[skinnyeddie]

Does anyone use the "Scary Sharp" system of increasingly finer grades of sandpaper mounted on a piece of glass or other flat surface? I am considering trying that for my chip carving knives as I just can't get a decent edge using the ceramic stones. Does anyone have a picture of a scary sharp set-up that they use so I can visualize this?

Thanks,
Andy

[WoodChipz]

I did not use one piece of wood to mount all the paper. Instead I took a piece of wood and made it 1/3 the size of a piece of sand paper and used stick glue to glue 400 grit paper to it. You could use any material that stays perfectly flat. Then I just layed the other grits ( 600-1000-1200-2000 )on top of the 400 grit as I used each grit. The 400 paper will hold the next piece of sand paper in place while you sharpen.

Summary:

1 piece of wood cut 3"x9" (or any other size)

1 piece of 400 grit wet/dry sand paper stick glued to the board.

Various other grit wet/dry paper also cut 3"x9" (or a matching size to your board)

Sorry no pics but hope this helped.

[mikeg]

I don't have a picture of it but here's a url that describes it. http://www.shavings.net/SCARY.HTM Hopefully it'll help.

Ev Ellenwoods DVD "Sharpening Simplified" covers using this method among others. It can be found at www.ellenwoodarts.com

mikeg

[Just Carving]

Here's a few links to some different ways it's done. It's really up to you and your shop set-up and space. The important thing is to be patient.

One of my previous posts on how it's done:
http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.co...ad.php?p=39347

Some do it all in one station:
http://www.sonic.net/~bobino/woodworking.html#Shop
Scroll down almost the to bottom for description. Click on image, or next link for picture:
http://www.sonic.net/~bobino/images/...ySharp_big.jpg

Some have an organized system that can be set aside:
http://www.woodshopdemos.com/sss-2.htm

Some do it on the fly like me: Keep the sandpaper flat, divided by grits, between thick pieces of cardboard, in a plastic bag. Take out what I need, lay it on a smooth surface--usually the smooth side of a piece of 12"X12" masonite. Sand til I'm done with that grit, move to the next one. No glue, no glass, no jigs, no hassle. I just use one hand to hold the paper, and the other to sharpen. Just be careful to keep the tool away from the hand holding down the paper. Occasionally, I used four spring clips or clothespins to hold the paper along the edge of the board--just kept the tool away from the spring binder clips. But then I got lazy.

[Coffeeman]

I do the same technique as Bob just deal with the paper on a flat surface.

When I do my knives for example, I do them all with the same grit first, then move up to the next grit, do all knives, an so forth until I've done all grits in a row, and when done, all knives are done at the same time, rather than doing one knife through all the grits at a time. Bill

[Blake Lunsford]

Can you sharpen gouges using the same system?

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

You can do gouges, just keep the angle and roll the blade as you pull it across the sandpaper. I put my sandpaper on a piece of marble slab...you can also use a piece of heavy glass or a section of man-made faux marble countertop.....but the hard smooth (SMOOTH! ) surface is really necessary!

[Blake Lunsford]

Great Hi Ho.....appreciate the feedback. I'm going to give it a shot!

Blake