KNIVES

MAKING AND SHARPENING KNIVES: A RATIONAL APPROACH with Jeff Peachey

Saturday, April 26 (rain date April 27, or cancelled if inclement weather on both days)
10 am to 5 pm
To be held outdoors at Denise Carbone’s home In Stratford, New Jersey

This class is an intensive one-day introduction to one of the most basic human tool making activities  making and keeping an edge tool sharp without the use of jigs. The specific tools of bookbinders will be examined: paring knives, lifting knives, scissors, hole punches, spokeshaves and board shear blades. A wide variety of sharpening systems will be available for comparison: water stones, ceramic stones, diamond stones, oil stones, natural stones, silicone carbide powder, aluminum oxide powder, diamond paste, abrasive papers and stropping compounds. Some basic principals of tool steels will be explained, and edge geometry investigated. The goal is to free participants from the plethora of misinformation and mystique that surrounds sharpening and to instill confidence in sharpening and resharpening bookbinding knives. Participants should bring any stones and edge tools they have for evaluation. We will make one small knife from a hacksaw blade, and larger blanks with a factory grind will be available for purchase.

Jeffrey S. Peachey has been in private practice for 25 years and specializes in the conservation of books and paper artifacts for institutions and individuals. He makes specialized hand tools and is the inventor of the Peachey Board Slotting Machine, which is used by many institutions worldwide to treat books with detached boards. He was awarded a Sherman Fairchild Conservation Research Fellowship from the Morgan Library & Museum and the 2013 Reese Fellowship in American Bibliography from the Library Company of Philadelphia and a 2014 Research Fellowship from the Winterthur Library and Museum. He is an adjunct at Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science (Boston), teaching historic book structures for conservators.