Wolfgang wrote:

"Conan The Librarian" wrote in message
...

I'd be interested in hearing more about how you do this. The closest
I've ever come to that would be using a piece of broken glass as a wood
scraper. :-)

Experience with broken windows, bottles, etc., suggests that glass breaks
randomly. Not so. In fact, breakage is highly predictable....and
controllable.....under certain conditions. Various machines have been built
for a long time to control breakage in order to leave a sharp, straight edge
on pieces of glass of the right shape and size for use in microtomes. The
one pictured he

[snip of lots of interesting info]

If everything is done just right, the result is two perfect glass knives.
What actually happens most of the time is that I increase the pressure on
the anvil relatively quickly, make a dozen or so knives, discard ten of
them, and end up with two that will do well enough in less time than it
would take to make the two really good ones. This is really a more
efficient use of resources because the glass is a lot cheaper than my time
and the glass knives are only used for rough work....down to half a micron
thickness....anyway. For ultrathin sections....60-100 nanometers.....we
always use a diamond knife.

I never cease to be amazed by the knowledge there is in this nuthouse.

Ack. Not me. I sharpen my tools on a setup that consists of multiple
granite surface plates with wet/dry sandpaper of various grits affixed to
them (also known as the "Scary Sharp" method of sharpening). Until I
dedicated an area of my shop to that, I would go as long as I could
between touchups (and I often paid the price for it). Now that I don't
have to drag out my sharpening supplies, I tend to hone my plane irons on
a regular basis, but I still don't like it.

I used a couple of silicon carbide stones that I had made by a local
manufacturer....400 and 600 grit, if memory serves. I tried various jigs
and fixtures but never liked any of them. But I loved to work those blades
on the stones.....actually very similar to using the planes. I always
finished them with tripoli compound on a leather strop. Polishing the
blades makes a HUGE difference!

Yep. I used to use what we call "the big green crayon", which is
chromium oxide. I'd smear some on a leather strop or a piece of
softwood and use that for final honing/polishing. It also works nicely
for carving tools, as you can use the tool to cut the profile in a piece
of softwood and then smear the stuff into that profile and hone the
gouge on that.

These days I use 3M "microfinishing film" for final polishing. You
can see it at:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...04&cat=1,43072

But be careful if you go to that website. I've seen people go in
there and never come back. :-)

As for your comment about sharpening fixtures -- that is a complaint
of mine as well. There really isn't one that will do everything well.
They are either hard to center the iron in or they are tippy, or they
don't work with narrow chisels, or ...

So I learned to freehand out of necessity. I still use a guide when
establishing a bevel angle or fixing a damaged edge, but for the most
part it's quicker and easier to just do it freestyle.

BTW, Lee Valley has come up with a sharpening guide that addresses
lots of the problems associated with them:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...68&cat=51&ap=6

It interferes with the whole zen thing of making wispy shavings.
(Speaking of zen, ask Claspy about his one-sided shavings.)

Um.....yeah.....moebius later.....remind me.

Very nice. :-)


Chuck Vance