Sharpening Pfeil Carving Chisel

[Pat]

Oh no another Sharpening Thread . . . Yes it is, but a little bit different. I have a Pfeil Carving chisel "5a/12" (Short Bent - 12mm), which requires sharpening. How to do by hand? I have various grades of wet/dry, 60 grit to 800 grit and flat Japanese Water stones 1200 and 6000. Do I require a specialised stone, (trip to Carba-tech Sydney :D ) or can I make do?

Thanks

Pat

[Ben from Vic.]

Pat, I'm not a carver myself, but I understand that there are many ways to sharpen carving chisels.

The main thing that will determin the method is weather you need to sharpen the inside or outside of the chisel.

Both sides can be sharpened by using the chisel to create a shaped piece of wood which you can place you wet/dry in, or over.


As I said, I'm not a carver. :o

Ben.

[scooter]

Gday Pat, can't be too hard, sounds like you have the goods already. Would prob only need the waterstones, can't imagine a carving chisel getting that blunt, would be unusable long before I'd have thought.

Sticking the W&D down on glass is your option, may be an idea to get finer papers though. The smaller the step between grits used means each piece will last longer.

I seem to recall a lot of carvers strop their tools, you may consider a piece of leather glued to a backing piece of timber, and some sort of compound to put on it - either a specialised polishing paste, or experiment with something like Autosol, Brasso, or whatever you have in the cupboard. Suck it and see.


Cheers.........Sean the non-carving-o-Pfeil :)

[lyctus]

I struggled with carving tool sharpening, particularly veining tools which seemed always to develop a prow type nose, n0o matter how hard I tried to avoid one.
The I used the Power Strop system developed by the bloke who invented the superb Flexcut carving tools, and all of a sudden surgically sharp carving tools with no distortion to the bevel was the result. So ,for me, when it comes to sharpening carving tools, I use Power Strop every time .

[nadcarves]

Lost the origional description of sharpening tools available..However,Moving the stone over the tool, instead of the tool over stone may give better control.Then use a sewn rag wheel which everyone has and which will round your tools to hone the edge..Of course it will round the edge, but in a short bent, this is what you want to get better dig in(ie a higher angle of attack) By the way, if doing a lot of relief work, short bents aer a lot of work for the hole you dig...Since they are highly suggested for relief carving, consider most of the advice another of wood carvings Urban Legends.....go for some long bents,,,more wood removal for the effort,,,not tucker you out where yas kants lift a few pints after de carving is done....NAD

[nadcarves]

Always thought the Power Strop was developed by Ted Kona, who died a few years back...Flexi cut may have purchased the rights,,they were using the system to edge their tools years ago.. Draw back with the system is that it can heat holy hell out of the tool, eventually drawing temper out of edge, ,and operator....Since a lot of advice centers around waht tools to suggest,, consider tool use, at least 6 hours a day, 6 to 7 days a week, in woods from Lime to Cherry, size 9 inches to 3 feet,and you will find that" good advice" does not hold up in the real world...Another item is that palm tools, regardless of brand limit, you to small items, soft woods, are dangerous as used,and inhibit what you can really do...Give advice,,great, but if the advice is wrong, what don't you step up and offer the person who took it their money back...Last trait I would want in a tool is flexibility,,,we are talking transmission of force here children...Anything that dissipates the force ,is not wanted.....See dat, got older and meaner since I lost these pages..............Nad