chusel sharpening

[weelis]

When sharpening your chisels on sandpaper, do you all have a favorite brand of paper?Is there a certain type of paper you use?  As you can tell
, I am not real experienced in this aspect of woodworking. but I am trying  to learn.  Thanks

[Bill Holt]

I now have moved to diamond sharpening but I did start out with four levels of wet/dry sand paper adhered to a heavy piece of glass.  The paper was peel and stick that came in a set from Woodcraft.

[jbmunro]

Wet/dry - no prefered brand.  I use a 3/8" thick plate of glass and spray it with an aerosol spray adhesive and slap the paper in place.  Sometimes I sharpen dry and sometimes I will use WD40 to help "lubricate".

[hbmcc]

I used wet-dry sandpaper over glass. When wet it will stick down and you can clean up and put the next grits down. Works better wet, too. Finer grits can usually be found at auto stores. An alternate to glass is glass or tile pieces from Home Despot, etc.. Sandpaper is not the most pleasant, or easiest to use; and will get expensive after awhile. Finally, I found grits had to be finer than 300 to avoid coarse damage to the metal. And, you almost must have an Eclipse type guide to grind over abrasives. Flesh goes faster than metal.

Final, Finally, always wash and clean the guide and tool when going to a finer grit.

[Ron Hock]

When sharpening your chisels on sandpaper, do you all have a favorite brand of paper?Is there a certain type of paper you use?  As you can tell
, I am not real experienced in this aspect of woodworking. but I am trying  to learn.  Thanks

Wet-or-Dry paper is silicon carbide which is hard and sharp but very fragile. It crushes down much too quickly under the pressure from sharpening steel (works great on wood and paint and such.) Honing, or lapping, film is a sheet of Mylar coated with finely graded aluminum oxide which is much tougher. Lasts much longer and you can really lean on it for heavy grinding. Lasts way longer than W-D. 

 "Sandpaper" in this case is neither sand nor paper.

[Robin Dobbie]

I also recommend diamond plates. Metal substrate, single-sided, 8x3. Diamond 120, 400, 1000, then 8000 or 12,000 waterstone.

If I'm sharpening as often as I should, sandpaper is just a hassle. Might as well get the right thing, now. And if you aren't sure if you'll stick with woodworking, proper stones will still be useful for sharpening any kind of knife for the kitchen or whatever.

[bandit571]

I use an oil stone first...then use a layer of 3in1 oil on the stone to hold the 1st sheet of 3M Wet/Dry paper.....I start at 1000 grit, and finish at 2500 grit, using a bit of 3in1 oil on the paper.   Expensive?    An assort grit pack at Walmart runs about ..$5.....

After the last grit, I then use an old leather work belt as a strop,  rubbed with a bit of the Green compound stick.  Don't forget a rag, to wipe things down as you go. 

I stick the paper to the stone, by using a bit of the oil....Sometimes I stick the next sheet to the first, using the oil.  

Works for me..YMMV

[mstens]

Expensive?    An assort grit pack at Walmart runs about ..$5.....

It depends on how much you use hand tools, how often you sharpen etc. Sandpaper can easily add up to more expensive than a decent set of stones over time.

[AHill]

Wet-or-Dry paper is silicon carbide which is hard and sharp but very fragile. It crushes down much too quickly under the pressure from sharpening steel (works great on wood and paint and such.) Honing, or lapping, film is a sheet of Mylar coated with finely graded aluminum oxide which is much tougher. Lasts much longer and you can really lean on it for heavy grinding. Lasts way longer than W-D. 

 "Sandpaper" in this case is neither sand nor paper.

Not all sandpaper is silicon carbide.  Norton 3x and 3M are usually aluminum oxide, which doesn't break down as quickly as SC, so it lasts longer.  Silicon carbide is harder and sharper than AO.  AO sandpaper is more common than SC.  You can use either for scary sharp.  Take my comment with a grain of salt.  I didn't write a book on sharpening.  

[bandit571]

Was in Walmart, yesterday...looked up the price of the "variety pack"  of assorted grits.....$3.95 +tax....1000 grit to 2500 grit.    There was a package of 3000 grit sheets...cost was about double.....so, for about $10...you could get from 1K to 3K, and even a small bottle of 3in1 oil.....I'm still using the assorted pack I bought last fall...