Sharpening a Puukko
- Thread starter ScottC
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I'd suggest a medium grit ceramic stone like the one Spyderco make:Young Bushman said:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/default.asp?part=441010
Try Ebay, I picked up a spydie sharpmaker for abour $45 (yes dollars) incl shipping from a seller in the US.
Cheers
David
Cheers
David
Japanese water stones do a cracking job. Axminster and Tilgear (to name but two) do them, and they are cheaper than ceramics. Thing is, all those are bench sharpeners, not field sharpeners.
Woodlore/Ray Mears recommend taking a waterstone and sawing in half. Other than being murder on a hacksaw, the resulting brick is still heavy, relatively messy to use, and needs quite a bit of water to work well. Water stones do cut fast and give a good edge though.
The Fallkniven sharpener that Stuart has looks good, diamond on one side, ceramic on the other. You don't want a rod type sharpener for a flat scandi, you need something with plenty of flat surface. Spyderco also do a dual sided ceramic sharpener, a bit lighter than the Fallkniven. Again, dunno what it is like, have heard good things though.
DMT folding sharpeners are pretty good, but the red grade is a bit too coarse for fine blades, you really need the extra fine as well. and that is more £££. They are light though.
At a push, for field sharpening, you can use 1200 wetndry and any hard flat surface. But that really is pushing things :roll:
I use water stones at home, carry a DMT and leather loaded with stopping paste in the field, and wet and dry if I am going a long way (air travel) and may have to rework an edge.
Woodlore/Ray Mears recommend taking a waterstone and sawing in half. Other than being murder on a hacksaw, the resulting brick is still heavy, relatively messy to use, and needs quite a bit of water to work well. Water stones do cut fast and give a good edge though.
The Fallkniven sharpener that Stuart has looks good, diamond on one side, ceramic on the other. You don't want a rod type sharpener for a flat scandi, you need something with plenty of flat surface. Spyderco also do a dual sided ceramic sharpener, a bit lighter than the Fallkniven. Again, dunno what it is like, have heard good things though.
DMT folding sharpeners are pretty good, but the red grade is a bit too coarse for fine blades, you really need the extra fine as well. and that is more £££. They are light though.
At a push, for field sharpening, you can use 1200 wetndry and any hard flat surface. But that really is pushing things :roll:
I use water stones at home, carry a DMT and leather loaded with stopping paste in the field, and wet and dry if I am going a long way (air travel) and may have to rework an edge.
Add to that that waterstones break easily when carried. The only thing I now carry is a Fallkniven DC4 ceramic/diamond stone from www.heinnie.com or a medium grit and fine grit mini DMT sharpener. Unbreakable and easy to use.C_Claycomb said:
Any sharpening system you have will do, be it oil stone, water stone or whatever as long as it has a medium and fine side to it.
Some will say water stones are best and this is genreally true but they do tend to wear out quickly - where as a honest to goodness oil stone will last you into old age.
Be wary of diamond stones as these will sharpen your knife quickly but will take off far more metal than is needed and as such shorten the life of the blade.
As for sawing a water stone in half - make sure you have an afternoon free and about twenty spare blades! Besides why ruin a good stone when you would be better served by a little pocket Arkansas stone or similar.
Some will say water stones are best and this is genreally true but they do tend to wear out quickly - where as a honest to goodness oil stone will last you into old age.
Be wary of diamond stones as these will sharpen your knife quickly but will take off far more metal than is needed and as such shorten the life of the blade.
As for sawing a water stone in half - make sure you have an afternoon free and about twenty spare blades! Besides why ruin a good stone when you would be better served by a little pocket Arkansas stone or similar.
ChrisKavanaugh
Need to contact Admin...
www.ragweedforge.com has extensive files and a brief,informative section on sharpening. If you have one of the nicer scandi knifes; I would invest in some Moras. @ $9 USD I bought several as gifts, backups and knockabout blades. I was able to hone my skills at honing without fear of damaging something nice.
I second CK on having things to practice on. I dread to think what I might have done to a good knife when I started out :shock: 
I don't like "fine" diamond for touch ups, but it does well when a dink has to be worked out in the field. I am experimenting with an extra fine diamond hone, so far so good. Ceramic is a much gentler hone.
I used to use oil stones but like the lack of mess using water instead of oil.
I don't like "fine" diamond for touch ups, but it does well when a dink has to be worked out in the field. I am experimenting with an extra fine diamond hone, so far so good. Ceramic is a much gentler hone.
I used to use oil stones but like the lack of mess using water instead of oil.
