[Jukemaster]

i am new to carving. joined the navy 2 yrs ago, cannot stand being away from my tools. figured id try carving because the tools required seemed fairly minimal. just learning the basics now. i mentioned it to my mom before christmas, she sent me a ton of stuff to get started. i am so stoked to learn and expirement with it all. she sent me a small sharpening stone, dont think its that good. sooo, i am asking for advice/preferences on stones. not looking to spend a fortune, but something that has good quality and will last a long time. rather then buy 10 and finally find one that is decent and i like, figured id ask here. new to the site also, so will be looking throught the threads for ideas. thanks in advance, IT3


for the lazy ppl..

what sharpening stones are good???

[mikeg]

Welcome to the board! You'll find that you can carve with very few tools or you can fill a workshop!

As far as stones, I use diamond stones which are fairly expensive. Ev Ellenwood of www.ellenwoodarts.com carries diamond stones and regular oil stones. His video on sharpening is very good and I wouldn't hesitate to buy stones from him.

mikeg

[Mitchell]

Moved to Sharpening....

I don't use a stone. I use sandpaper and a strop.

IF I did use a stone, I'd opt for the diamond version - similar to what mikeg suggests.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

look up "scary sharp" method of sharpening..easy to do and learn, cheap material (sandpaper) and doesn't take much room.You must not be on a ship! Didn't have much room to store anything when I was in.....but then Noah was the skipper back then and he filled everything with critters !

[Callynne]

Hi Jukemaster, Welcome!! As far as stones, I bought a few when I started out carving but you now what, I rarely use them. Only when I've damage the blade edge on a knife or gouge.

This is my method. I strop my knife and gouges that I'm using, about every twenty minutes or so while I'm working, on a leather strop with stropping compound on it. No big amount of time, probably about a quick twenty strops do it.

If I've been particularly aggressive with my knife I might strop it first on a piece of 2000 grit automotive wet/dry sandpaper. This I have mounted on a piece of scrap wood, I just sprayed some temporary adhesive spray on the wood and pressed the sandpaper on.

Stropping really is the secret to keeping your tools sharp. Hope this helps! Good luck! Deborah

[wade clark]

Jukemaster,
Welcome! You can spend many hundreds of dollars on sharpening equipment, but you'll never get the tools any sharper than if you learn the sandpaper and strop method. It's by far the cheapest way to go too! You need a few sheets of sandpaper in very fine grits, but your primary sharpening tool, like Callynne said, is your strop. You can just glue a piece of leather on a piece of wood, 3"x9" or 10" is as big as you'll need. That and some stropping compound and you're set.
Stones are heavy for your seabag.
Power strops are expensive...my Tormek system was over $500...none of them will do a better job than that sandpaper and home-made strop. When you have your own shop set up someday again, you can always buy a more expensive system, but I suspect that if you learn to do it this way you'll spend your money on other tools and stay with this system of sharpening.
You can buy a good strop already glued up for around $15. Flexcut sells one. They also have a wood strop that has every angle and curve on it you could ever want and it's under $20 I think. Those and some sandpaper and you'd really be set!
Wade

[Donna_T]

Welcome to our home-away-from-home,
First, thank you so much for being an active duty member of the Navy. I really appreciate your willingness to serve and protect--especially if you're away from home and tools.

Like the others, I mostly use wet-or-dry adhered to a hard surface--plastic or wood, plus a leather strop. If I have a nick or notch chunked out of a knife or gouge, I may take it to a diamond stone or Arkansas stone to work it out of the tool--especially if I'm away from home and want to travel light.

At home, after 8-10 years of doing it the hand way, I have a power sharpening system that I use to repair and buff v-tools and gouges. But you can sure ruin tools fast while learning to use it!

One piece of advice, only buy good tools. If you can only afford 4-5 really good ones, that's so much better than a dozen cheap ones that won't hold an edge. I know lots of professional carvers that can do more with a knife and one v-tool and one gouge that I can do with a whole toolbox full of carving tools.

Another advice: Get and use a carving glove on the hand that you hold your carving in as you carve. It will save you from lots of aggrevating blood loss and stitches.

Good luck. You'll find lots of good supply and technique advice here. Let us know if we can help you.

Donna T

[Tom H]

Hey Hi Ho, You shipped out with Noah? Does that mean that there are 2 of yous out there??? Tom H

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

yep Hi and Ho

[wade clark]

One of each!