The Unicorn Method

A simple sharpening technique for unbelievably sharp edges that are tough and long-lasting.

- David weaver, Winston Chang and William Tindall

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 WoodCentral.com 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 creature symbolic of things that are too good to be true. The name has stuck.

By selectively buffing just the very tip of a nominally sharpened blade on an abrasive-loaded buffing wheel for a few seconds, Weaver produced a tiny convex bevel that transformed the edge dramatically, making it exceedingly sharp and more resistant to failure from hard use, without changing how easily the edge penetrates the wood.

With this simple buffing step, he found that the edges of less expensive softer steel chisels can be made to stay as sharp as harder premium chisels. Plane blades and many other edge tools, including kitchen knives, can be made sharper and more durable with this technique.

How Edges Dull