sharpening system upgrade

Well today my power strop arrived in the mail along with the drill mount and a block of buffing compound. The stropping system came with two pieces, the standard leather wheel and a  
V-shaped leather wheel for buffing inside V-tools and gouges.  Now many might just grab the first knife they come across and begin to work the blade, I chose a different path. I looked through my old carving tools so my first attempt using this new tool would not damage a good quality knife.

Even though it was an old knife I set the speed slow, and applied the buffing compound. After this I worked one side of the edge and then went to the other. Because of the way the drill mounts I found it felt better to work one side of the blade change the direction of the drill and work the other side. This allows the handle to always be free of any obstruction and the brief moment switching the drills direction had no impact on my efforts. After a few swipes on both sides of my knife I grabbed a piece of scrap wood and cut a few slices to see if it made a difference, and yes it seemed to. I also looked at the areas cut to see if they were clean cuts or if there were any issues with the blades edge.

I will slowly go through each knife and work them on the new system but will continue to use the hand held strop during carving sessions. Many carvers are like myself and have a limited amount of resources to put towards equipment so a sharpening system has never been on my radar. Now with this system and the strops I already own and use I feel like I can more properly maintain my tools and extend the life of each and every one of them. From what I have seen the brief amount of use I have gotten today I think this will show that it was well worth the investment.

 

as always happy trails

and

Carpe diem carving