Why does nobody talk about the cost of sharpening chisels?

I was adding up my receipts last month and realized I spent $180 on sharpening stones and diamond plates in just one year. That was more than I paid for the chisels themselves. Has anyone else tracked what they spend on keeping their edge tools sharp?

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moore.beth1mo ago

I spent $60 on one diamond plate last year and it's still going strong. Unless you're flattening stones every week that seems high. Maybe you're buying the premium Japanese water stones or something. I just use a Norton combo stone and a strop with compound.

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blakestone1mo ago

Have you tried just counting how many times you actually flatten per month, @moore.beth? I was in the same boat until I realized I was flattening way more than I needed to, like every session out of habit. Once I switched to only doing it when the stone actually felt uneven or started dishin on me, my last plate lasted close to two years. Also, cheap plates from Amazon can be a trap, they wear out fast and you end up spending more replacing em than just buying one good one.

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