Belt sanders can be used to renew the bevels and take out the nicks in the edge. But, keep the work cold, and hold the shanks of the chisels in your fingers, so you can feel when the blade is getting hot. Keep a can of water near, and dunk the edge into it often.
Once you get the nicks, and gouges out of the edges, I recommend going to hand honing equipment.
Its not that this kind of sharpening CAN'T Be done with powered equipment. Its just that if you haven't been doing this kind of things and have mastered the process, powered tools will ruin fine work in an instance of lapse of concentration. ITS Better to learn with hand tools and master the techniques, before attempting to use power tools.
I use Arkansas stones to hone my knives and chisels, using some blade holders, or "jigs" to keep the angles uniform. All the honing of chisels is done on the bevel- not on the back side of the tool. I have cleaned off "flowers of rust" from the back side of old chisels, gently rubbing the flat of the blade against a well-oiled fine honing stone, but there are other ways to do the same thing.
Knives, on the other hand, can be either made with one-side beveled, or the more usual double sided bevels. I still see patch knives with a single bevel, as in straight razors. Chisels tend to have only one side beveled.
YOu can use fine grit abrasive papers, or fine stones( provided you also learn how to keep both papers and stones cleaned). For truly fine work, polishing rouges, either on powered buffing wheels, or leather belt/wheel, or on polished steel, or tempered glass plates will give you the finest, sharpest edges.
Then, remember to strop off the fine burr that must be built up on the edge as its sharpened. Removing that burr- even a microscopic burr-- will prevent the burr from tearing a gouge into the true edge, and dulling the chisel again.
{ Sharpening is a 3-Step process. You first execute a "New" bevel. Then you use a fine stone or abrasive to build up a new EDGE. Finally, you strop the new edge to remove the burr, or "false edge". If you strop frequently, you can maintain a sharp edge for a longer time, before you have to go back to step #2, and use fine abrasives to make a new EDGE. Only when you really abuse a tool( as apparently was done by the prior owners here) do you have to go back to Step #1 and clean up the bevels, removing the gouges and holes in the edge caused by the abuse. Stropping(Step#3) on a hard, flat surface not only removes the burrs, but also straightens the LINE of the cutting edge, which, because the edge is so fine, can be twisted, or bent, when too much pressure is placed on the tool, or by running into harder substances than the surrounding wood or metal being cut.
I use an old leather belt for my strop. I use the straight edge of a polished piece of Stainless steel stock, or a counter-top edge, to straighten the edges of my blades. It doesn't take a lot of pressure to straighten a fine edge, and no damage is done to my counter-tops! :shocked2: :nono: One backstroke on both sides of a blade is usually sufficient to straighten the edge. Check it in natural light, or incandescent light- NOT Florescent light!--- by looking down the length of the edge. Repeat if necessary. }
