sharpening carving tools

N

neophyte

Member
I have a variety of stones -oil,diamond,water and shapton stones 1000, 4000,8000).I was wondering if anyone uses the Shapton stones on their carving tools.What types of stones are people using? Can anyone suggest a good video source for shapening techniques.

Mark
 
You can use anything to sharpen carving tools. But if you use waterstones you'll be spending a lot of time getting them flat again. I really like the DMT diamond plates for carving tools. They wear like iron (sorry), aren't messy, and give great feedback so you can feel what's happening on the bevel. Don't use the diamond stones with all the little circles, use the solid plates. Stropping is the key to sharpening carving tools. I love Herb's Yellowstone, but everyone has a favorite, and they all work.

Chris Pye has a pretty good DVD on sharpening for carvers.
 
I grew up on Norton oil stones but they are messy, clog up fast and have to be re-flattened after awhile.  Now I use the DMT diamond stones, course, medium and fine.  Much better, no mess and they stay flat.  You can also buy a conical/wavy piece of stainless steel with diamonds impregmated into it for sharpening carving tools like gouges.  Use can use them either dry or with water (I use mine with water). 

Dennis Bork
Antiquity Period Designs, Ltd.
 
Dennis, have you used the conical/wavy diamond stone? I'm curious if that's useful. I use the Norton/Pye slipstones, and like them a lot. I never cared for the conical India slipstone, so I've stayed away from the conical diamond as well.
 
I recently purchased the conical diamond stone and only had to use it once.  It seemed to work okay but once is not a standard.

Dernnis Bork
 
Thanks. I'd be interested to hear your opinion after you have used it for a while.

I should have mentioned in the original post that I don't like powered grinders for carving tools. They are just too aggressive and hot, even with slow speed and a 3x wheel. If I'm radically reshaping a tool or just need to remove a lot of material, I use a benchtop belt sander. It's much cooler, and I can use the exact same motion on the surface of the belt that I use on the bench stones.
 
There is an execellent video for sharpening carving tools with Chris Pye, produced by Rob Cosman. I'm sure you can find it on line. Only one caveat. Chris Pye puts an inside bevel on all his shallow gouges. I find this very difficult to do accurately and don't suggest it.
Since working with Mary May last year I have been a convert to DMT stones. They are fast, clean to use (water as lubricant) and long lasting.
I don't see any value to the conical diamond stone. I use some "ceramic files" and ceramic slip stones and then strop the concave side.

Howar Steier
 
It's not a video, but here are my techniques for sharpening and honing gouges. Hope it helps:
http://villagecarpenter.blogspot.com/2010/02/sharpening-honing-gouges.html
 
Thank you all for your informative replies. I was aware of the Chris Pye DVD, but I want your input before I considered purchasing it. Diamond stones seem to get the nod...Unfortunately, I have the ones with the little circles and it sounds like these may be no good for this task.
 
Mark,

My course diamond stone has the "circles".  It may feel odd when sharpening but it does a good job.  Remember, everyone has their own favorite sharpening stones.

Dennis Bork
 
Hi,

Back to the original question about DVD's.

Yes, Chris Pye's video is excellent, but I find it is better at the initial conditioning of the tool. A complaint I have about it is that it leaves you feeling you have to spend $400 on stones. And oh, btw; Chris Pye has Norton stones w/ his name on it - so no wonder your left feeling this way.

There's another video that I've found that is unbelievable good; it's Everett Ellenwood's "Sharpening Simplified". He shows you how to hone just sabout any tool using the most simple, common sense setup. I cannot recomend that video enough.

I find that both video's are complimentary however. The Pye video is best at explaining how to get a mess of a carving chisel ground properly, and the Ellenwood video I believe is better at showing you how to hone and maintain it. So I would recomend both!

You don't have to purchase either video though. You can rent each for about $10 on Smartflix:
http://smartflix.com/store/video/5984/Woodcarving-With-Chris-Pye
http://smartflix.com/store/video/1090/Sharpening-Simplified

hope this helps,

JB


 
The Ellenwood video is good also, and JB points out that the two DVDs are complimentary. Once you have the proper bevel and shape on your tool, the vast majority of your sharpening will be on a strop. Ellenwood is better showing this than Pye.
 
I think the first question you need to answer isn't what stones to use but what shape to create.  I see really big advantges (as a neophyte carver) in knife edged tools.  Some carvers suggest the proper edge shaping is the chief advantage of used tools. 

For me, achieving that shape means you need a stone that's harder than a water stone.  You want to the edge to comply with the stone, not vice versa.  For flat tools or convex edges, I say use whatever you want.  Just realize that if you have a small contact patch (and you will 9 times out of 10 you're going to wear a hole in a water stone.

I use old fashioned slips stones.  I keep them in a small tuperware container of mineral oil.  I have a few India slips.  I finish with fine arkansas stones and a strop.  But one has to be super careful with the strop because carving tool edges are so small and delicate.

Adam
 
Thank youagain for your input.

JB, I will certainly look into the DVD's you cited.

Dennis, I feel better about  using the diamond plates I already have (originally purchased to prepare my card scrapers).
 
I have the serpentine diamond stone from DMT and it is "extra fine" or 1200 grit. If you use this for the inside of the tools as a slip stone, it tends to be too aggressive and may re-shape the inside of your gouges. If you want to re-shape or add an extra bevel to the inside, this would work great, but it can be VERY aggressive, and will re-shape before you realize it. I am waiting for them to develop an "extra extra fine" or 8000 grit serpentine stone, but they are having some difficulty in the diamonds adhering.

As carving work slows... I am planning on making a short instructional DVD on sharpening that I would like to add to each of my carving DVDs - just a short 15 minute option that people can either watch or not. One day.... hopefully soon.
 
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