1 year, 2 thousand post, 3-day, 4-knife, 5K Qs GAW

GT, congrats on the 1 yr/2K status. good deal. also, thanks much for the giveaway. i am in, and here is my preference....
1) a Rough Rider 3.75" copperhead with clip and skinner blades and gunstock checked brown bone covers (love this one!)
2) a Rough Rider 3.5" lockback hunter with clip point blade and "Midnight Swirl" acrylic covers
3) a Rough Rider 4.125" one-arm trapper with clip and "razor" blades.
4) a 3.5" Victorinox Camper with a plethora of tools, including a saw

as far as sharpening goes, it has taken me a while to be able to sharpen all my knives. when i would get frustrated, i would slow down and pay attention to "angle and feedback". i would play with my angles. if i was having a hard time, i would start way flat...too flat even. then, i would pay attention to feedback. what does it feel like? and, what does it look like? i would then increase the angle a bit and take a new look. i would repeat until i found the edge. pay attention, and you really will feel the difference when you are "on the edge". i am not close to an expert, or maybe even a good sharpener... but this exercise really helped/helps me.

i have tried many, many sharpening setups. as someone above said, sometimes i just use a coffee mug now (if i am at the gf's house). however, it is not really necessary, as i carry a small, soft arkansas stone with me. this is obviously just for touch-ups, but it was cheap and it really does work great. i use water or spit for that.

my home setup is an Norton "India" combination stone for the heavy stuff (it is an oil stone, but i also just use water). then, i go to a set of japanese water stones (i think 500, 1000 and 6000). i also sometimes just use a ceramic rod. i have some "diamond stuff", but i prefer high carbon blades, so the stones work fine.

aw heck, in honor of you gracious giveway, i got up and took a pic....
IMG_2889_zpsli9hqygu.jpg
 
Last edited:
I'm in. Congrats on your time on this forum. I use a smith diamond sharpener and a Lansky diamond sharpening system. I also use diamond and ceramic croc sticks. Flitz and a leather strop is what I usually use to finish.
1. Vic Camper
2. One armed trapper
3. Copperhead trapper
4. Lock back hunter
 
My preferences in order are 3, 1, 2, 4.

My sharpening techniques are not unique.. When needed, I can always start with a fine file, then use diamond hones DMT of different coarseness. For most use, medium diamond hone is adequate. If needed, finish with the fine hone. I never use an kind of jig or guide. :cool:
 
GT is a pleasure to have you on the porch! Your post are always enjoyable and kind. Not an Entry but wanted to say ...Thank You!
 
Well Done GT, not an entry my friend as I have waaaaaaay to lucky from the generosity of our fellow Blade Forums members here, but I would just like to say its been a great year with you around my friend.
Thank you for your generosity and for being such a great Traditionalist! :thumbup:
 
GT,
I just wanted to chime in and thank you for your contribution to this subforum, and for your generosity.
Also, even though in the end we couldn't make it, you've been the best try I've had so far in meeting another fellow member in person. Better luck next time :D
Not an entry :)

Fausto
:cool:
 
Trapper
Copperhead
SAK
Lock back

I use a variety of methods, I have a Lansky system, Galco soft Arkansas stone, hard Arkansas, ceramic rods, leather strops, Spyderco medium and fine ceramic bench stones and a KO Work Sharp. Best advise I have is to be consistent and use a light touch, and don't hand sharpen drunk. Thanks for the chance!
 
Great GAW GT, very generous of you! Happy 2K :). I am in, preferences are:

1. Lockback
2. SAK
3. Copperhead
4. Trapper

A tip I picked up from the forum was for sharpening convex edges. I had a tough time when I started finding the correct angle when using leather strops with embedded compounds. The tip was to roll the edge towards the strop until it catches, then strop edge trailing. It really helped me a lot.

For almost all non-convex edges I sharpen using a Spyderco Sharpmaker, with Congress Tools Moldmaster stones for reprofiling.
 
Last edited:
I cannot believe you've only been here for a year GT! You are definitely considered one of the regulars on the porch in my book.
I like the idea of a sharpening hint to qualify, it's cool to read through the hints given already.

