I'd like to "collect" but there's nothing here even a century in age and garage sales are few and far between.
Old stone with beer-belly profiles are just as likely to get tossed as saved.
There are some almost glassy stones (hard Arkansas?) that I'd like to have, just for looks.
I bought all sorts of different sharpening tools and kit. I feel like I have one of everything!
I did stop short of Tomz and Tormek. Santa refuses to deliver diamond plates.
The plan was to use each one and then the next, and then the next, ever striving for a good edge.
I thought each one would be the last one I'd ever need to buy. Wrong.
I've got 5 different systems in the kitchen alone and far more in the shop.
After a fashion, they all work.
Was not until I began wood carving did I come to learn a lot about bevel angles,
free-hand sharpening to "carving sharp" and being able to replicate the process over and over again.
Now, I can wrap 1,000 grit paper around a mandrel and tune up a crooked knife over my knee.
I found that I needed to honestly learn what to do and how to do it.
