Craft · Tools
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, Editor1 min read
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
- Wet the stones while the kettle boils.
- Pick the tools you used most yesterday.
- Hone each one until you can feel a small burr along the whole edge.
- Remove the burr on the finer stone and the strop.
- 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.
