Originally Posted by
Chris Fournier
It takes time to develop the deft touch that allows you to walk up to this machine and get a good result with little fuss but it is by no means a black art. With time you will not even give the process a second thought.
This may be the hardest part to understand and accept by those new to sharpening. The biggest impediment to learning to sharpen may be the fear of causing damage.
When my sharpening teeth were cut, a few of my blades did turn blue at the tip. The bright side of this is the metal is softer, it hones away easier.
To all the beginners, it is a process easier learned by experience than by reading or being told about it. What is even more amazing is no matter how sharp my skills can make an edge, I find there are still more things to discover about sharpening.
Most recently a thought struck me while using one of my pocket knives to shave a stick. This knife was given to me years ago and mostly sat in a drawer. It is kind of big for my everyday use and only has a single blade. Recently the knife was sharpened for the purpose of easily cutting rope. It was able to push through a rope and make a clean cut with little effort. When whittling the stick, it was a little difficult to get a good slice right handed, but it worked well left handed. There wasn't a bevel on one side of the blade and the bevel looked to have been made with a grinder on the other side. The bevel appeared to have been made by someone holding the handle of the knife to the right of the grinding wheel. This would be natural for someone who is right handed at the grinder. Slowly but surely I have been erasing the damage done in the past and making it work better whittling with either hand.
A few times at the Farmers Market a man named Dean has talked to me. He has done sharpening professionally. Hope to get together with him when we both have a little time this winter so he can share some of his knowledge.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)