The Unicorn Method

Nothing slices, chops or pares through wood like a freshly sharpened chisel, but sharp edges don’t last forever. Frequent sharpening is a must, particularly for tools that are subjected to punishing tasks like chopping and aggressive paring, as in the preparation of dovetails. Ideally, we’d all like to be able to produce long-lasting, super-sharp edges quickly and easily. Now we can.

On the Hand Tools forum, several members have been developing and refining a sharpening technique that David Weaver, the originator, has since nicknamed “Unicorning,” since the odds of his discovering a superior and nearly effortless technique seemed about as likely as stumbling upon a Unicorn, a mythical