Step 3: Learn How To Refurbish, Tune & Sharpen Hand Tools

How to Sharpen and Restore Woodworking Hand Tools

By Joshua Farnsworth

Below you will see various tutorials by skilled craftsmen, on sharpening and restoring / refurbishing woodworking hand tools. My wife loves to say, “hun, I think you love restoring hand tools almost as much as woodworking!” I think she’s right. There’s something magical about taking a well-built antique woodworking hand tool and bringing it back to working order. Removing the rust, tuning up the parts, and sharpening the blade gives a feeling of satisfaction; especially when seeing the finished result. I get a feeling of a connection with the past, with my ancestors, with a time when things were made and done with a sense of pride and quality.

How to Sharpen Hand Plane Irons / Blades and How to Sharpen Wood Chisels

Deneb Puchalski shares a fantastic tutorial on how the Lie-Nielsen company recommends that you sharpen plane irons:

Here’s a great video on free hand sharpening of various tools:

Here are Two great videos from Highland Woodworking and Lie-Nielsen on grinding and honing chisels:

How to Sharpen a Handsaw:

Englishman Paul Sellers shares an in-depth tutorial on handsaw types and sharpening techniques:

How to Sharpening a Card Scraper:

I filmed Elia Bizzarri teaching the simplest method that I’ve seen, on how to sharpen a card scraper:

How to Refurbishing Hand Planes:

This is a really long video about hand plane restoration, but it’s very detailed:

How to Refurbish Chisels:

VIDEO: This video shows how to refurbish old flea-market chisels to beautiful working condition:

How to Refurbish and Restore Handsaws:

Here’s a great tutorial on how to refurbish and restore an antique handsaw:

CONTINUE TO STEP 4 >>>

Step 3: Learn how to Refurbish, Tune & Sharpen Hand Tools