How SHARP??

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jojo

Need to contact Admin...
Aug 16, 2006
2,630
4
England's most easterly point
apache5b.jpg


This is a very nice carving Hoodoo. How big is it and what wood did you use if I may ask?

How sharp are my tools? Sharp enough for the job at hand! When they stop cutting, I sharpen them...:)
 

Siberianfury

Native
Jan 1, 1970
1,534
6
mendip hills, somerset
nice Carving there,
my experience is based on opinels, i find that the bevels need to wedge the wood apart in order to make the cut easier, im talking more about cutting wood for camp dutys that carving, if the grind is too thin, it wont wedge and push the wood apart, which means you need to use more effort for deep cuts and the blade can get stuck in the wood.
 
The initial question was "how sharp". Well today I gralloched and butchered a Roe Deer with a knife that was well under what you would call "very sharp", as a matter of fact it was rather dull ( I had not had a chance to resharpen it)

To be honest it was easy, and having a razor sharp knife would have made little or no difference. I had a Mora standing by that was razor sharp and did not need to use it.



Some people read too much into sharpness. You don't need to be able to split an atom.
 

Gaoler

Tenderfoot
Jun 22, 2009
68
0
Notts
I shave using a cut throat razor and take great care with the edge. I cut with the knife and keep it sharp enough to cut well. It doesn't need to be as sharp as the razor.
 

Melonfish

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 8, 2009
2,460
1
Warrington, UK
Well first i start with a reasonably standard sharpening stone, then i move to a smoother stone, then ceramic. Not satisfied with this before i've moved on to using wads of silk but that wasn't enough so i gathered some spider webs and used that, almost happy with this i then hold it up to the wind and allow it to really put an edge on. Finally to give it a polish and that one last touch of sharp i subject it to moonlight.

Bookworms should be able to tell me where thats from ;)

personally i have a course 4 sided block from aldi which goes from 200 to 600, i also have a chef's steel and my DC4
if i can shave with it then i reckon its pretty sharp enough but i'll be happy with a working edge that just cuts wood without *too much pressure.
 

TomBartlett

Spoon worrier
Jun 13, 2009
439
5
37
Madison, WI
www.sylvaspoon.com
Well first i start with a reasonably standard sharpening stone, then i move to a smoother stone, then ceramic. Not satisfied with this before i've moved on to using wads of silk but that wasn't enough so i gathered some spider webs and used that, almost happy with this i then hold it up to the wind and allow it to really put an edge on. Finally to give it a polish and that one last touch of sharp i subject it to moonlight.

Terry Pratchett, when Death wasn't Death for a while and he made himself a new scythe. Can't remember which Discworld novel it was though...
 

MrEd

Life Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,148
1,053
Surrey/Sussex
www.thetimechamber.co.uk
i test on free hanging paper,if that cuts with no problems im happy.

yep me to, usualy jsut a few licks on the strop restores it if it starts to 'catch'

Terry Pratchett, when Death wasn't Death for a while and he made himself a new scythe. Can't remember which Discworld novel it was though...

was it 'Reaper Man' - this was the one were death disappears and goes and gathers crops with his scythe.......
 
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Ratbag

Subscriber
Aug 10, 2005
1,015
12
50
Barnsley
Shaving sharp does me <snip> ............<snip> I find it easy to maintain with a ceramic rod.

Exactly my experience too. Once I have a knife properly sharp (for me, that's the hanging paper test) I find it very easy to maintain the edge after use with either a light polish on the sapphire side of a DC3 or a quick strop on the reverse side of my belt (I tend to crayon a little polishing compound onto the reverse side of my 'schraftin' belt to speed the process).

Little and often keeps everything copacetic. I can't remember the last time I had to break out the waterstones to sharpen my user.

Maybe that means I'm not a proper bushcrafter, eh? :)

Rat
 
Jan 11, 2006
165
0
55
brecon
On topic .... im makeing my own knives atm and shaveing sharp is a must for all of them lets face it with a new knife its the first thing you try that or papper shredding
i woudnt want less than that on an out of the box knife (its got to the point where i have to use a leg now made a lot of knives in the last few months lol).

not exactly shure why ppl are saying "shaveing sharp will do me " what the heck comes after that ?
i made 2 skiners the other day with a 17degree micro bevel ON a full flat grind in 30 mm o1 some one would have to do some maths to accertain all the angles im sure lol, put it this way i have cut myself without noticing and have to go wash to see where and now im a bit scared to handle them (i can get a wire edge on them atm with just a strop...think about that for a sec ) prob buckle if i tried to cut wood ofc but thats not what they wer designed for i never take just one knife with me so the basic answer would be very sharp and dam sharp lol.

off topic ...pratchet rocks got about 12 atm i love dem witches :))
 
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John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,108
2,843
66
Pembrokeshire
On topic .... im makeing my own knives atm and shaveing sharp is a must for all of them lets face it with a new knife its the first thing you try that or papper shredding
i woudnt want less than that on an out of the box knife (its got to the point where i have to use a leg now made a lot of knives in the last few months lol).

not exactly shure why ppl are saying "shaveing sharp will do me " what the heck comes after that ?
i made 2 skiners the other day with a 17degree micro bevel ON a full flat grind in 30 mm o1 some one would have to do some maths to accertain all the angles im sure lol, put it this way i have cut myself without noticing and have to go wash to see where and now im a bit scared to handle them (i can get a wire edge on them atm with just a strop...think about that for a sec ) prob buckle if i tried to cut wood ofc but thats not what they wer designed for i never take just one knife with me so the basic answer would be very sharp and dam sharp lol.

off topic ...pratchet rocks got about 12 atm i love dem witches :))

Now that sounds sharp!
As you say - different amounts of sharp for different tasks...if it does the job it is sharp enough :)
It sounds like your skinners are rivaling DEATH's sharpening....
Love em - got em all except the latest one ...waiting for the paperbck in charity shops (as ever) or Xmas.... SQUEEK!
 

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