Help With Sharpening This Tool Please

[Woodcarver G]

Hi , I've been browsing this forum for some time now, but as I am more from the wood working side of things a lot of terms and technique's talked about on this site go right over my head, so I have always shied away from commenting and just been happy to read and learn, (as much as I can follow anyway!)

I recently won a cutting tool on 'the bay' ,, and it's a bit embarrassing to admit and not what I would usually do,, but I had no idea really of the function or use of this thing,,, I was simply attracted to the stamp on the blade, indicating that it was made by 'Taylors eye witness'. a name that I am familiar with as a user of vintage straight razors. So anyway I saw this tool, it looked to have a nice rosewood handle and was in good condition so I placed an opening bid and forgot all about it as there was still around 5 days to run and I was not really interested in chasing it, so I just assumed that I would be outbid, (probably in the last 4 seconds of the auction as standard!!)

Anyway a day after the auction had ended I checked my purchase history, and to my surprise I had won this item.... Nobody else had bid! (It did cross my mind that perhaps people who knew more about it may have spotted something I missed and avoided!)

I promptly paid and awaited its arrival. I had guessed it was a leather working knife of some kind, which made me think of this site which had opened my eyes to the world of the leather worker and all the different tools that you guys use, which I had very little knowledge of until I found this site.

I have tried to do a bit of research on this knife to see if I could figure out its function and how to use it/ sharpen it, but No Luck!!

I've seen similar knives referred to as head knives but I am not sure,, I am even starting to think that perhaps I was wrong to begin with and it is in fact not a leather workers knife at all,,, but then what is it!?!?

If anybody on this forum could provide me with any info on this tool, it would be appreciated , and as the title suggests, any help with how to sharpen this thing would be greatly appreciated.

I tried to sharpen on a flat stone,, (Naniwa 1K) but the blade just wont sit right on the stone, even if I tried to sharpen in sections I do not think I would be able to get any kind of even contact ,, within less then 1 min I realised I would do more harm then good and called it a day with that. I have debated wrapping wet n dry around a thin dowel and sharpening across the blade like a sickle stone sort of thing but I have decided to seek some advice before I proceed as I am not in any great hurry and I don't want to damage the edge. When it comes to chisels, straight knives, razors and even gouges, I have never had any problems, but this thing has got me a bit stuck!!

.... I will try upload some pics I just took,, sorry if the angle's are not the best,,, the blade is about 2mm thick at the back (where the spine would be on a straight blade) it tapers to 1mm at the curve then back to 2mm before the point part,,

Thanks in advance,, this post ended up being a lot longer then I intended , hope I have not sent anybody to sleep

[DavidL]

How are the Naniwa stones? Im contemplating getting a shapton pro 1k/ 5k or naniwa super stone (theres so many different ones I can't decide). Id like a Chosera but they are 150 for a stone.

I have a similar blade that you have. Its a clicker knife, the curve doesnt dip down as far. The maker of my knife responded to my e mail and said to get a dowel and wrap sandpaper around it (600 grit which is I think 1-2k water stone). Another option for stones is a curved waterstone. The last way I can think of, which is what I ended up doing was to just sharpen the first couple cm of the blade with the stone. Eventually the curve will become more horizontal but at least can be reshaped with your naniwa to re establish the curve.

[Woodcarver G]

I see, thanks for your quick reply, so it's a clicker knife? I'm very green with leather tools! Glad I wernt too far off with the sharpening ideas.

Yes I would definatley recommend the Naniwa stones, they are very good for money, I would say that they are every bit as effective as the king stones (which are a bit more up the price chain,, but not as far as some! I do know what you mean, it is hard to choose, there's soo many out there, not to mention all the natural stone lovers.. I do wish I had more of a budget to do some experimenting with different stones,, but I guess for now I will stick with a system that works for me. I have a naniwa 1K bevel setter, so to speak and a naniwa 3K and 6K then I progress to a fine Welsh slate hone stone then leather strop with chromium oxide paste and that usually insures a good finish ( except with this curved blade!) I could probably get better results with a better budget, but this system is achievable on a reasonable budget and works good for me

Thanks for the tip on the 600grit being equivalent to 1-2K,, as I was thinking they were like for like,, so the 1000 grit paper was equivalent to a 1K stone,, so I was worried where I could go from 2500grit (the highest sand paper grit I have).

