Chaveta sharpness

[BAGraphics]

Hey all,

Last week I got my pair of chavetas (one for me and one for my GF) from WLT and was wondering how sharp people keep them for rolling. I have a good set of whetstones and feel they need to be a lot sharper then when delivered. How sharp do all of you keep yours?

 

[juan carlos]

i polish my trimming knife with a cloth wheel and jewelers rouge. it is sharper than a razor, i would not dare be swiping my thumb across it to "see if it's sharp" like so many people will do with a knife. surgery would be required to re attach.
it's most likely too sharp for most that have not handled a blade of this quality...but i am interested too what people do with chavettas, i am thinking i should have one, and been wondering exactly the same thing.

 

[Smokin Harley]

Hey all,

Last week I got my pair of chavetas (one for me and one for my GF) from WLT and was wondering how sharp people keep them for rolling. I have a good set of whetstones and feel they need to be a lot sharper then when delivered. How sharp do all of you keep yours?

I make my own and I keep a working edge . I think its about a 35-40* leading edge . I never measured the exact angle ,just guessing. I take it to a set of crock sticks then a pair of tungsten rods(welding supply) to really hone the edge . I can't shave with it but its close. Also I use a bamboo cutting board to roll on , some use granite slabs or stainless steel .Both just dull a nice hard worked cutting edge if you ask me.

 

[Gdaddy]

Large pizza wheel made by Cutco. The bearing where the wheel is attached is tight and there is no slop or wobble. Never sharpened it but it cuts the leaf smooth as butta and excellent precision. I run it across a granite rolling surface.

It does have the advantage of a 360 degree cutting surface so sharpening would be less frequent and it rolls instead of sliding on the same spot all the time.

 

[charlie G.]

My chaveta is about a year old and is pretty rusty. But I do sharpen the edge on a wet stone about every 3 months. It really doesn't have to be as sharp as a razor to cut threw tobacco leaves, but I think it's mostly a personal preference. I like a nice sharp edge.

 

[Matty]

I use a modified pizza cutter myself but I've heard that if a chaveta is too sharp it is hard to slide along the cutting board. I suppose it depends on the technique used, I've seen both rolling the chaveta along the cut and sliding the chaveta along the cut.

 

[deluxestogie]

My take on the question of how sharp a chaveta should be is just sharp, but not razor/microtome sharp. I needs to easily cut the leaf cleanly, but not destroy your cutting board.

Bob

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I have a video I bought in the 90's of some Cuban guy showing how to roll cigars. He talked briefly about chaveta sharpness. He said it should be sharp enough to cut the leaf but not your skin. He then ran it over his forearm without cutting himself. I used that philosophy for years but then decided I like my chaveta to be sharper than that. So now mine is pretty sharp, not razor sharp though. I think Bob has a valid point about destroying your cutting board with a too sharp chaveta.

 

[LewZephyr]

I use a 17" x 17" piece of tile to cut and roll on. I have only sharpened the chaveta once, and I used Lansky Blade Medic. Not even sure it needed me to do that, but I was just feeling frigidity one day and did it.
I do roll my chaveta rather than slide though.

 

[Birage]

Just my two cents, but I noticed that the recommendation of using stainless steel, or possible a harder wood like bamboo allow you to not have to have such a sharp chaveta. I have a cutting board that is wood (maple, I think), and I noticed if I get the chaveta razor sharp it still can stick or not cut through veins well, but when trying to cut the exact leaf with a stainless board it cuts better. If your wood is too soft the blade will sort of cut into the wood making it stick to a minor degree and sort of pinch the leaf, where stainless has more resistance and allows the blade to cut cleaner. I may be just imagining this, maybe someone can comment to whether this is true or not.

 

[waikikigun]

Mine's pretty dull. I run it across one of those sharpening rod thingies that come in Martha Stewart steak knive sets. I run my fingers across it to make sure it's not too sharp: I nearly cut my thumb once with that thing and once was enough. I think if I were to drag the blade across the leaf I'd just tear it: I always rock the blade across the leaf to do all my cuts, pressing down into the board.

