# What do I need to lap chisels fastER?



## Thorn495 (Feb 28, 2014)

I got some new honing jigs this week and am re-doing a bevel on a skew of mine. It sure is giving me a work out. I'm using a Trend 300 grit diamond plate. This has been taking me all night to get the bevel flat and uniform. Is there an easier, faster way of achieving this? Maybe a much coarser diamond stone? Just something to get things flat and straight before taking things to the finer stones and polishing/stropping stages.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Honing a chisel is pretty much like sanding wood. If you start with a too fine grit it takes longer and the results aren't nearly as good. Start with a coarse and gradually work your way to fine. After honing I use a piece of leather attached to a piece of 1x4 pine. I also load the leather down with a jeweler's rouge.


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## Thorn495 (Feb 28, 2014)

Steve Neul said:


> Honing a chisel is pretty much like sanding wood. If you start with a too fine grit it takes longer and the results aren't nearly as good. Start with a coarse and gradually work your way to fine. After honing I use a piece of leather attached to a piece of 1x4 pine. I also load the leather down with a jeweler's rouge.


But I mean, how can you rough shape something flat without honing forever? What I have to work with is a Trend 300/1000 diamond plate and I got a set of Shapton stones for Christmas (500, 2000, 16000) along with a leather strop and a Veritas compound to put on it.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Well, you could build a belt grinder if you want it to go really fast. If that's not an option, get the coarsest stone you can and go at it. You'll be finished slightly before the heat death of the universe, but its about the fastest way that's commonly available. 

Of course, you could use a bench grinder, but then you'd end up with a hollow-ground chisel, and that's just wrong


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*hand lapping ....*

Get a 12" piece of marble, plate glass, aluminum, even hardwood plywood and spray glue down some wet/dry pieces or strips in 180, 240 and 320 grits about 3" wide. Start at the coarse end and work you way to finer using mineral spirits as the lubricant. Flush the surface with a spray bottle or brush dipped in the solvent. Do this all inside a cookie sheet to contain the solvent. 

This guy uses Simple Green as the lubricant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ70uQzKZ6E


I don't use a grinding wheel on a grinder. I use a belt sander with a fine grit belt for most of my sharpening:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbkkXewtUKQ


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Thorn495 said:


> But I mean, how can you rough shape something flat without honing forever? What I have to work with is a Trend 300/1000 diamond plate and I got a set of Shapton stones for Christmas (500, 2000, 16000) along with a leather strop and a Veritas compound to put on it.


For one thing you don't really hone flat forever. The chisel preforms better if it's hollow ground and only the tips are polished to a cutting edge. Over time from use and honing the edge will just get too blunt. When they get that way I usually try to grind them up to the honed edge without getting into the honed edge. I still go back to a medium or coarse stone but it's easier if you don't have a burr on the edge. Although sometimes it's better to have chisel more blunt if you are cutting a very hard wood like oak. Then it's possible to completely bend over a thin cutting edge of a chisel if you have one ground and sharpened for soft wood.


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## Maylar (Sep 3, 2013)

You mentioned a skew - is this a turning tool, or a flat chisel?

For a flat chisel you only have to flatten the back once. Progressive grits of wet-dry on a reference plate as already mentioned. Final polish on your stones.

For a skew chisel, a bench grinder is the way to go. Grind the bevels then hone with your stones.


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## Thorn495 (Feb 28, 2014)

Maylar said:


> You mentioned a skew - is this a turning tool, or a flat chisel?
> 
> For a flat chisel you only have to flatten the back once. Progressive grits of wet-dry on a reference plate as already mentioned. Final polish on your stones.
> 
> For a skew chisel, a bench grinder is the way to go. Grind the bevels then hone with your stones.


Yea, it's a turning chisel. I wanted to try it without the hollow grind since I've been playing with honing and got a Veritas skew registration jig for my honing guide. Things aren't that exact using my bench grinder. I guess the tool rests aren't set perfect or the wheels aren't balanced enough. I noticed different angles about 5 degrees of difference at each end of the beveled area. I do have a bench grinder jig for my skews that goes on a tool rest to get the right angles and a 180 grit CBN wheel. I mostly use the grinder for rough shaping and try to fine tune with the other stuff.

I also got a cheap set of Cummins wood carving chisels that I've been trying to flatten/straighten up. It's been taking me all day as well. I might look into a belt sander.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I recommend against the belt sander unless things are really bad out of whack ( think second hand planes that have attempted to plane nails ). A belt sander won't match up perfectly with the honing guide and you still have to hone forever.


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## Maylar (Sep 3, 2013)

I'm a fan of a hollow grind on pretty much everything. It saves the drudgery of honing a long bevel, as you are experiencing. All it takes is a solid tool rest at the grinder and a steady hand.


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## Roger Newby (May 26, 2009)

I got a couple of these

http://www.surpluscenter.com/Electr...oner-Motors/225-RPM-115-VAC-MOTOR-10-1134.axd

and made some disks from sink cut outs. Use the formica side for peel & stick abrasive and the MDF side for abrasive paste. Also glue some leather on one for stroping. The low rpm keeps you from burning anything up but is still faster than just doing it by hand. Make as many disks as you need and label them with the grit. I'm lazy and my arm gets tired.


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## Thorn495 (Feb 28, 2014)

I ended up getting a Ryobi 4x36 belt/disc sander from HD. I used it on a few chisels in this cheap set that weren't straight/flat at all and it worked out pretty well. It got them all closer to flat in a jip' than using a stone. After using the belt sander, I went to the diamond stone and it took less than 5 minutes each to get them flat. Saved a lot of time for me. : P

Now I'm looking into different belts for sharpening. I see they have some in 400, 600, 800 and even 1,000 grit on amazon for much cheaper prices than I could get at a store. Right now I only have an 60, 80, 120 grit.


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