[James A. Vargscarr]

I see - so we're not talking two lines smoothed into a single curve, we're really talking two curves that it seems do not qualify as a single bevel. Thanks Jean and Gus for bearing with my semantic pedantry!

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Bob Burns]

OCD? Gee I would not know anything about that (sarcasm) ! I was a custom cabinet maker for some 7 years and Peter Johnson is absolutely correct in what he said about maintaining sharp chisels.

Some of my swords I keep very sharp, others less so, depending on the kind of sword it is, such as my "beast" sword being the A&A GBS I do not keep as sharp as my Durer. If I buy a Windlass sword, first I sharpen it with a fine file, then I take a block of wood and wrap it in a 320 grit (oiled) and will take the grit up to as much as a 2,000 being very careful to maintain the proper degree bevel. Having a complete set of Japanese water stones is probably the best approach, but I can say I am happy with the edge that I acheive. I have a friend "Joe Wheeler" who in many peoples opinion is the best bullwhip maker in the world who is now in Seattle but was here in Chicago in the 90s show me how to achieve a fine edge. His knives were the sharpest I have ever seen, as he works primarily with kangaroo hide which is 4 times tougher than cowhide.

Though for the sole purpose of making money he does make all sorts of whips, here is his website and I know that if you give him my name he will be more than happy to share his honing skills with you.

http://www.masterwhipmaker.com/

Sincerely,

Bob

[Bob Burns]

Let me clarify something. My technique of using a fine file and wrapping a handheld size piece of wood with various grits of sandpaper that has been oiled is NOT a technique that I learned from Joe Wheeler.

He uses Japanese Stones and has a complete set worth several hundred dollars, starting from coarse grit and going all the way up to 10,000 grit or more. He also finishes his knives with a jewelers rouge.

Joe is a very friendly kind of man and as I said in a prior post if you send him an email and give him my name he will be glad to help, as we are very good friends and have been so since 1992, in fact Joe is one of my very best friends. I first found him when searching for a high quality mini bullwhip, of which I bought from him in the mid 90s for some $600.00 at that time, it's a 20 platt kangaroo hide over a 12 platt belly and is shot loaded in the handle. The platts are as straight as a laser and smooth as glass.

Getting back to the topic, until I handled some of his knives I had no idea that a knife could get that sharp!

Sincerely,

Bob