The Secrets of Tool Sharpening

(Page 3 of 3)

July/August 1981
By the Mother Earth News staff 
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STEP FOUR: Establish the edge. At this point, it's time to grind the edge to the desired angle. Again, the blade is moved against the wood-backed portion of the belt, but it's now held at the finished angle. The bluing makes it much easier to judge our progress during this stage.

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STEP FIVE: Smooth the new edge. The gloved left index finger (assuming the person is right-handed) is slipped beneath the belt in the center section, and the blade is worked against the abrasive surface backed by a sensitive finger tip, as shown in Photo 6.

STEP SIX: Strop. To remove the burr that forms along the edge, we tack the tip of a worn belt to the edge of the table, hold the loose end out with the left hand, and draw the blade back and forth across the abrasive surface. A check with a fingernail-pulled perpendicularly past the edge—will tell you whether or not the burr is gone.

STEP SEVEN: Finish. Even a worn 320 belt will leave scratches in steel, which will make a blade more susceptible to corrosion. So we finish our cutlery with a ceramic stick (a soft Arkansas stone-without oil-will do the job, too). The edge is slipped along the rod's surface as if one were attempting to slice off a piece of stick (Photo 7). With one stroke per side, the pressure is gradually lightened as the blade moves more and more easily against the ceramic.

OTHER TASKS

Our homemade belt sander has proved to be quite useful for maintaining everything from scissors to screwdrivers. We fabricated a rest—from a 3/8" X 10" carriage bolt—next to one of the wheels, too . .. so that different tools could be held easily at their preferred angles. The arc of the caster also happens to be ideal for hollow-grinding a screwdriver (as shown in Photo 8).

Depending on how worn an implement is, it can be returned to top-notch shape—using the procedure detailed above—within three to five minutes. That's a small price to pay for a tool that works!

EDITOR'S NOTE: For more information about choosing the knives that MOTH ER's methods will help you keep sharp.

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