Author: huboboe
Date: 2016-03-16 04:19
I agree with Cooper - the Shapton stones are the finest I have used in 50+ years of making reeds. I use my own sharpening fixture (see the westwinddoublereed.com site ) rather than the Jenda system. Cooper has gone the Ferrari route, going all the way to 15,000 grit. I go from 350 to 600 grit diamond stones initially to a 1500 grit Shapton to refine and maintain the edge. This gives me a clean, crisp chip and a smooth cut surface. I find no need to go to a finer grit, and can finish several reeds before going back to the Shapton stone.
To my mind, the most important long term thing in sharpening is to keep the same angle on the blade each time you go back to the stone. This is impossible if you sharpen by hand. Some sort of fixture that keeps the knife always at the same angle is necessary to edge from becoming ever steeper and needing to go back to a coarse stone to re-grind your initial angle.
The Westwind fixture is currently dedicated to Westwind knives, but I have a universal model in development which will work with all knives and adjust to your preferred angle. As Robin said, the angle is a matter of preference, though in the woodworking industry, a 30ยบ edge is pretty universal except for specialty planes. It is my preferred angle...
I don't feel that an additional steel or similar appliance is necessary. If you sharpen at a consistent angle to a fine edge, the knife will scrape just fine. All the steen does is hook the sharp edge a bit more, which may give a bit more life to a dulling edge but rounding the edge means you will need to sharpen more off of the blade the next time you go to the stone...
Enjoy your Shapton stone...
Robert Hubbard
WestwindDoubleReed.com
1-888-579-6020
bob@westwinddoublereed.com
|
|
The Oboe BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
