Sharpening carving tools for printmaking
This video and blog post is a quick and easy guide for beginners, demonstrating how to sharpen your carving tools for printmaking. I use a Flexcut Slipstrop to sharpen Pfeil carving tools, although the slipstrop will work with any brand of carving tool. The gold compound is also produced by Flexcut, and can be purchased in a set with the slipstrop.
The flex cut slip strap it's a wooden block lined with some leather and shaped on one side to accommodate different tool sizes. The slipstrop comes with a gold compound used to help sharpen the edges of your carving tools, I like to apply a generous coating of the compound on the slipstrop before I begin.
To sharpen the outside edge of a u gouge, angle it as you sharpen on the flat leather covered side of the slipstrop, curving from the outside in and working from both sides to get an even finish. To sharpen the inside of a u gouge, use the appropriately sized rounded wooden ridge and work at an angle from the outside in to smooth down that inner surface.
To sharpen a v gouge, don't curve these as you use the leather covered flat side of the slipstop, as you want to encourage that v shape and sharp point, so just alternate the angle between each side of the v. Flip your slipstrop over and keep the inside of the v gouge sharp by using the specially angled pointed sections of the slipstrop on the inside corners of the gouge. I wouldn’t recommend curving the v tools here, as you are trying to encourage that sharp v point, not create a u curve.
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