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T H E H A N D C A R V E D B O W L

Chapter 3 | S H A R P E N I N G

what each step of the process is

contributing will it become easier

to modify your setup. So though

it’s easy to look at your friend’s

system and see the thing you’re

missing, please resist the urge to

go out and buy it, thinking that

will solve all your sharpening

problems. If you’re starting at

the very beginning, find a simple

system that will best suit your

needs and budget, then work with

it until you get results. Add and

subtract from there.

ABRASIVES

Sharpening begins with the

coarsest grit and moves up to finer

grits. Ballpark range for grits is:

#400, then #1,000 (you may very

well start here if you don’t let the

tool dull too much), then #3,000-

#4,000, then #8,000-#10,000 for

polishing. Some stones go all the

way up to #30,000, while grits as

coarse as #80-#400 can be used

for quick material removal when

repairing chips in edges or sharp-

ening a fairly dull tool.

There is no universal grit sys-

tem for abrasives, so be mindful

when mixing brands and different

types of stones or paper. If one

brand/paper/stone says it’s #400

grit, it may not equate to the exact

same coarseness as the same

number on a diamond stone. The

most popular choices for abrasives

when sharpening green woodwork-

ing tools are abrasive paper and

diamond stones.

ABRASIVE PAPER

Abrasive paper (A) is available in

very fine grits, unlike typical sand-

paper, and some papers are wet/

dry, though I use all of mine dry.

Abrasive paper also comes in mi-

crons, which adds another beau-

tiful layer of confusion to the mix.

3M makes micro abrasive papers

(in microns) that roughly translate

to these grits: 15 micron ~ 1,000

grit, 5 micron ~ 2,500 grit, and .5

micron ~ 9,000 grit. Though the

variations in grit between brands

may be slight, the difference is

worthy enough to note, may save

you some headaches, and is only

more reason to maintain consis-

tency in your setup. The abrasives

are attached to a substrate and can

be used for rough work all the way

up to polishing, and are partic-

ularly adept with curved edges

because they can be molded to

shape a variety of profiles.

Substrates

Abrasive paper is adhered to a

substrate to provide either a flat

or profiled surface, like a dowel

A