Mora sharpening

[alex.c]

Hi
my mora clipper is in need of a sharpen its not badly dull so I will be using the fine side of the wetstone (1000 grit) but i was wondering if anyone had any tips to sharpen the micro bevel or just sharpen normally exept held up so the knife edge is touching the stone (as it dosent look like it does when held at the primary bevel) and sharpen ?
Any help would be much apreciated thanks

 

[milius2]

Is it stainless steel or carbon steel?
That makes difference to how I sharpen my Mora's. Because carbon steel holds a very good edge and therefore is worth of all the effort. I would get rid of the secondary bevel, but it would take a lot of time with 1000grid. You may want to use core side ot the stone to get a bit more metal off.

 

[Elines]

What you are describing sounds right, however ....... I spent ages reading up on knife sharpening and it wasn't until Lee (Luckylee on the forum) gave me a quick impromptu lesson that I got the hang of it (about 2 - 3 weeks ago so I am not an expert) so if you can't get it to work then get someone who does know how to show you - it won't take long

After sharpening in the way you describe you then need to strop it but this time keep the skandi grind flush with the strop and let the micro edge be sharpened/stropped by the slight depression into the leather as you drag it along. You need to put some grinding paste on the strop, which you can get from a Halfords type place

Health warning - might sound as though I know what I am talking about - but all I really know is that if I do what Lee told me then I get my (Mora) knives really sharp (hair shaving sharp, which is good enough for me)

Re the secondary/micro bevel - this may be a matter of taste but until Lee showed me how to create one I was getting absolutely nowhere re getting a sharp edge, so - for me - a secondary/micro bevel is definitely the way to go

EDIT - PS If you are like me then getting the hang of it after trying for ages without success will give you a real buzz and you will keep sharpening knives and shaving bits off - mind you - anybody who you show your shaved bits to will think you are a nutter - (well they do when I show them - but it might be influenced by the bits I am shaving

 

[alex.c]

I'l give it ago but whether it will work or not i dont know din't know the info about the strop
thanks alot
Alex.

 

[luckylee]

the secondary micro bevel helps with not getting roles and chipping, if you are using a carving knife for say spoons like the Mora 106 then i would go to the wet stones and go for the zero scandi edge, as this is important, but for your normal bush craft knives i would put a micro bevel on them, because if you keep going to the stones to maintain the zero bevel you are taking more metal of all the time, and its a long winded afair, every time you want to sharpen your knife.
a wize man once said.
you sharpen your knife once, and you hone it for life.
take care.
lee.

 

[alex.c]

Its carbon steel by the way

 

[alex.c]

Thanks for all the info

 

[robin wood]

This post may be of interest
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29512&highlight=mora+too+sharp

I sharpen only on the secondary, you can do this maybe 20-30 times before the secondary starts to get quite large at which point I scrub the primary down on something very coarse. To do the secondary I first register the primary then lift the back of the knife by about 5 degrees. Now I hold that angle and do maybe 5 strokes on the stone. Same again the other side. Repeat on your other stones whatever you use (I start on 1000, then 5000 then autosol on a piece of MDF) Because you are only taking a tiny bit of metal away from the tiny bevel 5 strokes is plenty and you don't need loads of pressure, it is a very very quick way to sharpen a knife. I can get a rusty blunt mora razor sharp in 2 minutes.

 

[luckylee]

This post may be of interest
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29512&highlight=mora+too+sharp

I sharpen only on the secondary, you can do this maybe 20-30 times before the secondary starts to get quite large at which point I scrub the primary down on something very coarse. To do the secondary I first register the primary then lift the back of the knife by about 5 degrees. Now I hold that angle and do maybe 5 strokes on the stone. Same again the other side. Repeat on your other stones whatever you use (I start on 1000, then 5000 then autosol on a piece of MDF) Because you are only taking a tiny bit of metal away from the tiny bevel 5 strokes is plenty and you don't need loads of pressure, it is a very very quick way to sharpen a knife. I can get a rusty blunt mora razor sharp in 2 minutes.

great bit of advice robin.
take care.
lee.

 

[alex.c]

Thanks for all great advice
Alex.

 

[alex.c]

Oh one last thing is a 1000 grit stone good enough if it is stroped afterwards or dose it need a finer stone (like 5000 grit stone) like robin said
Thanks All
Alex.

 

[Elines]

I use a '£5 sharpening kit' as per British Red sticky and I think the finest wet and dry paper I could find was about 1000 - works for me (used wet) but I have never had the opportunity to try a 5000/6000 grit so don't know how much better (if at all) it would be

 

[Dogoak]

I've had some great results from stroping, got some blue compound from here...........http://www.arb-tek.co.uk/ourshop/cat_462883-Cutting-and-Carving-Tools.html

 

[robin wood]

Under a microscope a 1000 grit edge looks like a saw. It cuts some things eg a tomato very well, probably better than a super fine polished edge, for some things eg hard wood it is not as good as using a 5000. As only the tips of the saw tooth edge actually do the cutting they blunt faster so a 1000 edge will not last as long as a 5000 edge but then it takes seconds to put a new edge on so little and often with a 1000 stone is certainly a viable sharpening regime. The farmer by my workshop sharpens his pen knife on a coarse slab of sandstone, it takes seconds and cuts bailtwine well. There is no right and wrong what works best for you depends on what you are cutting and how much time you want to spend fannying about, some of us enjoy sharpening as a zen like activity, some regard it as a chore to be got out of the way as quickly as possible, others are just weird and like shaving their arms and showing their mates.

 

[alex.c]

Thanks again for the info time to get sharpening
Cheers
Alex.

 

[Elines]

...... some of us enjoy sharpening as a zen like activity, some regard it as a chore to be got out of the way as quickly as possible, others are just weird and like shaving their arms and showing their mates.

I definitely don't regard it as a chore but afraid I'm still at the weird stage, hoping to graduate to the Zen stage