Post #201473 by Benzart on Sat, Dec 3, 2005 5:58 PM

Moondance, I will post pics now of how I carve the hook blades.

JohnnyP, I get to the bottom of the V cuts a little at a time. The line starts out narrow and shallow and as I go along it gets deepeneduntil it looks right. When the carving is all done, it's time for the "Clean-up" which consists of justmaking sure all the deep V's are even and fair, and that they have no Junk in the bottom. As you go around the carving cleaning it up, it's important to keep the cuts Light and not deep. soon it will All look like you made about 10 cuts to do the carving, when in reality you made about 1000 cuts.
Hope that makes sense.
Here are the things I use to sharpen the hooks. I have a few pieces of 3/4" pipe cut to 16" lengths. I cut pieces of sandpaper, 4" long and just wide enough to wrap around the pipe. Then I glue the pieces onto the pipes in the order of the grit. 220, 320, 600,800 on 1 pipe, 1000, 1200,1500 and 2000 on the next and on the last I have a piece of leather steering wheel cover and a piece of thin cardboard coated with buffing rouge.



Then I start with the 220 grit and use the pipes just like a file, doing one side of the hook and then the other. I Rub the pipe againts the hook instead of the hook against the pipe, it works better.




After several strokes on eachside of the hook on the 220, move up to the 320, and then the next higher grit until you get to the 2000 or the highest grit. Then a few strokes on the rouge laced cardboard, and a few strokes on the leather and you are ready to go.
It is important to look at the edge closely, preferably with a magnifier of some kind, before moving to the next grit. If you don't, you could end up Polishing a dull blade.
You don't really have to get fancy with a Bunch of different grits of paper, but the more you have, the faster it goes.
If I left anything out or you need any more info, just ask or say so. I'll try to re-define it.
By the way, this is basically how I sharpen my chisels, only I have all the grits clamped on a clipboard with the 220 on the bottom and the cardboard on the top. It gives me a nice flat surface to back the sandpaper and it only takes a few minutes to sharpen a chisel as long as it doesn't have deep nicks on it. And, you Don't need to start at 220 every time, start higher if the tool is not too dull. Plus, for the Micro chisels you ALWAYS start half way up, they should Never feel the 220 unless they get broken or something like that.

I Hope this helps, now Lets see some Sharp knifes and chisels and gouges.