Adam Savage's Favorite Tools: Woodworking Chisel Sharpening!
Adam Savage's Favorite Tools: Woodworking Chisel Sharpening!
Japanese woodworking chisels: https://amzn.to/3l2BqO3
Irwin chisel set: https://amzn.to/3bqt7Zk
Mytec chisel sharpening jig: https://amzn.to/3t2wrjo
Ohishi Japanese waterstone/grindstone: https://amzn.to/3sUNfZw
Adam opens up his chisel drawer to talk about his collection of woodworking chisels and planes, and why his go-to chisel isn’t the most expensive one in his shop. A chisel is only as good as how well its sharpened, and Adam demonstrates his process for sharpening a basic chisel using his favorite Japanese waterstone and sharpener guide jig. What are your favorite techniques for sharpening woodworking tools?
(Note: This video was inspired by suggestions that Testedcom members Danny Rushton,
Julian Hughes and DeepTinker made. We thank them for their support and input!)
Disclaimer: Tested may earn an affiliate commission when you buy through the links here.
Shot by Adam Savage
Join this channel to support Tested and get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiDJtJKMICpb9B1qf7qjEOA/join
Subscribe for more videos (and click the bell for notifications): http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=testedcom
Tested shirts and more: https://teespring.com/stores/adam-savages-tested
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/testedcom
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/testedcom
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/testedcom/
Discord: https://www.discord.gg/tested
Tested is:
Adam Savage http://www.twitter.com/donttrythis
Norman Chan http://www.twitter.com/nchan
Joey Fameli http://www.joeyfameli.com
Gunther Kirsch https://guntherkirsch.com
Ryan Kiser https://www.instagram.com/ryan.kiser
Jen Schachter http://www.jenschachter.com
Kishore Hari http://www.twitter.com/sciencequiche
Sean Charlesworth http://www.twitter.com/cworthdynamics
Jeremy Williams http://www.twitter.com/jerware
Kayte Sabicer https://www.instagram.com/kaytesabicer
Bill Doran https://twitter.com/chinbeard
Ariel Waldman https://youtube.com/arielwaldman
Darrell Maloney https://www.youtube.com/brokennerd
Kristen Lomasney https://twitter.com/krystynlo
Intro bumper by Abe Dieckman
Set design by Danica Johnson http://www.twitter.com/saysdanica
Set build by Asa Hillis http://www.asahillis.com
Thanks for watching!
#AdamSavage #favoritetools
Sorry but there are much better chisel sharpening videos out there. That explain sharpening angels, and how to get them easily.
Really wanted to see how well "japanese" one cuts.
it’s the worst sharpening video i ever see. the lack of basic knowledge in tools and sharpening technique is amazing…..the handicap way of jig setup….the wrong angle…oil on water stone….you need to soak the stone in water and not squirts of oil …..maintaining flat stone…. ohhh and the pretentious metallurgy ideas just because you didn’t sharp till the edge…the wood was broken and not shaved…. this video is savage on so many levels…
Almost passed out when I realised he was putting oil on his Japanese Waterstone š„
You should strop it with leather and get that bur off the flat side. I wouldnt even touch the flat to anything other than leather.
As a metalworker i use these rarely but am surprised of how well they are made.
We only have the cheap ones which are needed for the most trivial work like getting stickers off or deburring.
Yet still i experience a whole different level of finesse with these things compared to our other tools.
You’re a hoot, Adam! Thanx!
A water stone needs to be wet with water, all you did was destroy the stone and over heat the tool, I doubt the 3000 stone made the tool any sharper. Save some time and leave the water stones in a bucket of water when not using them or just get some DMT diamond stones
Adam, I doubt youāll see this, but Iāve been a sharpening fanatic for 20 years and Iād love to help bring the signal to noise ratio down to something more manageable for you. Given the countless hours of education and entertainment youāve provided, itās the least I could do. Please feel free to reach out to me and Iād be happy to distill what I know to something that youād find helpful! You could reach me at my name as one word @gmail.com
Ooh I love that sharpening tool!
