Popular Woodworking Editors' Blog

The restored Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, has been on my list of places to visit for a long time. It is only a two-hour drive south of Cincinnati, and I can't count the number of times I've driven through the area and thought: "next time, we'll stop." This past weekend we made a special trip, and stayed overnight.

Pleasant Hill was one of the largest of the western Shaker communities, and the only one remaining that is open to the public in this part of the country. I had been to the Shaker Museum in Chatham, New York, and the Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts. Several of the pieces from Pleasant Hill have been featured in Popular Woodworking; most recently a firewood box was our "I Can Do That" project in our February 2008 issue. I saw three or four variations in different locations.

One of the unique aspects of Pleasant Hill is that a good portion of the property is an inn, with a wonderful restaurant and rooms available in the original buildings. I've been to a lot of museums and restorations, but I've never spent the night in one. It added immensely to the experience, giving us a much better feel for what life would have been like for the community members. (It also gave us some much needed peace and quiet.)

Our room was next to one of the most famous features of the village, the twin spiral staircase in the Trustee's Office. As a museum visitor, I would have gone up once or twice and taken a good look, but as a guest I enjoyed the stairs every time I left our room. It truly is an amazing piece of woodworking; there are actually two stairways on either side of a central hallway. Each side is two flights, twisting up to the third floor where a skylight provides both light and the feeling that these stairs lead to heaven.

Most monumental stairways are full of intricate details such as carved newel posts and turned balusters. The details in the stair are incredibly simple, yet the combination of shapes, and the subtle changes as the stairs turn and rise, make this an elegant statement of design and craftsmanship.

So if you're ever driving through Kentucky, make it a point to stop and enjoy as much time as you can spare. And don't leave without trying the lemon pie.

— Bob Lang

Norton IM83 Portable Waterstone Sharpening System

I'm not the most organized person in the world. In fact, I'm without argument the messiest person in our office and shop. I do OK if there is a system in place that I can follow without thinking too much about it. But if there isn't a place for everything, then I just put everything all over the place. This is one of the reasons I like the Norton IM83 Sharpening Set. In one case, which is just a bit larger than a lunchbox, is everything I need to keep my edge tools honed.

In the top of the box is a three-sided gizmo that holds three waterstones: #1000, #4000, and #8000 grit. It is designed to hold two of the stones in a bath of water, and the third in position for use. As I move up through the grits, rotating the holder brings the next stone into position, soaked and ready to use. I don't have room for a dedicated sharpening station, or the discipline to keep myself from piling stuff on one if I had it, so this makes it easy to contain the mess when it's time to hone, and it only takes a minute to pack it all back up.

In the bottom of the box is a second storage compartment where a flattening stone lives, and there is space down there for a few rags and other sharpening sundries. Also included in the set is a DVD on techniques for sharpening freehand. I learned to sharpen before workable jigs to hold the chisels or plane irons were readily available, and I have a philosophical bias to sharpening freehand. My argument is this: To use edge tools effectively you need to develop a feel for the relationship between your hands, the work and the tool. Sharpening is a great way to develop this feel, although I will admit it took time to learn and sometimes I have a bad day when a jig might be helpful.

One of the things I like about the Norton waterstones is that they are abrasive enough to cut quickly, but soft enough to provide useful feedback while sharpening. Some people may find the #4000- and #8000-grit stones to be too soft; it is possible to poke a corner of the tool into the stone. When I learned to sharpen, I was taught to try and take a slice off the stone with the tool. In the six months that I've been using these stones, I've learned to be less heavy-handed and apply more pressure coming back than going forward. I start to sharpen by putting the primary bevel flat on the stone.

I then raise the handle of the tool a bit to make the secondary bevel a few degrees steeper. I lock my wrists and move the edge back and forth in as straight a line as I can. Swinging with my shoulders while keeping my elbows and wrists locked works for me. I'm not picky about the exact angles involved; I've found if I'm in the neighborhood, the tool will work. With the Norton waterstones, if I'm applying too much pressure to one side or if I'm at too steep of an angle, I'll remove a tiny divot from the surface of the stone. This annoyed me at first, but now I feel that it is making me a better sharpener.

Bringing the stones back to a flat surface is quick work with the flattening stone, and the stones are 1" thick. It would take a truly obsessive sharpener a long time to wear one out, but it is possible. My conclusion is that Norton has reached a good compromise with the composition of these stones. They cut fast, leave a keen edge and can be easily maintained. Having the complete set in one handy box that fits in a small space is a plus. The kit sells for around $200 from many retailers, and is also available with oilstones instead of waterstones. I think it's an excellent solution for sharpening. And if you need the jig, there's room to store it in the bottom of the box.

-- Bob Lang