Whoops!
We've all done it. Used a carving knife to slice
the lid of the Donut box open, gotten up to answer
the phone with a chisel on our knee only to have
it drop onto the floor and ruin the edge. (and then
to make it worse, it was only a telemarketer!) Things
like these happen to all of us and then we wonder
why our tools keep getting dull. If we can learn
to prevent these things from happening the life
span of our tools will increase dramatically.
Things
that can damage your edges
Sandpaper. Sandpaper is probably the worst on any
edge. It contains the same Aluminum Oxide or Silicon
carbide particles that help create the edge of your
knife in the first place. When you carve a piece
that will eventually need to be sanded, carve it
as close to finished as you can without using sand
paper. After you start sanding your carving, you
really cannot go back to carving again. When you
sand, you are leaving these sandpaper abrasive particles
in and on your carving which, when you use your
knife to touch up an area that has been sanded will
abrade against the edge, thus dulling it.
Other tools. These tools most often have gone through
an extensive Heat treating process to get them hard.
When they bang against each other they will get
dull.
Misuse
of your tools. I've done this myself. I've gotten
to the point where I can start sanding my carving
and used my carving knife to... yes, slice up the
sandpaper into smaller pieces. Don't do it. Have
a junk knife to do this.
The
table or bench. Tools roll off or get pushed off
the table and onto the floor. (that darn cat!)
Put your knives on a tray with rubber drawer liner
glued to the bottom to keep your tray from sliding.
I purchased my lining at Home Depot for $2.50 a
6 ft. roll.
Don't
...
Store your knives and chisels together in the same
compartment. You should have a compartment for each
individual tool. When you store these tools in the
same compartment the hard steel of these tools bang
together as you are walking to the car after the
carving club meeting and get dull.
Store
sandpaper with your knives, put your sandpaper in
a separate container. Those particles fall out into
your bag or box and abrade your tools.
Do...
Have a junk knife in your bag. Use this knife to
slice up your sandpaper, cut open the super glue
or scrape the paint from your fingernails.
Put
your tools back on or in places that prevent them
from rolling off the table or into each other.
Keep
a sheath on your tools. If you do this, you can
store your tools together.
Sheaths-
I've seen a lot of solutions.
You can use wine corks for your chisels and knives.
Woodcarving Illustrated has had projects to carve
your own sheaths in the shape of thumbs, ducks etc.
Styrofoam- Just cut a block longer than your blade
and stick it in.
FoamCore- Go to your local picture framer and ask
for some foamcore cut offs. It is a styrene sheet
with paper on both sides. It even comes in colors.
You then can cut it to fit your tools.
Leather - glue up a piece of leather to wrap around
your blade.
Phone books - I saw a lady at a show that rolled
up a phonebook and taped it together to stick her
knife blades into the end between the pages.
Download a pdf pattern
to make a sheath for your bent blades.
We
all took the time to learn how to get a razors edge
on our tools, now let's protect them!
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