Official Luthiers Forum!

60 seconds, guys...anything more than that is wasting time. If it takes more than 60 seconds to refresh an edge on a plane blade or chisel - and that's from the time the blade comes out to back in again - there's too much fuss involved.

"A dull chisel is an accident waiting to happen ."

I just want to add a word of caution. Valid advice. And the main point is that an actually dull chisel isn't a chisel. But people need to have respect for sharp edges also. The damage a sharp edge can cause is awesome. I know we all know this, and the point about dull is that one can loose control and then get badly stuck, but should that happen thank god it was dull. Many accidents are possible with a sharp edge also, and they are likely to be a lot worse.

I'm not proud. Back 30 years ago, I did all my sharpening and grinding by hand. I once dropped a Japanese plane blade, that I had just finished honing. Scared of what would happen when it hit the concrete floor, I stuck my Birkenstock covered foot out to catch it. Being of English heritage, I was wearing wool socks. I caught the blade with my foot. Like a dropped slice of buttered bread, will it hit the floor butter up or down? Good news! Just a little bang to the foot, no damage done. Got back to work. A few moments latter I became aware my sock was sloshing around in pool of wet stuff in the bed of my sandal...