[Mail Walker]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me their opinion on the Oar sharpening device that holds the tool while you sharpen. Im not that great at sharpening, but like to do things my self, and was thinking of purchasing this to assist me. Any thoughts.

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

I'm not a big fan of jigs etc. It usually takes as long to set one up as it does to sharpen the tool be hand and you still have to sharpen it. Sharpening is not that difficult, just takes practice. Go to Rick's web site and practice what he is saying and you won't be sorry. It will be time well spent.

[decoycarve]

I used one for a while to get an idea what angle to use. Since I built my power sharpener I haven;t used it in years. Nice tool and concept but it does take a few minutes to set up. If Ya want it pm me with an address and you can have it for shipping costs.
Goody

[Ron Davidson]

I found that the best way for me is to just send mine to Rick and let him sharpen them. He does an excellent job and is pretty fast at returning them for a reasonable price. I have an oar jig but it takes time to setup and better eyesight than I have.
Ron

[rick-in-seattle]

MW,
I believe you will hear similar answers from most of us.

The Oar sharpener works fine, and while several of us own one, it is in a drawer somewhere with other tools we no longer use.

You can make your own using a drill stop-collar and a little imagination.

[wade clark]

I've got one, I love it and don't use it! You can do a very acurate angle consistently, which I can't do with my naked eye and 56 year old hands.
I use a fairly expensive power strop most of the time, and when I really mess one up, I send it to Rick and he fixes it!
But it will be a great aid in learning to sharpen and well worth the investment, in my opinion, even if you end up with something else later. It's a good tool.
Wade

[Mottles]

Hi Folks:

I'd like to bring this thread back to life and see if there are any further comments regarding the 'Oar Sharpening jig.'

I'm thinking about purchasing one and thought it might be good to get some updated comments.

Thanks Y'all,
Kathy

[Kenny_S]

Kathy, I have not personally used one but watch a carver who supposedly knew how to use it. I wasn't impressed with how long it took to set it up and AI believe that one can sharpen faster with out it.

[Mottles]

Originally Posted by Kenny_S

Kathy, I have not personally used one but watch a carver who supposedly knew how to use it. I wasn't impressed with how long it took to set it up and AI believe that one can sharpen faster with out it.

Yeah, Kenny know what you mean. Hubby, thinks I should just buy a power sharpener. Find one that I think will do the job, so I'm researching.


Our carving club member's can use this one, but it's not very convenient. It's a good one, I think one of the members made it.

As I recall somewhere on this site there has been a discussion about power sharpeners. I've put money into good gouges and sure don't want to reck them.

How about you what do you use?
Thanks, for your help
Kathy

[Tom H]

Kathy, The power sharpening system that you posted the photo of, appears to be a Burke Original System.

Our carving group will be purchasing the larger Burke System within the month.

I would think that if you have access to this system, you could maintain sharp tools with a combination of hand stropping while at home, and more additional work while availing yourself to the Burke system.

But maybe you're like me! You want your own. So you can use it whenever you need to...or in your case train your husband to use it to keep your tools sharp,


Tom H