A Decent Portable Sharpening Rod.

Nic Ramirez

Nic Ramirez

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Joined
Apr 17, 2003
Messages
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I'm looking for a decent sharpening mini pocket-sized rod/hone/stone...whatever. Just something that's portable.

I'd rather have a finer grit. Is there a combo stone/steel that anyone prefers?

I've seen a ton on the web but from this side of the screen they all look the same.

Any suggestions?
 
I just bought a Lansky "Mini dog bone" ceramic and Lansky Spyderco triangle portable sharpening rods. They were 5 and 6 dollars each. They are a bit course though. You could always take an old fine grit Crock Stick, score it and snap it off to carry with you.

I like the Lansky's because they're small, but I'm sure you're right about them all being about the same grit.
 
The gentleman from Vermont offered good advice -- about what I'd suggest. ;) Sometimes it's just cheaper to get a full-size ceramic stick, score it, and snap it off to the length you want.

Among other offerings, you can get the Lansky pocket triangular sharpening rods, 11-inch long fairly smooth 3/8" kitchen crock sticks, and a mondo ~1-1/4" thick ceramic stick at Smokey Mtn Knife Works. FWIW, the handles on the 3/8" ceramic rods have been pretty loosely glued on in my experience, so they're pretty easy to knock off the stick. I also like the Eze-Lap Sportsman diamond pocket rod. It is the size, shape, and has the pocket clip of an ordinary click-type ballpoint pen. Quite small & tidy.
http://eknifeworks.com/webapp/eCommerce/index.html

SMKW part numbers for sharpeners mentioned above.
1. Big John Super Stick™ Ceramic Rod - item SI1000 - $6.49 (1-1/4" thick)
2. Tennessee Big Stick™ Ceramic Rod - item SI1020 - $0.99 (3/8" thick)
3. Lansky® Dog Bone Sharpener - item G102604 - $1.99 (triangle pocket stone)
4. Eze-Lap® Sportman's D Shaped Shaft Diamond Sharpener with Grooves - item SI4 - $4.99

Otherwise, there are pocket-size diamond flat- or rod-shaped sharpeners that range in the $5-$35 range, depending on sizes and single- or multi-grits offered. Eze-Lap and DMT are the two most commonly seen brands, but there are others like Gerber, Hewlett, Schrade, and Smith & Wesson. In kitchen supply stores you may find names like Chefs Choice or Henckels diamond sharpeners, plus others.
 
In addition to the DMT Diafolds and GATCO Tri-Seps, the Spyderco "Double Stuff" is an excellent hone (ceramic) for field use.

I also like to carry a small aluminum oxide (fine india) stone for touch ups requiring a bit coarser abrasive than the ceramic.
 
I've got two of Ragnar's short ceramic stones, I think they were like a buck off his web site. I like them a lot, even use them in place of my sharpmaker sometimes. They're worth checking out.
 
spyderco makes some ceramic stones that are really great. thay are 8 inches long x about 1/2 inch wide and available in 2 different grits and come in a leather sleeve. i get them from a dealer at the knife booth (swap meet). they are listed as files by spyderco. they have round edges(both large and small) and will fit any serration i have come across and also have a fair sized flat portion and fish hook groove. used these exclusivly while on deployment and performance was superb. when i travel they are the ones i grab. would like to post pics but cannot figure how to make them small enough to post.

hope this helps

tim:D :)
 
just took 2 pics and cannot figger out how to post!@#$%^
any suggestions?? will try again tomorrow nite.

tim sent the pics to your email. sorry about the size of the
files. not to slick with this computer stuff.
 
These pics were sent over to me from Tim Wells.

Imgp0136.jpg


Imgp0137.jpg


Great Pics!!:D
 
spyderco makes some ceramic stones that are really great. thay are 8 inches long x about 1/2 inch wide and available in 2 different grits and come in a leather sleeve. i get them from a dealer at the knife booth (swap meet). they are listed as files by spyderco. they have round edges(both large and small) and will fit any serration i have come across and also have a fair sized flat portion and fish hook groove. used these exclusivly while on deployment and performance was superb. when i travel they are the ones i grab.

WOULD ALSO ADD THAT WHILE I WAS TAKING PICS, NOTICED A COUPLE CHIPS. I HAVE BEEN USING CERAMIC FOR OVER 25 YEARS(REMEMBER USING GRANDMAS OLD CROCKS AND BUTTER CHURN) AND THESE ARE THE FIRST I HAVE SEEN CHIP. WILL NOT DETER ME THOUGH. THEY ARE SUPER STONES!!

TIM
 
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