Sharpen your V Tool - An Introduction

[Music] I'm going to show you a reliable method for sharpening event all the VTOL is one of the most common tools that Carver's use but it does cause people problems in the sharpening I've got a step by step method to show you but before I do let's talk a little bit about beetles in general then I want to look at some different terms so that we all agree on what while I'm calling things then some beetles that actually are really difficult to shop and are impossible to sharpen that you need to check that your beetle isn't like that then finally we're getting to the step by step method of Sharlee so first of all let's have a look at some beetles here as you can see they come in all sorts of different sizes very large down to very small but the method of sharpening is going to be all the same the 60-degree is a communist view to all these are strengths 60 degrees in a variety of widths and this is one we're going to use for our model today this one here is a tighter butyl that's a 45 degree retool same method slightly trickier to get inside and then this one is a 90 degree v-tool much more open and of all these three tools it's a sixty degrees that is actually the most useful they also come in a bent form like this and again the sharpening is the same except that you need to make it a little bit around more rounded here in this claim on the keel okay so those are the those are basic view tools I'm sure you all have a view tool if not you really need to get one because it's very useful let's go on and have a look at some of the terms are going to use let's have a close look at this beautiful the best way to think of it is as two chisels join together at the center so we have a chisel here a chisel here and then it's join together in the middle here so they're three of everything there's a cutting edge for one chisel there's a cutting edge for the other chisel and then the Z apex a little angle cutting edge here all these need to be sharpened there's also three bevels is a bevel here for one chisel there's a bevel here for the other chisel on the other side and then this middle bevel whether to join together and this bevel is called a keel that's really important because the keel is the point at which the tool rests on the wood when you're carving and notice that it's often longer than the the chisel bevels because there's a certain thickness of metal between the inside here and the outside it's between the root in the in the angle and the outside here there's a thickness and that thickness means that the you have to sort of shape this bevel a little bit back here at times very common to see that so three cutting edges three battles and three here's one here for this chisel the the chisel on the other side has a heel here and then finally we've got this little point there which is the the heel for this keel this middle section so that's the way to think of it and we can see that in action very much when we sharpen we'll be taking these three parts separately one bevel another bevel and the band in the middle to sharp before we get on to the sharpening it's important to check your visual some beetles are very difficult if not impossible to sharpen so first of all as it just a general principle make sure your beetle is lined up like this along the axis of the tool that each wall is symmetrical even thickness and that the the v-groove itself is lined up it's not off to one side so you have a nice symmetrical carving tool but in addition to this there are three problems that I want to highlight that you need to check there cause his shoes cause a lot of problems and we need to be able to deal with them the first one is regarding this distance of metal this thickness of metal between the inside here the root of the of the tube joint joins together and the outside here which gives rise to the keel if you look at this photo here's a picture of a tool with a very thin amount of metal it's a pretty devastating photograph isn't it really awful to look at and the reason that this bit of metal snapped off is because there is no thickness here this from the inside where the apex is to the outside there very little metal no keeled sort of merges into the blade no strength so as this goes into the wood these two walls the bevels on each chisel closes the me the pressure is in to the center so you can get this terrible effect if you're not careful so if you've got one of these tools that has a very thin bit of metal here then you've got to proceed very carefully you can use it you can carry on but really you can't bury the tool deep into any sort of hard wood or you might get this little thing let's have a look at another photograph this is the second problem you might get look at this beetle this is and view on the beach look at the inside wall this since that wall is nice and flat this wall has a barely on it and a thin part here so as we sharpen the bevel on this slide it's going to cut into here to remove metal here so you will end up with a notch and this blade continually to get this whole ledge sharpened you will always get a notch in there which gives you a weak apex so you check your be tool that you have a very flat very even inside fence that's really really important to successful shortly if you were to bevel a belly like this then you need to either throw the truth away and get another one or you've got a flat in this bevel with slip stones first this inside belly which slips in as well so this is a really bad fault the third problem lies in the shape of the key itself the keel should be parallel and narrow like this here but some of you will have tools in which the keel is more of a chemical shape and the problem with that is that the cutting edge is such is actually coming very tight little angle here but it's followed by a cone of metal in the cut and that lifts the cutting edge out so you continually are having to force the tool down into the wood so this is a very hard work tool but what you need to do here is actually remove some of the metal like I've done here remove all this metal flatten that cone but keep the narrow keel but taking metal of there drawing drawing the bevels back here move this fat kind of metal here which causes the problem so if you have a tool like that and you change it by removing some of the metal like so you'll find it'll work much better I'd be much easier to push into his equipment are going to use for shower there you see in this series a good shop by hand essentially because it's a slow methodical way and that'll show you exactly what you need to do and I suggest you do that sharp my hand in this way first and then if you've got some power equipment you can bring in and sweep the whole process up well fine but I think this is a good way to start so I am going to use a grinding wheel to begin with to remove a lot of metal you this is a power wheel a very simple grinder you need some water to cool the blade water base is just as good if you don't have a grinding wheel then we can use a coarse stand like this this we'll be using this is a coarse match thing and then for finishing after I remove most of the metal if use a an Arkansas stone which is a very fine finishing step you'll also need some slip stones that are shaped to the inside an angle of 60 degrees or so is finding this either large one like this or small one just for removing a burr off the inside edge then we'll need oil for the oil stains this lip stands only bench down and then finally we'll finish off and maintain the tool with a strop like this so this is a bench strop and a shaped inside stop fitting inside the V tool and both have an abrasive on the surface and then lastly of course you'll need a cup of tea and that's really important so assemble your things and what we want to the shopping problem you

Channel: woodcarvingworkshop1

Views: 174,936

Keywords: woodcarving tools, V tool, v-tool, sharpening, bevels slip strop, how to sharpen a v tool

Id: p0VvK3ED5QM

Length: 9min 48sec (588 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 16 2012