How much of the knife do I sharpen?

[golmschenk]

Completely new to woodcarving. Thought it'd be a fun hobby to get into. I've read up on a hundred different things in woodcarving and I think I know what I'm doing with sharpening but I wanted to check on one thing. I bought for what I expect will be my "primary" tool for now, my straight edge carving knife, a bit of a higher quality one. The question I have is, when I sharpen the knife, should the entire surface of the blade be flat across? That is, when I got my knife the edge of the blade (closer to the edge then a mm) has a slightly different angle then the rest of the sides of the blade. I think I should sharpen in to the point where the entire side is flat all the way to the edge, but I'm not entirely sure and I thought I should ask before removing all that metal. Just to clarify, the rest of the side of the blade is a flat surface, it's only just before the edge that the angle changes just a bit. If this isn't the easiest to understand what I'm asking let me know and I whip up a diagram. Thanks for your time!

[golmschenk]

Ah, nevermind. Microbevel. Got it.

[Tom Ellis]

When you sharpen your blade down to a zero grind with no bevel, it makes the blade a little more succeptable to breaking little nicks along the cutting edge. Stroping automatically starts to give you the micro bevel, and just makes your blade a little tougher. If you see little scratches following along your cutting plane, it is a little nick, and you need to strop right away to get rid of it, and then keep carving.

Good luck, Tom

[TreeWizard]

From the tip to the handle. I just couldn't resist it.

[Mitchell]

If it cuts fine, I wouldn't worry about it (if I was you). If it DOESNT cut like you want it to, then you may want to 'adjust' the bevels.

If everything is even and consistent, then it's easier to keep in good condition for carving.

[golmschenk]

What's a zero grind? Just a completely flat blade with no bevel? Or is there something more to it?

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Originally Posted by Tom Ellis

When you sharpen your blade down to a zero grind with no bevel, it makes the blade a little more succeptable to breaking little nicks along the cutting edge. Stroping automatically starts to give you the micro bevel, and just makes your blade a little tougher. If you see little scratches following along your cutting plane, it is a little nick, and you need to strop right away to get rid of it, and then keep carving.

Good luck, Tom

I agree!

Dave

[Steve Reed]

Also kind of depends on the wood you're carving. Basswood carves well. If you're trying to carve something else you might need to alter the bevel to make the blade stronger. Otherwise, the advice above is spot on.

[Claude]

I would suggest that a roughing out knife might successfully use a secondary bevel, while a thin detail knife should be sharpened/stropped with no secondary bevel. The more delicate blade without the secondary bevel isn't much of a problem for a detail knife, as one isn't trying to remove lots of wood at once with a detail knife...

Claude