said:


> I made the jig in the picture, to do a basic grind, using my belt sander, on yard sale chisels.


I follow this with the Worksharp 3000. Even I can sharpen a chisel on that!


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## CNYCarl

BWSmith said:


> CNY Carl,I sort of agree with you and sort of don't.
> 
> Wood vs metal tooling-yes metal wins almost everytime.BUT,that dosn't mean a whole lot on some tooling.A honing quide kinda fits into that category.Further,we have a climate controlled shop so moisture issues are held positively in check(ha).Which IMO is a direction that makes a whole lot of sense if a craftsman is wanting to chase close tolerances with wood.........WAY moreso than a machineshop.To the point that comparing the two environments is a blow.
> 
> The second point or slight disagreement is on sharpness......I simply can't get enough in woodworld.Maybe that comes from bowhunting?.....naw,it comes from working with handtools professionally for 40 years or so.Its quite simple....when you're working "piece work",the sharper you start with the longer the interval between touch-ups.Since we're being paid on a,what you produce standpoint this ain't no small matter.Thats a plane,chisel or handsaw.And yes there's still folks who make a living wielding these tools.
> 
> To OP.....I'm a hollow grinder kind of guy.To the point that don't/won't even consider NOT doing it that way.Some folks are,some aren't.........one things for sure,on a properly hollow ground chisel you sort of don't need a honing guide.The secondary bevel is so bloomin narrow that anything but the slightest of touches on a bench stone is wasting time and setting up for error.But hey,thats me.We call it stupid sharp....which might be a source of confusion.......How about protocol sharp?What these two terms mean is:you touch it,you're gonna get cut.So protocol would be,"uhhhh don't touch it".See if this link works.....BW


You're making my point on wood vs. metal because most of us don't have tight environmental control of our shop. 

Regarding 'stupid sharp'- one of the neat things about working in a machine shop is the access you have to high-magnification inspection tools. It is truly amazing how fast a chisel (or any blade) with an ultra-sharp honed edge wears down-with several inches of use, the fine edge is gone- after that, the edge holds a profile for quite some time. The simple truth is a very fine edge- no matter how it's made- isn't structurally very strong and will soon break up into dust-sized little chips. Spending hours honing chisels is a huge waste of time, IMHO.
This applies to any cutting tool- after I sharpen my German kitchen knives I polish them with the steel (the rod thing good knife sets come with- it smoothes the edge and removes any burrs) and then wash them to remove any dust. 
Hollow grinding wood chisels isn’t a bad idea if you follow with a quick de-burring using a stone: hollow grinding is easy to do by hand (or with minimal jigging) and you can QC your work by eye or with low-power magnification.


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