Galbert Drawsharp--Pricing and Availability

The Galbert Drawsharp is nearly ready to order. Just a few minutes ago we finished packing a shipment destined for Pete Galbert's booth at Woodworking in America next week. Pete will have Drawsharps for sale at his booth in the Marketplace. If you want one, I suggest you hit Pete's booth first thing Friday, as he'll have a limited number of Drawsharps at the show.

If you can't make it to WIA, you'll be able to order the Drawsharp beginning at 9:00 am, Friday October 18th. See our store page to order. We expect our regular dealers both domestically and abroad will add the Drawsharp to their offerings. We'll post a list of dealers once stock is on the way to them.

The Drawsharp is an ingenious, yet simple jig for putting a consistent, repeatable razor-sharp edge on any drawknife. Traditionally the way to hone a drawknife is by hand. Although we're all in favor of developing hand skills, we're also in favor of making certain tasks easier, especially since nobody we know enjoys sharpening. The Drawsharp let's you focus on getting a keen, consistently polished edge without having to concentrate on how you're presenting your stone to the edge, and without slicing your hand open.  Sharpening drawknives makes many people a bit uneasy. With the Drawsharp the cutting edge is facing away from your body and hands, and the honing action is parallel to the blade, with your fingers safely behind the cutting edge at all times, making for a very safe situation. If you've shied away from using drawknives because of sharpening (and they have great potential for furniture makers too, not just chairmakers), the Drawsharp will open the door to this wonderful tool.

The drawknife spine rides on an acetal wear plate and two nylon bumpers which, along with the position of the two posts, determine the honing angle. One post for honing the knife's bevel, and the other for honing the back. A scale on each side, along with clear markings allow you to record the setting for a particular drawknife, then return to that setting quickly.

Each square sleeve is loaded with two abrasive pads: a fine diamond pad on one side, and a finer abrasive paper pad on the other. The diamond pad is used to bring up the initial burr, and the opposite side is used to polish the edge further. Each sleeve rides on the copper anodized posts via a VELCRO bearing, so the sleeve can rotate to follow curved knives. To expose fresh abrasive to the edge, simply slide the sleeve up a bit--it will hold its position and still rotate. Each sleeve can also be flipped end for end to expose even more abrasive. The Drawsharp comes packaged with enough abrasive for dozens of sharpenings. Everything you need is in the package. Price is $84.

Here's a short video on assembling the Drawsharp. We'll be posting detailed videos on how to use the Drawsharp next month. In the meantime, stay tuned to Pete's Chairnotes blog, where he'll be posting about the Drawsharp in the next day or so, including video of how to use the Drawsharp.