Appreciation post: The old timer who showed me how to sharpen a chisel with a paper wheel

Met this guy named Hank at a shop in Nashville about 3 years ago. He saw me struggling with a dull chisel and just grabbed it out of my hand, fired up this paper wheel rigged to a bench grinder, and had it razor sharp in like 30 seconds. He said "son, sharpening ain't a chore if you stop fighting the steel." Has anyone else tried one of those paper wheel setups or am I missing something better?

2 comments

2 Comments

nina_sullivan611mo ago

Wait so did he actually use a paper wheel or some kinda abrasive wheel?

the_lucas1mo ago

Jumped into a similar project a few years back (trying to save an old Craftsman bench grinder) and ended up using a paper wheel. It worked way better than I expected for sharpening chisels and plane blades. The trick was getting the wheel wet and keeping it loaded with compound, otherwise it just burns the metal. An abrasive wheel would've been way too aggressive for what I was doing, so the paper gave me a lot more control. Definitely had to clean the paper wheel a few times though, it gums up fast.