My previous post described how I sharpen my flat (letter) carving gouges. Mostly this post is about “commissioning” (sharpening them for the first time) or if I need to repair an edge.
I’ve had to do a fair amount of work to the curved gouges I inherited. You could, as I have, change the bevel on a carving chisel with the approach I use below. I learned this approach from my friend Anada (a_dorje on Instagram).
I use my 8″ Tormek 3 (now Tormek 4). Ideally you’d want to use something that doesn’t create a hollow bevel (something like the Work Sharp System) .. but! .. once I have the new angle on the chisel set and polished, I usually just use the strop to keep the chisels sharp.
So to commission a new chisel or reshape a bevel, I take the chisel to the wheel, then 1000, 4000 and 8000 grit stones. Then I strop.
So here goes: