Chakmak!

I believe so-don't have the links right to hand, but I've seen one or two. It's essentially a burnisher-It's not a perfect edge, but it's field expedient. With this one I've gotten several khuks sharp enough to shave arm hair.
 
So, for a tool like a chakmak to be able to really produce an edge, the steel should be harder than the steel at the edge of the blade, correct? Do the Kamis harden the Chakmak to be harder than the khukuri blade edge? I can see where O-1 steel would really have an advantage over 5160 for this purpose. Do you hold the chakmak at a 45 degree angle to the blade, so that you are using one of the corner edges of the chakmak like a sharpening "steel", or do you just stroke the flat of the chakmak against the blade edge? I have a number of different sharpening "steels", from coarse enough to sharpen a dull blade (if it's not too hard), to a very fine-toothed antique steel, and I tend to use these, along with ceramic rods, for most sharpening jobs. But I also have a variety of stones, for jobs where even the coarse steel would take too long, or where the blade is too hard. I haven't really attempted to use one of the chakmaks that came with my khukuris yet. I've just been using my regular steels to finish the edges. I've noticed that a coarse enough steel seems to work as well as a file for judging the hardness of the blade edge at different points. I can certainly feel the lesser amount of drag on the steel when it goes over the hardest part of the blade in the "sweet spot".
 
Harder helps alot IMO. I round one edge and buff it for sharpening- i leave the back square for ferrocerrium rods and flint striking. I use it at the same angle I'd use a stone at.
 
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