On Dec 11, 2014, at 11:56 AM, Don Schwartz  wrote:

> On 2014-12-11 9:53 AM, Ed Minch wrote:
>> I’ll have to try the round bottom - HAS to be easier to sharpen than the
ceegar shave.
>> 
>> Ed Minch
> I attacked my generic cigar shave iron with a small tailed grinder to rough in
the clearance angle, and it started cutting. Not pretty, not finished, but I can
see a way to make this thing work well - once I get a round to-it, and some
small diamond hones!
> 

I like the round shaves, esp. the Cigar shaves. I have probably had two dozen
over the years altho I am down to only three now having recently passed both an
MF and a Kelly to my furniture making friend. I do reach for the MF about 99
times more often than a #67.

I have never found it difficult to sharpen a cigar shave blade. I bought my
first one while on my way to a week long training session. Stopped at an auto
supply and bought a mix of wet/dry paper and sharpened it dry using the glass
topped table in my motel room (lots of newspaper to catch dust). Spent a bit of
time each night working on it and soon had a sharp shave. All freehand. I just
aim for a bevel that is about 1/4 inch wide and flat. Once you get the initial
flat on it, it is easy to register on your sharpening surface and follow that
till you have met your goal. A couple of light swipes on the inside edge to
remove the wire edge and Bob's your uncle. I have never had to take one to a
grinder and given its small size I really don't want to. I don't know that you
really have a clearance angle on a cigar shave blade. Seems to me that the
clearance angle is set by the user - rotate too far and it's gone.

Bill------------------------------------------------------------------------