How To Sharpen V Carving Tools
Stones are just like those bricks that youll see Japanese knives sharpened on and are the easiest and most affordable way to sharpen your tools.
How to sharpen v carving tools. After that you should push the tool away from you. Polish the inside of the V lightly with a pointed leather strop. You only need to do all this work on your new V tool once remember stropping to keep the tool keen from then on but youll have a much better tool to carve with.
This can most easily be done by periodically stropping both sides of the edge outside and inside with a Flexcut SlipStrop and Flexcut Gold Polishing Compound. Hold the tool at the same angle used in step 2 against a leather strop or power strop. There are three main materials that you can use to sharpen your wood carving tools.
If all these tools are correctly sharpened then you will cut through the wood as you might if you could separate them. Carving gouges and V-tools have wings. Use a flexible lamp and position it close to the machine.
Chase the wire edge to achieve sharpness then polish and strop. This can be done with wet dry sandpaper or a diamond stone. Cut across the end grain of a piece of wood to test the final sharpness of the tool.
Complete each step so your V tool looks like the end picture before moving on to the next step. Good lighting is important for all sharpening and honing work but it is an absolute necessity when sharpening carving gouges and V-tools since you must clearly be able see the line of light. The V-tool and Carving gouge are easier to sharpen than they look if you understand a few basic Hand Tool t.
The V part is a sharp junction and might be thought of as the third carving tool. Sharpening stones should not be used for this routine maintenance. Hold the hone flat against the bevel as you file back and forth along the tool.