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I really needed a fast way to sharpen chisels that are really damaged. The fastrak is great at keeping them sharp, but if I drop one, they can chip. Every once in a while, I need to reshape the working ends.

I know the tormek and it's clones are the best sharpeners. But, I ran across this Bucktool wet/dry sharpener on Amazon for $89. The whetstone wheel, which is ~ 120g, is 1 1/2" wide, wide enough for most chisels. It has 2 built-in tool rests, both of which adjust in 2 places, distance and angle.

I figure if I didn't like it, it's an easy return.

I added the water, per directions. The tool rest was the biggest surprise. One tool rest lock downs were tight, the other had 1 lock that seemed a bit loose. But, using an Allen wrench, I easily tightened it up.

I took the time to adjust the tool rest to 30°, which is the angle I use. Once I got it set up, with the locks tightened down, I sharpened my worst chisel. Big note here: there are no built-in settings. I set the angle by using an existing chisel with the proper angle.

I bought a set of nice palm chisels, but they weren't properly sharpened and needed new edges. So, I did the worst one first. They're as hard, if not harder, than my Two Cherries chisels.

It took about 5 minutes to get it to 30°, and straight.

I'm IMPRESSED! it did a stellar job. The most important thing is that the tool rest stayed where I set it, without slipping. I checked the angle on every chisel, and they were 30°. Most of my chisels took no longer than 2 minutes to sharpen. Only the 4 in the set of palm chisels needed total realignment of their tips.

Now it's simple to keep them sharp. I still used the fastrak to further smooth the ends to take out the tool marks. The whetstone would probably benefit from a truing stone. But, I'm very happy with the unit. It runs quietly and smoothly

The chisels definitely cut great. I managed to slip with one, requiring stitches. It was a stupid mistake and I knew better. Well, it's a first for me to require medical care. I guess eventually it was inevitable. Haha.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HVMX9J6/re ... UTF8&psc=1

Tempting!

Interesting tool. I've tried a few power sharpening methods. Have never been satisfied. Guess I should not expect power methods to do what my waterstones and diamond stones will do. However, the water stones take more time than I am apparantly willing to commit. A number of my chisels get pretty dull before I break down and sharpen them. I have been following a thread on another forum on the Sorby Pro Edge. An expensive sharpening system! I am thinking about selling a couple of other tools I don't use much and trying it. Any experience here with the Sorby?

I have the gruzzly knock off and I find it very helpful but like Bob I do a final honing with my water stones and strops

I have tried just about every type of sharpening system on the market. The best, by far, and easiest to use for razor sharp chisels is the Veritas Mk.II Honing Guide System from Lee Valley. I use it with diamond (for roughing) and water stone (for honing). I can get consistently razor sharp edges with a minimum amount of time.

I agree with Sylan. For manual sharpening, the Veritas system gets you an extremely sharp edge.

I definitely finish manually. The Bucktool took care of uneven and/or chipped edges.

Thanks, Diane, for the heads up on this tool. Mine came this afternoon. Out of the box it looks very good. Test drive tomorrow. :-)

To me, the most difficult thing about sharpening chisels and plane blades is flattening the back. It seem to take forever but makes all the difference in getting a good edge.
Anyone have a tip on how to do this quickly?

I also use the Veritas honing guide. A great tool.

The entire back wants to be flat only if you would use that for a reference surface. Chopping mortices, timber framing, other things that require a flat surface. If you are doing things like brace trimming, then you are using the chisel bevel down, so flatness of the back doesn't matter, except across the width near the edge.

Polishing of the back - really the first 1/16" is all that needs to be polished - is independent of flatness of the back.

In 55+ years of woodworking I have never spent more than perhaps 5-7 minutes flattening a back and perhaps another 5 polishing for the first time - that's the last time you have to spend any time on a given chisel back. A few minutes more on a plane blade. 100 grit paper on a flat surface like plate glass (ScarySharp(tm)) should get you there in a hurry, then through the grits.

I have never seriously worked on a pitted chisel - too many good ones out there to waste time - but I have tried using a belt sander on one just to see. If you are careful, it works great and very quickly.

Learning to hone freehand is a skill I am glad I worked on - a minute or two on the finer grits just to touch up the edge,