 

[Knucklehead]

I use a 17" x 17" piece of tile to cut and roll on. I have only sharpened the chaveta once, and I used Lansky Blade Medic. Not even sure it needed me to do that, but I was just feeling frigidity one day and did it.
I do roll my chaveta rather than slide though.

I think if I were to drag the blade across the leaf I'd just tear it: I always rock the blade across the leaf to do all my cuts, pressing down into the board.

I also rock the blade across the leaf and I cut the head and foot with the chaveta rather than a cigar cutter. (Mainly because the chaveta is already in my hand and it saves a step)

The blade will tell you when it needs sharpening. If it's not going through the leaf like a hot knife through butter (assuming you are rocking your butter knife lol) then touch up it's edge. The whetstones you already have will work just fine. Let the blade do the cutting, you shouldn't have to help it cut, just guide it.

EDIT: I forgot to add that my board is a walnut slab. Rocking the blade also helps the board to go longer between sandings to keep the surface smooth enough to grip a wrapper leaf.

 

[juan carlos]

I also rock the blade across the leaf and I cut the head and foot with the chaveta rather than a cigar cutter. (Mainly because the chaveta is already in my hand and it saves a step)

The blade will tell you when it needs sharpening. If it's not going through the leaf like a hot knife through butter (assuming you are rocking your butter knife lol) then touch up it's edge. The whetstones you already have will work just fine. Let the blade do the cutting, you shouldn't have to help it cut, just guide it.

what a great thread. i'm sold on making a chavetta now, the trimming knife is obviously way too sharp for this task and not the tool for the job, i'm always overly cautious using it so i don't lose any digits.
besides, it would be nice to have a nice wide chavetta to do the final ironing out roll back and forth with the side of the tool.

 

[Raodwarior]

Mine gets 3 passes on the whetstone both sides everyday. But I might just roll a bit more than the average.

 

[MarcL]

I like it sharp. something said to me that stuck with me was "own your hone"

 

[Smokin Harley]

a sharp knife is a safer knife. The less you need to push and force ,and the more you let the knife do the work, the more control you have.

 

[ArizonaDave]

a sharp knife is a safer knife. The less you need to push and force ,and the more you let the knife do the work, the more control you have.

Unless of course, someone is careless. Waikiki, It's better to run a blade on the back of a finger nail, than to slice one's thumb off, just saying

 

[Smokin Harley]

I was always taught to check a blades edge not by running your thumb WITH the edge of the blade but perpendicular to the blade like lightly thumb plucking a guitar string. or as AZ Dave says , check it by scraping your thumbnail with it. If it slides , its dull. If it bites just a little ,its sharp. No blood loss.

 

[deluxestogie]

For ultra-sharp tools, like the microtome blade used to slice microscopic tissue sections for mounting on microscope slide (like when your biopsy is sent to the pathologist), the blade is finished on a rotating glass plate smeared with jeweler's rouge. To test the edge, the back of the thumbnail is lightly drawn along the length of the edge. If the nail glides, the blade is done. If the nail feels any resistance or "sawing," then there are burrs remaining on the edge, and it must be returned to the glass/rouge for a while longer.

For a chaveta, I still discourage an edge that is too sharp. If the edge is sharpened at an acute enough angle, it will easily cut leaf, with a rocking motion, even though it is not razor sharp. The sharpening angle can be a problem on a chaveta cut from a thick piece of steel.

Bob

 

[waikikigun]

Unless of course, someone is careless. Waikiki, It's better to run a blade on the back of a finger nail, than to slice one's thumb off, just saying

Well, it didn't happen while I was testing the sharpness, it happened while I was bunching. Obviously I'd started to bunch a little too fast, in order to drive the blade into the top of my thumb. I now have a nice scar there. Here's the original post about it:

http://blisscigar.co/post/121715503311/everything-seemed-to-be-going-lovely-as-i-bunched