keeping them sharp..

[Tony Strupulis]

Similar to Donny's cereal box strop, I know of carvers using those cardboard-like coasters that many restaurants and bars have. Be sure to leave an extra tip for the waitress if you snag a couple. Also look for ones that don't have too much beer on them, for obvious reasons.

[Steve Hackman]

Perhaps your problem is the bevel is too large. If you lower the bevel using a stone and sharpen it they way you do, ensuring the entire blade surface is highly polished. You will find the blade will slide more easily through the wood. I use approx. 15 degrees. You may find this link useful.
http://www.pinewoodforge.com/sharpening.html

[Nathan Palenski]

I'm just learning about carving but I have a lot of experience sharpening. I've used oil stones, water stones, sapphire stones, ceramic stones and just about every jig available. I've got a sharpmaker, an edge pro, sapphire bench stones, russian leather strops, gauss leather strop, smooth steel, cotton buffers, lambs wool buffers etc.

The trick is to find the best bevel angle that works for your cutlery in the medium you're attempting to cut. With a pocket knife you may well be cutting rope in the morning, cardboard in the afternoon and whittling wood in the evening. Finding an edge geometry that works excellent for all of those is nearly impossible but that doesn't mean you can't do each reasonably well. With a wood chisel you pretty well know its only going to be cutting wood a certain way so you can really fine tune the bevel angle to the job. Try changing the angle by 5* at a time and see where you get the best results.

Make sure the factory edge is satisfactory or fix it yourself. I recently bought a set of HSS turning chisels to try my hand at lathe work. The factory edge looked like someone sharpened them on a side walk. After about 30 mins on the bench stones they were hair popping sharp.

Out of all the sharpening methods I have I prefer the spyderco bench stones. They dont dish, they come in extremely fine grits and are cheap compared to many of the other nice brands. I use them wet for the intial cut and dry for the final polish. They do need to be cleaned every now and then but all it takes is a brillo pad and some ajax. I get the most repeatable results which is important.

Be sure check your method too. Its not just rubbing a blade on a rock. There are a lot of different techniques but they seem to all end by pushing the blade into the stone with little to no downward pressure. If you push down too hard you'll end up with a burr that ends up tearing off and leaving a less than desirable edge.

If you plan on stropping you may want to get a better stropping compound. Some time ago I bought some boron carbide powder from ceradyne. Its colloquially known as black diamond. You mix it with some mineral oil and apply it to your strop. I can almost guarantee you'll see immediate results over OTC stropping compounds. While on the subject of stropping, its not a suitable replacement for sharpening but it will improve edge life significantly if done correctly. Its similar to smooth steel, it straigtens and cleans a good edge. At some point the edge will need to be sharpened.

I would love to see a better description of Randall's method. Sounds like it works pretty good if those are the results.

[randall rosenthal]

nathan...feel free to come over here and tune up my chisels and pocket knives. i'm pretty sure you are better at it then me.

for curved tools (which is what i use 95% of the time) ,mostly fish tailed gouges i just hold em to a soft cotton wheel with very fine rouge. first the bevel then the flat. usually a constant motion all done by feel and eyeballed. after that i hold the bevel edge on the flat for about 3 seconds. this removes the micro burr and any compound. if i use a tool for five minutes i give it about 6-10 seconds on the wheel. the idea is they never get the slightest bit dull.

my straight tool of choice..........is a mat knife. throw the blade away and pop in a new one.

i hate to admit it but i have very sloppy work habits. i get way to into what i'm doing to put things away while i am working so tools of all types get strewn around all over the place. they do get nicked and require starting a few steps from that final sharpening.

[Joe Christian]

Hi,

My first post here, but I thought I'd add my 2c to the topic.

So far most of what has been talked about I would describe as getting keenness. It's my own way of thinking about it, but I think of sharpness as all the parts of edge making - shape, geometry and keenness. To answer your question, I would first ask what kind of wood you are carving and think about the geometry (harder woods get steeper angles). Then, what kind of carving you do - relief, 3d sculpture etc to figure the shape/profile. The shape of the edge plays a large part in how well the tool performs for certain tasks. Lastly, comes keenness (only because it's the last task when sharpening before cutting wood) and that's been covered above. Then there are personal choices like inside bevel, hollow/strait/convex grind and heal rounding.

