Sharpening 'other than field' knives

[x SF med]

Originally Posted by Bill Harsey

There's a thread about sharpening around here somewhere, but I better check to see if it's any good or not.


Edited to add: will go out in shop and draw my "edge" picture and post in the sharpening sticky.

Bill- Thanks for the drawing, it is the most concise explanation of the 'what' of sharpening I've ever seen.

I put this in it's own thread because there are a few differences in sharpening turning knives/tools/lawnmower blades than field knives. For some I will use a fine mill bastard because the edge doesn't require the fineness of a true honed edge (Lawnmower blades immediately come to mind) and honing a 3/4 double round parting tool is not like sharpening any straight edge, even though the 'basics' are the same but the face shape is completely different with multiple rounded areas that meet to form a 'curved' cutting edge, and scoop knives are a step beyond that - like wrapping the edge of a straight knife in a 1/2 circle...

[Bill Harsey]

x SF med,
No worries. I had to go back and re-read the original sharpening posts.

I will try and continue to edit as I can. Thanks for your kind words on the drawing. That is the beginning of my attempt at edit/improvement there.

Sharpening the turning tools your doing has applications to other tools that might need help.

Learning what you have, you can now sharpen a cold chisel to cut off a steel bolt or nut.

Yes. we can carve steel with hand tools.

[x SF med]

Oh, yeah - all of the turning knives passed the newspaper test, and I checked for burrs/wire edges and got rid of them. If I never have 8 to reface/sharpen all at the same time again, I will be happy - even though it was a great learning experience.

And, turning knives are a much softer steel than field knives - all tools used to sharpen them require constant cleaning - my CRKT PSD and stones needed cleaning about every 5-10 minutes or they were completely worthless. WD-40 and a soft toothbrush are great for taking care of that, then a nice soft rag to wrap them in when you are finally done for the day.