Sharpen by carving?

[seangrady]

I'll probably get lynched in this forum for the following statement, but..... I almost never sharpen my chisels/gouges. I've never had a problem with them staying sharp, and I've never noticed much of a difference in how well they cut into the wood after sharpening. I bought all those fancy Arkansas stones in three different flavors, and have used them exactly once. I don't slip chisels often, and my cuts are clean. Is it possible that the glacial silt in the found wood I carve is keeping my blades sharp?? Is there any other reason for this?

I've got about 2 years total I would say, combined, carving with the same set of tools, and I've only sharpened them one time. I've also never stropped them. I watched some knife sharpening videos on youtube(the source for all truth and wisdom{/sarcasm}), and some of the methods they showed for honing were simply drawing the blade across clean material. So I just pulled the blade across some of my wood a few times after sharpening.

How often do you guys sharpen? what makes you want to?

[seangrady]

Re: Sharpen by carving?

I'm getting a strange feeling that I just jinxed myself something fierce....

[bigEd_H]

Re: Sharpen by carving?

Whatever works for you, Sean. I carve mostly with knives and exclusively out of basswood. I find that every 15 min. or so I need to strop about 10 to 12 strokes on each side of the blade. I only sharpen on a stone when I make a knife or tool, or when the tools has an inferior factory edge. After that, the strop is all I need unless I damage the edge somehow. With basswood, there isn't much chance of damage.

As for what to use for stropping, I have leather that I got from a friend and an old belt. I have made all of my own strops (I have 6 or 8) I also made my own power strop by gluing leather to a "Gator Grit" 6" sanding disk.

Others use newspaper, wood, or just about anything that will hold stropping compound. I use Rich Notto's White Gold or Flexcut Yellow Gold.

For my gouges and chisels, I use a Flexcut slip strop which has a combination of bare wood and thin leather.

[davidinsarasota]

Re: Sharpen by carving?

Like Ed, I strop about every 15 min or so. If I get real involved in a piece and forget I can definitely feel the edge cutting better when I finally do strop.

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Re: Sharpen by carving?

Like Ed said what ever works for you. I strop every 15 - 20 minutes. I grind White Gold, put it in a salt shaker and sprinkle some on my strop, then butter in with a knife, I find that works great. I only add more compound when you no longer see any white on the strop.

Dave

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Re: Sharpen by carving?

LInk to White Gold, top right of page.
Sharpening Supplies - Woodcarving Supplies from Quality Wood Carving Supply

Dave

PS - Best price for White Gold around.

[mateo]

Re: Sharpen by carving?

I stopped in and looked at your blog. you make nice stuff, that's all that matters. Stropping is just a means to an end. My wood carving brothers who have already commented on this are carvers who strop, not stroppers who carve, after all. I've seen a guy run the steel from another tool over the blade edge, once burnished he'd get back to his carving totally satisfied with how it cut. The guy was a master carver who was I to say he was doing it wrong. what ever works for you.
Keep carving

[seangrady]

Re: Sharpen by carving?

Alright, I was just wondering if perhaps I was missing out on something. I'll look into stropping further and try it to see if it makes a difference for me. Thanks!

[davidinsarasota]

Re: Sharpen by carving?

Dave, I think I'll try that White Gold. I like the Flexcut Gold bar, but I'm tired of having to scrape the waxy base off of my strop. Does the powder eliminate the need for this? Also how do you grind it?

[Iowa Carver]

Re: Sharpen by carving?

Wow, that is unusual. I sharpen my knives a couple time during a weekend carving session, every few hours or so. I can really tell the difference afterwards. My gouges and v-tools get buffed if used hard during a sitting, otherwise every other use or so. I can always tell the difference between a freshly stropped knife or sharpened up gouge etc.

Do your tools leave a nice shiney surface behind the cut?

Corey

[Claude]

Re: Sharpen by carving?

Dave, I think I'll try that White Gold. I like the Flexcut Gold bar, but I'm tired of having to scrape the waxy base off of my strop. Does the powder eliminate the need for this? Also how do you grind it?

Why scrape it off? I use the green compound (chromium oxide??) on my strop, and haven't scraped it off for four years. I add a little more every so often, but I have never scraped it off.

Claude

[jaywood]

Re: Sharpen by carving?

I'm the same as most here i strop every 15 mins or so and i can really tell the difference afterwards.

[seangrady]

Re: Sharpen by carving?

Wow, that is unusual. I sharpen my knives a couple time during a weekend carving session, every few hours or so. I can really tell the difference afterwards. My gouges and v-tools get buffed if used hard during a sitting, otherwise every other use or so. I can always tell the difference between a freshly stropped knife or sharpened up gouge etc.

Do your tools leave a nice shiney surface behind the cut?

Corey

Shiny surface, very smooth. I just went and made a few cuts to check. They definitely slice the wood as opposed to tearing it. I'll give stropping a try, but looking at and feeling the edges, I don't think I could get them any sharper.

My theory is that the glacial silt almost acts like the stropping compounds you folks are talking about. It's a very fine abrasive, and has settled/soaked into the outer layers of all the wood I use.

[carver33]

Re: Sharpen by carving?

Once I have an edge on a tool, it only requires sharpening when abused (mostly by dropping). The edge seems to hold a pretty good edge when carving Basswood, but hardwoods, like Cherry, will take the edge off fairly quickly. Though the tools still cut fairly well, stropping induces a small but noticeable difference in the cutting ability of the tool, especially in cross-grain cuts.

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Re: Sharpen by carving?

Dave, I think I'll try that White Gold. I like the Flexcut Gold bar, but I'm tired of having to scrape the waxy base off of my strop. Does the powder eliminate the need for this? Also how do you grind it?

Dave, I never scrape anything off, I just add more when there is more black then white on the strop. I bought a couple cheese graters at the dollar store, I grate enough to fill 1/4 to 1/2 of the salt shaker, that amount last for a couple months or more. Quality carving supply sells at the Fl. carving shows, I think I bought mine from them last year at The Sarasota show, real nice people.

Dave