Aye Up All,
Not sure which forum this fits into - can't see a pure C&E one?
I dont know if this has appeared before but if so I think it is worth a revisit.
This is probably going to cause some die hard traditionalist sharpeners to rise up in arms and troll me but the thing works so here goes:
Ive been sharpening blades since I was a kid, a time when owning a pen knife was derigueur, almost a right of passage so to speak. Surrounded by Yorkshire sandstone (literally) me mothers doorstep was the best slip stone a lad could have wished for (even though Id had to work through the Cardinal Red and usually end up with a clip round the ear for having done it now Ill bet that ages me to some!) and wed spend hours honing our blades until they could split a hair well, thats what we told ourselves!
Over the years and careers, blades have always featured either as tools, weapons or both and so dry-stones, whetstones, pucks, diamond plates, ceramic rods etc have always featured alongside accompanied by an oily rag! When you are using blades intensely/protractedly (maybe employed to do so) you cannot always stop and spend (a lengthy amount of) time to hone a blade as you might usually wish to (nor do it for several companions either). About a month ago I admit it; I was drawn into one of those video promos on a small digital screen whilst looking around a garden centre for a pair of leather work gloves (for BC activities). (Digression visits to three subsequent centres turned up no gloves in my size of any description, apparently Im XXL no way! its the Far East production issue again!). The video concerned the item shown in the images The Neat Ideas Garden Sharpener. I was hooked, I bought one, Ive used it throughout a whole day of making improvised basher pegs from seasoned oak during which time the knife (Mora SS) periodically became dull but was re-vitalised by the sharpener. It can shave the hairs off my arm and slice newspaper with just the weight of the knife and a slight pull back. The bonus is that it has a small oil bottle in the handle and a piece of wadding in the cap useful for carbon blades. £6. It might not be something that you would use on your Ray Gears-box-set-Gucci-mantle-piece-ornament but for a working tool it does the trick. The only downside to me is that it will leave less history (if correctly disposed of) - that doorstep in Yorkshire is still there and so are the depressions from my sharpening hows that for leaving your mark!
Not sure which forum this fits into - can't see a pure C&E one?
I dont know if this has appeared before but if so I think it is worth a revisit.
This is probably going to cause some die hard traditionalist sharpeners to rise up in arms and troll me but the thing works so here goes:
Ive been sharpening blades since I was a kid, a time when owning a pen knife was derigueur, almost a right of passage so to speak. Surrounded by Yorkshire sandstone (literally) me mothers doorstep was the best slip stone a lad could have wished for (even though Id had to work through the Cardinal Red and usually end up with a clip round the ear for having done it now Ill bet that ages me to some!) and wed spend hours honing our blades until they could split a hair well, thats what we told ourselves!
Over the years and careers, blades have always featured either as tools, weapons or both and so dry-stones, whetstones, pucks, diamond plates, ceramic rods etc have always featured alongside accompanied by an oily rag! When you are using blades intensely/protractedly (maybe employed to do so) you cannot always stop and spend (a lengthy amount of) time to hone a blade as you might usually wish to (nor do it for several companions either). About a month ago I admit it; I was drawn into one of those video promos on a small digital screen whilst looking around a garden centre for a pair of leather work gloves (for BC activities). (Digression visits to three subsequent centres turned up no gloves in my size of any description, apparently Im XXL no way! its the Far East production issue again!). The video concerned the item shown in the images The Neat Ideas Garden Sharpener. I was hooked, I bought one, Ive used it throughout a whole day of making improvised basher pegs from seasoned oak during which time the knife (Mora SS) periodically became dull but was re-vitalised by the sharpener. It can shave the hairs off my arm and slice newspaper with just the weight of the knife and a slight pull back. The bonus is that it has a small oil bottle in the handle and a piece of wadding in the cap useful for carbon blades. £6. It might not be something that you would use on your Ray Gears-box-set-Gucci-mantle-piece-ornament but for a working tool it does the trick. The only downside to me is that it will leave less history (if correctly disposed of) - that doorstep in Yorkshire is still there and so are the depressions from my sharpening hows that for leaving your mark!
). I'll have a look at that Blade Tech Goatboy, I'm always open to checking out other options even if I don't go for them it's all knowledge. Like the BT The Garden Sharpener is easily stow-able on your person or in your kit. BTW - mine isn't that colour anymore - cam'd it up soon after the shots were taken! That's interesting about the walls used for blade sharpening, I'll keep an eye open for them during my travels. 
