It happens to every sharpener. I got a call this week from D.L. It happened to him. Your sharpening powers seem magical then you get that dreaded phone call. It’s a complaint. Then you get a series of complaints that can’t be explained away. It may instead of complaints, you notice your sharpening doesn’t pass your own high standards and you find yourself resharpening more. You’re not quite sure what’s wrong. You begin questioning yourself, your abilities and your choice of career. Something’s just not right. It’s happened to you, too. You’ve lost your “MoJo.”
What do you do? Take a deep breath then examine yourself and your environment. Loosing your “MoJo” will almost always be related to one of three areas of your sharpening; your tools, your techniques, or your temperament.
The most likely culprit will be your tools. Check over all your equipment carefully. Is everything in good condition? Does something need to be replaced? The number one problem I find is in the equipment used for the ride line. If you use a waterstone, be sure this is PERFECTLY flat. I like using a 6” DMT diamond stone for this. Use a circular, figure eight along with up and down motions to create a flat surface. Hold a wet stone up to the light and watch to see if the water pools in low areas or runs off to one side. Also check your DMT diamond stone. It may be worn and not capable of flatting correctly. Look over everything because you can’t do above standard work with substandard tools.
A technique problem is a little trickier to spot. If your equipment and training came with a video, it is time to pull out that video now and review it.
If everything else checks out, do a temperament check. Are you going through a stressful period in your life so that it affects your concentration? Are you feeling too cocky about your sharpening so that you are sharpening too fast and taking too many shortcuts? I once had a time when I lost some accounts because of family matters that were stressing me. When I realized what was happening I took a couple of days off, redirected my thinking, rested, prayed, then made a resolution not to mention my problems to my customers. I began to use my sharpening as an escape and concentrated solely on my work. This got me through in a difficult time.
So whatever the reason your Mojo goes. Take heart. This too will be a phase of the past.
Written by Bonnie Megowan
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