How do you sharpen a drawknife

[John Coloccia]

Just as the title says. I'm thinking of picking one up but I can't figure out what the best way of sharpening it is.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I've seen Brian Boggs discuss this somewhere . . .


Found it :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lVMcFjoOL4

[John Coloccia]

That's perfect, Joshua. Thanks!

[Richard Francis]

And Peter Galbert has several entries on his blog on how to do it
http://chairnotes.blogspot.com/2011/05/drawknife-grinding-video.html
and lookk under sharpening for jigs etc

[john brenton]

I wouldve never thought about putting the stone in the horse. Neat. Even though I would take Boggs advice over mine, I've found it easier to hone from side to side instead of straight on like Boggs does here. I hold the shave straight up and down, with one handle resting on the bench, and sight down the bevel that way. I just focus on the edge instead of the whole bevel, and that'll naturally give you the slight round. I also don't like using the big stones. I have a set of three japanese slip stones that work perfectly.

I leave a slight round on the bevel, but a flat back.

[Mike Holbrook]

Scythe users, stop and sharpen their blades about every five minuets. You better have a sharp blade if you want to cut blades of grass. Since I am a scythe fan I use the stones for my scythe on other tools with long blades, like draw knives. Check out the selection of stones at Scythe Works.. scytheworks... Don't tell me I have to build a shaving horse! I have not even started my bench yet!

[Michael Ray Smith]

I've reconditioned a few drawknives. I started out watching Brian Boggs's video (see the link in Joshua's message). The principles were useful, but I couldn't use his specific techniques. Unfortunately, I don't have a shaving horse, so that approach didn't work for me. In addition, if you're starting with a knife in really bad condition, you'll get very tired holding it in the crook of your arm the way Brian does. The method I found that works for me is to clamp the knife to the edge of the table and work the stone against it. I've done the back both ways -- flat and slightly crested, and I can't tell much difference.

[Mike Holbrook]

The problem sharpening long tool blades on the same stones we use for chisels and plane blades is those stones are designed to have a wide dead flat surface that we can maintain that perfect bevel angle on. Long bladed tools with curves just do not seem to me to fit these stones. The scythe stones on the other hand have been used to sharpen very long curved blades for centuries. The shape of these stones has been optimized for the specific task.