Save your hands with this simple power sharpening hack
By Dave Browne
I find stropping carving tools rather time-consuming and uncomfortable thanks to a touch of arthritis, not to mention fiddly when I’m trying to get a precise angle. To remedy this, I created my own rotary strop, using odds and ends from around the shop. Once your carving tools are nice and sharp, try them out on carving a jaguar or black panther!
I secured a piece of an old leather belt to a wooden cylinder with some contact cement. I beveled the ends of the leather with a razor, so they’d fit together without a rough joint. Then I attached the entire thing to a lathe. It does all the work! I just have to steady it to prevent unnecessary movement. Since my lathe does not have a reverse option, I move the tool rest to the opposite side and strop my tools with the cylinder turning away from me. I can monitor the angle by sight, keeping the bevel constant while rotating gouges with my right hand. My left hand keeps the cutting edge under control.
I use the lowest speed possible when stropping, which in my case, is about 640 RPM. The diameter of my strop is 2-7/8″ (4.5cm) wide. A person could use a larger cylinder, if desired, as long as they could achieve low turning speeds. Be careful not to turn the strop too fast or your tools will burn.
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I’ll warn you, applying the belt to the cylinder made a bit of a mess, so when I got the leather in place, I secured it with a couple of hose clamps until the glue dried. A bit of contact cement got onto the working surface, so I smoothed it off with a piece of 120-grit sanding medium. The entire stropping brings up a mirror-like finish and only takes a few minutes to achieve, as opposed to the much longer and more tedious hand-stropping method. |
Dave achieves a mirror finish on his tools with minimal time and effort. |
| About the Author |
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Dave Browne is a multi-media artist from Canada who enjoys carving, wood turning, painting, and monochromes in either pencil or ink. He hopes to inspire or encourage others to create. To loosely quote his favorite musician, Tommy Emmanuel, “life is what’s happening now. This isn’t a rehearsal so get after it!” |
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