Cliff Stamp
BANNED
- Joined
- Oct 5, 1998
- Messages
- 17,562
You can make a hone quite easily that will work faster than a file if you need to reshape an edge. Buy a coarse belt for a belt sander, get the most coarse one you can find, you want at least 80 grit, but better is lower. Take the belt and cut it into in half (or roughly foot long sections), and either nail it or staple it to a piece of hardwood. You now have either a super aggressive flat benchstone or a really efficient cutting file. If the belt is narrow (the 1" ones are dirt cheap), just put two strips side by side. You can make a couple of such hones and thus work the finish quickly up to what you want. Using such hones I have actually modified the primary grinds on a few knives and they are many times faster than even the more coarse benchstone you can buy which is typically ~220 grit at the lowest. Lock the blade in place and really lean into it with the "hone". You can press really hard and go back and forth which you should not do with a file. Of course if the wood breaks you could cut your arm off so take care. Using a piece of thick plasic as the backing and just glueing the belts on would be a choice as well. Or just freehanging them if you wanted to put on convex edges.
-Cliff
-Cliff