How to sharpen my Two Cherries, help pls
webdesigner
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
I bought a set of Two Cherries, they’re beautiful. But, now I have to learn how to sharpen them! They don’t come ready-to-go…yeah, me the rookie. Wishful thinking.
If anyone can tell me how to sharpen my Two Cherries, please let me know.
Don’t have a clue which stones or honing guides to buy!!! 1000, 2000 grit…what brand? Best places to buy these tools?
Must flatten the back side, what?! They came with a nice mirrored finish!
Cheers,
Gary
Replies
If I had two cherries the last thing I would be doing is sharpening them;)
I am sorry I just couldn't resist. I am sure someone will fix you up in no time.
No problem, I set myself up for it!
A good sense of humor is an important asset, we should all laugh a little bit more.Cheers,
Gary
Thanks for being a good sport about it...no doubt my turn will come;)
webdesigner,
Starting out your best and cheapest bet is to go with the 'scary sharp' method ( google for more details). The flat stone you can get at Woodcrafter or (like me) I dumpster dive at a granite counter top maker. The W/D sandpaper you get at the Automotive supply house and the eclypse type honing guide (again, woodcraft) you can buy for about $11.
Hi,
You'll get as many techniques as there are posted replies, so the short answer is that there are many good ways.
Personally I use the Scary Sharp method, where you use Automotive silicon carbide paper on a flat surface such as plate glass (thick) or I use polished marble tiles from the box stores.
Some people use water to temporarily adhere them, but I use Stick-it for the coarse grades and spray glue for the finer ones.
I use 60, 100, 220, 320, 600, 1000, 1500 and 2500. Seems like a lot of steps but once you are done flattening or grinding the bevel on the coarse grits you just work your way up with a half-dozen strokes on each grit. At the end you have a mirror polish. To put a honing bevel (secondary bevel) after flattening and polishing the working end of the back and the grinding bevel, I start at 320 and work up. I finish off by stropping on leather with jewelers rough.
I use a honing guide made by Veritas for the initial bevel grinding and honing, but touch-ups I do by hand.
For the cost of one or two good oil or water stones you can completely outfit yourself. Including the honing guide.
It does take up a lot of space, but I have it permanently set-up so it is most convenient.
At the end of the day most methods can be made to work well, it depends on your resources really.
Good luck with it!
David C
Edit: fixed my durned spelling! Again!
Edited 10/4/2005 10:39 pm ET by DCarr10760
Edited 10/4/2005 10:40 pm ET by DCarr10760
Two excellent books:
Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Sharpening, by Thomas Lie-Nielsen (ISBN #1-56158-657-9)
The Complete Guide to Sharpening, by Leonard Lee (ISBN #1-56158-167-8)
There are numerous sharpening methods that have at least two things in common: (1) Matching the shape (geometry) of the cutting edge to the tool and task at hand; (2) replacing larger scratches (from abrasives) with successively smaller ones until the cutting edge is sharp:two surfaces meeting at an intersection of zero width.
Good luck,
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
I love Two Cherries chisels - I have nine now - just got the 3 mm - great tool! When you ask "how to sharpen?" you'll get a million different opinions but I've never heard anyone say they went wrong with the Leonard Lee book. I've used it to help learn how to shrpen chainsaws, handsaws, twist drills, all kinds of stuff.
The first thing I do with Two Cherries is peel off the label sticker and dip them in a glass jar full of lacquer thinner and peel that lacquer finish right off both the metal and the wooden handle. Then I sand the handle some and finish with a few coats of rubbed in BLO and a couple real light coats of shellac and a little wax. The handle feels smooth and coolish and you can feel the woodgrain. I don't like the factory finish. Once I was using the 26 mm to chop out the pinboards for two cedar blanket chest - about 9 pins each side, as I recall. At that point I thought it important to leave the factory finish as is and leave the little sticker on. After dovetailing all day long, it felt gummy and grimy, like a baby's pacifier that had been gummed and slobbered over all day long - not a good feel for a hand tool. Since then I have always refinished the handle.
From there you get the back flat on the meanest, gnarliest piece of stone or sandpaper you can find.
From there shape the bevel, sharpen, hone, as per your choice of technique - you'll get lots of advice here, and never lack for gizmocity when working the subject of sharpening.
Enjoy your new chisels - they're the best. Make a cabinet for them. Take care, Ed
Gotta agree. Bought a 10mm mortiser coupla weeks back and Scary Sharped it right on up to "mirror". Whooee! Nice. Very nice.
