Robert Hazelwood
Contributor

Not Simon, but I also freehand sharpen on a secondary bevel. I grind a flat primary at 20 degrees and sharpen at about 25 or 30 depending on the...

Yeah I have to agree with the detractors here, based on my experience with two different blades. I've never found it terribly difficult to sharpen,...

I bought the Makita 18v brushless "subcompact" drill and impact driver last year and really like it. They are powerful but very compact, perfect for...

I'll argue that full length shavings do indicate that the surface is not significantly concave, unless the workpiece is very long relative to the...

The stick is 2-1/2" wide. On edge it should be stiff enough to get flat held in most any sort of vice. The last bit of fine tuning work should be...

Something seems wrong to me. If you're using a #7 on a 46" long piece you should not be able to have it 1/16" concave and still take full length...

You won't be able to file the hard layer at the bottom, but you can use a file to waste away the soft layer if you like. I would use a belt grinder,...

What kind of knives? A lot of carving knives I've seen are single bevel ("scandi" grind, e.g. Mora) and the bevels are so wide that they effectively...

Shaptons will do a fine job on knives and even axes. One issue is that you can wear the stones out of flat more easily than with a plane iron- you...

I'd say if you can sharpen well enough to pare pine end grain and take decent shavings, as you say, then there's not much need to test, just get to...

I had the 10-305. Its decent for its size and would probably be fine as a dedicated curve cutting saw, as long as the 10" throat doesn't impede. My...