

In the chip carving class I took with Wayne Barton, the knives we bought from him required some sharpening before use. They came with a blade shaped like the Washington Monument, and it was our job to flatten the sides on ceramic stones. (See illustration at left).
Over an hour later, I tried carving with

It sure looked sha

It cut like butter.
After that, I asked Dad if he still had his pocket magnifier. And while he no longer had the cool one in the little leather case I played with as a kid, he was happy to give me another, which has a permanant place in my shop apron.

The first blade close-up is my chip carving knife. You can see how clean the edge is. And although the sides could be flattened a bit more, it cuts great.
In contrast is my pocket knife (second close-up), which I thought

The last two images are the torch lillies that are blooming in my backyard. Unfortunately, there was not an ant in sight when I took the photos.