The V-tool

[Dennis Taylor]

I took the advice here and contacted Rick, and ordered a 9/64 and 1/4 v tool, here is my question, the tool is sharp and ready upon arrival, once it becomes dull from usage, no tip damage, do I strop the tool and if so, how?....or do I use a ceramic stone on it?.....also do I need to stone/strop the inside of the tool.....any help is much appreicated....Dennis

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

strop one side and then the other....flexcut sells a strop shaped for gouges and v tools I make my own strops and have corners on them I strop the v tools and the gouges with.

[GeorgiaCarver]

Others will reply to this as well..... (please!)

I would only strop the tool - unless there is damage to the blade in which case more drastic means are neccessary. (nicks).

I would strop every 15-20 minutes of use or as you feel the edge becoming dull. Simply put the flat edge on the strop and pull the blade 10 times or so (pull, don't push the blade into the leather) You will want to use a stroping compound which you can buy at Lowes. I use a medium number like 4 (black or green) but others prefer other types of compound. Remember be sure to keep the tool flat matching the angle of the blade with the leather. You do not want to vary this angle or you will create a secondary bevel (bad).

Repet this process for the other flat. I would then do the same thing for the point of the V.... slightly rolling from side to side so that I strop the entire surface. Once this is done I would gently run the leather down the inside of the V parrell to the blade so as not to damage the sharp edge. You are only trying to knock off the burs on the inside.

Like I said others will respond. You might want to look at Ricks site http://www.littleshavers.com he has several great tutorials on there.

Cheers.

Greg

[wade clark]

Do what Greg says. Strop, carve, strop, carve, strop, carve...when it gets dull or damaged enough that you need to put it to a stone, seriously consider sending it to Rick. on the other hand, you can always strop, carve, strop, carve, stone it, try to carve, THEN send it to Rick! It's okay to screw up your tools because there's this guy out there named Rick who will straiten them out for you for far less than it's worth!
Wade

[Thomp]

Originally Posted by Dennis Taylor

--once it becomes dull from usage, no tip damage, do I strop the tool and if so, how?....or do I use a ceramic stone on it?.....also do I need to stone/strop the inside of the tool.....any help is much appreicated....Dennis

on ricks site he has sharpening questions an excellent tutorial located at http://www.littleshavers.com/Sharpening.html
rick explains how and why an edege dulls and how to rectify it.

many folks use cerimac, but i was told never to use a round ceramic stick, but i do on the inside of my round gouges especially the 10mm sweep i have.

Flexcut came out with the slip strop which has groves in it that are shaped like their gouges and v grove tools, but you could take a piece of basswood and make your own that fits your tools, by using the specific tool and running it deep then filling the grove with rouge or slip compound, and hone your tools, by dragging the cutting edege backwards down the grove..
the inside of a gouge or v tool should'nt be honed as much as the outter ground cutting edege or you will change the profile of the design of the tool and probobaly change the useablilty of the tool as the wear happends. on the home you make leave the edeges so you can cut the inside profile of the tools into it. use slip or rouge and hone the inside on the pre shaped edeges.

i only hone my tools when it is evident that it is needed, indicated by friction resistance or the way the wood curls off the tool. and definately if the tool is pushing the wood or breaking it.

[wade clark]

Always try to duplicate the same angle the tool already has, unless you're a pro and feel you need to change the angle for the hardness of the wood. Generally, you can just polish the tool at the right angle and have it far sharper than letting it touch a stone. Think of stropping as polishing. You're maintaining that incredible polished edge, rather than taking it back (i.e. backwards) to something that needs a stone, then hours of polishing/stropping to get it really right. Short of damaging it a strop should be all you need.
That said, a v tool is easy to break the edge off, especially if you change your angle as you carve, which I'm prone to doing. Kind of "spooning it out". In that case, refer to "Rick"!
Wade