The Complete Guide to Sharpening

by Leonard Lee

Transform your woodworking experience with The Complete Guide to Sharpening by Leonard Lee.

Say goodbye to the frustration of working with dull tools. This comprehensive guide consolidates a lifetime of study into the most practical reference on sharpening techniques, methods, and devices.

Whether you’re a seasoned woodworker or a beginner, you'll discover the most effective ways to sharpen all your tools, from chisels to drill bits.

The Complete Guide to Sharpening empowers you to achieve precise, clean cuts every time, allowing your creativity and craftsmanship to shine. Don’t let dull tools hold you back—equip yourself with the knowledge and skills to sharpen your tools to perfection.

Key Expert Learn from tool expert Leonard Lee, who shares his wealth of knowledge and experience in sharpening methods that yield better edges than most razor blades. Versatile This guide covers a wide range of woodworking tools, equipping you with the skills to sharpen everything you’re likely to encounter in your workshop. Simple With easy-to-follow instructions and simple principles, you’ll learn to shape your tools for optimal cutting performance, ensuring they stay sharp longer. Essential Discover the basic equipment needed for sharpening, making it accessible for woodworkers at all skill levels. Practical This book serves as an invaluable resource for maintaining the longevity and effectiveness of your tools, improving the quality of your work and the enjoyment of your craft.

Genres: Woodwork, Nonfiction, Reference, How To, Cookbooks, Crafts

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 1995

Reviews

[Gérard Doux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive, technical, scientific, but also very easy to understand, with tons of nice pictures and sketches.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

One day, I said to myself, "hey, I want to learn how to sharpen blades." I purchased this book, and learned that one doesn't merely decide that he would like to sharpen blades. I now respect the craftsmanship of an expert blade sharpener. I may still take some baby steps - at least acquiring the capability to do the rough sharpening of garden tools, my principle goal anyway - but we'll see if it makes sense for me to take it further.

[Kenton Erb · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most helpful revelation to me was learning how wood grain reacts at the edge of a blade.

[Christopher Hachet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I work much more efficiently with sharp tools. This book helped me along that journey. Highly reccomended.

[Flint W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful for understanding how to sharpen any tool. Less useful for understanding the nuances of knife sharpening.

[Smellsofbikes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly comprehensive book -- if you're a woodworker. He has a whole section of electron microscope pictures of the results of different sharpening techniques, and goes through just about every woodworking tool that has ever existed, talking about how each is used and how sharpening it should be approached. He talks about the difference between oilstones and waterstones, micro-bevels, sharpening fixtures, wet and dry grinding, how to regrind screwdrivers so they work right, how to set up competition two-man saws: it's amazing. He's also a funny writer, not in the jokey way but in clever, wry asides about how things go wrong and why he believes things, sometimes in the face of all evidence to the contrary.

[Geoff]

This is one of the two sharpening texts that I've seen recommended. I've skimmed this one, and it appears both thorough and technical. The reviews on Amazon favored this text over Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Sharpening.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and comprehensive. Covers the full process from grinding a new blade through to final sharpening. Includes coverage of a wide range of stones and abrasives, and some great ideas for difficult jobs like honing gouges. Also covers scrapers and misc edged tools.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad book if you like sharp tools.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Reference book, good pictures, enjoyed the elemental explanations of tools, how they work as context for the need for sharpening.

[Joshua]

Great book! For anyone who wants to sharpen anything. The hows and whys of sharpening.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clear, thorough, and genuinely enjoyable to read.

[Michael Seery · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title says it all!

[James Tomasino · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely the right book to get. Thorough and clear instruction and explanation. Easy to read with good imagery and illustration.