Question about shapening tools

[VenezianoJ@zzzzzzz]

<<First, I've been sharpening my chisels on a regular old sharpening
stone, but I've been curious about picking up a wet, slow-rotating
sharpener (like those made by Delta). Anyone use these, and have
recommendations? > >

I'm assuming that we're talking about carbon steel chisels here, and not carbide.  Hope so...most everything I'll say applies to steel...and probably doesn't to carbide =)

A slow moving wet grinder is less likely to draw the temper on your tools than a regular bench grinder.  This will normally lead to longer tool life.  The drawback is the higher cost of the machine.

I will admit, I've not used a powered wet grinder...I have had ocassion to use both dry bench grinders, and an old fashioned hand cranked wet grindstone.  I personally found that I preferred using the wet grinder, not having to worry about drawing the temper, which would necessitate retempering.  Not that retempering is hard, mind you...and on stone tools I'd personally view it as more of an annoyance than anything else...but it got to be a real pain when sharpening handled tools like axes, carpenter's chisels, and butchering knives (although most of the time, the knives would be done with a hand hone).

<<Second, I dug up some old chisels I haven't used in a long while, and
they have a bit of rust on the handles. Usually, I just scrape the rust
off on the sharpening stone, but I find that the steel is then more
prone to rust there again. I was curious if anyone could recommend a
way to protect that metal better, such as some kind of coating. > >

You could use a wax, though I'm not sure how that would affect the stone.  Another tack you could take would be to store your chisels in a box, and put a packet of silica gel in the box.

Jerry Veneziano