finally success with sharpening.

[deepcmonkey]

Finally I can sharpen a knife properly thanks to this forum.

Last week I decided as I bought some new bushy knives and my first axe I would go about learning how to sharpen correctly and this forum has been great for advice.

I have been able to keep my mora and others very sharp, but I invested in a set of water stones. 800,1200 and 600 + holder from axeminster.

Tried the mora on them, all good, so cracked on with the bush knives (expensive ones!!), what a disaster. To be honest they were a bit of a mess and after re watching good old Ray several times and re sharpening I was getting no where. I had no idea what i was doing wrong but even the stroping was making a bad job even worse. Must admit I was a bit gutted as I thought I had done some bad damage to the knives.

So I read all the articles on sharpening on BCUK as I guessed my probs would have already been covered before. Loads of info on here which I found very helpfull. To start with I found out I was doing the storpping wrong and ordered a board and pink compound from Axeminster (I know I could have made one but I am a bit lazy sometimes), this was covered again by member Red.

So back to the stones, after reading this forum and all the links etc.. I worked out I was lying the bevel on the stone but was not applying enough pressure to the edge ie not cutting in the stone. As soon as I did this I could tell the difference, I also didn't end up with all the vertical line marks on the front of the blade.

Now time for the stropping, again following advise from the forum. WOW, these suckers are now sharp and shinny!!! The difference is amazing, will shave hair with hardly any pressure and slice though paper like butter, simply awesome. I am so happy and all thanks to the forum here and its members. My left arm looks a bit funny though with no hair, good job its winter I guess.

The weird thing I noticed though, the normal check I do to see if a knife is sharp, is to run a thumb latterally across the blade, the motion most people do, now when I do this is doesn't feel as sharp as they used to but the knives are in deed sharper, is because the edge is in fact smoother or something?

The other success story is that I chipped my axe in the garden, was very anoyed as it was at the same time I was having trouble with the knives, well after a bit of research again on here I have succesfully removed the chips (which were quite large), with the aid of files and stones and a lot of elbow greese, it's now lovely and sharp again, although I still need to practise my shrapening technique but I am happy with the results I have got.

Any hoo, I am well chuffed with my efforts, now whats the best way to maintain the blades if using them quite a bit, just go fwith the 1200 and 600 and then stropp? or go through the whole routine.

As a matter on interest I have a Bison Forester with apple scales and a Stuart Marsh Bushcrafter with walnut diamond wood scales

Thanks again guys especially to Red for all his posts on the subject.

John.

 

[Barn Owl]

You should be able to "maintain" the edge you've got by stropping after an outing/usage.
The course stone is really if you've made a dink.
Other than that i personally strop or have a swipe with the 1200 then a 4000 then a 6000 and final strop.
Tom
P.S. A lateral feel with the skin doesn't tell you anything about sharpness in my opinion.

 

[weaver]

Good work!

Glad you sorted it out and joined the sharp knife club. Isn't it great knowing you can make a knife as sharp as you want anytime?

A small ceramic stone or one with diamond on the reverse side like the DC-4 is a great thing to have in the woods or anytime you are using your knife for hard work. A quick touch on the stone and your off cutting again. Then polish it up on the waterstones and strop when you get back home to be ready for next time.

 

[deepcmonkey]

Weaver, I have a DC3 and to be honest its a bit to small, I will look in to getting the DC4 Thanks for the advice.

Barn owl you are right the thumb across the blade does seem to be a useless method (which I now realise!), its just one of those things I seem to atomatically do when handling a knife, have to get out of the habbit I guess

 

[TheGreenMan]

...The weird thing I noticed though, the normal check I do to see if a knife is sharp, is to run a thumb latterally across the blade, the motion most people do, now when I do this is doesn't feel as sharp as they used to but the knives are in deed sharper, is because the edge is in fact smoother or something?...

John, that's probably because during stropping you have removed the 'burr' or 'wire edge' as it sometimes referred to. A thick blade may feel almost blunt if it has been finely honed and stropped, a thin blade will often feel 'sharp' even after proper honing and stropping, but that's the 'thinness' you are feeling not it's 'sharpness'

Hope this helps

Best regards,
Paul.

 

[weaver]

I test for sharpness on my thumbnail. If it slides off it is not sharp, it should bite in without any pressure.

Then I check for wire edge by sliding my thumb off the edge of the knife, it should feel smooth on both sides.

 

[British Red]

Wow, what a nice post. I'm glad the pictorials were useful.

I do them because I think a few pictures really do help. Its a bit like cooking, good chefs use words like "blanche". That just leaves me going "huh?". A few pictures though and the light dawns on me . So I tend to make my posts mostly pictures with a few supporting words - clever people tell me thats because I'm a "visual thinker". I have no idea what that means, I just know that if I see something its easier to grasp than have someone explain it to me.

It is strange though isn't it with a skill like sharpening. Working it out is really tricky. But once you have been shown (even in photos) and grasped it, it seems so simple. I do my cookery, brewing, and preserving (and other) tutorials the same way for other forums. There are so many "old skills" that we are losing - not just the Bushcraft ones but basic "home steading" skills of making things from scratch or basic ingredients and components. I feel we need a new "Jack Hargreaves" sometimes to re-enlighten us in the joy of old skills, the same way that Ray and Mors have on primitive skills.

Anyway - glad it helped

Red

 

[TheGreenMan]

Jack, rocks. I remember being glued to his TV programmes as a youngster.

Cheers,
Paul.