Wood-working for Beginners: A Manual for Amateurs

by Charles G. Wheeler

Fig. 670.

In rubbing the edge upon the oil-stone, do not attempt to smooth down the whole bevel made by the grindstone, but first lay the tool lightly on the stone as shown in Fig. 670a, then raise the handle until the upper part of the bevel is very slightly raised,—barely enough to clear the stone (Fig. 670b),—and then proceed with the whetting, thus making a second or little bevel at the edge (Fig. 671).

Fig. 671.

The tool must be moved back and forth very steadily or instead of a second bevel the whole edge will be rounded (Fig. 672) and will not have the requisite keenness. The angle of this second bevel is usually about ten degrees greater than the long bevel, or thirty-five degrees, although the angles of sharpening should be varied slightly according to the hardness of the wood and the kind of work to be done; but where you have only few tools and must use them for all kinds of work you cannot always, as a practical matter, pay much regard to such variations, as of course you cannot keep regrinding your tools every time you begin on a new piece of wood. Just how acute to make the edge you must learn by experience, according to the conditions of your work. An edge suitable for delicate work in white-pine would be immediately ruined if used upon lignum-vitæ.

Fig. 672.

Any little wire edge which is produced on the flat side by the process of rubbing on the oil-stone can be removed by drawing the flat side of the iron over the stone once, but be sure that you do not raise the handle at all, as the slightest bevel on the flat side of the edge will spoil it. After the tool has been sharpened a good many times on the oil-stone this smaller bevel (the oil-stone bevel, so to speak) will become so wide that it is a waste of time and strength to rub it down. The chisel must then be reground and a new bevel made on the oil-stone.

It is a good plan to have a separate stone or "slip" for the outside bevel of gouges, because it is so hard to avoid rubbing hollows in the stone, which injures it for the other tools. Care must be taken also with very narrow or pointed tools lest the stone be grooved or nicked. Gouges can be rubbed at right angles with the stone, rolling the tool with the left hand, or by the use of a slip they can be rubbed as described below. For rubbing gouges on the inside, i.e., on the concave surface, rounded pieces of stone, called "slips," are used. These can be bought of various sizes and shapes to fit the various curves. Do not think, however, that you must try to find a slip that will fit each gouge as exactly as if it had been shaped by the gouge itself. The curve of the slip may be a little "quicker" or sharper than that of the tool, but must not be flatter or of course it cannot be made to bear on all parts of the curve.

In rubbing with the slip, hold the tool upright in the hand and rub the slip up and down, moving the slip and not the tool. If you rest the tool against the bench, it will steady it and also avoid any probability of your finger slipping on to the edge. The more common "outside" gouges are not rubbed on the inside, except the merest touch of the slip to remove any wire edge or burr. The draw-knife is also rubbed with a flat slip, in the same manner, resting it on the bench.