>The thing to remember is that you have to have a wire edge >on the opposite side of the tool all across the tool before >you can go to a finer grit. The wire edge has to be moved >to the other side from the back side by holding the tool >flat on the grit and back sharpening is not permitted. That >wire edge is what Ron was referring to. >-- > Newton Hunt Sorry Newton, For the usual woodworking chisel that's the conventional approach that serves most folks very well, but it's not what I do for my bridge notcher (or most of my general purpose chisels either, for that matter - at least not for hardwoods). Seems like I do everything weird, I know, but I've tried all sorts of approaches and this is most comfortable for me. I back bevel the flat side very slightly, and scoop notches with the blade flat side down. I also get rid of that wire edge as soon as possible with a light stroke at an increased angle because too delicate an edge turns with the first notch and doesn't do me any good. I find edged tools that other folks have sharpened to be very awkward for me to use, though I don't see that I'm doing anything particularly different when I use them. It's just a feel thing. I see more photographs all the time of factory notchers notching from the side in, rather than scooping from the top out. Do any of you out there do that? Ron N
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