When to sharpen or resharpen

[MrBrendan]

Hello All,

After watching Sam's excellent video about sharpening, i found one piece missing.

When to resharpen?

It may be a basic question and maybe i'm asking it because i haven't used any of the tools yet (Gravermach AT is on its way.)

But how does one start to notice signs that you need to re-shape/re-sharpen? Do you start to skip rather than dig in?

Please advise. Thanks!

 

[mitch]

when you get a bit of experience you'll immediately notice when the point no longer grabs the surface of the metal at first contact and starts cutting right away. it will feel ever so slightly mushy and will skid just a hair before it bites and starts cutting a line.

 

[MrBrendan]

I suspected as much.

But it's good to hear you'll feel it right away. Not something you needs years to develop a feel for...

 

[Roger Bleile]

I just touch the tip to my thumb nail. If it doesn't bite instantly, the tip probably needs resharpening.

 

[thughes]

If I cuss extra long and extra loud after stabbing myself in the hand, it probably needs sharpening.

Todd

 

[MrBrendan]

haha, yeah i think in Sam's video he mentioned the thumbnail trick also, but maybe i didn't associate that with when it needs re-sharpening, just when it was shaped the first time. Thanks all!

 

[Andrew Biggs]

You will know when to resharpen. It becomes really obvious once you start cutting.

Basically, once the tool stops cutting, either by dulling or breakage, then you resharpen. You will know when either of these things happen.

In the beginning, as you are learning, this will be a very frequent exercise. Once you have mastered the technique of cutting, then it will be a frequent exercise...............It's all just part of the deal

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Sam]

When the behavior of the tool changes and/or the quality of the cut changes, it's usually time to resharpen.

If you have a microscope you can clearly see dull and broken graver points by zooming in to maximum and carefully examining the point, but you have to know what to look for. Once you learn, you can clearly see chipped edges and broken points as well as rounded and worn cutting edges.

When it doubt, resharpen.

 

[MrBrendan]

Great tips all around, i'll keep an eye out for these things. Thanks all.

 

[monk]

new tools are especially prone to this. to greatly reduce this, when a tool is first sharpened, stick it in a fresh potato overnight. nobody has ever explained the chemistry or physics, but this does work.

 

[JOEYS CARVED ART]

When it skips across someones $5000 dollar gun and puts a nice groove about 3 inches long in it, then you should resharpen.

 

[atexascowboy2011]

Dam Joey, what do you use ?
An RPG powered graver ?

 

[simone-cervellati]

well my teacher told me about the potato only when I was already able to sharpen by myself.. but I think I'll pass the trick on to my own apprentice one day XD

 

[JOEYS CARVED ART]

Dam Joey, what do you use ?
An RPG powered graver ?

No, that is funny though,I was just kidding with him. I'm sure after he starts engraving for a bit he will be able to tell a dull graver from a sharp one. I actually use a Lindsay classic foot control.

 

[Roger Bleile]

If you engrave all of the time under a microscope, just look at the point under the scope. I rarely use my scope and have it moved out of my way so aside from the thumb nail check I look at it with a 25x pen microscope, which I also use while sharpening to check the quality of the tip. These cheap little scopes are perfect for that purpose. I got mine at Harbor Freight but here's a link to the same one from another source.
http://www.sourcingmap.com/mini-pen-pocket-sized-25x-microscope-magnifier-silver-p-8212.html

 

[KCSteve]

And in addition to that, sometimes it's good just to resharpen a graver because. They'll often cut just a little bit better for the first while.

 

[dlilazteca]

new tools are especially prone to this. to greatly reduce this, when a tool is first sharpened, stick it in a fresh potato overnight. nobody has ever explained the chemistry or physics, but this does work.

Continues to work for me like a charm