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Thread: A Sharpening Thread Observation

  1. #1

    A Sharpening Thread Observation

    I must have too much time to sit around and stare at my toes or something but here goes anyway. Do most of you folks in your day to day sharpening, after finishing with whatever stone, strop, or skin you use for the finial touch, test the iron for sharp with whatever test you prefer for testing sharpness? Be it shaving body hair, paring end grain of white pine imported from Finland, or dropping a long hair from a 13 year old strawberry blonde on the iron to see if it will split.

    The reason I ask, it seems most replies to "how to" sharpening threads will advise as a final step "testing" the iron for sharpness. Maybe I'm different, could be I don't know what I'm doing, or even both but I almost never "test" a iron. When I finish sharpening I look at the iron closely, feel the edge and if it looks sharp and feels sharp it is sharp and I either rack it if it is a chisel or put it back in the plane if it is a plane iron.

    If there is a better way enlighten me.

    ken

  2. #2
    Sounds like you use the eyeball test.

    Sometimes I'll test to see if it shaves arm hairs. Sometimes the fingernail catch test, or the thumbpad test. And yes, often the eyeball test.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by bridger berdel View Post
    Sounds like you use the eyeball test.

    Sometimes I'll test to see if it shaves arm hairs. Sometimes the fingernail catch test, or the thumbpad test. And yes, often the eyeball test.
    Bridger,

    I have a junk 9 1/2 and a off brand Stanley that need a home. I'm out of shelf space to store 'em. Trade you for something.

    ken

  4. #4
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    My test is see how the edge grabs the skin in the palm of my hand below my thumb.Just a lite touch with the edge will feel like it's sticking to my skin.A edge that need more work will barely grab.Its really scientific stuff and hard to explain.🐌

  5. #5
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    I mostly use the eyeball test if I can't see any light reflected anywhere, it is sharp.
    jim
    Ancora Yacht Service

  6. #6
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    It really depends on what is going on. I seldom sharpen a tool just before putting it away, but it does happen on occasion. Most of my sharpening takes place during the time a tool is being used. My stones are always ready or a few moments from being ready to use.

    It often comes to mind that something I do may be considered bad practice and isn't advisable for others to do. Since handling my first knife I have carefully touched a sharpened edge to test it. I haven't cut myself yet doing this. I can tell by the way it feels if an edge is sharp and usually how sharp. Most of the time just for the heck of it I will see how it cuts arm hair.

    What it all actually boils down to is knowing how a sharp edge performs on a known surface. If a chisel isn't paring well or a plane can't take a light shaving, it is likely time to hit the stones.

    The "white pine from Finland" test has slipped by me. If one is pairing dovetails the ability to slice fine shavings from end grain is an important feature.

    We have also heard about being able to shave arm hair after sharpening an edge with 80 grit abrasive sheets. Not sure I would want to watch that one. Like a sharp razor a sharp edge on a blade will shave the hair without snagging or pulling. It will not leave any behind. An almost sharp blade will remove some hair, but not all in its path.

    On softwood end grain, like pine, a sharp chisel can take a very fine and most importantly a fully controlled shaving. It can slice the fibers without causing separation looking like big gaps.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  7. #7
    I use the forearm shave test but once I get in the groove I don't test at all.

    Some times I do the soft endgrain.

    Andrew - Really? I wouldn't recommend that technique to anyone!

  8. #8
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    A lot of times I see how well it slices through paper,if it's sharp it will cut through it effortlessly without any pushing or pulling of the blade,just straight down.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by ken hatch View Post
    I must have too much time [snip]
    ken
    All depends on where I am. If I'm on site I only have a diamond stone so I gently hone till the wire edge disappears and maybe give it a bit of a nail test. If I'm in my shop I have a system that will leave a fantastic edge and I use the nail catching and skating test extensively. The edge on site I obtain from a diamond stone is functional (I don't even try to palm it) the edge I can obtain in the shop is surgically sharp. And everything in between.
    Last edited by Brian Ashton; 06-29-2015 at 7:36 AM.
    Sent from the bathtub on my Samsung Galaxy(C)S5 with waterproof Lifeproof Case(C), and spell check turned off!

  10. #10
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    My test is to go back to my project and continue doing whatever it is I was doing that dulled it.

  11. #11
    I touch the blade with my finger and look at the mirror polish - but honestly just to marvel at a freshly prepared edge.

    I gotta believe that most people have realized that if you follow the same regimen on the same blade, the results are predictable without having to test it with a hair or your arm.

  12. #12
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    For a batch of new tools I will test them, but generally speaking I will not. Their reaction to the work is more important than if it will shave my arm hair.

    If you are testing them because you want to see how they're doing in the work, look closely at the shaving, it will tell you have refined your edge is.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm Schweizer View Post
    My test is to go back to my project and continue doing whatever it is I was doing that dulled it.
    Exactly. Me too.
    "For me, chairs and chairmaking are a means to an end. My real goal is to spend my days in a quiet, dustless shop doing hand work on an object that is beautiful, useful and fun to make." --Peter Galbert

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by ken hatch View Post
    Bridger,

    I have a junk 9 1/2 and a off brand Stanley that need a home. I'm out of shelf space to store 'em. Trade you for something.

    ken
    Ken, you're an enabler. An evil man.

    What do you need in trade?

  15. #15
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    I test all 'flat iron' tools; plane irons, chisels. The first indicator is to ee how small an angle I can make between the back bevel side of the blade and my fingernail until it stops catching. The smaller, the better. I will pare some pine or cedar as well; always have some of that laying around. Some day I might get enough confidence in my sharpening skill to stop checking but there is something satisfying about getting that small angle or a lighter than air shaving from endgrain softwood.

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