To give you a little background of myself so you know where my methods come from (they may not fit your style and that's understandable), I've been making violin family instruments for 15 years. So, I get a mix of woods and types of carving. I was taught to sharpen by hand many years ago when I started and still do it with stones and cardboard strops charged with white buffing compound. I was taught with water stones and tried oil stones for a little while but went back to water because my apprenticeship required it. I have now moved from water stones into the diamond stones and ceramic stones and like them very much for carving tools. You can get fine results with oil or water stones but learning on water can be challenging since you can easily scar the surface.

Since you are reading this, I'm going to assume that you are fairly new to sharpening these things. I'm also going to ignore inside bevels for simplicity. Oh, and swedish or old american style steels.

So, Here Goes:

What kind of wood and what angle? Don't go too nuts over the angle. Close is close enough and you can adjust on the fly. If all you carve is soft, creamy woods like basswood or select pine, then start around 22 to 25 degrees. If you are a rank beginner, start at 25 since it will be easier. This is the range most carving tools come as, although I haven't met a factory edge I like. Most are way too rounded over but keen as a Chicago Politician. Harder woods like maple need a bit more strength and I'd do 26-28. Oak, ebony and other beasties use 30+ and consider sharing this between an outside and inside bevel. Add a few degrees if you use a mallet or prise the wood at the end of cuts. If, after using the tool, your edge crumbles or dulls too fast, add a degree or two...rinse and repeat.

What kind of carving and what edge profile? Start with an edge that is straight across as this should be your default. After that, you have to find what works best for you, but some general rules can be applied. If you do mostly long even cuts like running grooves then straight or slightly winged is probably best. Relief carving can sometimes be easier with a profile that matches the sweep (finger nail or nosed profile). This way you can make a groove and stop cut the waste.

Keenness has been discussed already, but I use hard ceramic stones lubricated with water followed white buffing compound on cereal box type cardboard or hard/thin leather. I use the white compound only because it's an aluminum oxide and not chromium (green) or some other nasty metal based abrasive. It's as good as any and better than most.

I carve in maple, spruce and occasionally ebony so I have tools to match each need. I also do a mix of grooves/beading and 3d sculpture so some tools are set up differently for these tasks.

For the grooves, I use straight across profile and found I can get away with an average angle of around 26 degrees for the maple and spruce. For the violin scroll, I have a slight fingernail profile and use about a 27 degree angle. For the ebony it's straight and 30 degrees shared between inside and outside.

If you would like, I can describe the simple slip stone method of sharpening. I also have a method for sharpening "freehand" that I have developed that I will share if anyone is interested. This post is already too long to add it here.

Hope this helps a little or gives a different perspective.

--Joe

[Mark Yundt]

Like both Mr. Rosenthal and Mr. Henderson I too only power strop my tools. I've tried most other gadgets , novelties, old wives tales, etc. and gave up on them. I'd rather carve.

[Daniel Heine]

Jason,

Last summer I bought two of the Koch sharpeing wheels from Woodcraft, and a 8" variable speed grinder from Sears. I also bought the fine and extra fine compound. I mounted the wheels on the grinder, set the grinder to a little past half speed, applied the paste, and rolled the bevel against the wheels.

The result: Magic. I keep my Denny and Stubai tools very sharp, and they glide through basswood easily. After I used the Koch systems the first time, I could not believe the change. Now they are gliding through the wood like it is butter.

I spent a total of just under $200.00, and it was well worth every penny. I never even look at my Tormek anymore!!! To see a demonstration, click on this link:

http://www.norahall.com/tools_koch.shtml

Good Luck,
Dan

[Carroll Courtney]

Guys I have been following this thread and reading all the attachments that has been provided,but I'm lose.I read Mike H's attachments on how he sharpens his gouges and watch the video on a system,but could ya'll post pics of the wheels that is being used cause I just don't understand using the flat side of a wheel on the flat side of the gouge.Are you talking about the side of the wheel and is the wheel a soft cloth type wheels?Sorry for these elementary questions but my carving tools are dull and I have never sharpen them,(basic set and have not been used that much)cause I just don't know how,but learning---Carroll

[Carroll Courtney]

Just watch a You-Tube and I think I understand now---Carroll