Sharpwoman, can it be that you are the only female on this forum? (I would be surprised.) Since none of the women are offering advice, I might chime in.
In thirty-five years with the telephone company, I noticed that the best technicians, both male and female, usually had either a mentor or access go good training. Having both is ideal, as well as some internal drive.
I believe finding a good teacher, either one on one or in one of the several small schools available would speed your learning process. Doing some online poking around, I have found several in different areas of the country. If you could find a one or two day training class which specialized in your area of interest, that would seem ideal.
The classes I have found (in Cleveland and Texas) also sell equipment. I am sure there must be others. If attending a class was not possible, these people have also written books and perhaps videos.
Apprenticing with a sharpener could be a very good choice.
In my opinion, Tormek has done a very fine job of providing educational material for woodworking tools. In comparison, the offerings for the various types of scissors/ shears seem lean. Given the large number of scissors users, this seems odd to me. It seems a fertile area for Tormek to expand its training offerings. The SharpTools video mentioned elsewhere is very good, but could be expanded to include more specialty scissors.
Good luck in your endeavour. Please keep us posted.
Ken
In thirty-five years with the telephone company, I noticed that the best technicians, both male and female, usually had either a mentor or access go good training. Having both is ideal, as well as some internal drive.
I believe finding a good teacher, either one on one or in one of the several small schools available would speed your learning process. Doing some online poking around, I have found several in different areas of the country. If you could find a one or two day training class which specialized in your area of interest, that would seem ideal.
The classes I have found (in Cleveland and Texas) also sell equipment. I am sure there must be others. If attending a class was not possible, these people have also written books and perhaps videos.
Apprenticing with a sharpener could be a very good choice.
In my opinion, Tormek has done a very fine job of providing educational material for woodworking tools. In comparison, the offerings for the various types of scissors/ shears seem lean. Given the large number of scissors users, this seems odd to me. It seems a fertile area for Tormek to expand its training offerings. The SharpTools video mentioned elsewhere is very good, but could be expanded to include more specialty scissors.
Good luck in your endeavour. Please keep us posted.
Ken