Need A Sharpening Stone

[durulz]

I have a nice big sharpening block in my shed that I use for keeping all knives and tools razor sharp.
But what I want is a small (couple of inches square) sharpening stone that I can take with me. Want it small so it fits in my tool bag. And want a 'one-stone-does-all' block as well. Remember, this is only for out in the field for putting an edge on a knife after blunting it. I can use the big block at home to do a proper job.
Can anyone recommend one?
Prefer something readily available from the high street - B&Q, Robert Dyas, Homebase, Wickes etc.
Cheers.

 

[Matt.S]

Check out British Red's £5 sharpening system. It's based on wet&dry sandpaper and works a treat!

 

[Chris G]

I've a sharpening set that I bought from my local cheapie tool shop. It's not from Blue Spot but it's something like that. They're about 1" wide by 3.5" long, one coarse, one medium and one fine. ISTR that it cost about £3.

The nearest that I can find on the internet is this;

[URL="http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.woodcraft.com/images/family/web3574.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx%3Ffamilyid%3D3574&h=224&w=230&sz=21&hl=en&start=1&usg=__0fdT3f4ZBcESlFsTSBzihBSRhGQ=&tbnid=dthDJe_qSSWSMM:&tbnh=105&tbnw=108&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddiamond%2Bwhetstone%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D21%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN[/URL]

Chris

 

[verloc]

Sorry to be predictable but have you had a look at a fallkniven dc4?

 

[IntrepidStu]

Sorry to be predictable but have you had a look at a fallkniven dc4?

I have the DC3 which is slightly smaller. It really does give my knives a razor finish.

 

[Traper]

You can't go wrong with DC4. IMHO the best field sharpener.

 

[durulz]

What's the £5 sharpening system?

 

[IntrepidStu]

What's the £5 sharpening system?

Its on here somewhere. Basicaly you stick some very fine wet/dry sandpaper to pieces of wood. I did this a couple of years ago, and it does work but the blades have a tendancy to cut into the paper every now and again.

Stu

 

[Bimble]

I use a spyderco double sided ceramic honing stone.... it makes any well maintained blade razor sharp ( as testified by my left hand's middle finger which currently has three stitches in it from last weekend.). It is a bit fragile but it's light, long and flat and produces a beautiful edge polish.

This is a great finishing stone for the field. If however you nick the blade when in the field you only have two options. The first is cry and put up with it, the second is to take a small carbide stone with you as well. I use a very good Normark one but this is at least 22 years old so I doubt they are made anymore.

That said, I don’t like to get this aggressive with my knife in the field as 9/10 times you will bugger up the true bevel and then it will take you hours to get it right again when back home. The only exception to this is on an axe where the convex bevel will tolerate a bit of local 'field fettling'.

I have seen, but have never used a DC3 or 4. I hear they are good, but I wouldn’t want my knife to touch the diamond side! A good blade should never touch anything other than a hone after its initial sharpening unless you abuse it, which I have on occasion, mostly due to my laziness, been known to do.:11doh: