Hock - The perfect edge: the ultimate guide to sharpening for woodworkers

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READ THIS IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE

To prevent accidents, keep safety in mind while you work. Use the safety guards installed on power equipment they are for your protection.

When working on power equipment, keep fingers away from saw blades, wear safety goggles to prevent injuries from flying wood chips and sawdust, wear hearing protection and consider installing a dust vacuum to reduce the amount of airborne sawdust in your woodshop.

Dont wear loose clothing, such as neckties or shirts with loose sleeves, or jewelry, such as rings, necklaces or bracelets, when working on power equipment. Tie back long hair to prevent it from getting caught in your equipment.

People who are sensitive to certain chemicals should check the chemical content of any product before using it.

Due to the variability of local conditions, construction materials, skill levels, etc., neither the author nor Popular Woodworking Books assumes any responsibility for any accidents, injuries, damages or other losses incurred resulting from the material presented in this book.

The authors and editors who compiled this book have tried to make the contents as accurate and correct as possible. Plans, illustrations, photographs and text have been carefully checked. All instructions, plans and projects should be carefully read, studied and understood before beginning construction.

Prices listed for supplies and equipment were current at the time of publication and are subject to change.

METRIC CONVERSION CHART

THE PERFECT EDGE. Copyright 2009 by Ron Hock. Printed and bound in China. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by Popular Woodworking Books, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45236. (800) 289-0963 First edition.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hock, Ron.

The perfect edge : the ultimate guide to sharpening for woodworkers / by Ron Hock. -- 1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-55870-858-7 (hardcover : alk. paper)

1. Woodworking tools--Amateurs manuals. 2. Sharpening of tools--Amateurs manuals. I. Title.

TT186.H615 2009

684.083--dc22 2009029543

ACQUISITIONS EDITOR: David Thiel (david.thiel@fwmedia.com)
SENIOR EDITOR: Jim Stack (jim.stack@fwmedia.com)
DESIGNER: Brian Roeth
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: Mark Griffin
PHOTOGRAPHER: Ron Hock
ILLUSTRATOR: Martha Garstang Hill

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ron Hock is the owner of Hock Tools, a twenty-five-year-old cottage industry that makes acknowledged superior blades for planes and other woodworking tools. Hock started the business when, as a struggling knife-maker, students at James Krenovs Fine Woodworking program at The College of the Redwoods in Fort Bragg, California, came to him for plane irons for the wooden planes they were making at the school. He tooled up for plane irons, learned about plane-making and found a niche-market of discerning woodworkers who appreciate a superior tool.

Ron earned a B.A. and M.F.A. in studio art from the University of California at Irvine. In the ensuing quarter-century since making his first plane blades hes learned about tool steel metallurgy, cutting edge geometry, hand woodworking tools and sharpening. His interest and expertise regarding sharp edges comes from a blade-makers perspective and he has given countless lectures about steel, tools and heat-treatment.

DEDICATION

Through his uncompromising craft, teaching and writings James Krenov has inspired and launched the careers of thousands of woodworkers but maybe only one metalworker.

Thanks, Jim.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A large number of people helped me with this book either directly, by sharing their knowledge and wisdom, or by providing tools, abrasives and technical assistance. I am grateful for their generosity in sharing their expertise. I hope this list is complete yet I doubt it is Im sure I have forgotten to mention someone or two; if so, I apologize and thank them, too:

First and foremost is my wife, Linda Rosengarten, for being selflessly supportive and endlessly helpful as my primary editor. Thank you, Sweetie, there is no way I could have done this without you. And my son, Sam Hock, for letting me be a bit less attentive as the fatherly figure that I hope hes otherwise come to expect.

For hands-on help, advice and lots of tool lending and kibitzing, my immense gratitude to: Kevin Drake of Glen-Drake Toolworks; Paul Reiber, artist and woodcarver; Dan Stalzer, green-wood furniture maker; Joaquin Leyva, woodworker; Earl Latham, tool expert and collector; Joel Moscowitz of Tools for Working Wood; Mike Wenzloff of Wenzloff & Sons Sawmakers, and Christopher Schwarz, editor, PopularWoodworking magazine.

True experts in their fields, generous with their tools and expertise: Wally Wilson of Veritas; Jeff Farris of Tormek USA; Don Naples of Wood Artistry; Kyle Crawford of Work Sharp; Valerie Gleason of Chefs Choice; Peter Moore of One Way; Linda Jones of Woodsmith; Cindy Martin, Kris Spofford, Dave Long and Trish Dawson of Saint-Gobain Abrasives (Norton); Brian Burns; Stan Watson of DMT; Harrelson Stanley of HMS Enterprises; Rich Bohr of 3M; Bill Kohr of Craftsman Studio; Dave Bennet of Flexcut; Joyce Laituri of Spyderco, and Kent Harpool and Tim Rinehart of Woodcraft Supply.