Sharpening the Woodlore / Scandi Grind

[Trekker]

I was just wondering if your keeping the 0 grind on your knives and laying the bevel flat on the stone when sharpening, or are you added a secondary bevel to the blade (using a sharpmaker).

Thanks

 

[Adi007]

I'm not because it's not as good at cutting wood.

The sharpmaker is a cool tool but I think there is a danger of it making me lazy and giving everything I have into a secondary bevel :shock:

You can use the sharpmaker to maintain the 0 grind though quite easily but i'd rather use a stone.

I was just wondering if your keeping the 0 grind on your knives and laying the bevel flat on the stone when sharpening, or are you added a secondary bevel to the blade (using a sharpmaker).

Thanks

 

[sargey]

well a bit of both really. though i tend to sharpen most of my knives on a sheet of wet'n'dry on a pad, they tend to become slightly convexed. i still touch 'em up occasionally with a sharp maker.

cheers, and.

 

[JakeR]

I Cant find my oil stones :-x , so i use 1000 to 6000 grit, and follow Mr Mears advice in essential bushcraft.

But getting the secondary bevel off is such a job.........almost there!


Cheers,


Jake

 

[Nod]

Jake......I got the Micarta and it came with a secondary bevel on it so I've been working on mine on and off for ages to try and get the 0 edge on it proper.

The tip is done now (don't how I managed that first, must have been closer to the 0 edge when it came) and I'm getting close on the rest of the blade.

I've been using an 800 waterstone, followed by a 1000/6000 when I need to take it out to use etc. Some of the blokes on the site have suggested getting something coarser, like 250 or so, to get the edge down more quickly. So I'll be off to the motor factors for some wet and dry when I get a chance to try and speed it up a bit.

I think Martyn said it took him about 10 hours of work. :shock:

 

[Martyn]

I think Martyn said it took him about 10 hours of work. :shock:

Not far off anyway. Course, I had plenty of coffee and fag breaks.

I didn't possess a really course stone, or I would have used it. I used what I'd got - medium oilstones (which is why it took so long) to get it down to a wire edge, then finished with waterstones. It is a long job, without doubt. Once done, there is NO WAY i'd deliberately put a secondary bevel back onto it.

 

[Hjaltlander]

Sorry guys,

But what on earth is a secondary bevel? I have to ask as i got one of the WS Micarta's on Xmas eve, and if it means what i think it does i ain't got one, i think?

If that makes any sense, Karl

 

[Martyn]

here...

Examine your knife very, very closely because the secondary bevel may be very small. If it's a true 0 edge, the primary bevels will go all the way to the edge as in example A above.

If you have a secondary bevel, such as in example B, then it's recommended you grind it down to a 0 bevel using the angles of the primary bevel as a guide...

You can see above, that you need to preserve the original primary bevel angles and take a lot of metal off the knife in order to achieve a true 0 edge, this is why it takes so long.

You can see in this picture, a maple woodlore with true 0 edge (as it came from the shop) and beneath it, a micarta woodlore with a mall secondary bevel...

You can just see a faint white line on the edge, where the light is reflecting off the secondary edge bevel.

 

[JakeR]

Hi,

I still havent found my oilstones :-x , I used wet and dry paper once years ago, but have forgotten all the details of the grits etc...

My secondary bevel on one side is pretty much gone, but it has taken me too long already, what grit wet'n'dry would i use? (or are they all the same?)

You can see in this picture, a maple woodlore with true 0 edge (as it came from the shop)

Is there a woodlore shop? if so would it be better but your knife in the shop (make sure it has no secondary bevel)?
Im doing the fundamental Bushcraft course in 2005, so should i wait and choose a knife from them?

Cheers,

Jake

 

[Martyn]

...figure of speach Jake, I bought em off the web.

Just keep going, you'll get there. Yes there are different grits, it usually says on the back of each sheet what the grit is, 40 being rough as a bears a**e, 2000 being baby's bum grade.

 

[JakeR]

Oh.......oops!

Umm, which would take off the metal most effectively without wrecking the blade?

Cheers,

Jake

 

[Martyn]

You pullin me leg Jake?

 

[Hjaltlander]

Hi Guy's
Ok, thanks for the pictures, yes a secondary bevel was what i thought, and on closer inspection to the blade of my WS Micarta, i do have the slightest bevel.

Oh well, it'll give me something to do on these long winter night's

Take care, Karl

 

[Nod]

Maybe we could form a Single Bevel 0 Edge support group to get us through the difficult days ahead!!!

 

[C_Claycomb]

Jake,

Whenever I have an edge that really isn't the shape I want I go at it with my 240 grit waterstone. I then get most of the scratches out with 400-600 went and dry on a hard surface, then carry on with a 1000 water stone. I now have a 6000 grit finishing stone, but the 1000grit gave a pretty good edge when stropped.

You need to be a bit careful not to get 240 grit scratches on the wrong part of the blade, but with a single bevel that is pretty easy to avoid, and anyway, it is only cosmetic, they can be got out with wet and dry paper.

You gotta be trying pretty hard to ruin a knife with a sharpening stone. Despite giving it my best try with a bench grinder (once), I have yet to do so!

 

[JakeR]

You pullin me leg Jake?

Sorry if it seems so!! But im honestly not!

Great, i'll get down to B&Q this week sometime......400-600 right?

If i were to buy a whole load of grits, would that substitute some stones? (im probably completely wrong and now look pretty stupid)

Cheers,

Jake

 

[Tony]

Nothing stupid about asking questions Jake

 

[Martyn]

No worries Jake, I guess I've been thinking "knives" for so long i get a bit of "tunnel vision" :-D

I'd go for a selection of grits from 240 up to the highest you can find, but go to at least 1000. Start with the 240 and do as much work with that grit as you need to, to get your 0 edge. Try to "raise a wire" along the whole edge with 240 grit. That means grind away until you can feel a small "lip" on one side. Then it's time for the higher grits, work up through then, doing 10 strokes per side. By the time you get to 1000 grit, you'll have a nice edge. The really super-fine hair popping edge comes with practice.

 

[MartiniDave]

Jake,

Try taking a look at Hoodoo's post in the "How do you know when its sharp enough" thread in this forum. The hones he pictured work very well and I think you'll find the answers you're looking for in that thread.

Dave

I'd put a link but I don't know how!

 

[sargey]

http://www.bushcraftuk.co.uk/community/viewtopic.php?t=947

martyn, great graphics!

for simple links to other threads, open up a second window with the thread you want to link to, right click on the address bar, scroll down to copy. then go to the window with your reply, right click, and paste.

cheers, and.