The number of bevels has less to do with a knifes usefulness in carving wood than the total angle and the length of the bevels.

If a knife will be used for carving basswood, the bevel nearest the edge (if there are two) should be the longest.

Conversely, (now there is a four dollar word) if the knife will be used for harder wood or utility uses, then the bevel nearest the edge should be the shortest of the two.

lly, a single bevel that runs from the cutting edge to the heel of the blade is best for basswood. This is not always possible or plausable (not sure what that means, but is sounds good).

As far as rounding the transition between the two bevels, it is pretty much a matter of choice; because the secondary bevel is always a smaller angle than the cutting planes of the primary bevel. :P

[squbrigg]

Rick....that is a very well phrased reply, with your 'converslys', and your 'plausables' .............I just wish I could understand what you said!

I think you said, 'If you sharpen it right, it will cut'.........but I'm not sure.

Sorry, but the Devil made me do it.

Bob

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Don't worry about it Bob...Rick has been reading those books again! LOL : :P

[mikeg]

I finally spent a couple of hours last night working on the case small congress I got from ebay recently. I used the coarse/medium/fine stone set I'd gotten recently. Then I stropped with aluminum oxide. I managed to get the sheepsfoot and coping blades fairly sharp and polished. I'll tackle the other two blades when I get a chance. I'm sure I'll have to work on the first two again after I've used them a bit but it's a start. The first bevel was very rough on each blade.

One thing I did that I haven't done before is push AND pull without lifting the blade. I'd read that suggestion in a book by Mike Shipley and saw it again in a book by Harold Enlow. It seemed like a good idea since the angle wouldn't get adjusted by lifting the blade off the stone. I dunno if it helped or not.

Does a coarse stone ever stop soaking up all the oil you put on it? ??? I would think it would have to sooner or later. On a related note, I've got to get some more oil, is there anything special about honing oil or can I just by a light weight oil?

After putting all this work into the blades, I'm definitely going to keep carrying my swiss army knife for cutting down boxes, or cutting and stripping wire, or whatever!!!

mikeg

[AlArchie]

Any light oil will serve the purpose. You can spend seven or eight bucks for 'special' oil, or you can pick up a can
of 3-In-One in the hardware department, and use it.......works just as well. Or use a couple drops of regular motor oil.....the blade 'just don't care'! I like a light 3 in one or other light houshold oil, but that's what I like, not necessarily what the knife likes.

Musical instrument valve oil (fairly pricey when compared with household oil) will also do the job, as it is exceptionally low viscosity, and will wash off from your stone easily when it comes time to clean the stone. Yep, you will probably need to clean the stones surface occasionally. simply wash it with soap and water, and maybe scrub with a small brush. This will get the accumulated metal dust out from the abrasive surface.

Al