Tips for Waterstones - Real problems, easy solutions. Take your time.

Waterstones are the best way to Sharpen your chisels & plane blades/irons.
Matt had some time to flatten the back of his chisel. From his 10,000 grit Ice Bear waterstone, he was doing well. But.. The reflection shows us a curve and it had to be corrected.
We had to go back a step to show the impact of the fault. My 8000 grit stone sharpens, but with with a certain dullness (that quickly goes with a 10,000 stone) And going back a small step is worth doing. And maybe we could have flatted off more with the 8k stone.. It could have been an option. But, it actually didn't take too long to sort out.
Then onto the stability of the stones base on my bench. We moved the stone to the vise where it was a lot more stable and secure.
After that the back of the chisel was improving. But there were still some marks evident along the edge. You could see the issues from both sides.
I set the blade up with a 30 degree wooden block. Pulled the chisel and the rough edge scratched it's way along the stone until it scratched no more.
Hone Rite in a spray bottle helps. And can make your woodworking time easier.
And time, we should take time to enjoy the process, whether joining timber or sharpening a blade.

[@tim_biller]

This is a great guide. I have a new set of chisels to set up and I use the Ice Bear Waterstones too.

[@twcmaker]

Thanks Tim. I do the real stuff. Not set up. Not scripted, just get on with the real problems or situations that happen in sheds, garages and workshops all over the World. Have you subscribed? If you like this, you'll love the rest of the things I get up to. Jamie

[@tim_biller]

@@twcmaker Yep - keep it going!

[@twcmaker]

Cheers Tim, comments like this really help move my channel forwards 👍

[@TheWoodDoodler]

Knowledge and skills to last a lifetime. Perhaps pass to the next generation too!

[@twcmaker]

Exactly Andrew. That would be great to get some younger ones coming through.

[@petrsidlo7614]

thank you for this. Backs of chisels and plane blades being out of flat at the edge has been lately quite a regular occurence for me when buying new chisels and planes. Frankly, I find it very dissapointing. For a minute I thought that my technique is wrong, but everything indicates that those blade were just severely (very severely) out of flat. Its a shame that manufacturers do not pay more attention to this.

[@twcmaker]

Thank you Petr. Some makers do a great job nowadays and then they cover the blade in a clear varnish. That then needs removing. Technique is important and if they need doing.. It has to be done.

[@twcmaker]

Petr. Do you think I should do a 'choosing the right chisels' video?

[@petrsidlo7614]

@@twcmaker definitely

[@twcmaker]

I'll add it to the list. Have you subscribed?

[@redlancer38]

Great video. more food for thought. Thanks Jamie. Question; I heard somewhere, in the past, that stropping wasn't necessary since we started using very fine (10,000 grit up) waterstones. I still use a strop but find any more that one or two passes either side of the blade starts working against the edge that the waterstone has achieved. Thoughts?

[@twcmaker]

I think strops are a great tool. Paul.. I think I need to make a stropping video.

[@twcmaker]

I'm wondering if you might raise the blade a little too high when stropping 🤔 Its easily done and can spoil the effort put in. Do you use a guide for sharpening Paul?