In this article on Carving Basics: Sharpening your Knives we will discuss how to keep your knives sharp, how to use compounds, how to use the strop, and how to make your own crude thumb guard.
HOW TO SHARPEN YOUR KNIVES:
We’re going to start out with the important task of sharpening our knives. We’re going to talk as if you’re right-handed, so if you’re not just reverse all instructions.
Lay the blade flat against the surface toward the end of the 250-grit honing plate; apply light pressure with your right index finger on the side of the blade to hold it flat against the plate.
Now begin moving the blade TOWARD THE CUTTING EDGE, while pressing the blade down to keep it flat.
Be very careful not to tip the blade up, as this will cause uneven dips in your edge. When you reach the end of the plate, lift the blade and return it to the other end to repeat the process.
Do this several times. (We do between 10 to 30 times on each side.) Remember to keep the blade completely flat at all times.
Flip the blade to the opposite side and repeat the process. Remember to keep the blade completely flat at all times.
Wipe your blade with a soft cloth. You will notice a bit of black residue on the cloth. This is bits of your blade ground down. Don’t worry about this, it’s normal and expected.
Now repeat the same process with the 400-grit plate. Again do between 10 to 30 times as you did before while keeping the blade totally flat. Then wipe the blade again with a soft cloth. You should see less black residue now.
It’s time to use the knife strop and compound, these are used to hone the knife to a high sheen and make them cut like going through butter.
COMPOUNDS:
Compounds come in two forms, a stick, and a powder.
The stick is applied like a crayon. You want a thin layer, so be careful not to apply too much.
The powder is applied by sprinkling it on the strop and spreading it with your finger. The powder will give you a thinner layer but is a bit messy to apply. I’ll go over this process more in the strop area below.
How to use the leather strop:
The strop is a piece of wood with thin soft leather glued onto it. It is used to polish your knives and take any dust and metal bits off your blade.
First, you must apply your compound to the leather strop; a little goes a long way. Make sure you apply enough compound that your knife’s full-length slides through it on the strop. You don’t need a very thick layer though. One thin layer is better.
In the picture below I am sprinkling the powder compound into the surface of the strop.
In this picture, I am spreading the blue velvet compound with my finger. I’m making sure to get the compound evenly spread across the whole surface of the strop starting at the top red arrow and ending at the bottom red arrow.
I don’t go all the way to the ends of the strop though, because I don’t want the blade to slide off the leather’s edge, as this might cause a nick in the blade.
Lay the blade flat against the surface of the leather strop, having the blade’s edge facing toward the edge of the leather where it is applied to the wood. Apply light pressure with your left index finger on the side of the blade to keep it flat, just like you did with the diamond sharpening plate.
Now begin moving the blade AWAY FROM THE CUTTING EDGE, while pressing the blade down to keep it flat.
It’s important NOT to move the blade toward the cutting edge on the strop, because it will cut the strop. This will cause dulling of the blade and ruin the strop.
Do this several times. (We do between 10 to 30 times on each side.) Flip the blade to the opposite side and repeat the process, doing between 10 to 30 times again.
Wipe your blade off with a soft cloth after this step. You always want to start out with a clean blade.
You want to maintain a razor-sharp edge, so you will need to strop your blade before you think the edge is dull. To keep the edge sharp, strop the blade often during all carving sessions. A few times across the strop every half hour should achieve this goal.
A smooth leather strop with no applied compound can also be used for removing blemishes and burrs on the edge of your knife. You don’t want to do this too often though as it will dry out your strop.
HOW TO MAKE A THUMB GUARD:
You can rap two Band-Aids around your thumb, one over the tip, and one around the thumb at the base having the padded part towards your thumbs inside pad.
OR:
Wrap your thumb in masking tape having the sticky side facing out. Start at your thumb tip and work your way towards the base. Now do the same having the sticky side to the inside.
Using this method, you can use the same thumb guard over and over. It might not look very pretty, but it does the job.
OR:
You could buy a thumb guard like this one.
This thumb guard is made from leather and has an elastic band around the thumb base. These are easy to slip on and cheap to buy. After several uses, it tends to not hold as tight and will slip around your thumb through. If you’re anything like me, you tend to lose these and for me, it’s easier to make my own.
