Q&A: Do I Need a Sharpening Appliance?

Although sharpening appliances are essential for working on single-edge chisels and plane irons, you don’t need them for carving tools. Photo wortheffort woodworking.

Q: I saw these new sharpening appliances on a website. Do I need something like this to sharpen my carving tools?

A: No. Sharpening appliances like this are designed for single-edge chisels and plane irons. You could sharpen knives and gouges on it, but they don’t require the absolute flatness the aluminum plate offers. Honestly, this is overkill as far as price and precision for carving. In most cases, a piece of MDF is flat enough to sharpen knives and gouges.

Click here to learn how to sharpen a carving knife.

Click here for instructions to sharpen a carving gouge.

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