V shaped chisel advice?

[Calv]

Hi there,

I mentioned yesterday about my need for a tool for making grooves in wood and i got a brilliant response about the scratch hook, however i found in ampngst my set of cheap and cheerfull chisels a small V shaped one that i found excellent for the job. The only thing is, how do i sharpen a blade of this shape? Do i just go along the stone as usua; one side at a time or is there another method?

Also.....i will be using this chisel for a lot of work and am thinking of investing in a good one of the same shape......any recomendations?

Thanks....Calv.

 

[Chris Knight]

Sounds like you are talking about a woodcarving Vee tool. This is a very difficult tool to sharpen and even experienced carvers don't relish it.

The best possible advice is in the form of an e-book by Chris Pye. He offers a sample of it here http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/v1.html
but you have to pay if you need it all - and you will!

I rate Chris highly having taken a course from him and having used his instructions to sharpen several vee tools successfully but I have to say a scratchstock remains my preferred tool for the task as described.

A decent Vee tool will cost around £20 and Chris has advice on what's good and what isn't. In my own experience, the best by far are made by Herring, followed by Addis - both makers who are now out of business but you can find their stuff on Ebay and here http://www.theoldtoolshop.fsnet.co.uk/c ... isels.html