he just used an oil stone for all his wood carving chisels - no fancy lapping paste, japanese water stones or diamond hones for him - just a good old fashioned oil stone... Boy, could his chisels cut....
I have a taped lecture series from the great Nora Hall.
Nora was just a kid when WW11 happened. Her family didn't get out in time.
Her dad, a jew, carved wood for the Nazis, so they wouldn't kill him. He taught Nora very quickly too.
Want to see someone carve wood fast? Imagine the SS over your shoulder with machine guns!
That girl could make the chips FLY!
Anyway she honed her tools whenever she used them. Just before.
(only a crazy person puts a freshly sharpened tool away)
A small slip of stone, kind of a back and forth sing songy motion, she did it so casual and easy, as she walked, talked and chewed gum at the same time! Second nature.
Unfortunately they are VCR tapes and hardly anyone has anything to play them back on now. I have them in a dark closet on the north side of the house, that never gets very warm. One day I would like to put them on disk.
yours Scott