Tuesday 4 May 2010

Sharpening my Hook Knife...

 I received an E Mail from a chap yesterday who wanted to know how to sharpen a Hook Knife....

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They are tricky little devils to sharpen, but sharp they must be....
The Hook Knife has a single bevel...

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This bevel must be held flat on my Whet stone whilst I move the Knife down the stone...

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The picture above is the start point.
I need to make two movements at the same time to complete this job. Using my middle finger to both push the Knife and keep the knife tilted at the correct angle, presenting the bevel flat on the stone at all times...

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Reaching the middle of the stone.
With my right hand I am pulling the Knife handle towards me....

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And finally I have reached the end of the continuous sweep down the stone, presenting the final part of the blade....
And showing the continuous sweep from a different angle...
The start point...

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Half way...

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And Finish...

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So to recap, it's one fluid motion, sliding the Knife down the stone and rotating the blade to offer up all the cutting edge to the stone...If the Hook Knife is in a bad way, start with a course grit then finer grit as you go, as you would with a normal Knife...

To remove the bur after sharpening I wrap some very fine wet and dry round an old tent pole and gently slip the Knife along the pole removing the bur, then gently strop...

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Time to E mail my friend and then get on with some carving....

Enjoy...J


Find out what else we get up to at...http://hennockhouse.blogspot.com/

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