I just bought my first gouge – a Pfeil #7, 14mm. I used it right out of the box and it was sharp enough to shave the hair off my arm.
But now after several days use it’s lost its edge and I need to hone it. I’ve been able to sharpen my chisels with some success but I’m hardly a pro. I’ve got two Japanese wet stones that I use for those – a medium and fine (forgot at the moment the exact grit). I’ve read about using a chromium-oxide honing compound for gouges.
Any thoughts or advise?
Thanks!
Replies
I like to have a buffing wheel with white diamond on it to polish my gouges after I finish honing them. Usually they can be repolished at least once between honings, though too much polishing will round over the edge. I just lightly polish till I get that shave-hair edge around the curve of the gouge. A gouge stone is helpful (they have a curve cast into them). You sharpen the gouge only on the outside of the cannel, though I sometimes polish the inside a little bit. I will often do any coarse reshaping of the edge on a belt sander which is much less likely to burn the steel. A grinder with a good stone is okay too (you have to buy a good stone separate, I've never seen a grinder that came with a decent stone). You get a good stone from a woodworking supplier, not from a hardware store. It helps to hold a piece of dampened paper towel against the inside of the gouge cannel (be sure to use paper towel not cloth which would be more dangerous in case it was caught by the wheel). Press very gently when grinding and let the stone or sanding belt do the work, pressing hard and hurrying will burn your steel. Stop often and be especially cautious as you get near the final cuts because the fully thinned edge heats up very quickly. Oh yes! I almost forgot to mention diamonds, diamond hones are VERY helpful. I have several sets of fine medium and coarse and some extra fine ones too, but if I have the power tools I do most of the work with them. Diamonds are used a lot on site.
Are you just getting into carving or was this a special project. If you are geting into carving you should buy or make yourself a leather strop. After about 10-15 min or so of carving you can touch up the edge of your tool on the strop. This you allow you to keep that razor edge longer before heading to the stones. It does take a little practice to strop correctly without rounding over the edge. There are also a number of pastes and powders that work well for stroping. I tend to use an oxide powder to avoide a paste build up on the strop. If you visit http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/ you can pick up some more helpfull tips.
Good Luck
Dale
Edited 4/23/2003 9:01:23 AM ET by timber
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