Alas Sharpening - how often

[Joedeeni]

MY least favorite subject because I know I haven't mastered it by any stretch but a quick question I have thought about as I carve. Is stropping your knife sufficient to keep your knife sharp or do you need to take it to a stone every now and again. If so about how often? Also, how much do you strop. I've asked similar questions once upon a time and members have helped back then but I find the years have rusted away the knowledge.

[Mark Dellinger]

Joe,
As a rule of thumb I try to carve a little and strope alot. Just keeping the edge nice and sharp. I have a block of wood with a piece of leather glued to one side and on the back side a piece of fine gritt emory. just for those minor knicks that come along. Buy stropping regularly I have carved for extended periods of time without needing to use the emory side of the block. I have never used a stone on any of my carving knives. Hope this helps.

Safe Carving and God Bless,

Mark

[Nomad]

It depends on the knife and also the type of wood you are carving and your carving style. If your knife has a really thin blade and you carve really hard wood you may find that you will nick the blade more frequently, especially if you have a tendency to scrape the blade sideways. The main thing is to keep an eye on the edge. Look for smooth shiny cuts without scratch lines. Inspect the edge with a 10X or higher loupe.

If you are not prone to nicking the blade, generally stropping can keep you going a long long time.

[Tom Ellis]

Hi Joe,
It sounds like you have the basics, but just need a little practice. No matter how careful you are stroping, leather has a tendency to round over the cutting edge of your blade, so every now and then take it back to the stone,or diamond, and flatten out the sides of your blade. You want a nice flat wedge to do your cutting, and the strop tends to turn that wedge into a boat shape, therefore taking a lot more pressure to do your cuts.
Everett Ellenwood has a great dvd on sharpening called sharpening simplified, that covers all of the info you need to know about knives, gouges, and v-tools.
Good luck, and carve safe, TOM

[Dan S]

I strop my knives regularly and take them to a stone rarely. I have noticed however that after the third or fourth trip to a stone over a year or so the knife gets freakishly sharp.

an

[Manteo]

Dan S.

I like your comment about freakishly sharp. That is definitely a quest to undertake. So far, my new knives from Allen Goodman are the only ones that I could describe as that. I hope to be able to achieve it myself someday.

[chuckbolton]

look for "scary sharp" in the search engine here--

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

When all else fails, Sharpening Service at Little Shavers
talk about freakishly sharp !

Dave

[vic n]

It seems that the more $ you spend on sharpening tools, methods, videos, and books, the less likely you are to have sharp tools. Find a method that works reasonably well for you and stick with it until you have it mastered. When you strop or hone, stop the tool before picking it up. That helps to lessen the rolled edge effect. Vic

[mark yundt]

Sound words of advice Vic n