How to Sharpen Chip Carving Knives

How to sharpen a chip carving knife using ceramic sharpening stones. 

One of the most versatile woodcarving tools is a chip carving knife. In addition to using it for chip carving, this handy knife is also great for letter carving and undercutting in relief carving. Unfortunately every time you use your knife, it starts to dull.

Chip carving knives can be used for letter carving and undercutting in relief carving.

Carving with a dull knife requires more effort. And when you force the blade through the wood, you lose control and that’s when accidents happen. For this reason, you should get into the practice of sharpening any knife before every use.

While sharpening knives isn’t rocket science, you will need to follow some simple rules. What you don’t want to do is to sharpen any knife using a grinding wheel. This practice overheats the steel to the point that it loses its temper. The result is that the edge of the blade becomes brittle and is prone to chipping. In short, you have just ruined the knife.

Chip carving knives

The method that I will describe for sharpening a chip carving knife, requires the use of two flat ceramic sharpening stones – a coarse grit stone and a fine grit stone. You will also need a green kitchen Scotch-Brite® scouring pad and powdered kitchen cleanser, so that you can clean the ceramic stones after each use.  

Step 1: Sharpen the blade against the coarse grit stone, holding the edge of the blade at a 10⁰ angle. Note: the rule of thumb is that the distance between the top of the blade and the surface of the sharpening stone should be no thicker than  the thickness of a dime. The darker colored coarser stone typically provides an 800-grit abrasive surface. Putting pressure on the blade,  move the edge of the blade back and forth against the stone for ten strokes, as shown in the photograph A. Then repeat the procedure on the other side of the blade for same number of strokes. Sharpen both sides of the blade equally, until a burr forms on the edge of the blade, as show in photograph B. Then continue sharpening until the burr wears away.

Photograph A

Photograph B

Step 2. Hone each side the blade on the white fine grit stone. The white stone provides an 8000-grit abrasive surface for honing and polishing. Hone the blade equally on each side of the blade,  until  the edge of  blade is polished to a brilliant finish.

Step 3. (Optional.)  You can continue to hone the edge of the blade on a strop treated with polishing compound.

Step 4. Test the blade for sharpness. First, visually inspect the edge of the blade in good lighting. If you see any reflection off of the cutting edge, the blade is not sharp and continue to hone the blade. Then lightly draw the blade against your thumb nail. A sharp blade will dig into the nail. A dull blade will skate easily over the surface of your nail. The test how well the knife cuts in a scrap piece of wood. 

A highly polished blade provides very little resistance as the knife effortlessly slices through wood. 

Step 5. After each sharpening, get in the habit of cleaning the ceramic stones using a powdered kitchen cleanser and a Scotch-Brite® pad. See photograph C. Cleaning will remove the particles of steel lodged in the pores of the ceramic stone. That way, you will have a good clean abrasive surface, the next time that you need to sharpen your blade.   

Photograph C. Metal particles from sharpening and honing the blade will clog the pores of the ceramic stone neutralizing its abrasive properties. With a little bit of powdered cleanser and a Scotchbrite pad, it takes only a little effort and a little time to clean a ceramic sharpening stone. 

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Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer.  Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.

Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 150 articles for  publications, such as  Signs Canada, SignCraft,  Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and  Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 325 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published.

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