Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Gregoryv on January 19, 2020, 05:46:09 pm
-
Ok I have a draw knife. I ordered it off eBay and it has a few deep nicks in the blade. My question pertains to sharpening the beveled side of the blade. On videos and tutorials I have seen the process is to lay the blade bevel down and use the high ridge on the knife to use for your angle. When I do this the blade does not line up with my diamond stone. Does that mean my bevel is that far from true or should I just sharpen that side of my draw knife as I would any other blade? Any opinions or help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Ps I know it’s hard to understand what I am saying. When I lay the blade on the stone bevel side down the cutting edge of the knife is up away from the block. I would have to tilt the knife upwards to actually sharpen that edge.
-
People use these knives differently and I presume sharpen them differently. My way is simple. Lay the knife bevel up and run your stone or file down the bevel. This sharpens the blade and leaves a burr on the edge. I use it bevel up for bulk removal. The burr (bevel away) is ready for shaving when needed. Again, some use it opposite (bevel down) from me and may sharpen it differently.
-
Ok thank you very much. I have been using it bevel down because this is what I have been seeing in videos. I will try the other way. Thank you!
Gteg
-
I use my draw knife bevel down as I have much better control with it that way.
-
I use mine bevel down to. I have good control of depth I cut that way.
Bjrogg
-
I learned to use mine bevel up. I know that a lot of guys, maybe most use it backwards 🙂. Running it bevel up uses the bevel as a wedge of sorts. Yes it will take bigger bites this way. You just learn to control the bite. I couldn’t use one the other way with any comfort.
-
It’s possible that a previous owner of the drawknife did not know how to sharpen it, and could have changed the edge of the bevel in an attempt to sharpen it. My daughter picked me up one from an antique store for $15 that was just the case. I get some use out of it removing bark to save wear on my good knives.
I also use mine bevel down for chasing rings. I have tried both ways, but find I have better control bevel down.
-
We left handed people had to figure out how to move in a right handed world. We learned to use things upside down backwards and sideways. Scissors, shears, guns, fishing reels. Maybe that partially explains it. My right handed friend uses it like me, bevel up so maybe he’s lefty curious🤔. Bevel down takes a big bite, but I can run it by feel nearly on a good piece of Sage. The angle of the blade determines how deep you cut. When you feel that gravelly surface you are in the early wood. I love hitting that note on a stave.
That should read “bevel up takes a big bite”.
-
I would remove nicks with a file. Then use a medium stone to touch up the bevel. Turn it over and run the stone along the knife holding the stone flat against it.
I use it bevel up and the increase the angle of attack to remove bulk wood and lessen the angle for fine curls.
If you want you can hold it nearly vertical and use it as a scraper.
Jawge
-
I use a drawknife bevel up only to hog off wood and bevel down for the rest of the more controlled work.
-
Bevel down here.
I stand my drawknife vertically on one handle, hold the other handle and run a diamond stone about 4" long and 3" wide in a circular motion over the blade bevel while trying to maintain the bevel angle. Next I make a quick swipe on the back of the blade with the stone flat to remove any bur. I follow the stone with a piece of leather glued on a narrow board to polish up the edge.
-
I never use anything but a good quality file to sharpen my draw knives. I read somewhere years ago that Draw knives were best sharpened with files and thats when I started using a file. Happy with the way it sharpens.
-
It needs re-grinding.
-
I use a grinder. Then a file to de burr, and finally a ceramic stone.
-
I have purchased and fixed a number of drawknives over the years. Lately I have been using my bench belt sander to take out nicks and/or reset the bevel. Take your time. Keep checking what is happening with the steel every few passes until you get what you want in appearance. The nice thing about the belt sander is it doesn't overheat while shaping and works on a large part of the cutting edge as you move it back and forth over the belt. Bevel edge down obviously. Otherwise I do what Eric does. Hope that helps.
-
It seems like the previous owner changed the angle. It could be intentional, maybe he wanted a more durable blade less prone to chipping.
It should also be noted that some people like to have a convex bevel on their chisels and drawknives. This supposedly makes sharpening easier as the curvature allows for more natural arm movement during sharpening. Paul Sellers of Youtube fame is one proponent of such sharpening. I've also read that historically such bevels were the most common blade geometry for drawknives. I couldn't find any sources to confirm that, though.
I prefer a flat bevel on my drawknives but I accidentally ground my first drawknife into that shape with a file. It took ages to get it to cut well again. It retains the convex bevel and I sharpen it by holding the drawknife in one hand, the other handle shouldered. I run the whetstone along the blade with circular motions, holding the angle as well as I can. The flat side of the blade I sharpen only to remove the burr. Were it flat, I would lay it flat on the stone, but I ruined that side too when starting out, so it's not flat either. I thus just run a whetstone as flat as possible over that side to get the burr off. works fine for the size of the drawknife.
All in all? I'd say that having a perfectly flat bevel and flat of the blade is beneficial and gives good results while allowing for easy sharpening that maintains the angle easily.
In your place I'd flatten the bevel and go from there.
-
I have used a belt sander as well on an older nicked drawknife but only enough to get the nicks out. I use a worn out 220 grit belt to keep from being too agressive.
All this bevel stuff is vastly overrated, a nicked blade is bad but a little off one the bevel won't hurt a thing. The only thing that matters is a smooth, sharp cutting edge.
-
It depends on just how obtuse the angle used by the previous owner is. A convex bevel works just fine as long as the cutting edge angle is good. Otherwise regrinding is in order.
-
Agree with Eric. Sharp is all that really matters to me.
-
As you progress in your building you’ll get to know your tools and what you need. I only have 6 drawknives straight-concave-convex two of each and one sharp and on a little less sharp.
-
Agree with Erik and Slim, a couple of nicks already in the blade aren't going to effect the use of the tool for hogging off wood. Just keep the tool sharp, and the nicks will eventually be removed in subsequent sharpenings.
A convex bevel can be okay, but it usually means you need to angle the knife up more than a flat bevel, (when used bevel down) which is not always comfortable.