How do you sharpen your tools?

[ducks4you]

I saw a program that suggested buying a wire brush that fits on your drill to polish and sharpen spades and other digging tools. Bought the attachment, but I'm not sure how to clean them, oil them OR how to properly care for my tools.
I'm a BAAAAADDDDDD tool owner!!!!!
Wanna get better. Any advice?
I have many spades, a big, flat-bottomed transplanting shovel and an awesome auger.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't sharpen any that you mentioned. I try to clean the mud off them before I hang them up so the wet dirt won't rust them, but that's it. I'm not alwasy as good about that as I should be.

I'll sharpen my cutting tools but with all the rocks I hit sharpening my digging tools would be a waste. If I did sharpen them, it would be with a file.

My ax, hatchet and mattock, I'll use a file. Put them in a vise to hold them steady, wear leather gloves that cover my wrists to reduce the bleeding, and file away. It generally doesn't take long.

I use a whetstone to sharpen my knife.

 

[Mickey328]

I say to DH "honey, could you sharpen the spade please?" LOL...I think he just uses a stone on the edges, like sharpening a knife but moving the stone rather than the tool.

 

[seedcorn]

If its a flat edge, a piece of cement block works great. How I sharpen knives. Sharpens but doesn't lose a lot of metal.

 

[897tgigvib]

Years ago I used to pride myself on sharp shovels and hoes, adzes, practically everything. It slowly sunk in that it was pretty much a waste of effort.

A heavy hoe will whack through ground sharp or dull.

But if you do want to, use a very steep angle, and don't work the very edge to a sharp edge. Give that some thickness. After all, it'll be banging stones.

 

[JimWWhite]

Being a true Neanderthal I use my disc grinder. Does the job done quickly and my hoes, axes, etc. stay sharp. Plus there's a lot of really pretty sparks!!!

But you know, I read an article somewhere a long time ago that recommended taking a 5 gallon bucket and filling it about 3/4's full of course sand and then add a can of 30 wt motor oil to it. When you come in from the garden just dunk it in the bucket and it removes the mud and dirt, gives it a little bit more edge, and coats it with a thin film of oil. I've always meant to try it. Next time I get a pile of creek sand I think I may. Pretty cool, huh?

 

[MontyJ]

Disk grinder, bench grinder, file, or whet stone, it really depends on what I'm sharpening. Regular hoe, round point shovel, mattock=disk grinder, stirrup hoe, mower blades=file, corn knife, machetti, ax, hatchet, maul=bench grinder, knives=whet stone. I don't oil digging implements. I have never had a shovel or garden hoe rust away, and there are no moving parts. A quick shot of WD40 and a wipe with a rag keeps the cutting implements from rusting.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Monty you had me there for a moment when you said you sharpen a maul. When I think of maul, I think of some type of hammer like an upholsterer's wooden maul or a type of sledge hammer, then it hit me. A splitting maul.

I don't use a grinder on a true cutting edge, like and ax or blade. The metal gets hardness from heating up and quenching. The chemicals added to the metal to create that special alloy make a difference too but the heating and quenching is part of it. When you heat it up with a grinder you lose some of that hardness so it gets dull quicker. That's why I use a file or stone.

The flip side to this is that it is a lot quicker to sharpen things with a grinder than a file or stone. There is a tradeoff here I'll admit.

 

[vfem]

My husband has a hand file I use when need be. I don't really oil anything. I give things a rinse and everything gets stored in a basket either in the outdoor storage closet or in my mini-greenhouse/hothouse on the deck.

Hubby and I don't do it often though. Usually mid-summer we'll sit out on the deck at night, when its cool and we can just sit with a few beers. Watching the motionless stars and smelling the sweet fragrance of the Nicotina for hours of pure peace. Its so nice we don't want to do anything other then chat and giggle. However, we find ourselves with files in hand adding a fresh edge to the axe, some clippers and a few hand trowels. We know days are coming where chickens need processing, wood needs splitting for the fire pit and bulbs will need to pulled up and split soon. So we couldn't ask for a more relaxed moment to make the days of work ahead go smoother.

By the time we're done, so is the six-pack!

 

[897tgigvib]

That sounds lovely vfem. Y'all should do that more often,