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Thread: Don't Strop Your Chisel Backs...
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25th March 2017, 09:10 AM #16Senior Member
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I enjoyed reading this discussion as it gave reasons as to why my sharpening wasn't achieving the results it used to do.
After reading about the gospel of final polishing using a leather piece glued to a wood block, I glued an old leather razor strop to a piece of MDF.
So I would sharpen my plane blades on waterstones and then finish off by hand polishing the blade (both sides) on the leather with green compound.
However I felt that they just weren't as sharp as when I stopped after the fine waterstone - now I know why, I was dubbing the edge round!
I'll switch to Derek's suggestion of green compound on a thick bit of MDF for polishing.New Zealand
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26th March 2017, 01:18 AM #17SENIOR MEMBER
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Slightly rounding the bevel of a chisel isnt particularly bad if you sharpen at a lower angle. It effectively raises the angle of the cutting edge slightly. It can be a catastrophe if you already sharpen at a pretty high angle - say 35 degrees... Then - a leather strop adding a 5 degree convex bevel to the end of that pushes you to 40 degrees and the chisel wont cut wothout a lot of push.
But the backs... I only touch up the backs on a stone because I have already been through exactly what out OP talked about. The chisels wont cut if they have a back bevel unless you angle them up quite a bit.. Then - they dig in and become super hard to control.
I will try the MDF "strop" though. Sounds like a fine idea and easy enough go try out.
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26th March 2017, 08:46 AM #18GOLD MEMBER
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Thanks Luke. I had no idea! Good tip.
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29th March 2017, 11:53 AM #19GOLD MEMBER
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I quit using leather strops for my wood carving gouges some years ago. Same thing = leather rebound.
I'm convinced that the waxy carrier in bars of honing compounds will soften the leather over time.
Really nice wood-backed strop didn't last 10 years.
Instead, I use strips of card stock (like office filing folders) and scribble all over them with a bar of CrOx/AlOx, like a child's crayon.
Dabs of masking tape are entirely adequate to hold it down on any convenient flat surface (stone, flooring, etc).
It is hard and it is flat and it is economical and as fresh as I want.
I like the idea of MDF but card stock and a slab of polished granite countertop sink cutout is appealing.
Carving gouges have back sides just as chisels do.
I was taught (freehand) to make no more that 3 honing passes on the back side = done.
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