I used to think of sharpening as something that had to be done so I could get to work. Over the last few years I’ve come to think of sharpening as one of the more relaxing aspects of making a dulcimer.
Stopping to sharpen used to annoy me because I wanted to keep working. Now these sharpening sessions are welcome breaks; I get to relax and gently bring two faces on a piece of steel to a sharp and happy meeting place.
If the bench is crowded and chaotic, as it is most of the time, I will do my honing in the kitchen. Here’s my usual setup:
The stones sit on a bench hook. I mostly use the fine waterstone. I hollow grind my edge tools with a bench grinder and use the diamond stones for the initial honing after grinding. I can hone a hollow ground edge with the fine waterstone many times before regrinding is required.
Sharpening is done, I had a cup of coffee and wrote a blog post. Now it’s time to get my nose back to the grindstone!
Okay, it was a cheap shot…
Thank you! It takes a being a scholar and a gentleman to recognize another!. 🙂
“… bring two faces on a piece of steel to a sharp and happy meeting place.”
You’re a scholar, a gentleman, and have a gift for the language.