Splitter sharpening techniques

[lute]

I acquired an old Osborne Keystone splitter with an eight inch blade, which is about as dull as dull could be. Scary dull.

Advice on sharpening techniques for a big blade like this would be appreciated.

Lute

[whinewine]

there is an individual here who does blades. do a search for 'blade sharpening available' & you'll find him. my son & I had our head/round knives sharpened by him. I haven't tested our blades, but, go figure, most sharpening services DON'T HAVE A SINGLE CLUE about weird stuff like leatherworkers own & use.. most of these guys sharpen according to standard knife angles & don't realize much of the stuff we use are sharpened to much narrower angles (closer to exacto knives, rather than the standard knife angles or axe angles that they're used to ).

[sheathmaker]

I would recommend you try to find a custom knife maker in your area and see if you can talk him into helping you out. They have the correct equipment, the skill and they understand the various different angles our equipment needs. That is exactly what I did and I have the sharpest splitter blade you ever saw.

Paul

Edited October 5, 2007 by sheathmaker

[Romey]

Nuttin to it but to do it http://www.leatherworker.net/tipstricks.htm

First one

[Elton Joorisity]

Send it to Herb French in Sheridan Wyoming!! :biggrin: The man specializes in sharpening leather tools and does so at a reasonable price. Herb used to do all the metal work for Bob Douglas and still does some for him now. PM me and I'll give you his phone number

Edited October 10, 2007 by Elton Joorisity

[lute]

Thanks for the reminder.

I actually have Herb''s book on sharpening leather tools from some years ago.

Although I sharpen all my own tools, I have not attempted splitter blades, not wanting to go into error mode on something I can't replace.

Stohlman's book has an illustration showing show to do it, but it looks like it would require some degree of experience and be very time consuming for a really dulled out blade.

[bruce johnson]

Lute,

I have Herb's book also. Lots of good info for some of the special needs that some leather tools have. I bought a spare blade for my handcrank splitter. It needed some help. I called Herb. He told me he could do it, but was backed up. He also said if I wanted him to do it, he laughingly added to send the book back too, because I wasn't reading it. He offered to fix it it I messed it up, but to try first.

I found that taping wet/dry down on a marble piece I had that was about 6" wide and 2" thick worked well. Gave me enough blade on the abrasive to feel and keep it flat, but enough room on the ends to keep a decent hold on it. I went through the grits, and finished with a polishing on the wheel. I still have the blade and the book. LOL.

One thing I have found that is pretty amazing to me. Unless the blade is chipped or the bevel has been radically changed, you really don't need to take off much to get a good edge again. A pretty poor looking blade can usually be done fairly quickly. I was guilty of starting off with too coarse a grit and then spending all my time working the grooves from that coarse grit out. Now I start with a medium or finer grit, and get more done and less blade wear in less time. I had to learn than just because a stone had two or three sides didn't mean I had to use them all.