Rating: 
Summary: Excellent concepts, great practical solutions
Review: Fantastic book on understanding how "it all works" in the field of woodworking. It tells you what are the common mistakes, why things don't work the way you want it to and most importantly what needs to be done differently. The electron mircroscope pictures really show what "burr" actually looks like when you are sharpening a tool or knive.
He backs it up not by what works for him, but actual scientific data, looking at the minutest details of both material and tool, and what is happening to them when they come in contact with each other. No doubt some of the details about angles, forces working on the tool are above my head.
The reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 stars is because it doesn't go in great length how to sharpen kitchen knives. That was my one primary area of interest. For those who are interested in sharpening knives with hand on a stone, especially japanese water stone, watch the DVD "The Chef's edge" not available on Amazon so far. It is very very good. It tells you about stones,how to use a stone fixer, how to sharpen western style knives and japanese knives. And the common mistakes people make in sharpening. I practiced the techniques and I GOT THE RESULTS.
Rating: 
Summary: A "must have" book for sharpening all your shops tools.
Review: Having read over a dozen books on this topic, this is the best book on how to sharpen every tool in your shop. Lee includes a good review of the different kinds of sharpening stones and alternate methods such as using sanding papers. There are many illustrations to help explain the text and special jigs you might need to perform a job. I am particularly interested in hand planes. The chapter on them includes information on blade angles and how to true and flatten the sole plate that is integral to getting good results after you sharpen the blaade. This is an example of how complete the information is in this book
Rating:
Summary: before you buy a "sharpening system", read this!
Review: I checked this book out from my local library, and read it cover to cover. It is so full of practical and useful information, I think I will have to purchase it to add to my library. Lee covers theory, research about metallurgy and how wood reacts to sharp edges, with very practical applications of this theory and research. His writing style is very clear and understandable, and his knowledge base is clearly built upon a lifetime of woodworking experience. He points out that, no matter how much you spend for fancy stones, wheels and jigs, and top end tools, you will not get a sharp edge and satisfying result without a basic understanding of wood, metals and abrasives. The book is nicely illustrated with clear photos and beautiful electron micrographs and very well edited. Essentially all hand woodworking and power tools are covered. It also includes appendices covering research results of how wood reacts to cutting edges and useful reference tables about abrasives. This is one of those uncommon books that brings together science, art, and craftsmanship is a very pleasant-reading text worth keeping for reference.
Rating:
Summary: THE DEFINITIVE WORK
Review: I have read many books on sharpening, and this is the "definitive work" on sharpening. My knowledge on this subject, based on this book is without question complete. This book allows me to sharpen my cooking knives and wood tools to surpass the degree demanded and required.
Finally, I doubt there is a more complete work on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: A Sharp Book!
Review: I wrote Sharpening Made Easy, a good book on knife sharpening. Leonard Lee's The Complete Guide to Sharpening is a better book and covers more than mine does.
Rating:
Summary: A great blend of theory and practice
Review: Leonard Lee takes an open-minded, scientific look at a subject that many woodworkers treat as voodoo. Lee presents photographs that detail the differences between "razor sharp" and truly hair-splitting sharp. He explains techniques for getting the keenest edge possible on chisels, saws, plane blades, scrapers, and a variety of other edges tools. He takes the time to explain edge geometry and how it will affect the steel based on some simple metallurgy. He also explains how different woods and types of cuts require different geometries. This book has become one of my basic reference manuals in the shop.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic, definitive and best book on sharpening, ESSENTIAL
Review: Ooooh what a book ... All the positive reviews made me want to know more, so I asked about it at a local woodworking shop and they said, "This is THE best book on sharpening." It is essential to have sharp tools, I do all my work with handtools but the book goes into great detail on ALL tools, machines, different shapes of tools, the advantages of different techniques ... great detail, but it is also concise, VERY easy to read and understand, and has excellent placement of photos within the text - if you are reading about something on page 30 the pictures will be on page 30, not page 29, not page 35. Also the large pages are broken up nicely with tidbits of fascinating historical and scientific information. In parts, I actually laughed out loud! There are electron microscope photographs of the edges of blades that have been sharpened using various methods. You can actually see the effects ... you will gain appreciation of lapping and rust prevention ... you will know how to select good tools, good sharpening aids ... you will learn about the structure of wood and how to cut with a blade. Part of the way through it I thought, "this is great, but I wish it told me how to sharpen my kitchen knives" - wholah! in a few pages it did, it showed me how to use that stupid thing that came with the set of knives, and the method worked very well. I could not be more pleased with this book. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in sharpening, especially woodworkers, these are essential skills. Sharp tools will enhance your entire woodwork experience. You will produce finer work with greater ease, even if you use mostly power tools. I give it 6 stars out of 5. If it had all colour photos and was bound in leather, I would give it 10 out of 5 AND it would be a fantastic coffee table book as well (warning: that does not mean it is insubstantial, just that many non-woodworking visitors would very much enjoy it)
Rating:
Summary: Complete and Easy to Follow
Review: Sharpening is not, as it seems to the beginner, half black magic and half luck. Grasp a few simple principles and obtain the correct materials outlined in this book and with a very little practice one can ceate a sharp edge on all important hand tools.Lee's style is friendly (many anecdotes are interspersed throughout the book) and his well-illustrated directions are complete and easy to understand. There is some highly technical and involved information in the first two chapters, but you don't really have to slog through it to sharpen well.
Rating:
Summary: Keep it Sharp
Review: The last guide to sharpening you'll ever need. As a novice, this helped me determine which grinder, wheels, and stones I should invest in first. The beginning goes into more theoretical detail than most folks will care about, but the practical chapters and the instructions cover any tool you may ever need to sharpen; from chisels and planer blades to kitchen knives!
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Summary: AKA..SHARPENING FOR DUMMIES...
Review: This book by Leonard Lee (who also owns Lee Valley / Veritas tools) is probably the most complete book on sharpening on the market today. He covers metalurgy, composition, tempering and heat treating. He not only discuss's angles for sharpening but why these are the proper angles. Quite a bit of time is spent discussing diffferent edges or degree's of sharpness and why you want to achieve them. You begin to realize he is trying to take a somewhat dry and often confusing process and turn it into something you can fully understand from beginning to end. The fact that he is very passionate about sharp tools comes thru. I especially appreciate the wide selection of sharpening aids that he has included in the book. From the old standby oilstone to the ultra modern complete systems. He offers alternative methods and shows how to achieve that perfect edge.
I also have the cd/dvd companion to the book. It is almost as complete, with a lot of hands on demonstration.
I have always been able to get a good edge on my chisel's and turning tools (except the mini's, old eyes ya know), but was never happy with the edge I would get on my planes. Now they cut those beautiful "curls" everytime. His book makes it simple and easy for me to achieve this.
Recommend this book to everyone, woodworker or not, who needs to be able to get that "edge" on their cutting tools. Can't give it a high enough rating.
The cd/dvd rates way up there also.
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