its best to get a cheap but good quality knife on which to practice your sharpening in order to prevent you damaging more expensive blades whilst you perfect your technique, for this I would recommend the purchase of a Kj Eriksson model 510:
there are many different types of sharpening tools but for now lets stick with water stones.
Japanese water stones can be bought from here: http://www.axminster.co.uk/product....&sfile=1&jump=0
you want the 1000/6000 Grit one, you will also need to find yourself a good strong leather belt.
Wait for your wet stone to arrive, remove packaging, and put the stone in a tub of water and let it soak for a few minutes, then we will be ready to start.
1. Get a black permanent marker and colour in the bevel on both sides of your blade
2. Remove the stone from the tub of water and place it on a surface where it wont slip
3. Place the bevel of the blade flat on the stone with the edge of the blade facing away from you, and keeping the bevel perfectly flat on the stone and push the blade away from you as if you were trying to shave an extremely thin layer off the top of the stone. (tip. hold the blade in your fingers with your thumbs resting on the spine and your fingertips pressing down on the bevel)
4. at the end of the stoke bring the blade back to the position you started in and repeat stage 3 for 10 - 20 strokes, stop every 5 strokes and examine the side against the stone, the black marker you applied in the first step will now show you whether you have the bevel flat against the stone or not (if the bevel is flat the marker will be removed evenly, if it has been removed in one area but not another adjust the blade so the all the marker is being removed)
5. now turn the blade over and repeat steps 3 and 4 with the other side
6. once you have completed 10-20 strokes on the opposite side of the blade turn the blade over once again to the side you started with.
7. place the bevel flat against the stone once more and make one stroke on the stone, at the end of this stoke turn the blade over and make a stroke on the opposite side of the blade, continue to alternate the sides against the stone on each stoke until you have completed 10 passes across the stone.
8. Take your belt and pass the end with the holes though the buckle to form a loop, place this loop on the floor and put the instep on your foot though the loop and pull the loop tight around your foot.
9. With your left hand pull the free end of the belt tight so that you now have a taught leather belt from your foot on the ground to your left hand
10. With the knife in your right reach down (this time holding the knife by the handle) and place the blade against the belt with the edge facing away from you
11. tilt the blade forward slightly (about 20 degrees maximum) so that only half the bevel and the edge appear to be in contact with the leather
12. draw the knife towards you dragging the edge against the leather
13. When you run out of belt, lift the blade clear of the belt and turn your hand so that the knuckles face the floor and the edge of the blade faces you.
14. With the edge of the blade facing you press the blade back against the leather keeping the same angle on the edge as you did in step 11
15. Now push the blade away from you so that the spine of the blade is facing the floor and the edge is being dragged across the leather
16 when you run out of belt of the downward stroke repeat steps 10 to 15 until both sides of the blade have received 20 strokes
if you have followed the steps correctly your frost mora should now be sharp enough to shave the hair off your arm
(warning you will look odd with a bald arm, and other bushcrafters whom you are not familiar with will recognise you as a follower of the craft)
I hope this helps, its frustrating to begin with but it will come
there are many different types of sharpening tools but for now lets stick with water stones.
Japanese water stones can be bought from here: http://www.axminster.co.uk/product....&sfile=1&jump=0
you want the 1000/6000 Grit one, you will also need to find yourself a good strong leather belt.
Wait for your wet stone to arrive, remove packaging, and put the stone in a tub of water and let it soak for a few minutes, then we will be ready to start.
1. Get a black permanent marker and colour in the bevel on both sides of your blade
2. Remove the stone from the tub of water and place it on a surface where it wont slip
3. Place the bevel of the blade flat on the stone with the edge of the blade facing away from you, and keeping the bevel perfectly flat on the stone and push the blade away from you as if you were trying to shave an extremely thin layer off the top of the stone. (tip. hold the blade in your fingers with your thumbs resting on the spine and your fingertips pressing down on the bevel)
4. at the end of the stoke bring the blade back to the position you started in and repeat stage 3 for 10 - 20 strokes, stop every 5 strokes and examine the side against the stone, the black marker you applied in the first step will now show you whether you have the bevel flat against the stone or not (if the bevel is flat the marker will be removed evenly, if it has been removed in one area but not another adjust the blade so the all the marker is being removed)
5. now turn the blade over and repeat steps 3 and 4 with the other side
6. once you have completed 10-20 strokes on the opposite side of the blade turn the blade over once again to the side you started with.
7. place the bevel flat against the stone once more and make one stroke on the stone, at the end of this stoke turn the blade over and make a stroke on the opposite side of the blade, continue to alternate the sides against the stone on each stoke until you have completed 10 passes across the stone.
8. Take your belt and pass the end with the holes though the buckle to form a loop, place this loop on the floor and put the instep on your foot though the loop and pull the loop tight around your foot.
9. With your left hand pull the free end of the belt tight so that you now have a taught leather belt from your foot on the ground to your left hand
10. With the knife in your right reach down (this time holding the knife by the handle) and place the blade against the belt with the edge facing away from you
11. tilt the blade forward slightly (about 20 degrees maximum) so that only half the bevel and the edge appear to be in contact with the leather
12. draw the knife towards you dragging the edge against the leather
13. When you run out of belt, lift the blade clear of the belt and turn your hand so that the knuckles face the floor and the edge of the blade faces you.
14. With the edge of the blade facing you press the blade back against the leather keeping the same angle on the edge as you did in step 11
15. Now push the blade away from you so that the spine of the blade is facing the floor and the edge is being dragged across the leather
16 when you run out of belt of the downward stroke repeat steps 10 to 15 until both sides of the blade have received 20 strokes
if you have followed the steps correctly your frost mora should now be sharp enough to shave the hair off your arm
(warning you will look odd with a bald arm, and other bushcrafters whom you are not familiar with will recognise you as a follower of the craft)
I hope this helps, its frustrating to begin with but it will come