Indeed it is Adi but us peasants will have to stick with our Arkansas stones for now!!!
Unless............................ :-D
Unless............................ :-D
ha --- I wish! :shock:
If I won the lottery Adi I'd buy us all a forest to play in - and I'd run free courses there too - as for the arkansas stone well I picked it up year ago in Canada so I guess that explains things!!
If I won the lottery Adi I'd buy us all a forest to play in - and I'd run free courses there too - as for the arkansas stone well I picked it up year ago in Canada so I guess that explains things!!
J
Jamie
Guest
i'll second or third the vote for the fallkniven tool. for a scandi ground knife it could well be the only stone you'd ever need.
but a sheet of wet'n'dry on a board would still last quite a while and cost pence.
cheers, and.
but a sheet of wet'n'dry on a board would still last quite a while and cost pence.
cheers, and.
I'll vote with sargey's idea. Sandpaper has become my preferred method for field sharpening scandis. You can cut a piece of wood to any size you want and you have a wide variety of papers to choose from for grits and they weigh but a pittance. And sandpaper cuts like crazy and when it wears, just chuck in another piece. Besides a worn piece of sandpaper can be used hundreds of times: it just becomes a finer and finer grit as it wears down. Wet/dry sandpaper is fine for the field because it's even designed to be used when wet.
In general though, whatever ya have handy will put a good edge on a scandi. You can buy small waterstones but they are tricky to dress in the field. A nice small India stone is a great choice and this is what comes with a Randall knife when you buy one. Small arkansas stones are wonderful for touching up an edge. Lots of small ceramic and diamond sharpeners to choose from as well.
Sharpen 'er up before you leave and depending on how long you will be in the field and what you plan to do, you may not have to do much sharpening anyway.
Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances. :-D
In general though, whatever ya have handy will put a good edge on a scandi. You can buy small waterstones but they are tricky to dress in the field. A nice small India stone is a great choice and this is what comes with a Randall knife when you buy one. Small arkansas stones are wonderful for touching up an edge. Lots of small ceramic and diamond sharpeners to choose from as well.
Sharpen 'er up before you leave and depending on how long you will be in the field and what you plan to do, you may not have to do much sharpening anyway.
Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances. :-D
Often when sharpening a scandi grind, I will use a HoodooHone type set up. For this knife, I decided to use stones. I almost hated to sharpen it, since I would be marring the beautiful polsih of JM's waterstones. However, any knife used needs to be sharpened eventually.
I found that by using small stones instead of bench stones, I could follow the built in guide that the single edge bevel offers. I find it easier to hold a consistent angel, and follow the bevel with a hand held small stone, and keeping the blade fixed. THis is nothing new for sure, Japanese swordsmiths have been polishing their edges this way for centuries. I got the stones from Ragnar for just a few bucks, soft and hard Arkansas.
First one side:
Then the other:
After the edge was fully formed, I used a fine ceramic Spyderco rod to polish and refine, it is really easy to keep the flat rod perfectly aligned with the wide single edge bevel. They are truly the easist edges to sharpen, virtually fool proof.
I then gave it a few light edge trailing strokes on a leather strop:
The results: A hair shaving edge.
I
I found that by using small stones instead of bench stones, I could follow the built in guide that the single edge bevel offers. I find it easier to hold a consistent angel, and follow the bevel with a hand held small stone, and keeping the blade fixed. THis is nothing new for sure, Japanese swordsmiths have been polishing their edges this way for centuries. I got the stones from Ragnar for just a few bucks, soft and hard Arkansas.
First one side:
Then the other:
After the edge was fully formed, I used a fine ceramic Spyderco rod to polish and refine, it is really easy to keep the flat rod perfectly aligned with the wide single edge bevel. They are truly the easist edges to sharpen, virtually fool proof.
I then gave it a few light edge trailing strokes on a leather strop:
The results: A hair shaving edge.
I
cool and simple tutorial chad
what sort of angle do you hold the knife at for stropping? do you find that this works better than stropping on the flat?
the only thing i do different is holding the knife. one side you can sharpen with the edge away from you. rather than sharpen the other side with the edge pointing towards your stone hand, i hold the knife like i was going to pass it to some one handle first.
i'll try to get a pic later.
cheers, and.
what sort of angle do you hold the knife at for stropping? do you find that this works better than stropping on the flat?
the only thing i do different is holding the knife. one side you can sharpen with the edge away from you. rather than sharpen the other side with the edge pointing towards your stone hand, i hold the knife like i was going to pass it to some one handle first.
i'll try to get a pic later.
cheers, and.
