A sharpening routine I actually keep up
Every system works if you use it. This one is short enough that I do, which is the only real test.
Materials
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| Diamond plate, 300 grit | Primary bevels and flattening the stones |
| Waterstone, 1000 grit | Raises the burr on the micro-bevel |
| Waterstone, 6000 grit | Final edge |
| Side-clamp honing guide | The plain eclipse pattern |
| Leather strop, green compound | Chromium oxide, a few strokes only |
| Steel rule, 0.5 mm thick | For the ruler trick on plane irons |
Process
The primary bevel is 25°, set in the guide with a stop block on the bench so I get the same projection every time. I only regrind it on the diamond plate when the micro-bevel has grown to about a third of the bevel's width, perhaps every fifth or sixth honing.
The micro-bevel is 30°. I raise the angle by pulling the iron back in the guide a few millimetres, then work on the 1000 until I can feel a burr along the whole edge on the back. That usually takes thirty strokes or so. Then the same angle on the 6000, until the scratch pattern from the 1000 has gone.
For plane irons I take the burr off with the ruler trick: the rule laid along one edge of the 6000, the back of the iron resting on it, a dozen strokes at the very edge. It leaves a tiny back-bevel, so I never have to polish the whole back flat. Ten trailing strokes on the strop and I test by taking a thin shaving across the end grain of a pine offcut.
The 1000 stone dishes quickly. I pencil a grid on it and rub it on the diamond plate at the start of each session until the grid has gone.
My mistake was using the ruler trick on chisels for most of a year, because it was quick. A chisel registers off its back when paring, and a back-bevel lifts the edge so it dives out of the cut. I spent an evening on the diamond plate taking the backs of my four main chisels past the bevel. They now get a flat back polished on the 6000 and nothing else.
What I'd change
I would buy the 300 diamond plate first and the expensive finishing stone last. A flat coarse reference fixes more problems than a finer polish, and the 6000 is plenty for pine, oak and walnut.