sharpening help.

[Frazer d]

Hey. Im new to this forum so hi everyone. I have just purchased and received my swc knife which i love to bits. After using it a lot I wanted to just touch the edge up a bit. I have a Fallkniven dc4 sharpening stone. My only problem is when I have sharpened my other knives with the dc4 it leaves some nasty scratches across the blade ( from the edge to about half a cm up). I really want to keep my swc knife in the best condition I can because it cost so much. Is there anyway i can prevent the scratches on the blade. If i cannot prevent them, is there anyway i can minimise them?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[ged]

You probably used the diamond side of the DC4, right? It's quite coarse. The ceramic side is a lot finer but it still needs a bit of wearing in from new. Either side, don't let the sides of the blade come into contact with whatever you're using to sharpen it or it will scratch. Not that I care a lot about that, but some people do.

I'd guess that all your knife needs is a little stropping. Get a bit of leather and some Autosol, read a bit about stropping. Don't overdo it, you'll be surprised how quickly you can bring the edge back to razor sharp. I usually do no more than half a dozen strokes each side, then five each side, then four, then three, two, one. Search the site for stropping, look in the sticky threads, ask again if you don't find more than you ever wanted to know about sharpening on the site -- it's all there.

Oh -- welcome to the forum!

 

[Frazer d]

Thanks a lot for the help. I have never heard of stropping before and I have just tried it. It really gets that extra sharpness in such a short time. I know what I am doing wrong now with the stone. I will keep the rest of the blade off it with a bit more care.
Thanks

 

[redandshane]

You could use some Micromesh to polish out the scratches You can buy it on BB in the dealers sales section or e bay Its well worth getting as its useful stuff A bit like Sooty Powder for metal It can also be used to achieve scary sharp for your edge

 

[Barn Owl]

Thought you hadn't purchased one yet going by your other thread.

Anyhow,
after use just strop the knife and it should keep an edge for ages.

There's plenty of advice on how to if you search.

If you're not used to free hand sharpening get a sharpening system (e.g Lansky for one) where the rods are placed in pre-set angles and you only draw the blade down.

 

[Frazer d]

Thought you hadn't purchased one yet going by your other thread.

Anyhow,
after use just strop the knife and it should keep an edge for ages.

There's plenty of advice on how to if you search.

If you're not used to free hand sharpening get a sharpening system (e.g Lansky for one) where the rods are placed in pre-set angles and you only draw the blade down.

Thanks for the advice . Im going to keep practising on my other knives before I try it on my swc. My other thread is about the ray mears version, I have a custom made one which I received. I really love my swc and was looking to buy the ray mears version also, for collection purposes . I was just wondering why the high asking price, is there anything different with the ray mears one. I payed just over £200 for mine and they are asking for £300 :/

 

[Barn Owl]

Thanks for the advice . Im going to keep practising on my other knives before I try it on my swc. My other thread is about the ray mears version, I have a custom made one which I received. I really love my swc and was looking to buy the ray mears version also, for collection purposes . I was just wondering why the high asking price, is there anything different with the ray mears one. I payed just over £200 for mine and they are asking for £300 :/

I see, nah, no difference really.

You just have to pay a bit of a premium for a name.

I have bought the moras that have 'Ray Mears' on the blade, just for that fact.
Only way I can afford one with his name at the mo'.

 

[Frazer d]

Haha. Yeah its very expensive. I am now skint again lol. I purchased it and cant wait to get it I know that it's not going to preform much better than a mora it's just the fact that it's handmade makes it special. I hope it will last a lifetime since I am going to use it but I will look after it very well. I also tried stropping on a few of my knives and I couldn't believe the results they turned from sharp to razor sharp in only a few strokes.

Thanks for all the advice and help,

Frazer

 

[dixienormns]

i use japanese water stones to razor sharpen my knifes and axes leaves the edge like a mirror 800 1200 6000 grit