A Good Day with a Schrade 8OT Stockman

rhino

rhino

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Dec 30, 2000
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I "found" one of my Schrade 8OT stockman patterns this morning and decided to give it a quick touch-up on the edges since they didn't feel sharp anymore (it had been sitting for several months at least unused). I did a few strokes on the fine side of a DMT folding sharpener, then a few more on a nearly-worn-out EZLap rod.

I was expecting to get "hair popping" sharp. What I got instead was "tree topping" sharp. That's something I have not done on any of my knives since I was in college and used a hard black arkansas stone to finish my edges (it was a stone originally used to maintain the edges on non-disposable microtome blades). I used to be able to shave my face dry with my Swiss Army knives back then, but they just didn't slice as well as with a rougher edge from the diamond abrasives.

It was exceptionally sweet because I've been in a sharpening slump lately, but I think my mojo is back intact. I've never gotten this kind of edge without some level of polishing, either with hard black arkansas or a strop, so it's really cool. I know the thin blades and 1095 really help here, but I'm still pleased with myself.

So now I have a reason to carry a stockman again, although I guess I didn't really need one!
 
Carry it cause ya want ta! ;)

I can appreciate the sharpening slump feeling. I pretty much free hand sharpen on a set of Arkansas stones. Some days it seems like everything just comes out fine edged and cutting crazy. Then I hit a period where it seems I just can't get anything more than a utility edge that cuts okay, but just isn't that smooth cutting edge I like. Those times can be a real drag. Always better when things come together on the stones. Seems like the universe is in perfect harmony then!
 
In the immortal words of Adam the Space Hippie from the classic Star Trek episode "The Way to Eden," . . .

. . . we reach!

I've never owned any of the sharpening gadgets, although some of them on the market are clearly very effective and efficient. I just get pleasure from sharpening freehand, although it's frustrating when I'm in a slump.

I think that traditional, slipjoint folders like an 8OT deserve to be sharpened freehand like people did with an essentially identical knife 50 or a 100 years ago. It makes me feel connected to the past. I started learning by watching my dad and then applying a lot of trial and error about 30 years ago. I'm still learning more every day (because of the good people here and similar place), so maybe I'll get the hang of it some day. :D

They're also a lot easier to sharpen freehand than a big, high-tech locking folder in my opinion because the blades are thin and usually a non-stainless high carbon steel.

You're right about carrying it because I want to do so. I'm not even going to replace any of the other knives I already carry; I'm just going to add the 8OT to the set (at least for a while).
 
I much prefer my freehand stones (though I do need to pick up some waterstones), but I have a Sharpmaker to fall back on when I feel like I can't hold an angle. Beats screwing up a bevel, or scratching the crap out of a blade, both of which I've done...

I've also recently pretty much given up on messing around with different bevel angles, compound angles, and "micro bevels". They're all cool to play with, and from a theoretical sense, but I'm tired of picking up a knife, not being happy with the edge, and having to ask myself, "Now what's the final angle on this one?" That said, I've gotten some of my sharpest edges this way.

-- Sam
 
Indeed it is. I wish I'd bought more of them when they were still abundant and cheap.

I used mine this evening while I was trying to fill a Caldwell "tack driver" shooting rest bag with beanbag chair beads. The funnel I was using tapered too much, so I tried to cut through some pretty tough plastic with the sheepsfoot blade. That's didn't work well, so I switched to the saw on my multi-tool, then back to the sheepsfoot on the 8OT to smooth the edges and remove some scraps.

Oh, and it also made short work of the plastic bag containing the beanbag chair beads. There is something viscerally pleasurable about slicing through plastic bags with a really sharp blade.
 
rhino said:
There is something viscerally pleasurable about slicing through plastic bags with a really sharp blade.
Click to expand...

I wrap and deliver office equipment with a huge roll of "saran wrap" that is used to keep a lot of loose parts and cables tight to the machine for short transport. In unwrapping, I love to squeeze it into rolls about as thick as a 1st graders pencil and slice through it with whatever knife I'm carrying.

Lately it's been a used Schrade 863 Whittler I picked up just to have another one to stick in my pocket. Viscerally pleasurable says it all.
 
I find it viscerally pleasurable to slice pretty much anything with a nice, sharp blade.

We planted a rose tonight, as the sun was going down. I opened a bag of vermiculite and another of mulch, opened the whole top of both bags to dump into the wheelbarrow to mix together in it. Used a very sharp Queen in D2.

That's really all I cut today. As I was going outside, I was debating grabbing the old Camillus Hawkbill I just got for doing yardwork with, but just decided to use the Queen since it was already in my pocket.

As far as Saran wrapping, years ago when my wife and I married, the traditional car trashing took place at the reception, led by our teenage younger brothers. They chose an interesting method to try to keep us out of the car: saran wrap, lots and lots of saran wrap. That little Sentra was waterproof!

I looked at it for a minute, pulled a razor-sharp Victorinox Pocket Pal out of my pocket (I *think* that's what it was, can't remember for sure now, but I did own and carry that knife at the time) and zipped the car open, slick as a whistle.

The boys were watching, and many groans floated over the fence.
 
I have been promising Ron on JD pics of my collection for some time now, so I am a hypocrite for asking this, but CAN WE SEE SOME PICS?

Thanks ;).
 
I have to agree that it feels good to slice just about anything that is sliceable with a sharp knife.

The best ever, though, was a "succulent" cactus I got to dissect once. An office mate overwatered her little potted cactus and it died. The part above where it "broke" was still in good shape, though, and she let me have it so I could cut it and experiment.
 
Still carrying the 8OT.

I had forgotten how much different it is to slice something with a very thin blade vs. the kind of modern folders most of us carry. The difference in feel is dramatic!
 
I've been carrying my 94OT alot lately. Those old Schrades are goog knives, that's for sure.:thumbup:
 
I like the way they make me feel when I use old fashioned knives too. It's kind of like being connected to the past.
 
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