Sharpen tools?

Rox&Mud

Rox&Mud

CTB
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
Location
Raleigh
My brother has several leather tools he needs sharpened similar to the one pictured here. Any ideas?
t-16450-2175.jpeg
 
A couple spins around my 12" disc sander then some finish work on a sharpening stone should do the trick. You might even be able to do it all with a good sharpening stone if they aren't too far gone. I'd buy a good stone and see what happens.
 
Looks like a enlongated hole punch. That is a different thing all together.
 
Keeping the cutting edge flat is going to be difficult. Start looking for local sharpening services. Start with the phone book. If you can't find anything there, start talking to chefs and NICE restaurants or butchers. They have knives they care a lot about, and many use a service to sharpen them.
 
I believe those tools are only supposed to be sharpened on the outsite face too. You don't want to use any stones or files on the inside, it'll change the diameter of the hole it cuts. Most machine shops will have a nice wet stone grinder for sharpening their tooling, might be a good place to try if you know any.
 
If they just need a touch-up, use a piece of flat steel, or flat file, with a length of fine emery paper folded over the end to secure it. Use this like a file with light even strokes. Take your time and you will be surprised what you can do. :)
 
Spin them on a lathe. Use whatever grit necessary in a Diamond hone to clean the outer surface only.
 
He has a bench grinder with a buffing wheel he uses to buff them which keeps them from sticking to the leather but I don't think there is any way to sharpen them freehand and keep the edge even all the way around. He has a lot of these types of tools in various shapes and sizes, some open, like a "V" or a "U" and some closed like the one above.
I'll ask if he has looked into sharpening services, I don't know if he has.
Thanks for the suggestions so far.
 
Crap !! At first glance I thought those were just a simple round hole punch. Second time around I spotted the enlongated profile in the corner.

The only other idea would be to try the sharpening stones being careful to keep the same angle (cutting edge) while only removing enough material to return back to an appropriate cutting edge.
 
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