Sharpening with Waterstones: A Perfect Edge in 60 Seconds (Cambium Handbook) [Spiral-bound]

Ian J. Kirby (Author)

Book Description

Series: Cambium Handbook | Publication Date: April 1998

This handbook concentrates on waterstones and teaches the reader how to use them to sharpen chisels, plane irons, carving tools and knives. It includes step-by-step photographs to show the precise details.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As any woodworker knows, working with properly sharpened tools makes even the rank amateur a better woodworker almost instantly. Kirby has taken a step-by-step approach to showing the reader in explicit detail how to keep common workshop tools perfectly sharp: exactly how to hold the tools, where and how to stand, and how to move. Extremely well illustrated and indexed, this is a new workshop classic and should find its way into any serious woodworker's (or even not so serious hobbyist's) library. --Mark Hetts

About the Author

Ian Kirby is a master craftsman. He has been designing, building, and teaching about furniture for decades.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 112 pages
• Publisher: Linden Publishing (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964399938
• ISBN-13: 978-0964399938
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,303,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sharpening with Waterstones, June 29, 2001

By 

Neil AZ (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sharpening with Waterstones: A Perfect Edge in 60 Seconds (Cambium Handbook) (Spiral-bound)

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.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars 60 seconds?, March 6, 2002

By 

scott purswell (hermiston, or United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sharpening with Waterstones: A Perfect Edge in 60 Seconds (Cambium Handbook) (Spiral-bound)

Here's the whole book- Buy a grinder. Sharpen your blade. Use a waterstone, and make it sharper. Here's some illustrations.
Not very helpful. It didn't really cover anything for amatuers, but it didn't give much to a pro either. 2/3rds of the book is his view on how to set up a bench grinder.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Sharpening Resource, August 1, 2000

By 

Cliff (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sharpening with Waterstones: A Perfect Edge in 60 Seconds (Cambium Handbook) (Spiral-bound)

Kirby gives a lot of insight into sharpening woodworking blades. The work station options that he includes in this book are simple and functional. I was able to put together the sharpening station in just an afternoon. Even after a few modification it works out perfectly. The control that he talks about having on the tool while sharpening was very helpful. By following the steps outlined in this book, it give you a good start with developing your sharpening skills. I can easily see how the use of the waterstones are superior to my old oil stones. The blades become sharper faster and retain their edges longer. Overall I think it is an excellent reference for both the novice and the experienced woodworker. Let's face it, you can only enjoy woodworking when you have finely sharpened and adjusted tools.