Sharpening that tricksy hook knife.

Some years ago I wrote a brief tutorial about 

Sharpening a hook knife.

I have had a few enquiries on the subject recently, so I thought I would take the opportunity to add an update.

These little blighters need to be kept super sharp, especially when finishing a carving.

 You can get your knife super sharp by employing a few bits of Wet 'n' Dry.

( silicon carbide )

Give Matthew a call at 

WORKSHOP HEAVEN

He'll sort you out with any questions.

At the moment I'm using a couple of different grit sizes.

P 1000 and P 1200

These seem to work for me.

I use hooks made from Silver steel and 52100 Bearing steel, very tough.

I also have a piece of leather, it's suede, probably not as good as smooth leather for this job, but again, it works.

I have a dowel that can be wrapped with either the silicon carbide or the leather.

I can fettle the internal part of the hook using the dowel.

And then, with the leather and some stropping compound, polish up.

Use a strip of silicon carbide on a flat board for the external.

And then strop.

With a bit of practice I now manage to get my hooks scarily sharp.

Enjoy.

J;-)