Better axe sharpeners today?

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Sid Post

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My search turned up a lot of old posts and nothing recent ...

For basic edge maintenance today, what stones or puck are better or best at a reasonable price? I am not looking for heavy reprofiling or chip repair, just something to tune up an edge while out in the field working.

In the past, I have used the Lansky "Puck", and while it worked, it was not something I would say worked great either. At ~$12, they are cheap enough to throw in my pocket, but something that cuts better and doesn't load up while sharpening would be nice.

The Norton puck is ~$25, and there are a lot of options in the ~$20 range, with and without leather sheaths. Without knowing the abrasion matrix composition or who really makes the pucks, choosing among the options online is a bit of random luck at best, with whatever you buy. I'm using my sharpener a lot, not just one or twice a season like most folks on Amazon, for example, looking to tune a machete or some garden shears, so choosing a better sharpening tool has value to me.

TIA,
Sid

p.s. A file would be used for any "big" reprofiling needs.
 
I have a comment that might shock some of you that know me and my leaning towards traditional sharpening techniques only. I have found a new puck that works great for me . It is called a FACEOFF DUAL-GRIT DIAMOND TOOL SHARPENER by Sharpal inc., Ontario, Cal. It has a extra coarse 220 grit and a fine 600 grit side. I still sometimes use a Arkansas puck that was made for me many years ago by one of the quarries to finish the job. Bernie
 
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Sid Post said:
My search turned up a lot of old posts and nothing recent ...

For basic edge maintenance today, what stones or puck are better or best at a reasonable price? I am not looking for heavy reprofiling or chip repair, just something to tune up an edge while out in the field working.

In the past, I have used the Lansky "Puck", and while it worked, it was not something I would say worked great either. At ~$12, they are cheap enough to throw in my pocket, but something that cuts better and doesn't load up while sharpening would be nice.

The Norton puck is ~$25, and there are a lot of options in the ~$20 range, with and without leather sheaths. Without knowing the abrasion matrix composition or who really makes the pucks, choosing among the options online is a bit of random luck at best, with whatever you buy. I'm using my sharpener a lot, not just one or twice a season like most folks on Amazon, for example, looking to tune a machete or some garden shears, so choosing a better sharpening tool has value to me.

TIA,
Sid

p.s. A file would be used for any "big" reprofiling needs.
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I designed my Arctic Fox pucks specifically for use in conjunction with a file, and the medium grit face will rapidly erase file marks while the fine side will bring you up to a hazy mirror finish. It was developed as a direct critique of the Lansky models.
 
Old Axeman said:
I have a comment that might shock some of you that know me and my leaning towards traditional sharping techniques only. I have found a new puck that works great for me . It is called a FACEOFF DUAL-GRIT DIAMOND TOOL SHARPENER by Sharpal inc., Ontario, Cal. It has a extra coarse 220 grit and a fine 600 grit side. I still sometimes use a Arkansas puck that was made for me many years ago by one of the quarries to finish the job. Bernie
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The company is headquartered in Ontario CA, but could you please tell me where the puck is made?
 
My understanding of the question was for basic edge maintenance in field work. I also am unhappy about it being made in china. But it has some good features. It will never cup out like all stones do and then you need to spend a lot of time redressing the stone. And, most importantly it will do no harm to the tool like happens with SO many people who try to sharpen with power tools instead of hand tools. My experience is that 90+ % of people who sharpen tools should NEVER go near a power sharpener.
 
Another thing I like about a dual grit diamond puck is that no water or oil is needed to make it work, and when I need to clear it I just take a quick wipe on my pants leg and it is ready to go again. If anybody comes up with one that is not made in china, let me know, I would buy one tomorrow.
 
Old Axeman said:
Another thing I like about a dual grit diamond puck is that no water or oil is needed to make it work, and when I need to clear it I just take a quick wipe on my pants leg and it is ready to go again. If anybody comes up with one that is not made in china, let me know, I would buy one tomorrow.
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A downside of diamond plates is that hard pressure tends to be fastest for rapid material removal but that will strip the diamonds right off the plating, and if dead flat they have no ability to cut with the very edge of the plate, making sharpening any concave forms almost impossible, or when possible it induces a high rate of wear that then truly does make it impossible. What I'd like to see is a thin metallic-bonded disc instead so that it has diamond all the way through, or at least a shallow, drawn, cupped shape that received the plating so the edges have a radius and get a bit of diamond on them as well. If I had the budget to fund such a thing I would, but it's beyond my means for now.

Conventional vitrified bond stones can still be used dry in a pinch, but you do need to be extra mindful to keep wiping them before they're given the chance to glaze. Diamond stones CAN be used dry but still benefit from some form of lubrication, whether oil, water, or other, to aid in reducing wear on the diamonds themselves, as they do still wear down over time despite their hardness.
 
Ben, since you know more about the modern diamond sharpeners than I do, what would you think about instead of using oil or water how about a soft bees wax and oil combination like is used for a wood salad bowl finish?
I have found that the diamond sharpeners do not last very long compared to my Arkansas stones.
 
Old Axeman said:
Ben, since you know more about the modern diamond sharpeners than I do, what would you think about instead of using oil or water how about a soft bees wax and oil combination like is used for a wood salad bowl finish?
I have found that the diamond sharpeners do not last very long compared to my Arkansas stones.
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Wax would be likely to cause the metal fines to adhere in an undesirable way, I think, but you could possibly use only a very little to thicken up the oil so it was about as soft as warm butter that might work in a thin coating a bit more like a thin grease. You'd just want to make sure that whatever oil you used was a non-drying oil like mineral oil or jojoba.
 
The mix I use on my hand carved bowls is a food grade mineral oil with organic Hawaiian bees wax to the consistency you describe.
 
In which case I'd say give it a try and let us know how it goes! Since it's an impermeable surface, you can always strip it fairly easily if it causes issues rather than functioning as intended. I'd just be sparing with the application.
 
Unicorn161 said:
Why the puck shape? Is it just for convenience and ease of use in the field compared to normal rectangular whet stones? Or folding diamond sharpeners?
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Not an expert here , but I think that the puck shape simply fits the hand and is easy to carry and use freehand .

I don't think it necessarily works any better otherwise .
 
If you're interested in a diamond plate that can reach concave surfaces, you might like the ones carpenters use to sharpen gouges and wood turning tools. This one is made by DMT:
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One downside though, these seem to be mostly very fine grit sharpeners. They're for mirror polished edges.
 
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