[RussL.]

I had never heard of this prior to watching the Ivan Whillock DVD.

He puts some honing compound on a piece of cardboard and has at it as a final step to sharpening. He still uses a piece of leather prior to that, but his final step is stropping across cardboard dressed with compound.

Not only do I find this works great (no surprise there) to polish the blade but over time it also minimizes the "rounding" of the edge that can happen when using the softness of a leather strop.
The carboard can be laid across a solid, hard surface and offers very little "give" when the blade is stroked across it.
When one is done with the cardboard it can be thrown away or recylced.

Just passing this along to other new carvers, like myself.
The DVD has lots of other good stuff, too.
DVDs and videos are great for those (such as myself) who are just starting out and have no local instruction available.
The picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

Best regards,

RussL.

[mdallensr]

Everett Ellenwood (sp?) teaches the same technique. He uses the cardboard back of a paper tablet and rubs it with a stropping compound. Works like a charm.

[RussL.]

Yes, I have found that sort of cardboard, as opposed to corrugated, works best.
RussL.

[xsailer]

Is the following DVD the one you're talking about? I searched on the net and couldn't find a specific sharpening DVD by him.

"Traditional Woodcarving Basics with Ivan Whillock"

Bob

[VAwoodcarver]

Yea i kinda wondered if it was corrugated or what cause i've tried corregated before and its a bumpy ride!haha

[RussL.]

Originally Posted by xsailer

Is the following DVD the one you're talking about? I searched on the net and couldn't find a specific sharpening DVD by him.

"Traditional Woodcarving Basics with Ivan Whillock"

Bob

Yup, that's the one. It has a section on sharpening on one of the two DVDs included in the package.

His vigorous sharpening technique was also a bit a revelation! ;-)

RussL.

[xsailer]

RussL,
"vigorous" like in ???good or bad? Reason I ask is, I may want to purchase it and I've already bought others I've not been pleased with. Is the rest of DVD worthwhile? May be a silly question considering it's Mr. Whillock.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

The inside of a 12 pack pop carton works well......but then, so does just regular old bond paper.....used to put the white compound on bond when I worked at a print shop.

[RussL.]

Bob,

The short answer is "Vigorous" as in good.

In learning to sharpen my gouges I have not been agressive enough in removing metal. This usually left me discouraged and feeling like I wasn't getting anywhere...well, I wasn't!

Watching Mr. Whillock made (it should have been obvious all the time) the process clear...no special care, no special tools (cardboard? I mean, really!?) and no special skill; just a go get 'em approach to removing metal to make a sharp, smooth bevel...no fooling around.

Plus, he runs the tool & bevel from side-to-side across the water stone, oil stone or cardboard...not just dragging it back to front as most methods I was aware of. It really removes the metal fast!
Of course he makes certain that he doesn't change his angle of attack on any of this, since that is what it's all about.

I don't know. His whole approach was just more no-nonsense than I had heard or seen with other sharpening practices...you know, seeing is believing.

I also have the new Chris Pye sharpening DVD and I got a couple of good things from that as well.

All this to say that with exposure to different teachers I find I am slowly learning and finding my own way...but seeing sharpening done has been much more productive for me than any reading on the subject...but then I guess the readings provided a fundamental foundation to build on with watching the videos...

Sorry for the long winded response.
"Vigorous" as in good. :-)

RussL.

[VAwoodcarver]

You know what works even better is the cardboard inside of 3 ring binders!