I've been curious about Mary May's technique for sharpening her carving gouges. She recommends using an 8000 grit diamond stone and spends around fifteen minutes on each stone until she feels she's created a burr—then she removes it. She prefers diamond stones over traditional oil stones because they work faster. Some carvers, however, use a progression of grits, like starting from 3000 to 5000 and then hitting 8000, claiming that each stone doesn't take much time. I wonder, is there a specific reason Mary sticks to her longer method? Could it be to preserve the material by not taking off too much with rougher grits? Does her approach actually make sense? She only goes down to 1000 grit when there's a big issue and skips intermediate grits altogether.
3 Answers
It’s all about hitting that sharp edge. If her tools are well taken care of, she just needs a few passes on finer grits to maintain that sharpness. If your tools are not properly maintained and you rely solely on those higher grits, you’d end up spending way too long trying to get the angle right. It’s actually tougher to learn if you start too high. You can get a good edge with as low as 320-600 grit stones and a strop, which should already be sharp for cutting. Going beyond 1200 grit is often overkill, since an 8000 grit edge will revert to lower grits when cutting through tougher surfaces.
I’ve got a double-sided diamond stone that’s 350 and 1200 grit. I usually start with the 350 if I get a vintage gouge needing a full reprofile. For everything else, I stick with the 1200 and a strop. The 1200 works great because it’s quick without risking wrecking my tool if I'm slightly off angle while sharpening. Slipstones or a slip strop are pretty key for this too!
I really think her blades are sharp to begin with, so she might not need those coarser grits. Using only high grits minimizes grooves in the edge, and that ensures she’s not just doing extra work. I guess her timing with the stone is just a matter of personal preference from years of practice.
That’s super helpful! I’ve got another burning question: When I buy a Pfeil gouge, they seem razor-sharp out of the box. As a novice, I struggle to get that level of sharpness. What grit do you think they use for final sharpening? I feel like it must be a trade secret.