How do you sharpen an edger?

[Bugscuffle]

The title says it all. I've tried a number of things, sand paper, sandpaper folded over, diamond files, nothing seems to work. How do you sharpen one of these things?

[Camano Ridge]

There is a difference between sharpening and honing. Most of the time my edgers/bevelers just need some dressing up/honing. You can make a strop for them by taking a piece of wood sanding it smooth but not to smooth you  will need something for the glue to bite on. Make soem strips of leather lace. Horse hide works really well and seems to stand up better then cow. Glue three strips to the block of wood now get some polishing compoud course medium and fine. rub the strips with the polishing compound. Now take your edger/beveler rub the lenght of the course lace a few times then medium then fine. Now try your edger you should notice a difference. Repeat as necassary to get the desired edge. I usually just use the medium and fine to dress my bevelers and course is for when they are in bad shape. You can make several boards fairly cheaply to accomadate different sized edgers bevelers. I don't know what all you have done to attempt to sharpen your edger or what kind of shape the edger is in, but with some work this should get it back into shape. Some place there is a tutorial I will try to find it. However the attached picture is fairly self explanatory. Hope this helps.

[Bugscuffle]

Thanks for the information. I just happen to have some horsehide right here in the shop and some polishing compound too. I'll give that a try.

There is a difference between sharpening and honing. Most of the time my edgers/bevelers just need some dressing up/honing. You can make a strop for them by taking a piece of wood sanding it smooth but not to smooth you  will need something for the glue to bite on. Make soem strips of leather lace. Horse hide works really well and seems to stand up better then cow. Glue three strips to the block of wood now get some polishing compoud course medium and fine. rub the strips with the polishing compound. Now take your edger/beveler rub the lenght of the course lace a few times then medium then fine. Now try your edger you should notice a difference. Repeat as necassary to get the desired edge. I usually just use the medium and fine to dress my bevelers and course is for when they are in bad shape. You can make several boards fairly cheaply to accomadate different sized edgers bevelers. I don't know what all you have done to attempt to sharpen your edger or what kind of shape the edger is in, but with some work this should get it back into shape. Some place there is a tutorial I will try to find it. However the attached picture is fairly self explanatory. Hope this helps.

[Camano Ridge]

Here is the tutorial it is a free tandy video. http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/Use-and-Care-of-Edge-Bevelers.aspx
If your beveler is in really bad shape you may need to clean it up with sand paper and a metal ro then use the strop to hone the beveler. http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/Use-and-Care-of-Edge-Bevelers.aspx

[Massive]

I have some of the old bevelers that are flat on the bottom, and i just use a regular strop.  I they are curved, then I make a piece of matching wood, and put the compound on that.

There is a difference between forming the edge, and buffing it out with polishing compound.  But the difference would be a lot less if the polishing compound was super aggressive, and actually ground a little bit, and could take care of edges that had been left a few uses too long.  Well there is just such a compound, and it is relatively cheap.  The only downside is that as with all this stuff, a leather, or even wood strop , will soak up any compound a little faster.  If you can find some cast iron for your lap, all the better.

What is the miracle material?  I am using this:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=58754&cat=1,43072

I forget which grit i use, but I am only using one of them, it is so fast I don't bother using other grits.  In the future I am going to try to use the 14000 mesh exclusively:

http://www.lopacki.com/polishes/

I haven't used these, but the guys who have been schooling a lot of woodworkers, who learned this stuff from the gem side, swear by this brand, and it is 40 percent the price.

I bought some 14000 grit from ebay, just because the transaction was simpler.

The diamond does not break down, but it can slough off, which is where the  cast iron comes in, if you can find a reasonable piece.

An example, being a sharpening geek, I will even sharpen needles.  Recently I was running a light needle, and it ran into something hard on the machine, probably the hook.  Quality Organ needle.  It takes no longer to sharpen things, often.  So the needle had a huge hook on the end.  I cut that off with a rough diamond file, about 150 sandpaper grit.  That was fast, but there were heavy scratches in the needle point, and I only filed one side.  3 spins down the diamond hone, and there was a well formed cone on the end of the needle, and it was as sharp as can be.  We are talking at least hard arkansas.  It didn't just polish the needle, is formed the point, and the result was that needle is still running, and it seems to be taking more of a beating than the one that deflected and punched itself out.  This was working in heavy outdoors fabrics and webbing, many layers.

[Trailrider]

For edgers & skivers I use round abraisive cords from E.C. Mitchell's. I haven't checked lately, as two spools I acquired years ago have lasted me, and probably will for  years to come. I use #56 for larger edgers and #53 for the smaller one. These cords are aluminum oxide impregnated cords.  A little honing oil on a piece of the cord which is tied to some secure point, and a few swipes twards the business end of the edger and you are pretty much set.  This stuff is apparently available through AbraisiveOutlet.com, phone (618) 995-6042.