Chisel Sharpening

Years of experience using different sharpening systems for sharpening chisels has taught me that chisels love attention. It’s nice to let you know that a good sharp chisel returns many times over the attention you give it.

I’ve settled on using diamond stones, following the finest diamond stone with a hard translucent oil stone. I’ve chosen this stone because it’s hard, very fine, and cuts fast. Since the oil stone is a quick cutter, I use a very light stroke; a gentle loving caress.

The last step is stropping. A strop is simply a piece of leather adhered to a flat piece of wood with the leather’s rough side up. The strop is charged with a bit of chromium oxide, which is just a buffing compound – I usually use the green compound.

Stropping” gives the final polish to the blade.

That’s it!

Terry