Home
Careers
Club Search
Message Board
Carver Galleries
Subscription Services
What a wonderful magazine, every issue is like Christmas!... Continue
To view the
Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts Message Board
CLICK HERE


Found th
e Fox?
Click here to enter the Fox Hunt contest!

Welcome to the Woodcarving Illustrated Message Board, an online wood carving forum community where you can join thousands of carvers from around the world discussing all things related to carving. To gain full access to the message board you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:
  • Browse over 90,000 posts.
  • Communicate privately with other carvers from around the world.
  • Post your own photos or view from 3,500 user submitted images.
  • Gain access to exclusive wood carving promotions offered by Wood Carving Illustrated and Fox Chapel Publishing.
All this and much more is available to you absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact the Woodcarving Illustrated Message Board's Support Team.

Go Back   Woodcarving Illustrated Message Board > Wood Carving > Woodcarving Tools, Technology & Sharpening
Register

Woodcarving Tools, Technology & Sharpening

Reply
 
LinkBack (3) Thread Tools Display Modes
  3 links from elsewhere to this Post. Click to view. #1  
Old 12-21-2007, 12:06 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: West Virginia
Posts: 29
Default Need Help With Honing/Stropping

I am thinking of moving to power honing simply because I can't seem to master honing by hand. I have read all the posts here on sharping and several books and still can't seem to keep a keen edge on my knives and its getting very frustrating. Someone told me though that if I can't get it done by hand that I will probably have the same trouble with power, if not more. Still, I'm thinking of either the Ultimate Power Honer, the Worksharp 2000, or the Port-a-Strop. Any thoughts and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Manteo
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 12-21-2007, 01:54 PM
millhoused's Avatar
Whittler
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Cincinnati Ohio
Posts: 107
Default Re: Need Help With Honing/Stropping

If you have a local club you will find someone who will take the time to show you how it is done.

You might want to check out this web site:
http://www.woodcarvers.com/sharpening.htm

Everett Ellenwood has a DVD that shows how it is done by hand.

In my very limited experience I almost always use power because I do not have the patience to do it by hand.

Occasionally that just means that I destroy a tool at the speed of light.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 12-21-2007, 02:27 PM
Thomp's Avatar
Forum Mentor
 
Join Date: Dec 1969
Location: central la
Posts: 2,614
Default Re: Need Help With Honing/Stropping

Manteo,

First of all it depends on the tool quality as to how long it will keep an edge,

then it depends on you using the stone while matching the outer bevel on the blade and raising the wire edge, once the knife is sharp from the stone it can be honed, but without the sharpness coming from the stones the hone is useless,
a power hone will eventually polish a knife to sharp, but were talking an eon before its noticeable..

read all you can on sharpening look up the scary sharp method

another thing you may be failing at is the blade might be flexing, and your winding up sharpening only a small section in the middle of the blade,

on flexible blades i hold my index finger on the blade as its ran over the stones and hone so the pressure is more evenly distributed over the blade (not just where the blade flexes)

sharpening & honing is a pain in the fanny i know, but you got to be good at it for your carving to be best it can,,,

if you got good tools you dont have to do it as often
good luck
__________________
Thanks Thomas,
keep your hone close, but your band aids closer.
Woodcarving Knives:
Email me:
thomp51la@gmail.com
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 12-21-2007, 03:36 PM
VAwoodcarver's Avatar
Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Dayton, Virginia
Posts: 186
Send a message via Yahoo to VAwoodcarver
Default Re: Need Help With Honing/Stropping

Well i would suggest that you stick honing and sharpening by hand imo, because you can mess up a whole lot faster and a whole lot worse with a fast moving machine. I suggest that that you just stick to honing by hand, you will get the hang of it eventually, just keep at it..
__________________
A carving in the round is just a relief carving starting from the top..
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 12-21-2007, 05:33 PM
Hi_Ho_Sliver's Avatar
Moderator
 
Join Date: Dec 1969
Location: Arizona
Posts: 9,405
Default Re: Need Help With Honing/Stropping

If it isn't clear to you yet, hand sharpening, it won't be any better on a machine and will sure burn the steel in a hurry!
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 12-21-2007, 07:26 PM
Dundee's Avatar
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Danbury, CT
Posts: 57
Default Re: Need Help With Honing/Stropping

I have not mastered sharpening either. Although I didn't have issues with stroping using the yellow compound and a butz strop I did buy the worksharp 2000 after I spent several hours trying to sharpen a gouge with water stones. I have vaporized the edge on several of my gouges with it. For honing I bought the leather wheel made for the 3000. It is heavy glass and is tricky to get balanced so it doesnt wobble so much. It generates a lot more heat than the slotted 6000 grit disk. But you only get 1 of those in the $15 abrasive kit.
So for honing I wouldnt look at the 2000 only the 3000.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 12-21-2007, 07:27 PM
Mark N. Akers's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Lexington S.C.
Posts: 2,155
Default Re: Need Help With Honing/Stropping

Maneto:
I just recieved a Ultimate Power Honer,I'd highly recommend it.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 12-23-2007, 02:53 PM
Capt. Bandaid's Avatar
Member
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Cypress, TX
Posts: 183
Default Re: Need Help With Honing/Stropping

Most of the jet pilots in our military started with gliders and prop airplanes. We crawled before we walked. Learn to stone and stop by hand before you buy power equipment. There is no substitute for knowing what you are doing before you do it. First off, if you take care of your tools, there is little reason to stone them frequently. This will just eat away the metal edge quicker. If you do not know how to hold the tool when manually stropping it, a power strop will only ruin the edge faster.
__________________
Terminally Crabby and Proud of It!
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 12-24-2007, 11:13 AM
Gulf Coast Handyman's Avatar
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Wesley Chapel Fl.
Posts: 307
Default Re: Need Help With Honing/Stropping

Manteo, this may halp


http://www.pinewoodforge.com/strop.html

Dave
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

LinkBacks (?)
LinkBack to this Thread: http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/forum/f52/need-help-honing-stropping-15336/
Posted By For Type Date
Woodcarving Tools, Technology & Sharpening [Archive] - Page 2 - Woodcarving Illustrated Message Board This thread Refback 02-23-2008 10:50 AM
Woodcarving Tools, Technology & Sharpening [Archive] - Woodcarving Illustrated Message Board This thread Refback 01-04-2008 11:52 AM
Woodcarving Illustrated Message Board This thread Refback 12-21-2007 05:37 PM

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Tools and Honing System R-OLDS Woodcarving Tools, Technology & Sharpening 2 09-18-2007 11:58 PM
tormex honing question bulldog Woodcarving Tools, Technology & Sharpening 6 03-19-2007 06:38 PM
Honing Compound Question Ken in Dartmouth Woodcarving Tools, Technology & Sharpening 8 02-26-2007 08:20 AM
Honing stone? chipper67 Woodcarving Tools, Technology & Sharpening 10 03-22-2005 03:24 PM
honing strop Guest Woodcarving Tools, Technology & Sharpening 14 02-22-2003 05:38 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:12 PM.



Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.10
Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.1.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2007 Fox Chapel Publishing Co., Woodcarving Illustrated
Tell a Friend
New Carving Books
Vote for your favorite Santa now