You do know that the bevel angle is set by a specific distance to the jig and that the distance is normally stamped on the side of jig.
Any Japanese whetstone = Use water. Once oil is used, you’re pretty much out of luck bringing it back. Also it’s really important to keep the stone flat too.
I bet you could use water on any stone, but def not oil. Only use oil on stones that recommend or explicit tells you to use oil (Mainly western type whetstones and Arkansas stones.)
The cutout image of Adam on the right of the video is somehow disturbing
For the love of God, get to the point man! This video could have been 3-4 min.
Shouldnāt he also be sharpening the secondary bevel?
Watching Adam dump a bunch of honing oil on a water stone pained me, and I’m not even a sharpening nerd. And good heavens the demo at the end, that is not a well sharpened chisel. Sorry, Adam.
For those coming to this video looking for good sharpening advice:
1: The flatness of the bevel, and even its precise angle, doesn’t matter. The flatness of the back matters a lot, and you should do your best to get it flat everywhere it matters (a hollow in the middle doesn’t matter, just make sure it’s flat where it’ll contact a work piece).
2: Sharpen the bevel so it forms a nice perpendicular edge across the width of the chisel and pushes a burr onto the back of the chisel, and then give the back a little love (flat on the stone) so the burr falls off.
3: Every step after this is not so much sharpening as it is polishing. Use finer grits of oil stones, water stones, or sandpaper on glass. I personally do the sharpening on a cheap diamond plate and then skip right over to some 2000 grit sandpaper, using honing oil on both to keep them from packing up with swarf. Finish off by using some of that green waxy shit on a piece of leather, aka stropping: hit it on the bevel and the back until it shines like a mirror. The polishing/stropping steps shouldn’t take more than a minute or two each, if you”re taking longer than that you probably need to insert an intermediate grit.
That’s all you really need to know. Follow those steps and you’ll have a chisel that’s sharp enough to practically fall through end grain under its own weight. And no, for the most part, the quality of the chisel doesn’t really matter all that much. There’s differences, and they’re noticeable, but for the most part you’re best served by just taking care of the iron you’ve got.
OIL ON A JAPANESE WATER STONE!! GAAAAAAAH!! LOL
16:15 – am I the only one who finds the other Adam on the right a little unsettling?
You might want a 2 wheeled sharpener!
Him putting oil on a water stone made me cringe so hard. I find it hard to believe he watched a bunch of videos and learned nothing about water stones. You don’t use oil. You use water. Hence the name.
Stanley FatMax makes a nice full tang chisel with a metal striking cap on the end.
Really good straight woodworking chisels in a 1" start at $100 & can easily go for over $1000.
Adam, you forget one very important thing: your stones are not flat. THis is probably why the corners of your edge are not square. Use water instead of oil, and get a diamond plate to flatten your stone after it has soaked. Flatten it often, i.e. inbetween sets of strokes, and your result will be much better.
Which one should you get? Both! Get a complete set of both. One for wood that may have nails š© the other for getting out the box every now and then to touch, caress and then, ultimately, straight back in the box and grabbing the Cheap set lol
For anyone new to chisel and want their first set. I always HIGHLY recommend the Irwin Marples chisel set. You get 3 very good chisels, a hardwood mallet, and case, for around (if I remember correctly) 30 bucks. They will last and are very well made with quality steel. A definite set that everyone should own.
Japanese woodworking chisels: https://amzn.to/3l2BqO3
Irwin chisel set: https://amzn.to/3bqt7Zk
Mytec chisel sharpening jig: https://amzn.to/3t2wrjo
Ohishi Japanese waterstone/grindstone: https://amzn.to/3sUNfZw
Join this channel to support Tested and get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiDJtJKMICpb9B1qf7qjEOA/join
Disclaimer: Tested may earn an affiliate commission when you buy through the links here.
You sir have what my wife calls working man hands. Also you sir are a savage.
That sharpening oil is good for the scalp, too? Makes hair grow?
Did anyone else notice the ‘extra’ Adam appear 16:12?
Thank you. This was an amazing help. That jig is pretty sweet. I’m sure harbor has something similar.
