Creative Woodworks & Crafts-059-1998-Fall, страница 46

CHIP CARVED BOX LID continued from page 45.

Keeping Your Knives Sharp

For crisp, clean carving, you'll need to sharpen your knives and keep them sharp. Two flat ceramic sharpening stones will do the job (see Fig. 1). Use the medium-grade stone first for shaping and sharpening, and then the ultra-fine stone for polishing the blade and keeping the edge freshly sharp. After you've done the initial shaping and honing, the ultra-fine is all you need to maintain your edge. You should be able to sharpen the blades to a mirror finish. Depending on the type of wood and how many cuts you make, you will need to freshen the blade only once or twice in a clay's carving.

It is imperative that you get lhe proper angle on the two knives. Sharpen the cutting knife at about a 10 degree angle or less. A dime placed under the back edge of the blade will approximate this angle (see Fig. 2). This angle is a maximum. In many-cases, you may choose to sharpen the cutting knife at an even flatter angle. Proper angling is extremely important if the blade is to flow through the wood smoothly and easily. Sharpen the stab knife at approximately 30 degrees, which is about what the factory-established angle is on a new blade.

Fig. 1. Two Mat ceramic sharpening stones are recommended. The medium-grade stone (left) is used for shaping and sharpening, and the ultra-fine stone (right) is used for polishing the blade and keeping the edge freshly sharp.

Fig. 2. Determining a 10 degree angle.

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Fig. 3. The cutting knife is properly inserted in the wood at a 65 degree angle.

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Fig. 4. When making curved cuts, stand the knife perpendicular to the wood.

Wrong way

Fig. 5. Two tapered chips of the same shape brought to a single point.