sharpening wood chisels and knives

i have recently started carving and didnt really know what type of chisels i needed so i bought a set of carving chisels from my local hardware store. of course these were made in china and lost their sharpness as soon as i had one or two pieces carved.( im carving a chess set). i just cant seem to get the edge back and ive found out the hard way that a dull chisel can cause more harm or damage than a sharp one. please help. show me some instructions or point me to a sight that has them. thanks,wink

[Captain_Bandaid]

IBW, try www.capeforge.com. They have a nice tutorial on sharpening. There are other sites with good info too, but I don't have the URL. However, I would suggest you start looking for some tools that are worth sharpening. There are many low cost tools that perform very well. Woodcraft sells a set of five and seven tools made in Japan that are quite reasonably priced. Warren tools and Ramelson tools are good too. Stay away from the big hobby stores for tools, they are grossly overpriced. Good luck on the chess set!

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

try www.scarysharp.com it is an easy way to sharpen knives and tools....oh and the el cheapo's you bought, forget it, I bought one of those too when I first started, it delayed me really getting started for a couple of years!

Hi Ho is right you could probably throw those cheap tools in the garbage. It is my guess they are made out of junk metal and it doesnt matter how you sharpen them they will never hold an edge. Dont worry we have all been there I made the exact same mistake when I started carving. I am just fortunate that someone told me to get good tools. It is the same with anything in the world you get what you pay for. good luck.
Colin

There a two kinds of Chinese tools, very good and very bad .... I'd hang on to them until you find out which you really have. A quick way to find out is to just touch a grinding wheel with one, good steel will give a good shower of sparks. Chances are they are the very bad variety, but one never knows... in the mean time I'd suggest sending an email to
rick@littleshavers.com
or give him a call at (206)767-7421 and have him fix you up with the tools you need. He's very helpful and will not sell you something you don't need, even if he has to send you elsewhere.