Quick tip. There are videos out there on how to make a quick chisel setup jig so you can set your chisel to the same desired sharpening angle every time.
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that it’s not necessary – or even desirable – to sharpen all cutting tools to the point of polish (4000, 6000, 8000 grit. etc.). Only those that are used in fine termination, always with bare hands, gentle force. On roughing tools (say, a 3/4, 1 inch gouge or chisel, long handled and hammered (or used hard)), honing with 800-1000 grit is fine, the edge is a bit more rough and "grips" better on the fibers (also, they keep the edge a little longer in hard work/hard woods)
(same with kitchen /utility knives; you donĀ“t need your butcher/deba knife with shiny polished edge)
The old carpenter way is two bevels, saves a lot of unnecessary work when touching up
14:45 Did Adam mention Kiwami Japan the knife maker? or is there someone else who does the same
Also those are not hamon lines unfortunately. Those lines that arc across and make that color difference is a product of sharping the entire width of the blade at once. The corners sharpen faster than the center of the blade. I cant remember the exact reason for this but, there is another knife YT that has a video on this. It may have been Burrfection but I cant remember. You need to do the edge in sections where one edge hangs off the edge of the stone and then do the other side. You can even do an ‘x’ type pattern with the edge of the chisel perpendicular to the line running from corner to corner that makes the ‘x’ Start with the corner of the chisel slightly hanging off and then run it all the way off the other corner then repeat the same number of strokes from the other side ( i hope that makes sense) Keeping track of the number of strokes is key and dont use too much pressure that will cause your thinner edge to wear away faster than you want and will change your geometry.
Gotta love people that don’t actually know how to use a tool, teaching people how to use the said tool, on Youtube. Adam, that edge you are "looking for" is where most woodworkers start sharpening.
Donāt forget to flatten the back.
Raptor videos?
Iāve heard wood wizard Marc Spagnola say he keeps 2 classes of chisel on hand.
Not a huge fan of this method since it causes your stones to ‘dish-out’ rather quickly. There are a number of ways around that.
That’s a really low pitch
You definitely want to apply more pressure pulling towards youāscraping metal towards the end of the chisel. The idea here is you will scrape metal off the edge at a uniform angle. Then you will flip the chisel over, and hold the last half inch or so flat against the stone. Gently scrape again so that metal is scraping off the endāpulling towards you. This time you may want to add a slight left-right motion.
This removes the metal that is now hanging *over* the edge from scraping the other sideāalso called a burr. Lower grit stones remove material faster, but they also scratch deeper into the surface. By repeating the process on higher and higher grit stones, you leave smaller and smaller micro grooves and channels that run perpendicular _through_ your newly sharpened edge. Therefore, Japanese sushi knives sharpened with stones up to 10,000 grit cut through fish meat so easily that it preserves the cell wall and leaves a smooth, glossy edge behind; a well sharpened chisel should have a similar effect! Ideally, your āniceā chisel should leave smooth, glossy wooden surface in its trail.
By scraping back and forth, you are essentially creating a burr one way, and removing whatever you created on the reverse. Does it work? Sure, probably better than just dulling a chisel and accumulating nicks and chips for years and years. But you are shearing *against* the grain pattern you just created. Youāre ripping metal out of the edge rather than scraping it off
Adam love ya buddy your so like the rest of us
What about the burr that may form on the backside of the chisel after sharpening the bevel?
its just about degrees, sharp is true
Did you deburr the chisel?
Youāre spending more time adjusting the tool than you are sharpening. Your uncle is right.
Adam, you should soak your water stone in water for 5-20 minutes before use & then keep it wet with water while using it. A quick way to establish the proper placement of your honing guide is build a small jig that has a front edge & blocks at different distances from the edge to match the stick out needed for the angle your chisels.
So true about the signal to noise ratio in sharpening! The most important thing is consistency. I once worked with a Mexican who sharpened his chisels on the bottom of a coffee cup with jewelry polish and they were somehow *space-grade immaculate*.
Also, Jesus, pretty sure Adam is moving that chisel too fast on that stone š¬
parallelalism