Classic Shaker Side Table - Popular Woodworking Magazine

the medium-grit stone was unnecessary. Aftersharpening about 100 edges his way, observingthem with a 30x jeweler’s loupe and putting themto work, I’m convinced he’s correct. A fine-gritwaterstone cuts fast enough to polish your edge andremove the scratches left by the coarse-grit stone.In addition to the above equipment, I recommenda Tupperware-like container to store yourstones (a $6 expense), a spray bottle to mist wateron your stones, a plastic non-skid mat from thehousewares department to contain your mess,some oil, a small square and some rags.Know Your ChiselBefore you can sharpen a chisel, you must knowyour goal. Chisels are somewhat Zen-like tools.Though they are the simplest woodworking devices,properly setting them up is tricky.The first thing to understand is the function ofthe face of the chisel. The face is the flat, unbeveledside of the blade. For a chisel to work correctly,this surface must be flat. If you polish onlynear the cutting edge (a tempting time-saver) thechisel won’t cut true. When you guide your chiselon one surface to pare a mating surface, the toolwill wander up or down, depending on whetherthe face is convex or concave. When you attemptto clean up a routed corner or remove waste betweendovetails, you will have difficulty steeringthe tool straight for the same reason.You should also remember that the face of thetool is half of your cutting edge. If left unpolished,your edge will be less durable. Why? Pretend thatyour hand is a chisel and the spaces between yourfingers are scratches in the metal left by grindingon a coarse stone. If you jabbed someone withyour fingers stretched out and spread apart (similarto an edge with deep scratches), you’d probablybreak your hand. But if you brought yourfingers together into a fist (similar to an edgewith smaller and shallower scratches), your handwould endure the punch pretty well.The second important thing to know is that thecutting edge must be 90° to the sides of the tool.A skewed edge will tend to wander in a cut.Third, the bevel of the tool must be evenly polishedat the cutting edge. The best way to determineif you are truly sharpening at the cuttingedge is the emergence of a “burr” on the face ofthe tool during sharpening. The importance ofthis burr cannot be overstated. Your edge mightlook nice and shiny, but unless you created a burron the face of the chisel on your coarsest stone,your edge isn’t sharp. The photos below discusshow and where to look for this burr.The Act: Brief but BountifulAs you follow the photos that illustrate the stepsto sharpening, keep these things in mind:Honing the chisel does not require a lot ofstrokes on the stone. In fact, the more back-andforthmotions you make, the more likely you areto put pressure in the wrong place or dish yourwaterstone unnecessarily.Here is another trick I learned from Charlesworth:When honing on the waterstones, startwith about six strokes. Then observe the edgecarefully by eye and rub your finger up to theedge of the face to feel for the burr. If you don’tfeel the burr but it looks like you’re sharpeningthe bevel, switch to a coarser stone and try againuntil you can definitely feel the burr.When you can feel the burr and the scratch patternis consistent, move to the next finer grit.One mistake beginners make is that they useSTAGE 1: Preparing the FaceThe face of a chisel needs to be flattened and polished only once if youdo it right. Before flattening the face, remove protective lacquer from theblade with lacquer thinner (you may need to soak some tools overnight).As you flatten the face, be mindful never to lift the chisel’s handle duringthis operation. If you do, you will grind a curve into your tool’s face thatwill be difficult to ever straighten out.MoreworkneededherePlungeMove forwardFlattening begins on the diamond stone. I useDMT’s extra-coarse stone for this, which is#220-grit. I use mineral spirits as a lubricant.The first type of stroke is used for 1 ⁄ 2 " chiselsand wider. Rub the face against the stone asshown, keeping the face flat against the stone.Start with 20 strokes and check your work.The scratches shouldrun left to right on theface of the chisel afterthis stroke. This chiselis getting there, but itneeds more work.The second stroke (used with all chisels) is toplunge the chisel back and forth on the stone.After each plunge, move the chisel forward alittle bit on the stone. Note that with narrowchisels ( 1 ⁄ 8 "- 3 ⁄ 8 ") this is the only stroke possiblewhen flattening the face. (The first type ofstroke will round over the edges of the face.)Here is a picture of the polished face of the toolreflecting the surface of the diamond sharpeningstone. Ultimately, this is what your face shouldlook like: a mirror along most of the face of thetool. There will be some small scratches frompolishing, but these are OK.After 20 strokes of theplunging motion, thescratches should lookvertical. Repeat thesestrokes until the first3" of the chisel’s faceshows a consistentscratch pattern. Thenrepeat these strokeson the coarse #325-grit diamond stone,then the coarse andfine waterstones.12 ■ woodworking magazine Autumn 2004