Stropping with flexcut

[Biker]

Hi, Not sure if this would be best posted in the edged tools section or here. Anyway here goes.

a couple of months ago I bought this item on Amazon

Bloody good piece of kit it is too, if you read the instructions and use it as they recommend. Anyway no connection with the item just impressed with their product as it brought my modest carving tool set up to a really nice cutting edge.

So on Monday night I had a mate turn up who wants me to make him a leather sheath for an Isreali bayonet he bought to use when he's hunting wild boar. It'll literally be a pig sticker to put the boar down if it wasn't killed by the shot.

The bayonet is so blunt you could get a nasty bruise if you slip while using it. So yesterday I set about cleaning it up and sharpening it. It seemed no matter what I did I couldn't get a decent edge on the blade, too steep a grind and too convex I suspect and I don't really want to go through the hassle of regrinding 11 inches of dagger. So I got as good an edge on it as I could then rubbed the yellow crayon honing paste from the kit above onto an old leather belt I use for a strop and set to on that.

The results are pretty bloody impressive for an amateur like me.

So if you struggle getting a decent edge on your knives take heart from me and try this combination of strop and honing paste. (I know it's obvious now but I hadn't considered using the crayon on anything other than the supplied block it came with)

The kit above it quite cheap for the money and I'm really pleased with the results it gives. You can find it HERE

Thanks for reading

 

[mountainm]

+1 I bought one to sharpen my Chisels with and have had a great deal of success with it. But I do wonder where I can get another yellow crayon from?

 

[Bardster]

axminster sell them. as an alternative Starkie blue works just as well.

 

[The Big Lebowski]

I bought just the crayon from a well know auction site for £6.

If you want bonkers sharp, try using some Tormek PA-70 Honing Paste after the Flexcut... A couple of strops on the wet paste brings the bevel up superbly.

al.

 

[Hoodoo]

I bought just the crayon from a well know auction site for £6.

If you want bonkers sharp, try using some Tormek PA-70 Honing Paste after the Flexcut... A couple of strops on the wet paste brings the bevel up superbly.

al.

I like the Gold but the PA-70 is easier to apply to those little inside edges. Excellent stropping compound. There was an article one or two issues ago in Woodcarving Illustrated where someone covered the bare wood part with leather. I haven't tried it but it does not sound like a bad idea.

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Yep, as soon as I used the PA-70 (within just a few strops) you could see the edge mirror up and it took on another level of sharpness

I use some green cheap stuff from screwfix on a leather strop, followed by flexcut (new purchase) on old denim then the tormek (also new) on old denim and it does a wonderful job.

I'll have a play with the compounds again on the weekend, as I'm doing some work on a budget axe thats slowly becoming very, very sharp.

atb, al.

 

[DS1150]

How does this stuff compare so Autosol? I've been using Autosol on an old belt recently with my knives and I'm happy with what it does.

 

[Hoodoo]

I have never used autosol so I have no way to compare the two.

 

[dancan]

I've just started playing with autosol on denim and (with no hair left on my arm) tormek is next on the radar .

 

[Biker]

Autosol, denim, bonkers. Check.

Thanks chaps!

 

[DS1150]

I'm off to dig out some old jeans in the garage to check out using that as a strop.

 

[luckylee]

i have invested in some of the flexcut gold and its great.