Will sign off for now and check back in the afternoon.

Cheers, all the best

[DavidL]

Im not sure if thats a clicker knife or a pull cut knife or something like that. Mine is much smaller in size.

The Naniwa "chosera" are suppose to be top of the line somewhere around 150 USD for a high grit. I hear king is the cheaper alternative to Naniwa. Does 1k,6k, then green compound work as a sharp enough cutting edge? If not I was planning to get a chinese waterstone 12k as well for 25 dollars.

[electrathon]

It is a carpet knife.

[NVLeatherWorx]

Yup, plain ole carpet knife and not really a tool that you would want to take to some nice leather.

[Woodcarver G]

Im not sure if thats a clicker knife or a pull cut knife or something like that. Mine is much smaller in size.

The Naniwa "chosera" are suppose to be top of the line somewhere around 150 USD for a high grit. I hear king is the cheaper alternative to Naniwa. Does 1k,6k, then green compound work as a sharp enough cutting edge? If not I was planning to get a chinese waterstone 12k as well for 25 dollars.

Oh, yes , sorry was a bit tired last night (UK time),, the 'chosera' stones are indeed very good I have heard, but yes very expensive. Sorry I should have clarified, I have these Naniwa 'home series' (or something to that affect) and a 5-6k Naniwa 'super stone series (more expensive then the home series but less then the 'chosera' , it was quite a long time ago that I purchased them on a German website called "finetools". If you type that then it should come up with an online shop called Dieter Schmid, finetools ,and they have a good priced set of stones, right from top to bottom price range, they are a very good shop for all kinds of wood working supplies, though I am not sure what delivery would be like to your part of the world,, maybe check it out if you have time. I just had a look and the 'chosera' at 1k is only 59 euros, but by the time it gets up to the 10K the price has gone a bit astronomical! (though the 5K is less then half the price of the 10!)

Anyway sorry for the mix up, yes I have the 'home stone series' (which I think has been replaced by the "economical series" , or something like that, so I am not sure if the stones I got are still available but at the time they where very cheap,, around £12-14 each for the 1K and the 3K. the 5or6K Naniwa 'super stone series' did set me back a bit more,, but again not as much as the chosera..

All this talk of the chosera stones has made me want to try them, but I would only really want the 10K,,, and that's the one that costs a Bomb so I will leave it for now

In answer to your question, I would say that you can get a decent edge from 1k thru 6k then the strop, but I must say that the finishing stone at the end does seem to make quite a difference to how 'refined' the edge is. If it is within your budget then I would say go for it. I was also considering getting a 12K chinese stone because my natural welsh slate has a grit of about 9-10K, I would say, so Ive been tempted, but as the system works for now, i've just left it as it is,

If you do try the 12K, feel free to report back and tell me what you thaught of it

[Woodcarver G]

It is a carpet knife.

I see, thanks. Any tips on how to sharpen this blade>? I might just try youtube 'how to' videos on curved blades/carpet knives. Cheers for the response

Yup, plain ole carpet knife and not really a tool that you would want to take to some nice leather.

Ok, I will bear that in mind. I was going to sharpen and put in the tool box and use for any future leather cutting operations, so good thing I now know not to!

[electrathon]

The inside radius is sharpened with a round stone. A flat stone will not get into the curve.

[Oldtoolsniper]

http://billhooks.co.uk/other-edge-tools/

These are also called hawkbill knives. Do a search on google and you will find the correct way to sharpen your tool.

One use for them is cutting hides. I use a similar knife to cut deer hides that have hair on them from the back side. I skin, flesh, wash and dry the hides. They are then cut from the flesh side into small pieces for fly tyers. The hide is stretched on a two by four frame and cut so the hair does not press against anything. With the blade hooked like that I can line the handle up on the sharpie line and the tip is still cutting the hide. All hair on hides are cut from the backside to preserve the fur or hair on the hide.