Popular Woodworking 2006-04 № 154, страница 78

you use, keep the sharp edge of the blade facing away from you as you hone it. If the blade faces you, a slip or miscalculation could lead to a nasty cut.

Drawknives are not usually given a secondary bevel, but some people think a small back bevel makes a drawknife a little easier to use. If you want to try one use a fine stone to hone one on the back.

Sharpening Curved Blades

Drawknives intended to scoop out hollows have curved blades. One surface of the blade is flat; the other has a bevel. Some drawknife patterns have mild curves, but others, such as inshaves and scorps, have a pronounced bend that can't readily be sharpened on a flat stone.

A 1" belt sander does a good job of grinding the outside of a sharply curved blade. It can be followed up with stones to remove the scratches left by the belt. If you don't own a belt sander, the blade can be stoned by hand or flattened with sandpaper that's been glued to a flat board with spray adhesive. Start with a grit that's appropriate for the condition of the blade - #60- or #80-grit paper for blades that need a lot of work, finer paper for blades in good condition.

After using the sandpaper, hone the outside of the blade with sharpening stones.

For final polishing, Lie-Nielsen uses diamond paste and a small block of wood.

To sharpen a bevel on the inside of the blade, use a curved slipstone or a piece of plastic pipe on which you've glued silicon carbide sandpaper with spray adhesive. If there is a lot of material to remove, you can also use a sanding drum mounted in an electric drill and finish up with finer grits of paper mounted on a section of pipe or with a slipstone. PW

You can finish the outside of an inshave with diamond paste and a piece of softwood for a very polished surface and a keen edge, as Thomas Lie-Nielsen does here.

A sanding drum mounted in an electric drill is an effective first step for dressing the unbeveled face of a curve.

Sandpaper glued to a length of PVC pipe makes a good tool for working the inside of a curved drawknife, inshave or scorp.

MAKING A SHARPENING STONE JIG

To make a jig for a sharpening stone, first lay the stone on a scrap of wood and mark the ends.

Scraps of wood nailed to the board with brads will serve as stops and hold the stone in place.

Another piece of scrap forms a leg that can be slipped into a bench vise or clamped to a workbench.

Now the full length of the knife can be worked on a stone without interference from the handles. Using both hands also allows more control and a more consistent bevel angle.

popularwoodworking.com i

75