I know that I often state that I do not follow professional woodworking blogs. This is a bit disingenuous, as I do follow one blog. Though the woodworker isn't a professional, I consider his work at the professional level. And since I've been following his work and interacting with him for years I generally feel that his advice and tips are well worth considering.
In one of his posts a few weeks back the topic was sharpening, and his belief that using an inexpensive India stone makes more financial sense than using some of the very costly and at times complicated systems that are on the market, and which are often touted by gurus as the "only way to sharpen". He contends that sharpening is not complicated, does not need to be complicated, and certainly doesn't need to be expensive, and comes down to raising a burr and polishing the edge (I am paraphrasing and not speaking for him)
The simple concept of "raising a burr" struck a chord, and though I use an 800/8000g water stone for nearly all of my sharpening, I decided to try sharpening a #5 plane iron with a small, very inexpensive Arkansas stone that I use for sharpening pocket knives. I filmed a short video that would have been much shorter had I just shut up and sharpened. And while I don't recommend using the exact stone I use in the video only because it is really too small for comfortably sharpening most plane irons, I wanted to prove the point that in sharpening, we are really only raising a burr, removing the burr, and polishing the edge, and often everything else we are told is just superfluous.
Two other points I wanted to make. Firstly, the stone I used, and the leather strop I used for final polishing, cost around $30 (USD) combined. However, an Arkansas or India stone properly sized for sharpening woodworking tools will probably cost in the $40-$50 USD range. The strop I made myself with a scrap board and $10 in craft leather. Secondly, I didn't mention the woodworker I am referring to by name or post a link to his channel because I did not ask his permission to do so. The internet can be a strange place, and I no longer make any assumptions. For instance, at one time I would use stock photos for this blog, and when I accidentally used a photo that wasn't stock the person who originally posted it seemingly was pretty upset.
With that out of the way, the video is approximately 15 minutes long, but in approximately 5 minutes I am able to take a #5 plane iron from dull to woodworking sharp using very basic supplies, and that is what I hope comes across.
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