Sharp

Early on in cooking school (or perhaps even before), I was told and came to accept as fact that a sharp knife is a safe knife. This ran counter to my thinking, but the least bit of work with a dull knife makes the point with conviction. (Try peeling a butternut squash with a dull chef's knife if you don't believe me.) The same, I've found, is true with shop tools.

As mentioned previously, I had never bothered to sharpen a chisel (or plane iron) until about 6 weeks ago. It never occurred to me that my three chisel set (~$10 retail value) wouldn't be ready for high-level woodworking action the moment I cracked the plastic packaging. I could see this being the case in Canada. But in America, land of the pickup truck? Please.

Needless to say, you can imagine my surprise after sharpening my first chisel (one of those cheap Harbor Freight chisels) and testing it out on a piece of scrap. It was unbelievable! I was making transparent shavings no thicker than a piece of paper! I finally felt like I knew what I was doing with a chisel. It also explained why I was never able to do any sort of fine work with chisels before. Clearly I had never used a truly sharp chisel, and did it ever made a difference. It transforms the task from one of frustration and failure to one of productivity and enjoyment. With sharp tools, I'm starting to understand how woodworking can be a craft or an art.

My setup consists of a Veritas Mk.II honing guide (I can't overemphasize how great this is), three pieces of ~ 4" x 9" polished marble that Mikey gave me (they were broken, unusable pieces from a job site, I think), and two wetstones (a 1200 grit and a combo 4000/8000 grit). Adhered to the three marble pieces are sheets of sandpaper - 100 grit (or lower if needed), 220 and 320. I've basically mimicked the setup described in the Fine Woodworking online video mentioned in the previous post. It's great, and I highly recommend it.