Greg Bétit, Vergennes VT
>There were a lot of people trying to discourage you from using a draw knife in this application. This advice sounds to me like it should have come from the noisy forum, not the hand tool one. Consider the draw knife a basic hand tool and learn to master it. It's not that hard.

Sharpening a draw knife is not "difficult" it's just a little different than what you may be used to. I hold the draw knife like an old time fiddler- not up under the chin, but cradled in my left arm (right hander). I use stones that are mounted to a block of wood (they came that way with a cover). It's good to have the additional stand off for your fingers. Using something like a thin bare stone or diamond hone requires a little more caution. But there you are with the edge steady and right close; have at it. When you have done it once or twice you will be good at it and feel comfortable doing it. Don't let the comfort fool you away from caution.

Mike Dunbar likes a knife edge type drawknife & recommends dubbing the flat side with a huge secondary bevel. I like leaving the flat side pretty near flat, just barely touching it up with a steeper bevel while stropping. Having the flat side flat is a real boon when you want to work a surface flat. I can think of no advantge to having two bevel sides. Consider that by far the greatest percentage of old draw knives you see have a flat side and a beveled side. Those folks from the past are trying to tell us something; listen.

greg