Nothing fancy, just a functional shop thing.

gee .. that sure was a great BLOG …
Do we get a video of you “not” using the machine?

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

”Do we get a video of you “not” using the machine?”

I am working on some more videos. First is conditioning your stones, that is step one to good sharpening.

-- Urban logger, http://nelsonwoodworks.biz/

excellent!!
(will the first one give us tips on what IS a good stone?)

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

too cool. great read.

-- ..... art for lifes sake

Hand sharpening knives/tools has been a mystery to me. I have just enough ability to get something sharp enough, but never have been able to get razor sharp. Never taught how to do it.
Dalec

I like what you are doing. Teach me!

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Neat idea for storage, and a huge helping of food-for-thought on sharpening.
Looking forward to some more videos.

-- Still learning everything

That’s a good system for storing the stones.clever.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Teach me too I’m a knife collector and have had trouble sharpening for years. I’m sure tool sharpening will give me ideas about knives in general.

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

I guess I can put together a sharpening series. It’s funny how I learned sitting beside Dad, watching and listening. That is part of it too, the sound the metal makes on the stone. Kind of like when a batter hits a home run and doesn’t have to look up, he can tell by the sound of the “crack of the bat”. You can tell when you are making good contact (continuing with my baseball analogy) with the stone. You don’t have to swing hard, just right. You can feel it in your fingers too.

It is funny. I was just talking to my wife the other day about knife sharpening. I have guys drop pocket,fillet,hunting…knives off here all the time. They could not sharpen them to save their lives, they tried. Not knocking a guy who can’t sharpen a knife, just making an observation and how it relates to the past.

I shave with a straight razor, I think just for the novelty of it (and to keep my “skills”). I was shaving and we were talking. There was a day, not so long ago, that every man had to know how to sharpen. Sure some would go the the barber shop to get a shave and a shoe shine. But most had a straight razor a razor hone and a strop, that was their shaving kit. Some of you fellers are old enough to remember them, I am 40, heck they had triple blade comfort razors before I had whiskers. Totally off subject, maybe?

-- Urban logger, http://nelsonwoodworks.biz/

Great storage design. Nice job. I sat through Frank Klausz seminar on tools and he showed us his sharpening station. Two stones Norton Waterstones.

And his fingers jig for sharpening.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

I like the storage system Daren! A couple q’s -

How often do you flatten the stones you use…

and,

Do you use a strop?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

I’m pleased to hear that you are “going to” do more blogs/tutorials on sharpening! :)
(and yes, the shaving definitely relates to this conversation)

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Dorje, how often I flatten them depends. The water stones are softer and need it more often. That is how water stones work they let loose particles and the slurry helps the sharpening process and keeps the stone from getting clogged with metal. I guess I don’t have a real answer other than when I think they need it. I probably do it more often than absolutely necessary, I have seen guys use well cupped stones and do good work with them. I am just more comfortable with a really flat stone, it is easier for me to keep the proper angle. I think a flat stone will be easier for a guy to learn on too, that is why I mentioned lapping them as a first step to using them.

And yes I use a strop, every knife that I sharpen gets stropped. That little video I linked, I stropped that knife after I shut off the camera. I have a leather with a rough side and a smooth side. The rough side has jewelers rouge worked into it. The smooth side is the last step in sharpening.

-- Urban logger, http://nelsonwoodworks.biz/

Thanks! I enjoyed the video, too!

Like you, my dad taught me how to sharpen a knife at a very young age. Sometimes when I see all these jigs and systems I feel liike I must be really missing the boat. It’s good to know that someone out there is still doing it the old-fashioned way.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Pretty cool! Great video!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Great project/blog Daren. I still use the old man’s carborundum oil stone, a ceramic and a strop to freehand knifes. Plane irons and chisels, I use scary sharp system. But just like Pop (and you-I just watched the video) the final test is to shave some hair off the back of my arm to test to see if I’m done. I think your “Shop Thing” is genius.
Tell us more about your machine sharpening wheels/system!

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

”Tell us more about your machine sharpening wheels/system!”
They are just 8” cardboard wheels on a bench grinder. One wheel is coated with 400 grit aluminum oxide power (just rolled in yellow glue, then in the powder). The second wheel is coated with jewelers rouge to polish off the little burr the other wheel leaves. They sell those wheels for like $20 a pair with extra powder for “recharging”. If you have a good eye and a steady hand in a very short amount of time a person can learn to sharpen just that fast and well with that system. The wheels can be found on eBay. I got several with my sharpening business and 100 lbs of abrasive powders . I use those powders for many other things too, like honing hair clipper blades and such on another machine. The clipper hones are just a flat metal plate that revolves and you hold the blades to it with honing powder sprinkled on the plate.

-- Urban logger, http://nelsonwoodworks.biz/

very nice system and information …thank you

-- Dusty56@comcast.net