My hint: The Sharpie trick. When reprofiling or even just touching up, you have to sharpen until the bevels meet each other (otherwise you're just polishing steel and not getting any sharper). If yo color the bevels with a black sharpie and complete a few passes on your most coarse stone you should wear away the sharpie from the extreme edge of the bevel. If you still have remaining sharpie, you have to sharpen more BEFORE moving onto a finer grit stone. Once I learned this trick my sharpening time was cut in half on new reprofiling jobs and the frustration of a dull knife at the end of sharpening was eliminated. If you don't check where your bevels are at when on your coarsest stone, you may travel through all of your grits and have to start right over.

My order of choices for the GA would be:
1. RR Copperhead
2. Victorinox Camper
3. RR Razor
4. RR Lockback

Thanks again, looking forward to reading more hints...
 
Congrats on the milestone(s) and thank you so much for the generous giveaway!

My order of preference:
1. Copperhead
2. One-armed trapper
3. SAK
4. Lockback hunter

As to sharpening, the problem for me is that I'm terrible at it but I want to learn, so this thread has been great on that score. I have a Lansky 4-rod turnbox, a set of three pocket diamond hones, and some sandpaper in various grits. I mostly use the Lansky, which I've never been able to get anything really sharp with. I thought the diamond hones would help me but I have yet to learn how to achieve and maintain the right angle. I haven't done much with the sandpaper yet. Macchina just mentioned the "Sharpie trick," which I concur with as a helpful little technique.
 
I'm in. Thank you very much.

Started with sandpaper, graduated to stones, next project is a denim strop. Instructional threads for the strop on BF.

1. One armed trapper
2. Copperhead trapper
3. Vic Camper
4. Lock back hunter
 
Thanks to all the entrants so far for their congratulations and their helpful sharpening info and tips! :thumbup::thumbup:

And thanks to the "non-entrants" for their kind words as well. I really appreciate the sentiments expressed by Jack, Tim, Cory, Mike (LastRodeo), Ron, monstrum (thanks for noticing the title ;)), Gev, Duncan, Fausto, Mark, and Mike B. Seeing that list reminds me of how much I've enjoyed the interactions I've had with all of you (and many other Forum members) over the past year! :):) It's not too late to edit your posts and get an official entry in (and pass on some sharpening tips to less than ideal sharpeners like me). :D:D

- GT
 
Happy Anniversary GT! I'm glad you got here before me. You have helped me to feel welcome.
Not an entry, just a note of thanks.
Congratulations on your milestone, James
 
Bumping this thread to the first page in case there are other folks who'd like to enter before I pick winners in the morning.

Here's a reply to a "fair question" Cory asked. (I tried to respond by editing the original post in this thread, but I've had no luck. Anyone else finding the BF editor uncooperative the past couple of days??)

Cory Hess said:
...
Now, it's time for me to call shenanigans. You asked how we sharpen, but never divulged that information yourself. So, how does GT5K sharpen his knives?
Click to expand...
Quite ineffectively so far, Cory. That's the reason for the "theme" I selected for this GAW. I have a cheap "off-brand" silicon carbide combo stone that I apparently bought for some reason 25-30 years ago (maybe to sharpen hatchets or chisels?) and a set of credit card DMTs I got about a year ago. I can get my knives less dull, but not what I'd call sharp. I'm hoping I'll get some insight from info provided by GAW participants! (Somewhat paradoxically, at least to me, if a knife hasn't gotten too dull, I can "refresh" its edge quite effectively by stropping on one of my baseball glove pocket sheaths (photo of the sheath below). No compound, only about 3-4 inches of leather to work with, but satisfying results. :roll eyes:)
2GzimjPl.jpg


- GT
 
In for the chance. Thanks for the extreme generosity with some beautiful pieces. As of now, I just use Arkansas stones, a steel rod and finish on various leathers. My only tip is the wider the bevel, the better. Imao, anyhow.
 
19 official entrants in the GAW, and these two winners were randomly chosen this morning:

edbeau (post #14) won the copperhead, and
TPVT (post #21) won the lockback (2nd choice - sorry).

I hope the winners will PM/email me ASAP with mailing addresses. Thanks to everyone who participated; your sharpening info and tips are much appreciated.
Congratulations to the winners! :thumbup::thumbup:

- GT
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top