What is Sharp? Ask a dozen people what sharp means and you will get numerous answers; all may be valid, and all based upon their individual frames of reference from their own experience. A common comparison is made to a razor, such as “razor sharp” or “sharp as a razor,” evoking an image of the slicing action of a razor and, for certain generations, that sight of the barber honing the straight razor on the leather strop.
We sharpen an implement to prepare it for a specific task. Abraham Lincoln has been quoted as saying something like, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening my axe.” You can be certain that while Abe may have spend that much time to sharpen his axe, it would still not be as sharp as the barber’s straight razor, but both would be suited to the task they are designed for. I am not really sure what one could do for four hours to sharpen an axe.
Much has been written about the science of sharp, and many books are devoted to the topic; however, the notion of “sharp enough” is key for woodworkers to understand what they need to do to prepare their tools for use. We have all seen the wood show trick of a plane sharpened to 30,000 grit producing micron-thick wispy shavings of amazing lengths. While very cool, this is not practical, nor useful for most
