Spend a few years tackling home-improvement projects and your assortment of chisels, planes and other cutting tools is likely to include a few battered edges. Those that are just slightly dull can be sharpened with a few strokes on a whetstone, but if any are severely worn, you’ll want to renew them with a bench grinder. Bench grinders are compact, affordable and nearly indispensable when it comes to keeping a sharp edge on tools. They’ll sharpen chisels, plane irons, scissors -- just about any hand tool that cuts -- plus mower blades, drill bits and other accessories.
Most bench grinders work at speeds exceeding 3,000 rpm, faster than the ideal speed for regrinding tools. At that high speed, the biggest risk is overheating the tool edge to the point that it loses its ability to hold a sharp edge. Unless it’s heat-treated again (not a task for beginners), the tool’s steel will soften and never hold its edge as well again. But if you exercise care, you can learn to use the grinder quickly and efficiently without damaging any tools. Practice on expendable tools until you get the hang of it.
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Bench grinders are handy home-improvement tools.
