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- Battling The Burr
I have been wanting to make a video on plane blade sharpening for some time now. I know the 20-minute video format we chose just doesn’t leave room for the whole story. The last time I taught a workshop on sharpening was a two-week sharpening basics class at Penland School of Craft and there still wasn’t enough time to cover everything I wanted to teach.
So for this video, I picked out one aspect where I have seen students struggle without knowing what the struggle was. I am speaking, of course, about the burr or wire edge.
Eliminating the burr that forms with most sharpening techniques can be frustrating. After all, even a microscopic burr can spoil a blade’s performance. So how do you deal with something too small to see?
In this video, I introduce some techniques for creating a burr-free edge that will stay sharp as long as the blade you’re sharpening can possibly hold an edge. And once you understand what’s happening at the edge, you’ll be able to hone in on the problem quickly.
In upcoming videos, I’ll shed light on lots of finer points, but I think you’ll find this one a good motivator to start improving your sharpening process.
Stay healthy and creative!
Brian
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