Stay sharp!

 A friend picked up my secateurs recently and commented on how sharp they were. I explained that it is much easier to keep them sharp than allow them to get so blunt they could not cut anything and then spend time getting them back into shape. 

Now I have every sharpening device imaginable from wet and dry stones, sharpening steels, ceramic stones, you name it I have got it. My favourite, and most used is the Swiss Istor professional sharpener.  This has a comfortable ergonomic handle and a sharpening block at one end. The secret with this little marvel is to ensure that the corner rather than the face of the block makes contact with the blade. The other key point is to get the sharpening angle correct. 

With most secateurs, the blade has a bevel on one side and is flat the other. The bevel is set about 23 degrees so the corner of the sharpening block must follow the angle of the bevel. Getting a 23 degree angle is not hard, make a right angle (90 degrees), halve it to get a 45 degree angle and half it again to get 22.5 degrees. Not 23 degrees but what is half a degree between friends?

Three or four gentle strokes on the bevelled edge is all that is needed after a day's use. I will then take the burr off the flat side using the sharpener at a very acute angle of about five degrees.

It is said that the Istor sharpener is used to sharpen surgical instruments, I can believe it. Now the Istor professional sharpener is not cheap, I bought mine for about £30 last year, there is a more basic and therefore cheaper model without the ergonomic handle. As a professional, I tend to look for quality rather than price but a cheaper alternative is the Bahco model that is almost as good and a fraction of the price.

The Istor professional sharpener (below) and the Bahco version (above)