Sharpening

“ There is a principle involved in the sharpening of every tool, which should be observed. A skilled artisan knows that there is a particular way to grind the bits of each plane; that the manner of setting a saw not only contributes to its usefulness, but will materially add to the life of the saw; that a chisel cannot be made to do good work unless its cutting edge is square and at the right working angle. ”

“ Section knives, during the process of sharpening, are subjected to three distinct processes: 1, Grinding; 2, Honing; 3, Stropping.
Grinding is one of the most important, though it is probable that it will rarely be undertaken by the microscopist himself. More knives and razors are spoiled in grinding than in any other way. We have now in our possession an excellent knife, which in an evil hour we entrusted to a New York cutler, and received it back utterly ruined, the temper being entirely taken out of the blades! ”

“ Some persons prefer to turn the knife over, drawing it first from the left hand and then toward it, sharpening each surface alternately on the same edge of the steel. This is more difficult to do, as you cannot so surely keep the blade at the same angle,—and this is the most important point. If held at any other than the proper angle, either no edge is made, or it is taken off as soon as obtained. ”

“ In heating the soldering iron keep it near the tip of the flame; if you use an alcohol lamp don’t have the wick too high and if you use a Bunsen burner adjust the openings in it until the flame is as nearly invisible as you can get it.
About Sharpening Tools. —The only metal working tools you will need to sharpen are the twist drills and these can be sharpened on a carborundum oil stone. [64] Hold the beveled edge of the drill point on the stone and move it to and fro, being very careful to keep the drill perfectly straight up and down while you are sharpening it. ”

“ GONEOMETER.
All the eccentric tools require the greatest care in sharpening, and the above ingenious machine has been invented for this purpose; it is represented at P, in plate 4. The upper part, 1, is a plate of brass, the outer edge, 2, is graduated as high as 50 each way, beginning at the tongue, 3. Beyond the numbers is a groove, in which one end of the tool slide, 4, slips, and is firmly fixed (so as to point to any of the numbers that suit the angle of the tool) by a nut underneath. ”

“ In sharpening a knife-blade on an oilstone care should be taken to keep the blade nearly flat on the stone in order to get a thin, sharp edge. The knife should be sharpened first on one side and then on the other, until the desired edge is obtained. ”

“ The existence of a steel for the purpose of sharpening seems to imply not only the knowledge of the preparation of the metal and its subsequent hardening, but also of files or of other tools to produce the peculiar striated surface to which the sharpening property of a steel is due. Had such tools been known, it seems almost impossible that no trace of them should have come down to our times. Moreover, if used for sharpening bronze knives, a steel such as at present used would sooner become clogged and unfit for use than if employed for sharpening steel knives. ”

“ In making shearing cuts the round nose permits the tool to be rolled to the side to avoid scraping the work. The length of the bevel should be about twice the thickness of the blade at the point where the sharpening begins.
The sharpening of a gouge for turning is rather difficult for the average student. The ordinary gouge which has a square nose may be beveled by merely turning it half way around and back again. ”

“ The Grindstone.—As most of the tools require a grindstone for sharpening purposes, an illustration is given as a guide, with a diagram to show the proper grinding angle. In Fig. 16 the upright [Pg 23] (A) of the frame serves as a line for the eye, so that if the point of the tool is brought to the sight line, and the tool (C) held level, you will always be able to maintain the correct angle. ”

“ Fig. 27.
The sharpening of bits of a form other than that of the chisel is done by means of “swages.” The tempering is effected in the way already described [34] in reference to hand drills. As in the latter case, the degree of temper must be suited to the hardness of the rocks to be penetrated. Generally the straw colour will be found to be the best degree. It is a remarkable fact that the wear of the cutting edge of a machine drill is, for a given length of boring, five or six times less than that of a hand drill. Steel of the best quality should always be used. ”

“ Another reason is, that a blade thus shaped can be sharpened very easily, when it becomes blunt. Nothing is needed but to take a flint, or even the back of a common knife, and scrape it along the edge, and, if properly done, a single such scrape will sharpen the weapon afresh. The head is always made of soft iron, and so yields easily to the sharpening process. The reader may remember that the harpoons which we use for whale hunting are always made of the softest iron ”

“ When a saw becomes worn, and its teeth require sharpening, the first thing to do is to joint it, that is to say, bring down all its teeth to the same height, which may be done by holding an emery block or file against it while the saw is running, care being taken to hold the block or file firmly, and to continue the process until the tops of the teeth run true. ”

“ We do this, and soon get our edge; the bright rim has disappeared, but we have done an unwise thing, and have not saved much time, because we have begun to make a rounded edge, which, if carried a little farther, will make the tool useless until it is reground. There is no help for it: time must be spent and trouble taken in sharpening tools; with method and care there need be very little grinding, unless tools are actually broken.
To resume our lesson in tool-sharpening: we can not do much carving with one chisel, so we shall now take up gouge No. ”

“ Sharpening a plane.— (A.) An important part of this process is the grinding of the cutter. Set the cap back about 1⁄8” from the edge of the iron, and use it as a [Pg 77] guide by which to grind the iron perfectly square, as at A, Fig. 50. The cap iron should be kept perfectly square, and never touched except to fit it to the cutter, or, if it is too thick to allow the shavings to pass freely, to file the top of it to the proper thickness. If the tool is kept in order skillfully, the cap will need care only upon rare occasions. ”

“ Shouldering one another to get next at the sharpening-stone, were men stripped to the waist, with the stain all over their limbs and bodies; men in all sorts of rags, with the stain upon those rags; men devilishly set off with spoils of women's lace and silk and ribbon, with the stain dyeing those trifles through and through. Hatchets, knives, bayonets, swords, all brought to be sharpened, were all red with it. Some of the hacked swords were tied to the wrists of those who carried them, with strips of linen and fragments of dress: ligatures various in kind, but all deep of the one colour. ”

