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If you have chisels........

Hi there fellow cigar box junkies. I have been thinking that it would be nice to have a separate group or section specifically about tools, since you just have to have them to make something fun and musical out of a cigar box.

Anywho, I was thinking about my chisels and about how much more useful they are when they are freakishly sharp. For years I had chisels and I would attempt to sharpen them by hand and never really got them as sharp as I wanted until I found this little gem. I found mine at Woodcraft and iirc, I paid about $14 for mine. I currently use it with wet/dry sandpaper and backward stroke only, though on a diamond "stone" which is a perfectly flat piece of steel with diamond particles embedded you can use a push stroke, but don't have one of those at the moment. I like this little jig and it is worth the money. I use sewing machine oil as a lubricant. http://www.amazon.com/Honing-Guide-Plain-Chisel-Sharpening/dp/B000R...

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Permalink Reply by Bad Wolf on January 21, 2013 at 6:18am

i have a planer attachment for my dremel. i use that to do rough shaping on the neck and then use a rasp to get it closer followed up by files, a card scraper and finally sand paper. i found chisels took too much material off if i wasnt really careful

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Permalink Reply by Busyhands Slim on January 22, 2013 at 11:51am

Thanks for the tip about the honing guide, Charlotte. This has always been a nerve-wracking procedure for me, so I'm really looking forward to using it. Got one today at Woodworker's Supply, so I'm set.

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Permalink Reply by Charlotte Henry on January 23, 2013 at 11:26pm

I know you will love this little gem. We have a sheet of safety glass in the shop about the size of a sheet of sandpaper and I am using that piece of glass with wet dry paper.

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Permalink Reply by Bad Wolf on January 24, 2013 at 2:10am

i just use a piece of MDF, works great

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Permalink Reply by Busyhands Slim on January 24, 2013 at 10:28am

Everybody should have one! I use a piece of plate glass to true up fretboards before fretting or scarf joints before gluing. It's kind of a cheap jointer.

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Permalink Reply by RTZGUITARS on January 24, 2013 at 7:21pm

Just got my Woodcraft catalog. I gotta try that. I used to chisel all my set 6 string neck joints. Now i router them. I do try and use as many hand tools as i can. Take care Charlotte.

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Permalink Reply by Pete Turner on August 7, 2013 at 1:39am

Great idea, besides my new passion for building/playing CBG's I'm also a woodcarver & have been for 40 yrs so I know a little about sharping chisels, gouges & knives. I plan to use my carving tools on next CBG. Here's a pick of my Canjo with a Hillbilly carved in the neck.

This won a blue ribbon at the county fair. I'd be glad to share my knowledge of carving tools with anyone interested.