# Sharpening, a ten-minute habit

> Sharp tools are safer, faster and more pleasant. The trick is not a better stone, it is sharpening a little every day instead of a lot every month.

Ines Varga, 2026-07-22 · https://recto.themes.dev/blog/sharpening-a-ten-minute-habit/

Every morning, before anything else in the workshop, I sharpen for ten minutes. Not everything: one or two chisels, a plane iron, sometimes a knife. By the end of a fortnight every edge on the bench has been touched.

I used to do it the other way around, waiting until a tool was properly dull and then spending a whole afternoon on it. That afternoon never came at a convenient time, so I worked with blunt tools for weeks.

## Why little and often works

A slightly dull edge takes a minute to restore. A badly dull one needs regrinding, which takes much longer and removes a lot more steel. Little and often is faster in total and the tools last years longer.

It also changes how the work feels. With a sharp chisel you stop pushing and start guiding. You make fewer mistakes, and the ones you make are smaller.

## The kit

You need much less than the catalogues suggest.

| Step | What I use | Time |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Flatten the back | 1000 grit water stone | once per tool |
| Hone the bevel | 1000, then 6000 grit | 3 to 5 minutes |
| Strop | leather with compound | 30 seconds |

A simple honing guide helps when you start. After a few months most people find they can hold the angle by hand.

## The routine

1. Wet the stones while the kettle boils.
1. Pick the tools you used most yesterday.
1. Hone each one until you can feel a small burr along the whole edge.
1. Remove the burr on the finer stone and the strop.
1. Test on the end grain of a scrap of pine. A sharp edge leaves it shiny.

Ten minutes, then coffee, then work. It is the most reliable part of my day.