Should The Sides Of A Diamond Awl Be Sharp?

[jyblood]

Topic sayies it all: Should the sides of a diamond awl be sharp? That is a knife edge that can cut.

Hints for sharpening? Have have some Osborne #47s, and I have drawn the temper due to their small size, on both the grinder and sander that I have tried to use to sharpen them. Do you guys just stone them? Also, how do you hold them to sharpen? I am having trouble given their small size, holding them and maintaining the edge angle.

Thx's, Fred ( jyblood@nwi.net )

[dirtclod]

I start out on a stone then may go wet dry sand paper and finish by buffing. Buffing wheel with green compound on a grinder works fine if you don't have a buffer. Put the blade in the haft then sharpen your awl.

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

There is a book by Al Stohlman on hand tools and it gives a lot of information about how to use and sharpen them. It is not expensive and is a real good reference for a lot more than just sharpening. You can get it at Tandy.

Bob

[TexasJack]

Grinder and sander? Ouch! You can ruin a small piece of steel very quickly.

If you don't have a good stone, you can use very fine sandpaper with a little oil on it on a flat surface to do your sharpening. A lot of woodworkers will sharpen tools with a series of finer papers mounted on a piece of glass.

[NoName]

I sharpen and polish mine with this system: http://usaknifemaker.com/sharpening-supplies-c-52/cardboard-10-wheel-razor-sharp-system-3-4-arbor.html

In fact, I sharpen everything I own with this system!