sharpening

[wabbiter]

i'm extremly crap at sharpening gouges, is this normal for beginners, and whats the best way....mack

[Dennis Taylor]

Mack,
I also must admit that I ---- at sharpening gouges, I can sharpen a knife quite well, here is what I have taken to and it seems to work much better, for me anyway.....I use a dremel, and a felt wheel, I have used both the Zam & the Rich Notto compound, Green seems more aggressive, could just be me, but I have started stropping with the dremel and the felt wheel, and my gouges are razor sharp now, of course, they were sharpened when I purchased them, and all I HAVe to do now is strop them, with the dremel I can hold it in my hand, and see the bevel and the edge, and it works pretty slick, I had the dremel tool already, and run it at the 1/4 speed maybe, not the high or mid setting...the wheels, I picked up locally at a Rock Shop, but they are the hard felt wheel, and the place carries them in medium & hard....

I think there is a learning curve to anything, and you just have to find something that works for you and work thru it!....

hope this helped....

dennis

[wade clark]

Something that helped me was a black magic marker. You're trying to replicate the original edge/plane/surface if it hasn't been in the hands of an over-zealous sharpener who screwed up the angles. So, if you cover the surface that you're polishing/sharpening with black, then you won't polish too much off and screw it up if you only remove the black.
Once they're screwed up, no matter who did it, send it to Rick at Little Shavers and get it fixed...no, make that RESTORED!
Wade

[wabbiter]

thanx guys, i managed to get some very cheap tools to practice on and i will take your advice...cheers...mack

[RUssL.]

The sad and un-mysterious truth about the secret of gouge sharpening is this: Practice. Period.

Do it until you have ruined several (at least) cheap gouges.
Do it until you have pushed through the idea that there is more to it than simply practice (there isn't).
Do it until you think you have done it too much, and it must just be you in all the history of mankind that can't sharpen a gouge (YOU can!).
Do it until you think that if all it took was practice then you should be there by now because you HAVE practiced (...but just not enough).
Do it until you have finally sharpened your gouges successfully (it will take you waaaaay longer than you think it should).

and if you have done all that and you still can't sharpen a particular gouge...send it to Rick at Little Shavers.
...then practice some more on all your other gouges (or at least the cheaper ones).

I know where of I speak. I have been there. I AM there.
The more I practice the better I am getting, but it has been a long, steep practice curve.
One wants to spend time carving, not sharpening.
But if you want to get the most out of carving as a hobby or a past-time or a skill, then time spent learning to sharpen (read: "practicing sharpening") is time well spent and wisely invested.

It's a skill. Skills takes practice.
There is no microwave, push-button shortcut.
If you want to learn how to do it...you have to learn how to do it...

Good Luck,

Russ

[mdallensr]

Russ, ditto woodcarving. Practice, practice, practice. Ignore the Carving-made-easy books; it's not easy any more than shooting in the low 70's is easy in golf. But, just as in most things, you can improve, and improve a lot if you're willing to work at it. There is no magic and all of the new tools in the world won't make you a better carver if you can't master the ones you've had all along. One of the best "helps" is a good instructor, and a friendly carving group is right behind in usefulness. Good luck and keep trying. Mike

[JIM QUILICI]

This is the very best site for sharping Knives.....nothing sharpens any better. very little practice and you will be a good knife sharpener. just watch and sharpen........good luck




YouTube - How To Sharpen a Knife!

Jim

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Lol.........................

[Kenny_S]

I wonder if he got in trouble for stealing the table coth off of the Pizza tables.

How funny Jim.