Sharpening a builders slick

[Bob Perkins]

Hi All,

I got a boat builders slick as a gift.

Big long handle, 2 1/2" wide blade (really 2 3/8"). A giant two handed chisel smile.gif

How do you sharpen it?

I'm guessing you flatten the backside like a standard chisel, but the beveled edge is convex.

Do I maintain the convex shape and just put on the best edge I can?

Not sure here - Chisels I usually flat or hollow grind..

Thanks,
Bob

[ 04-15-2003, 12:42 PM: Message edited by: Bob Perkins ]

[George Roberts]

i used to sharpen my large tools with a "V" rather than concave or convex. One side of the "V" was the back edge of the tool. The angle was usually between 35 and 45 degrees depending on the material I usually cut.

Anyway that works for you is sufficient.

[Bob Perkins]

Dave,

Thanks for the info.

I meant to say 2 1/2" wide blade (I looked it up - it is really 2 3/8" wide).

It looks identical to the one you pictured, although not as experienced.

I'll flatten the back of the blade.

The edge is currently straight (left to right).

But the bevel is not hollow - it has a *hump*. I can bring it down to flat if that is the preferred shape of the bevel.

I'm hoping to use it to rough out the bevel of the stem on my current project, then, as you said, finish with a hand plane.

[Bob Perkins]

Experienced - Your handle has a nice warm used color, mine is raw brand new ash. No patina on the blade yet. Maybe before I sharpen it I'll go dirty it up a bit smile.gif

Convex - Yup - the bevel is convex. I was't sure if a slick was *supposed* to be convex or not.

If I'm reading you right - I can make it a big sharp chisel? Correct?

Thanks for the info.

[redonebyme]

I have a slick almost the same also.
I bought it from a guy on a jobsite where he was using it to scrape lineoleum off of concrete.
He said he inhereted it from his father.
When I first recognised what he was doing with it my first impulse was to yell at him.
Then I gave him 50 bucks for it. But he sold it to me only after he finished using it for unspeakable acts.

It took a long while to resharpen.

[Bayboat]

Recently I bought a 3" Witherby slick that I don't think had ever been sharpened, although the edge has been honed. I haven't sharpened it yet. It has a flat back and a flat bevel. The edge is slightly convex but not as much as on the one Dave F. pictured.
My other slick (why two? one for each hand; or did I tell you I'm a tool nut?) is an ancient 3" Greenlee that I bought used for $8 in about 1950. I won't tell you what I paid for the Witherby, except to say that it was several orders of magnitude more. The Greenlee's top surface is slightly convex and rough from the forging, never smoothed off. The bevel is flat and the edge is straight across. The back is slightly beveled for about the first half inch. I read somewhere that this is proper, to allow the handle to be raised a bit to avoid skinned knuckles. I have seen slicks with offset handles for the same purpose. So if anyone acquires a large slick with a slightly beveled back, don't try to grind it flat--it's supposed to be that way.

Dave F.: What's your opinion about hollow grinding a large slick. Do you think it would make the edge too weak? If I did it I would use a slow, water-bathed 10-inch wheel.

[Ian McColgin]

I think he means that the bevel is not flat and not hollow ground. This is really the result of prolonged lazy sharpening.

Some say you should not hollow grind a slick as it takes such hard use. Leave as much steel as near the edge as you can. I don't personally find this to have any effect and I treat my slicks right visciously.

But starting flat is good. When you sharpen, work just a bit steeper than the flat angle to get to an edge a tad faster, but don't let that hump you see get too large as it inhibits getting the edge angle right.

The curve to the cutting edge itself lets the slick work faster for removing lots of wood at a toss. If you have two, one bowed and one straight for finishing up is a nice way to get the 8:1 bevels into planks in place for your dutchmen.

G'luck

[ 04-16-2003, 04:26 PM: Message edited by: Ian McColgin ]

[Roger Stouff]

What does one do with a slick? :confused:

[Ian McColgin]

We used to have a retired navy chief with a shop at Montauk. He was most persnickity about his tools and how they were used. Forever lecturing us if we asked for something without adequate precision or if we got too novel in how we used a tool.

So one day I ran up to his counter and breathlessly cried out, "Hay Chief, gimme a wrench!"

"What kind of wrench, you little drip. There's box end and open end and stilson and . . ."

"Don't matter," I interrupted. "Just so's it's heavy. I'm gonn use it as a hammer."

Turns out that the Chief could actually use tools in novel ways himself and the 18" big screwdriver made a fine throwing knife, quivering there in the wall near my head.

In that spirit and in deference to Dave, I happen only to use a slick for making the bevels for dutchmen in planks that are on the boat. My slicks did not have handles when I rescued them and I made handles for striking with a mallet. In the use, it goes easier.

Tool abuse -- Is it so wrong??

[centroid]

bob perkins-
my slicks have the same convex shape at the cutting edge. i believe it is supposed to be that way because if you push with it, it will not dig in at the corners. i would try to retain that shape.
check to see if it has the laminated steel in the back by a slight color difference or a hair line stripe in the metal. that would indicate the harder steel cutting edge vs. the softer steel of the body.
nice tool.

[Mrleft8]

Roger Stouff
.
Member # 4676

posted 04-16-2003 05:04 PM
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What does one do with a slick?

Why.....Roger..... One smoothes out inconsistancies, and irregularities in otherwise irregular, or inconsistant timbers.... Just look at the beautiful job Fleming has done on those old gray chunks there in the pics!
(In real life, they are used as giant pairing chisels, rough planes, straight handled adzes, or yer basic dimensioning tool.)
Timber framers use them to clean up notches and mating surfaces.... Apparently, slicks are the precursor to the modern plane...

[Bob Perkins]

Thanks for all the input everyone:

To show what I have:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid60/pb21bb8d11601ad1adacb6c12ee1cb422/fc535f96.jpg

Side View:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid60/pa820083b1c936080b631f6535dc1d46e/fc535fc2.jpg

It was purchased at Woodcraft ~$55, so it probably isn't the best available.

It looks like I'll do the following:

Flatten the back side of the blade
Radius the cutting edge
Sharpen the resulting curve, I can leave it convex or flat grind.

Then go give it a try - It won't get too much use I'm sure, but I do like to learn about it and the process.

[Mrleft8]

Bob.... leave it concave, (or hollow ground) Remember, this is NOT a chisel, its a.... more of a.....slicing kinda tool. Do not smack it with a giant mallet.... Think about the smooth sliding ,pairing action you use to get really thin slices of corned beef, as opposed to chunks of stew beef....

[Roger Stouff]

Oh. I don't got none of those. :(