Conclusion:
In this lesson of Carving Basics: Taking Care Of Your Knives you’ve learned how to keep your knives sharp, about compounds, strops, and even how to make your own thumb guard.
We hope you enjoyed this tutorial, if you have any questions, would like to leave a comment, or your own personal views on taking care of your knives, please feel free to do so below.
We would love to hear from you and help in any way we can. We will get back to you as soon as possible with answers to your questions. (Usually within 24 hours or less.)
Thanks for stopping by,
Happy Carving
Lynne
Thanks for writing this article. It was very helpful to me.
It showed me the right way to sharpen my knives and strop them. Not many other websites show this kind of information. I appreciate it.
I didn’t know there were two different kinds of compounds you could use. I’ve always used the stick kind. I will have to try the powder, it looks as if it might be a bit better and cleaner to use.
Thanks for showing me how to make a thumb guard. I use a leather one, but after a few days, it stretches out and doesn’t stay on anymore. I will have to try making one myself.
Thanks for your comment, it’s so nice to know I’m appreciated and that I’m helping you to become a better carver.
I’m very glad I helped you with your sharpening and stropping. These are very important skills to have as a sharp tool cuts much easier than a dull one. You’re far less likely to cut yourself with a sharp tool also. Safety is important.
I’m not sure that the powder compound is any cleaner than the stick. The stick compound has a tendency to leave a cakey look and feel to the strop. It’s easier to apply though.
The powder compound is a bit messier if you ask me. You sprinkle it on the strop and rub it in with either your finger or a soft cloth. I personally like the powder myself, as I don’t like the feel of the stick compound on my hands.
You’re welcome about showing how to make the thumb guard. I totally agree with you about the leather thumb guards that are out on the market today. They all have elastic sewn into their sides and after a very short amount of time they do stretch out and no longer fits tight enough to stay on your thumb correctly. If they won’t stay on then they’re not safe. The home made ones are cheaper and easy to make too.
Thanks, you’ve definitely got a lot of useful and detailed information here. I really had no idea about everything that’s involved in wood carving and how to take care of my knives.
Can I use this method for any of my knives? We’ve got a nice set of kitchen knives that are pretty dull now and it would be neat if they could be sharpened and used some more.
Thanks, Rhonda for taking the time to read my article. Yes, you can use this same method to sharpen your kitchen knives as long as they have a flattened edge on them. If you look at the edge and it has one small shiny line running along it without a larger shiny portion alongside it, then it’s a flat edge. If they have a large bevel edge (large shiny portion) you have to use a different method to sharpen them. It’s much harder to sharpen beveled edges.
For that, you are better off getting a kitchen knife sharpener that will hold it in the correct position and will come with its own oil.
Good luck with it.
I enjoyed the fact that I could learn even newer ways I could sharpen my knives. Heck, even in boy scouts we only learned about using the wet stone and one direction in how you can use it.
Thanks for letting us know there is more than one way to do it.
Thanks for reading my article. I’m glad you enjoyed it and learned something new in the process. The wet stone is used for beveled edge knives, it’s a lot harder to use, and messy also. Most carving knives are flat-edge tools, so they require a diamond-encrusted sharpening plate instead of a wet stone.
Fabulous! There’s a lot to taking care of knives. I hate it when people just toss a knife in the drawer (or dump it) and get a new one. And I know people who just grab any old sharpening stone and just start rubbing the blade on it. They go this way then that way, then look so disappointed with the result. Inevitably, the poor blade takes the blame. Your article is a real treat to the world of knife sharpening! Keep up the good work!
Thanks for taking the time to read my article on Carving Basics: Sharpening Your Knives. There is a bit of work to take care of your knives, but it’s worth it to have a tool that cuts well and safely. I too hate to see knives that are not taken care of, when there are several different ways to sharpen them. Depending on their bevel will determine what stone or sharpening plate to be used. If you don’t use the correct one the blade suffers for it. I’m so glad you enjoyed my article and learned the proper way to sharpen your blades. It really isn’t that hard to maintain a sharp knife of any kind.