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When you have obtained the bevel you want, it is time to hone the edge.
I use a fine grit 3” by 8” diamond covered plate which I bought from Rockler about 8 years ago. It cost about $65 but it is the very best sharpening tool I ever bought. Even with much use it is still going strong. You can use any stone you have provided that it is flat.
This is what you are looking for. The edge is sharpened all the way across, and the edge is nice and straight. The hollow grind shows you exactly where you are, and you can see when you have the correct result. The backs on all my tools were flattened long ago, so I did not get into doing that here. I will put up another tutorial on flattening the backs of edge tools. When the tool has been sharpened this much, you can feel a definite wire edge on the flat side.
Now it is time to go to the felt wheel. While the wheel is turning I apply some compound to the surface. Just a little. Green compound works just fine. Then I polish the cutting edge. CAUTION! The wheel must turn away from you! If you try this with the wheel turning the normal way, you are in for an unpleasant surprise. There is a slight learning curve to polishing the edge. Start with the bevel in a position where you know the edge will not touch. Slowly draw the tool closer to you until you can tell that the edge is just barely being polished. This is delicate work, so do not get in a hurry here. Remove the tool from the wheel every few seconds and look at it. The cutting edge should be getting polished to a mirror finish, and the wire edge should disappear.
To see if the edge is sharp enough to suit me I try it on the hair of my arm. If it shaves the hair, it is sharp enough. Tools don’t get much sharper than this. I timed myself doing this chisel and less than 2 minutes elapsed from start to finish. I recently found a site on the internet which sells 6” felt wheels for about $17. © James Thompson
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