Sharpening for rough whittling

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lawrencekellie

Joined
Jul 31, 2005
Messages
5
New member here. :)

I have a Swiss Army Knife knockoff, so I don't know what type of metal is used in the blade.

However, I'm trying to do some rough whittling, and I want to sharpen the blade to maximize the cutting power. I have read about different types of sharpening, from using a fine hone to polish the edge, thereby being able to "shave" with the knife or do similar types of activities, or keeping with a coarse hone which is better for "cutting rope" type of activities.

Would my rough whittling fit more the cutting rope type, and therefore be better to not polish the edge?

Suggesting search terms, or posting links to articles that would answer this question is also appreciated. :)

Lawrence Kellie
 
Sharpen at 30 degrees total (15 degrees on each side) and see if the edge holds up. If not, resharpen at 40 degrees total.

Unless you have really good steel a 30 degree edge is sort of a standard for the sharper grind and the 40 degree edge is for everyday use (40 degrees or 20 degrees per side is what Spyderco recommends with their sharpners and knives)

I hope this helps.
 
When you whittle you are essentially pushing (or pulling) the knife blade through the wood rather than slicing pieces off. There should be very little "sawing" action. Hence, the best bet is to have a very sharp and highly polished edge rather than a "toothy" edge like you would want for cutting rope.

There isn't enough info to post an opinion about your SAK knockoff, so I'll post my opinion about SAKs and whittling in general. I have found Victorinox blades very suitable to take the highly polished edge necessary for whittling. I use the small pen blade and never use the large blade for whittling. I much prefer locking blades to slip joints because I have cut myself a lot of times when doing stopcuts - the only slippie I use regularly for whittling is a Queen Whittler, which I like to use because it has a really thin coping blade that is perfect for doing deep stopcuts and is then easy to withdraw. I have found the big SAKs with gazillions of blades, hedge clippers, fountain pens, magnifying glasses, built-in iPods, motorized chainsaws, and whatever else they put in them these days, not to be really suitable for whittling becuse they are uncomfortable in the hand.

Edited to add: welcome to Bladeforums. We need more whittlers here! Two things to remember: if it's about sharpening - Spyderco Sharpmaker; if it's about quality knives - Sebenza. You'll see what I mean. :D
 
lawrencekellie said:
I'm trying to do some rough whittling, and I want to sharpen the blade to maximize the cutting power.
Click to expand...

Take a file and add a relief to the edge, thus just means sharpen the edge at a really low angle. For what you are describing I would just grind the edge back into the primary, so 3-5 degrees, essentially file almost flat to the blade. Even actual SAK's file easily, you can blend the edge back in a few minutes, on a knock-off it is almost immediate.

Now to create the actual edge, sharpen as you normally do, at as low an angle as you can get, try to get it under 10 degrees per side. While the steel in the knock off isn't likely to be able to stay very sharp, wood hogging ability is more about shape of the blade rather than the sharpness of the edge, and even a cheap SAK with a proper profile will hogg off a lot of wood before you need to sharpen it.

In regards to the finish, raise it to as high a polish as you can get.

-Cliff
 
Look at picking up a used or new old stock Shrade Old Timer stockman with carbon steel blades. One of the best and cheapest whittlers money can buy. Welcome aboard and keep the whittling hobby alive.
 
Whittling is a lot like planing wood so I would follow the lead of the plane sharpeners. Go for a low angle and smooth finish. When you are doing gross whittling like making a pointed stake you do get some crosswise slicing action, but I don't think simple rough sharpening will give you any benefit. The problem is that the microgrooves you get from rough honing will get filled with sawdust and the edge will be wedged so tight in the wood that the sawdust can't get out during your cut. Your rough edge will just collect junk and not work like a microsaw. I suspect that junk will actually impede your cut. Most of your energy will be expended in wedging the blade through the wood. You need a thin blade, honed to a low angle for minimum drag.
 
Thanks, all, for your replies.

I reprofiled the edge to a shallower angle, then I "polished" it with a fine Arkansas stone.

Cuts like a dream!

Again, thank you.

Lawrence
 
I'm not sure I agree with this fine angle business when he says "Rough Whittling".

I think he is looking for serious removal, not fine details and I think the 30-40 degree edge would be better than some razor edge.

I agree with everything said when it some to the fine detail work.
 
Rough usually means just removing lots of stock, it isn't "rough" in the sense it is demanding on an knife edge like cutting sod. You want a thin and acute edge to allow a high level of cutting ability. You generally only need high angles for cutting end grain with a lot of force, or for energetic planing across knots.

-Cliff
 
I take rough to mean like bark removal from a limb that you are planning to make into a walking stick or something like that where the removal is heavy course slicing and some chopping.

For my limb bark removal I use a Recon Scout with a courser but still shaving sharp edge. It has to rub my arm and take some skin off to get the hairs but the hairs come too.

Then for finer detail cuts and stuff like that for 'carving' I use either of my favorite whittler knives or some of my Japanese carving knives in high carbon steel with highly polished razor edges on them.
 
By "rough" I meant that I wanted to remove lots of wood quickly and I wasn't interested in detail.

Specifically, I was given a seasoned birch branch (about 2" in diameter) to use to make a mallot for my froe. I decided that I wanted to trim down the one end for a handle. The knockoff SAK that I had was like using a 1/8" piece of flat iron. Hence, the question about sharpening.

Previous to the question, I had tried sharpening at 23 degrees each side, and then polishing. Nothing doing. Couldn't slice the birch with it. After sharpening to about a 10 degree angle each side and polishing, it cuts very nicely; and in just a short time, I was able to remove the wood to make a nice handle.

Lawrence
 
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