“ Saw filing.— (A.) This is an accomplishment which every young wood-worker should master, as its possession will save expense and inconvenience, and add much to his efficiency as a workman.
(B.) The first step in sharpening a saw is to examine the edge carefully to see if the teeth are of an even length; if they are not, they should be jointed. This is done by using a flat file held perfectly square in a block, as shown in Fig. 89. One or two light strokes usually will be enough to make all the teeth of the same length. ”

“ Before we leave the subject of sharpening tools it will be well to impress upon the beginner the extreme importance of keeping his tools in good order. When a tool is really sharp it whistles as it works; a dull tool makes dull work, and the carver loses both time and temper. ”

“ In sharpening a hack-saw it is best to rest the smooth edge of the blade on a piece of hard wood or a piece of lead, and spread the tops of the teeth by light hammer blows, which serves a two-fold purpose, first it thickens them and enables them to cut a groove wide enough to let the blade pass freely through, and secondly it enables the teeth to be filed up to a sharp cutting edge with less filing. ”

“ When a chisel or a plane-bit gets a nick in it it must be ground out on a grind stone; if you haven’t one get a carpenter to do it for you, and when you get it back hone it, that is, sharpen it on your oil stone as before.
Get a Washita slip stone for the touching up gouges and instead of rubbing the edge of the gouge on the stone you rub the stone on the gouge. Never try to grind a woodworking tool on an emery wheel.
About Sharpening Auger Bits. —An ordinary auger-bit seldom needs sharpening but when it does the cutter of it must be sharpened on the inside. ”

“ Sharpening the tools is like threading the needle in sewing, or putting a point on lead pencils when drawing, something which is a great trouble, and a constant interruption to earnest work, yet which must be constantly seen to. Never go on carving for a second if you find that a tool is growing in the least dull or “scratchy.” There can be no good work whatever without really good tools in perfect order.
It may be observed that tools are never ground quite so much inside as they are externally. Also that this double grinding gives a sharper cutting-edge ”

“ The artist took up from the table the poniard with the red stain on its blade, and proceeded to sharpen the edge on a square slab of marble that did duty occasionally as a palette. Silly that I was! I actually believed that my bold manner had frightened him, and that he was going to comply with my request. The noise produced by the sharpening process was not a pleasant one, and it set my teeth on edge.
"Oh, that'll do!" I cried impatiently—that is, impatiently for a captive, dependent on the pleasure of [Pg 255] another for his release. "That'll do. It's sharp enough for the purpose." ”

“ Cutting instruments are almost continually wanted; but as they had no iron, which, of all metals, is the most useful in human society, they were obliged, with infinite pains, to form hatchets out of large flints, by sharpening their thin edge, and making a hole through them for receiving the handle. ”

“ The most necessary tools are an axe, a hatchet, one of Aiken’s patent diminutive awl tool-chests, with which to mend broken rods, needles and thread to mend torn clothes, some rosin to mend the canoes, and a supply of various sizes of nails for numerous purposes, while a file and sharpening stone will be found useful additions. ”

“ Additional equipment needed for cutting the carcass is discussed in the section on carcass cutting.
The Correct Procedure for Sharpening Knives
The basic operations involved in sharpening a knife are grinding, honing, and steeling. Maintenance of a sharp working edge often requires only steeling. If the knife is in heavy use, periodic honing is usually required daily or at least weekly. ”

“ We find on looking at the tool after a little rubbing that this time it presents a bright rim along the edge in contrast with the gray steel which has been in contact with the stone. This bright rim is part of the polished surface the whole bevel had before we began this second sharpening, which proves that the actual edge has not yet touched the stone. [56] We are tempted to lift the right hand ever so little, and so get rid of this bright rim (sometimes called the "candle") ; we shall thus get an edge quicker than if we have to rub away all the steel behind it. ”

“ Though the entire cost of keeping the saws in proper condition is borne by respondent, the knifemen are required to sharpen their own knives outside the scheduled shift of eight hours, and for this activity they are not compensated. The sharpening of these knives is done either before or after the work shift or during the lunch hour in a room equipped by respondent with an emery wheel and grindstone. A knifeman ordinarily sharpens from two to four knives a day. At the time a man is hired for, or promoted to, a knife job, it is understood that he will be required to sharpen knives. ”

“ They take a flat piece of wood, that is pretty soft, and make a small dent in one side of it; then they take another hard round stick, about the bigness of one's little finger, and sharpening it at one end like a pencil, they put that sharp end in the hole or dent of the flat soft juice, and then rubbing or twirling the hard piece between the palms of their hands, they drill the soft piece till it smokes, and at last takes fire. ”

“ In using home-made glue have it very hot, for the hotter it is the stronger the joint it will make; further put it on both surfaces of the wood to be glued together very thinly as this also tends to make it stick tighter.
How to Sharpen Your Tools. —You must have sharp tools if you expect to do a job like a carpenter or a cabinet maker.
About Sharpening Saws. —This is done by filing the teeth with a hand saw taper file and the saw must be held in a saw-vise, that is a vise with long jaws which keep the saw from vibrating. ”

“ A nail set; this is a steel punch for driving the [7] head of a nail below the surface of the wood without denting it.
(16) A Washita oil-stone is the right kind to sharpen wood-working tools on; a stone 1⁄2 or 3⁄4 inch thick, 2 inches wide and 4 or 5 inches long will be large enough and you should make a box with a cover to keep it in and so protect it from the dust.
Fig. 2m. a clamp often comes in handy
(17) A sewing machine oil can filled with sewing machine oil, or any other good, light lubricating oil, is needed for sharpening your tools. ”