[Jewelry making - Article 00323] - Re: [Orchid] Graver sharpening tools

[Trevor F]

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>     In the archives someone recommended the Kell Honing Guide... but
>     it's hard for me to picture how it could work for a graver without
>     standing it up straight and again, dragging the graver crosswise. 

Hello Linda,

    FWIW, I've got the Kell Honing Guide and find it very useful. 
    Certainly it's not in the same league as the GRS stuff but then it
    doesn't cost $600 either. 

    You use the Kell by rolling it backward and forward over the surface
    of your stone with the blade being help in place by being squeezed
    between the rollers. Large stones are a boon for using this honing
    guide. I use Spyderco's large ceramic stones (5 cm x 20 cm) and it
    all seems to work out fairly well. 

    Having said that I must add that my graver usage is pretty
    rudimentary at this point. I'm only using two right now: a large-ish
    chisel point and a #53 Round. As far as the Kell is concerned the
    procedure for the two is about the same: 

    - cover the face I want to sharpen with black felt pen ink. 

    - flip the graver blade upside down and clamp it in the Kell (on top
    of the rails not underneath as shown in the photo on the page you
    cited) so that the face to sharpen is as flat against the sharpening
    stone as possible. 

    - roll the Kell forward (or back) a cm or two, then lift it off the
    stone and have a look at the inked face of the graver. If it was
    truly flat on the stone then the ink will have been removed across the
    whole face not just a spot (the latter is quite likely). 

    - adjust the angle as necessary by gently loosening the blade clamp
    and nudging the graver blade slightly forward or backward. 

    - repeat the ink-test-look procedure as necessary until you've got
    the face as flat on the stone as you can get it. (no, this is not an
    exact science, it's just trial-and-error etc etc blah blah) 

    - to sharpen I prefer not to use both the back and forward strokes. 
    With the graver handle closest to me --the point pointing away from
    me-- I use only the pull stroke. Then I tilt the Kell slightly to lift
    the face of the graver off the stone, roll the guide forward, gently
    lower the face of the graver back on the stone and repeat the
    pull-lift-roll-lower procedure half a dozen times or so depending on
    the stone I'm using and whether I'm just touching the graver up or
    actually putting a face on it.  Again, a little ink on the face helps
    a lot in terms of letting you know how you are progressing. 

    - now that I'm used to the process it usually doesn't take me more
    than 5 or 10 minutes to get my gravers back to "scary" sharp. That
    assumes a medium (if necessary) then fine then x-fine stoning follow
    by a final honing with rouge (or whatever) on paper (it's the same
    pull-lift-roll-lower process). 

    The Kell works well for this kind of thing assuming the angle you are
    putting on the graver is somewhere in the 30-80 degree range. I've
    never attempted really shallow angles (which I understand are required
    for some of the other graver shapes) but suspect that the Kell might
    be a little cumbersome for this... which is no surprise really since
    it was designed for sharpening woodworking tools and not gravers. I
    don't really know though so I can't say for sure. 

    I hope this helps a little. 

Cheers,
Trevor F.
in The City of Light
www.touchmetal.com

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