Budget sharpening?

Obsessed with Edges said:
Yeah, I immediately thought of the Norton stones, when seeing the blue/gray hone linked earlier. At the price listed for that particular one, I assumed it may not be of the same quality as the Norton.

Thanks!
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Gotta add, the quality might not be as good, but still possible to get a very nice edge off of those. Before I bought my Norton India stone I was using an 8 dollar stone from my local hardware store - Vermont American brand. I'm a bit surprised anyone would say its insufficient for a bushcraft knife, in conjunction with some white compound from Sears on a piece of leather, it can put on a very nice edge if one has the basics down - was able to tree-top some leg hair with it. I have noticed it doesn't grind as fast or quite as clean as the India, but still quite effective esp for the price. As an added bonus if you want to look at it that way, the fact that it sheds more grit than the better stones just means its easier to collect some for your stropping compound!
 
NikolaTesla said:
I also wanted to ask if you use a stone (Aluminium Oxide) over time does the grit go finer?

My friend has a about 7 year old Alu Oxide stone which has been heavily used and the fine side which I assume is about 400grit, is badly gummed with steel, I thought it would make the grit finer.
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Gumming it up won't make it finer, it will make it grind more slowly - but if you lap it with some 320 grit wet/dry sandpaper (on the fine side, use 120 on the coarse side), it will present a much more refined surface. After lapping mine with silicone carbide grit it produces a finer scratch pattern than my extra fine DMT stone, and whips up an edge much finer than most would think possible. Older, choked up stones need to be thoroughly cleaned and probably lapped with sandpaper or a silicone carbide combination stone (coarse to coarse, fine to fine). Aluminum Oxide stones, IMHO really benefit from a lubricant - oil or soapy water to keep them from glazing and clogging.
 
Those bars will last you the rest of your life most likely, even if you rub them on newspaper and throw the scrap away every time you use it.
The black stuff is probably black emery, good for a satin polish - probably in the 600 grit range. The pink is considerably finer - probably alum ox in the 3 micron range (just a guess). The rouge is likely iron oxide and does very little to hardened steels, though some folks do like to finish with it for a finale.
 
NikolaTesla said:
Well my DC4 has some grit on the diamond side, so then I could finish with 1200grit then strop, I don't have metal polish for a strop so I use toothpaste, I've also used pledge polish just to polish the blade.
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Regarding the toothpaste, just be aware it won't likely abrade the steel, like other fine compounds made for that purpose. The abrasive in toothpaste is usually something called 'hydrated silica', which is aggressive enough and fine enough for cleaning teeth without damaging the enamel. If it won't damage tooth enamel, it won't do anything to most hardened steels, either. At a minimum, I'd get a bar of green compound (mostly chromium oxide, sometimes with aluminum oxide mixed in) for stropping. You could also use something like Flitz or Simichrome metal polish (both aluminum oxide abrasive), which work very well. I use Simichrome occasionally on my strops.
 
if there's a nearby college with a geology department, make friends with them until they can give you cut slabs of the following:

fine sandstone (coarse grit)
siltstone (medium grit)
red chert (non-clastic, meaning there are no particles, makes a nice oilstone)
 
I've found an old stone in a wooden box, I tried it out on my Mora Companion, and the edge is so fine (I think it's ceramic, maybe 3000grit?) it can shave hairs that have already been shaved on my arm with very little pressure.
 
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