Most hand tool maintenance guides assume you have a dedicated sharpening station and an hour to spare. This one assumes you have a job to finish and fifteen minutes at the end of the day. Here is what actually matters.
Chisels: the edge is the only thing that matters ¶
A chisel with a dull edge requires more force, which means less control and more chance of the tool slipping. Sharpening does not need to be complicated. A 1000-grit waterstone followed by a 6000-grit stone will put a working edge on most chisels in under five minutes once you know the angle. Keep the bevel flat on the stone. If you are new to sharpening, a honing guide removes the guesswork on the bevel angle. We stock the Veritas MkII honing guide for this reason.
Planes: flattening the sole and setting the cap iron ¶
A plane that chatters or tears grain is usually one of two things: a sole that is not flat, or a cap iron set too far back from the. Checking the sole with a known-flat reference (a good engineer's square or a piece of float glass) takes two minutes. The cap iron should be set about 1mm back from the edge for general work, closer for difficult grain. Plane blades sharpen the same way as chisels. The back of the blade needs to be flat before the bevel will sharpen properly.
Handsaws: cleaning and light setting ¶
A handsaw that has been used on resinous timber will drag. Wiping the plate with a rag and a small amount of WD-40 or camellia oil after use takes thirty seconds and makes a noticeable difference. Saw sharpening is a skill that takes time to learn. For most people, a replacement saw is more practical than sharpening. The exception is a quality tenon saw or dovetail saw where the blade is worth maintaining. We carry saw files in the right sizes for most tooth pitches.
Storage: the thing most people skip ¶
Rust is the main enemy of hand tools in a workshop environment. A light coat of oil on metal surfaces before storage prevents most of it. Camellia oil is the traditional choice for plane bodies and saw plates. For chisels stored in a roll, a thin wipe of oil on the blade before rolling them up is enough. Do not store tools in a damp environment. A silica gel pack in a closed toolbox helps if your workshop is humid.
The tools worth maintaining are the ones worth buying properly in the first place. The hand tool section of the catalog covers chisels, planes, and saws from Stanley, Irwin, and Bahco.