Shaping the Tool - Wood carving tools are typically only (re)shaped once in their lifetime. And that happens when the carver gets the tool from the manufacturer, and adjusts it to their own preferences. But, this is a pretty substantial process for carving tools.

• These tools are not typically made from hard metals like high speed steel (HSS) or with carbide inserts.
• Additionally, the cutting edge is usually not too large (like on a woodturning skew chisel). Thusly, there is not a need to go thru the reshaping process when changing the edge angle. The sharpening process can address that pretty quickly.
• Finally, the cutting edge adjustments are typically 2° - 5°, and again, the sharpening process can address that pretty quickly.

Sharpening the Tool - Carving tools are typically sharpened

• softer woods - pretty rarely, maybe only at the start of the day.
• harder woods - more often
• when using a mallet - also more often ... especially if the tool is dropped !
• when the tool is dropped - every time

Honing and Stropping
to remove the burr

Stropping the Tool - Carving tools are typically stropped often. Very often.

My personal preference is to hone on a wheel at the start of the process, and then later, hone on either a leather strop or shaped MDF with a honing paste of some sort.

Note: When honing or stropping, the side to start on is the one where the grinding was last done. If you start on the other side, the burr will get ripped off and you can end up with an edge like above.

Some good web sites for learning about stropping carving tools include :

• The Mechanics of Stropping - Why Stropping Works
• A Guide to Honing and Sharpening
• The Tools of Stropping
• Honing and Stropping Woodcarving Tools
• Keeping Sharp: How to Sharpen a Carving Knife With a Leather Strop