Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2012-05-29 03:47
AW MAN, Rob., are you ever opening a can of worms here!!!! ![[whoa]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie10.gif) ![[grin]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie5.gif)
May I add a plea that everyone accept and understand that, like the proverbial chef in a 5-star restaurant, people like knives of different descriptions and sharpened their own way? This doesn't mean that one is right and another is wrong... again, I invoke physiognomy: some people with more dainty wrists might prefer a knife configuration that requires absolutely no muscle-work whereas I, with my overly tight muscles (the main focus of my physiotherapy) find it easier to control a heavy knife that requires lots of control power.... that might also be why I cannot scrape without a mandrel, whereas others dismiss the mandrel for everything but staple selection.
For years and years now, I've been using a Graf folding (half-way between a wedge blade and hollow-ground) with an extra bevel (approx 40 deg.) sharpened so it'll shave my forearms. I like it because the extra bevel helps prevent snagging whereas the very sharp edge allows me to barely touch the cane (even though my wrists are tight) and dust or dig as I choose. I press hard against my other thumb for precision guidance, not to press on the cane.
This being said, I have a Pisoni right-hand bevel at about 30 deg that I've hollowed-out on both the "flat" and beveled faces. Because there is no 2nd bevel, it should dig more. I have to try it again, just to see how it handles tips and so on. I am curious to try a thinner double-hollow for the tips, but I don't intend to abandon the beveled for "rough" scraping. Right now, I avoid gashing my tip by very lightly scraping the tip at 3D angles, such that I'm sure to work only what bumps might be present: this is facilitated by a bellied wood plaque.
What I like in both cases is the hard metal keeps its edge and favours a keen, no-burr edge. The 2nd bevel on the Graf makes it much harder to sharpen, but for me it is more than worth the effort.
I do swing my knife with a rotating wrist action (right hand), but I also push it with my left thumb: my action is controlled, not like many You-Tubes where the oboist is swing-swing-swinging the blade several times a second. My movement is directed, I do intentionally mimic a machine: so I can apply more pressure where the fast-sligners must be much lighter and repetitive.
So, I might not like the soft metal of a Vitry, and I might think burrs are silly, BUT I DO recognize that for reasons of personality, patience, nervous conditions, or what have you, some people might prefer what I reject.
![[toast]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smiley15.gif)
Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music
Post Edited (2012-05-29 04:09)
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