Sharper is Safer!

For this weeks Learning Project post, I decided to learn how to sharpen the knives that I use to carve. I felt the need to do this because my last project seemed increasingly difficult. Not in the shape or specific cuts, but getting my knife through the wood. Upon observing the blade’s edge you could see tiny imperfections and spots where the edge had gotten a little dull so I knew I had to sharpen them. Last week I had gotten blisters on my thumb and poked holes in two of my fingers so it was very important that I had these knives sharpened.  To aid my learning on how to sharpen my knives I watched the following two videos by Carving is Fun. They were very easy to follow and got the point across right away. The reason I chose both videos is because they both covered the same thing and by the same user so they were very similar, but had different key points that helped me. It’s important to have sharper knives because it makes carving much safer and more enjoyable. With sharper knives you have more control over what you are doing. You don’t have to strain yourself making difficult cuts and can just glide through the wood. Similarly, the blade won’t get stuck and require extra force  to finish the cut, resulting in a knife flying out of the wood at high speeds – a big hazard, just ask my finger.

This first video is much longer than the second one and for a good reason. This video really focuses on the WHY? of sharpening knives. From this video you learn about each different tool that is involved in sharpening and when to use them for different purposes. I found this video immensely helpful as it helped me understand what I was doing so much more. I felt confident that I understood what I was trying to do before actually doing it. I understand when to use different levels of grit, when to use a strop, and how reprofiling and edge works. For what I was tryin to do with my knives I did not need anything lower than an 800-grit stone. Since my blades were not completely dull I did not have to redefine the edge, just clean it up. With that in mind I found this Mastercraft Dual-Sided Sharpening Stone at Canadian tire for what I think is a good price. It has two sides to the stone, a 1000-grit side and a 6000-grit side. The 1000-side was perfect for the sharpening that I was looking to do and the 6000-grit was a bonus as I could really fine-tune the edge with that side once I felt satisfied. With my new understanding of my tools it was time to sharpen the knives.

This video is much shorter, but just as helpful because it has more of a focus on the techniques of sharpening the knives. From this video I learned that it was important to maintain the angle of the blade throughout the whole process. The control of the blade is much more important than the pressure against the stone. Alternatively, too much pressure could take away too much of the knife and there is no going back from that. The video clearly shows how to hold the knife and what to focus on while gliding the knife across the stone. After watching both videos I felt quite comfortable and confident in my ability to sharpen the knives. You can see how I did right here:

I could seriously feel the difference in my knives from the start of the video to the end. By the end of the video the knives were slicing through the wood with ease. To achieve the same cuts from before it required half of the effort from me. From an observer view it may not appear like much difference, but feeling it is night and day. The only thing I am missing from my sharpening process is the leather strop. They are in scarce supply in stores. I looked for one when I found the stone I wanted, but could not find anything even remotely close to a leather strop. I ordered one online and it is said to come by the end of the week so fingers crossed it will be here for the next Learning Project post! The strop helps with polishing the blade and ultimately helping it stay sharper for longer. Despite not having it for this week I still found the sharpening to be a huge success. The next carving project should go so much smoother now!