"V" groove sharpening

[Defensive Line Leathers]

I use a "V" groove tool sometimes and have run into an issue with dulling. I tried to sharpen my old one and messed up the angle, so I purchased another. Worked great on 2 projects and then got extremely dull. I am grooving the unfinished side of the leather, so I am sure that makes a difference. Does the interior of the blade dull to the point that it just digs into the leather and not glide through it as expected? I did strop the exterior carefully following the angle, and it still digs.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,

[Fire88]

Try not taking the full depth to begin with, tilt it back a touch and make several passes to get the depth you have set. Also try dampening the leather where your gonna gouge.

[bikermutt07]

This book can help. Worth it's weight in gold.

Everyone should make this their first purchase.

[garypl]

When you sharpen a V gouge, you must remove the small burr that forms on the inside of the V.  If you are only sharpening the outside, the small burr that forms on the inside will prevent a clean cut.  You can use an appropriately sized whetstone, very fine sandpaper, shaped leather strop, and probably other ways to remove the burr.  I have ruined V gouges trying to sharpen them - it takes some practice!

Gary

[Defensive Line Leathers]

Thanks for the reply guys. I figured out about the burr on the inside.This is what I did. Had a stone that I use to polish the angle on a sear durung trigger work, and lightly stoned the outside. Then I stoned the inside with the stone that is exactly at 90 degrees. Took enough off to sharpen and then stropped it a bit. I admit I was trying to take too much at one time, so I'll try your advice on taking a little at a time. I'll also wet the leather to see if that helps.

Side note: I am not a new member. I have been a member  here for a few years and have had posts listed. What happened to my old info? No big deal, just curious.

Thanks again for the help.

Tim

[bikermutt07]

52 minutes ago, Defensive Line Leathers said:

Thanks for the reply guys. I figured out about the burr on the inside.This is what I did. Had a stone that I use to polish the angle on a sear durung trigger work, and lightly stoned the outside. Then I stoned the inside with the stone that is exactly at 90 degrees. Took enough off to sharpen and then stropped it a bit. I admit I was trying to take too much at one time, so I'll try your advice on taking a little at a time. I'll also wet the leather to see if that helps.

Side note: I am not a new member. I have been a member  here for a few years and have had posts listed. What happened to my old info? No big deal, just curious.

Thanks again for the help.

Tim

Glad you worked it out. I started looking through that book again this morning. It is full of little tricks using different tools. Like did you know you can bend the grain side over a block and use an edge beveler on thinner stuff as a gouge? Who knew?!?

He even has stuff for making tools. One I saw was directions to make a lacing find out of a flat head screwdriver.

[Defensive Line Leathers]

Update on this....I took advice from all who contributed concerning the "V" groover.  After sharpening as I described in the above message, I started wetting the leather (just like casing it) and then took smaller amounts of material on each pass. I didn't adjust the depth each time, but angled back to start and tilted forward on every pass. Works very well. Really helped out since I just grooved 10 shot shell pouches that needed 6 grooves each.

Thanks again for the help. Hopefully I can help someone in the future also.

Tim

[Fire88]

On 1/24/2018 at 11:30 AM, Defensive Line Leathers said:

Update on this....I took advice from all who contributed concerning the "V" groover.  After sharpening as I described in the above message, I started wetting the leather (just like casing it) and then took smaller amounts of material on each pass. I didn't adjust the depth each time, but angled back to start and tilted forward on every pass. Works very well. Really helped out since I just grooved 10 shot shell pouches that needed 6 grooves each.

Thanks again for the help. Hopefully I can help someone in the future also.

Tim

Glad you got it sharpened up. Would like to see your shot shell pouches.