My sharpening book, The Perfect Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Sharpening for Woodworkers, Popular Woodworking Books, ISBN 978-1558708587, 224 pages, over 400 photographs, charts, graphs, circles and arrows, etc., is due to be available in mid-December. The official release is in January but they’re teasing me (and you, I hope) with talk of an earlier date. I will have books available, signed if you wish, on the HOCK TOOLS website and you should be able to pick up a copy “wherever books are sold.” Try your local bookstore first.
The research for the book took me many places. Where it took me on the internet may be of interest to you as well. The topic of sharpening is impossible to contain in a mere 224 pages; the more I learned the more there was to learn. It’s a great, complicated (and sometimes controversial) topic, worthy of continued exploration and while I sincerely hope the book will more than satisfy your need to know, you may be compelled to explore further. In that spirit I offer the following links (in no particular order):
{Please note that I in no way endorse any of these links. I saved them during my research because they appeared informative and/or interesting but I didn’t use the information from any one of them unless I verified it elsewhere. I offer them now simply as a service to those of you who may want to pursue the various topics. Good luck; and don’t believe everything you read on the internet.}
Sharpening, Honing and Polishing Gouges and Other Carving Tools
A Guide to Honing and Sharpening Woodworking Tools
Abrasive grit sizes of belts, wheels and stones used in knifemaking, sharpening and woodworking
eG Forums -> Knife Maintenance and Sharpening
D2vs52100.jpg (JPEG Image, 600×366 pixels)
Technical Library
Corrosion
WoodCentral’s BP Archives: High angle smoothing plane comparison
Grain structure [SubsTech]
Molecular Expressions Microscopy Primer: Specialized Microscopy Techniques
Jordan: Ancient Metallurgy
aluminum — Infoplease.com
Aluminum: Experience in Application | Lincoln Electric
SharpToolsUSA.com – Your Source for TORMEK Support and Service
RUST PRIMER
Rust converters
A Woodworker’s Guide to Tool Steel and Heat Treating
Welcome to Vintage Saw’s Saw Filing Treatise
Smoky Mountain Woodcarving Supply Sharpening Page
Woodcarving, Sharpening Carving Tools, Carving Instruction
Carver’s Companion – New Carver Files
A PRIMER ON KNIFE SHARPENING – Chapter 3
Making Digital Camera Microscope Adapters
Basic Carbide’s Grade Chart
Carbide Saw Blade Anatomy
Carbide Teeth | Glossary of saw tooth styles
Tungsten Carbide – An Overview
Iron and Steel
Chapter 5: The Age of Iron
Brent’s Sharpening Pages
Fahrenheit to Celsius Converter
Martensite and Martensitic Phase Transformations
Vol6_SteelToolMaking.pdf (application/pdf Object)
Diehl Steel – Low Carbon Steel
Classification of Carbon and Low-Alloy Steels
Metallic Glass: Material Of The Future?
Crystallography of Iron
Saw Sharpening
Sharpening Hand Saws | Norse Woodsmith
Forging Index
http://garnerheattreatinc.com/capabilities.html
Griffith Institute: Carter Archives – p0870
Making a Bamboo Fly Rod
The art and science of sharpening. – Free Online Library
WoodCentral’s Article & Reviews
WoodCentral’s Articles of Interest
FELDCO INTERNATIONAL – BORON CARBIDE SILICON NITRIDE ALUMINA SILICON CARBIDE
TECH NOTES
catalog.pdf (application/pdf Object)
Pacific Grinding Wheel – Document Library | Abrasives Training
Grinding Wheel Information
Knife Grinding and Woodworking Manual 5 — Excerpts Part 5
Grinding Wheels 101
Selection_Guide.pdf (application/pdf Object)
Abrasive Grains 101 | Characterization of Abrasives
SiO2 @ 3Dchem.com
Benjamin-Mills > Chemistry > Sharnbrook
Hardness
Hardness vs. Wear. An overview of material hardness and wear resistance.
Ceresist – Ceramic Materials – Hardness Comparison
Oregon® Frequently Asked Questions
Chainsaw Chains
JK Files & Tools – About Us : Highlights – Selection of Drills
The Poles Apart Stilt Company Website – Home/Clients/References
Old Philippine pics: log cutting with a chainsaw on Flickr – Photo Sharing!
Timberrrrr! on Flickr – Photo Sharing!
Popular Woodworking – Stop Rust Now
Abrasive Grains 101 | National and International Size Standards
HardnessTrends29IL.pdf (application/pdf Object)
FEPA-ABRASIVES
Temperature_guide.pdf (application/pdf Object)
The Sharpening Blog 
Sweet Jebus Ron. That is the most sharpening links I’ve ever seen.
Chris
Holy Cow Bat Man!
I think I have visited half of these before, but about 50% is new to me. Thanks for sharing Ron! Some light reading before bed tonight.
Regards,
For most of us, this list will do nothing but add to an already overwhelmingly confusing topic. Posting all these links may be a valuable service to those few who are academics and want to study this stuff in depth. But for the great mass of practical types, who only want the bottom line – how to get the best edge so we can do what we want – carve, make furniture, chop down trees, this is amazingly confusing.
Why not give some opinionated notes and direct us to a few of the really good sites?
Al that said, your new book looks great, and I am going to get a copy.
I didn’t intend to confuse or overwhelm with all these links but I wanted to share where my inquiries led (some of the links are arcane and academic, some are downright entertaining). As for the bottom line, well, that’s what the book is. I spent more than a year and a half buried in this topic and coalesced what I learned into the book. I sincerely hope that it alone will give interested woodworkers a better understanding of the piece of steel that is so often between the worker and the wood. It may have made more sense to post these after the book has been out a while. If more depth of understanding is desired, there is more info out there.
Hey Ron, These links are a great resource, many I was aware of, many I was not. I am eagerly awaiting the book release! Hope to see you at a show again soon!
THANKS! a lot for compiling and sharing all these links.
I’m looking forward to exploring these, ever since I read Alexander Weygers books 30 years ago, I’ve been interested in the edges and the steel in my tools, and why they act the way they do…by the way I’ve got your blades in all of my Record and Bailey planes, and think they’re great. Thanks for the info
Great book! I better understand metallurgy and how it relates to the blades and sharpening.