(paid only $35, too - mini-gloat there)
Jason
The most important thing is to flatten the back of the chisel. Man I have used them all,oilstones,water stones, sandpaper,ceramic, they all work. Hell the other day I put a decent edge on a chisel with one of those cheap plastic diamond touch up sticks. But you have to have a flat back to get a consistent edge.
Just another homeowner...
Gary, for a thorough explanation of the scary sharp "method" it is imperative that you go the web site; http://www.shavings.net/SCARY.HTM
Hi Philip,Scary Sharp is the method to explore, but can it be used to flatten the back of the chisel as well? Asking since the stone is raised perfectly for the chisel handle...I guess the glass would work too if it's mounted on the edge of the work bench.Gary
Gary, your guess is correct.But in fact I am not a lover of that S.S method....Philip Marcou
I have used just about all the methods mentioned on this forum and the SS is very good but I got tired of changing the sandpaper out all the time. I was in a class once on tuning planes and the instructor , an "only hand tool" cabinet maker showed us how to sharpen (freehand, no guides, hollow grind) with a diamond stone. I didn't pick up on it until several years later after the waterstones, etc. but today I use a 1100 grit diamond stone followed by a few wacks with an 8000 grit waterstone. This gets me what I need to work with the tools with as little maintenanceto the stones as possible. I like the diamond stone because I don't have to do anything to it and I have to flatten the waterstone infrequently.
Also, I think the question becomes (and the cabinet maker made this point) how sharp do you need to be. You can carry it to the extreme (concededly better) but if you are working regularly with the tools, get them sharp enough to accomplish the work and don't worry about that last "fine tune".
FWIW.
Old post but..
I would never touch the back of those Cherries UNLESS I could 'prove' to myself it needed flattening..
I only have two.. I forget the name of them.. A Right and Left with angles for corners.. GREAT when they needed...
After trying Scary Sharp, a delta wet wheel grinder/sharpener and every other method. I bit the bullet and got one of theses sets. http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32970&cat=1,43072,45936
I also got an 8000 stone and a 1200 stone from LeeValley.
I like it because I have a self contained organized unit that I keep under my bench and pull out for sharpening sessions as needed.
Web,
No right or wrong answers here, I had my eyes on Two Cherries, but the price!
So, for now its Pfeil.
I can tell you what I do:
For a new carving chisel, where the main bevel angles are correct, I go straight to a paper buffing wheel, using white compound, at around 2000 rpm. Fifteen seconds at the most and the carving chips start flying.
For minor surgery, I go to a wet grinder, then back to the buffer. This is not needed very often. Five minutes at the most.
For major surgery, when I need to completely re-shape, I start with a grey grinding wheel at 1500 rpm, then back to the wet grinder and then again the buffer.
The only way to sharpen Two Cherries is to throw them away! If you are to invest in tools do the best you can with what you have. For the price of those chisels you could have gotten more Marples low end chisels and still come out ahead on quality.
ak,
wow, now that's good advice, best I've heard yet.
I suspect this AK fellow may have cut himself when he tried to sharpen one of those chisels....Or maybe he is having a bad hair day.
Philip Marcou
Edited 10/7/2005 2:02 am ET by philip
Reading some of these tool posts, its almost like the culture wars of the old 'cafe' days eh?
Edited 10/7/2005 2:04 am ET by Patto
> its almost like the culture wars of the old 'cafe' days eh <
Yeah Patto
Some of it's my fault!
I did comment at the time that supressing the Cafe seemed to be causing an outbreak of Cafe-like stuff all over the rest of knots, and maybe I've been (in some small part) responsible for making my own prophesy come true!
But maybe it's more because craft woodworking is as much about culture as craft - more a state of mind than a trade? It's the context that matters as much as the activity, and context is just another word for gossip?
Malcolm
http://www.macpherson.co.nz
Hi Philip,Yes, I was quite surprised.
Thank goodness most people here are nice and give great advice.
Life is too short to be so negative. Be happy!Thanks for your support!
Gary
Now if AK47 had attacked me for not finding anything wrong with the Veritas scraper plane insert, we could 've had a discussion-or not?
Confirm that the Two Cherry brand is known for making decent carving chisels?Philip Marcou
Has some OLD Marples .. Bit short now from sharpening over time.. Hay.. I figgure if they cut my finger same to the wood!
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