Sharpening with Waterstones: A Perfect Edge in 60 Seconds

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  This is a simple video showing my version of Kirby's grinding system. I've used many but this is the easiest and most inexpensive as well. My version is a little more portable and I use a different iron holder, but the concept is the same.As to the rest of the book - I tend to like, short to the point references. However, I'm not a big fan of Kirby and don't like his dovetailing book at all. I wouldn't have bought this one, but a friend had it so I got to preview it and saw that it would fit my needs.Paragrahps are short and to pt he point - easy to understand chapters such as "how do I know when my blade is sharp?" and "When do I need to regrind.?" Easy to reference later - the idea of the obvious of three stones keeps the basics in focus and helps me realize that I don't need all the dodads the sharpening industry tries to sell me.I feel bad for others who struggle now realizing that the most effective method takes the least time, costs the least and is the simplest to remember. Who would have thought?

The title is misleading in the extreme. this is a book about how to grind tools. It is also about building simple jigs. It has hardly anything about waterstones. It basically consists of telling you that they are used wetted with water and build up a slurry and that you should go from a coarse to a medium to s smooth stone. Well no kidding! No mention of a Nakura stone to produce extra slurry on a fine stone. No suggestions on holding a consistent angle while freehand sharpening. One good thing it tells you is that synthetic stones may be a better choice than natural stones.If you sharpen a great deal of tools instead of knives (I don't) this may be a good read. For others, it is completely worthless.

I've been getting into sharpening over the last year, since I've started using handplanes seriously. I started with the scary sharp (sandpaper) method, but recently thought I'd try out waterstones. I already had a couple of books that discuss sharpening - Garret Hack's "The Handplane Book" and Leonard Lee's "The Complete Guide to Sharpening".I was having a little trouble with my new waterstones, so I thought Kirby's book might give me some insight since it's specifically about waterstones. I should add that I'm not a big Kirby fan, having found his articles in Fine Woodworking to be highly opionated and non-empathetic with beginners.This book is much the same as his articles. He dismisses the use of sharpening jigs, does not discuss any of the problems you might face with waterstones or even sharpening in general, and doesn't offer much detail or reasoning to back up his recommendations. I could go on, but basically I found this book to essentially be a subset of the sharpening information contained in Hack's and Lee's books, which are significantly more detailed and contain a wider breadth of information.

The book is well written and goes straight to the point. The instructions are clear, which is what beginners need from an instruction book. The only thing I could not find (yet, since I am not finished with it because I am following the instructions and experimenting) is how to sharpen the various gouges. As you know, gouges are not flat as chisels, so they are more difficult to sharpen. I use gouges because I do artistic projects, rather than furniture items. I would like to ask Mr. Kirby if he could write a book on sharpening gouges and detail knives.

Ian Kirby delivers another good book in this series of to the point books. You'll understand why you need a flat back and how to get it. You'll understand why a hollow grind is useful and how to make an appliance to help you set the correct angle. This book is as good as his dovetailing book. If you're new to sharpening, this is a good place to begin and end.

If you like to get real sharp, real fast and real easy, this is great teaching and affordable.

An extremely professional and practical approach to a perennial chore of any woodworker. I wish I had read it long ago, it would have saved me and others a lot of time. But where I live (Russia), it is hard to find a slower-running bench grinder. I am still looking for one in order to implement the method.

I purchased this book to learn to get a keen edge on my tools in a minimum amount of time. This book offers a number of good pointers, although much of the advice is also to be taken with a grain of salt (the uselessness of sharpening guides, for example). Overall, a good book. The size and readability make it perfect for the workshop shelf as opposed to the office library.

This is a very good book on the subject, old fashioned now, hence 4 stars. But never the less it still covers the subject very well. It's the old fashioned print style and photo's which give the age away. But still worth buying.

The condition of this book was titled, “very good “ , I disagree, it’s excellent!!Very very pleased with it, thank you.

A useful book. I would not be without it. These comments are from my husband, who works with wood as his hobby.

No frills, solid info-gets my vote!

Mit den für jedermann ganz leicht verständlichen und sehr logisch aufgebauten Erklärungen von Ian Kirby sollten überaus scharfe Schneiden an Hobeleisen, Stechbeiteln, Messern und Scheren kein Problem sein. Mir jedenfalls haben diese Anleitungen sehr geholfen, mein Werkzeug endlich in den Zustand zu versetzen, mit dem die Arbeit Freude macht. Ich kann dieses Fachbuch für alle Holzwürmer ohne Einschränkung empfehlen!