> So far the best way I have found to do a hive tool is with an abrasive flap
> wheel. This allows you to thin the tool so it slips into the cracks between
> supers easily. Alternately sandpaper tacked to a board works well, I favor
> the silicon carbide wet or dry paper used in automotive work.

We sharpen a lot of hive tools.  A normal body shop angle grinder works for us.
We place the grinder so that it is positioned like a gramophone turntable, then
hold the tools so that the surface to be ground is flat on the disk. We then
grind a little, look, then adjust our angle, if required and grind some more.

The hooked (scaper) end we just grind to the factory angle.  The other end
usually does not need grinding unless it is a bit bent or chipped.  When
necessary, we start by squaring the end, then slightly grind both flat surfaces.
After that, if it is too sharp, we deliberately dull the sharpened end very
slightly by grinding a slight flat so that the end does not act like a knife,
but rather wants to go into the crack between boxes.

allen
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