Emergency Sharpening Alternative

G

Guardrail

Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
122
I was messing around in one of my PSKs and looking at one of my firestarters, the Magnesium bar to be exact and it occured to me that the metal might be soft yet strong enough to work as an emergency sharpening stone. Just curious if that would work, any thoughts?

Cheers,

Guard....
 
As an abrasive no, to align, pretty much anything can be used, an emergency sharpener can be carried anywhere by just folding up some sandpaper and making it a part of your kit/carry.

-Cliff
 
The ring on the bottom of some china plates is unglazed and will sharpen a knife . The Top edge of a rolled down car window , older models are thicker and give a better edge . The smooth edge of a ceramic tile . I have heard of the bottom of some ceramic coffee mugs . If you want more I have a list somewhere of quite a few things that will return a useable edge on a knife .
 
I sometimes use 1200 grit wet & dry paper for a final edge when sharpening, but its way too fine for field sharpening. You would starve to death before you re sharpened a worn edge with that alone!

I would guess 200 - 400 grit paper would be OK but it would be worth trying some on an old knife first. Aluminium oxide paper or wet and dry paper would probably be better than sandpaper.
 
WSI P-60c Flint and Steel
P60C.jpg

It has a magnesium bar and hot spark on one side and a ceramic rod on the other side. I have a Doan magnesium bar as primary so this is strictly a back-up for fire, but the ceramic rod is very usable.
 
I carry a few grits, to restore both a damaged edge as well as keep them very sharp for optimal wood working. The sheets are very thin, you can buy a small pack of assorted grits in most craft stores that are about the thickness of a coin and will take you from very coarse to very fine. As with anything, practice with it before you actually need to use it.

-Cliff
 
Just to chime in , somewhere on this forum a Russian guy mentioned that they used an old Pentium processor to sharped with , using the top or surface of the processor.
Having tons of those available I tried it and it works great! , one now resdies in my 'bag o tricks'.
Cheap way out for a stone.
 
I figure that you don't have a sharpening emergency until you can't but rope, cloth, flesh, or cardboard effectively. That is really pretty dull. That says to me that emergency sharpening sandpaper should be fairly coarse to enable restoring a dinged edge. If I set my sharpness standards low I would use 120 grit paper. I think that I would probably compromise and use 220 grit as a single emergency abrassive. When I visit my inlaws and need to restore their kitchen knives I use a combination pack. I use 80 through 600 grit.
 
ras said:
WSI P-60c Flint and Steel
P60C.jpg

It has a magnesium bar and hot spark on one side and a ceramic rod on the other side. I have a Doan magnesium bar as primary so this is strictly a back-up for fire, but the ceramic rod is very usable.
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I have one of those it was a little bit expensive,But I like it very much! It is not to good as a regular sharpener, But for touch up it works fine. I think the hot spark on it works GREAT!!!!!
 
Yeah, it was a bit pricey, but it has a useful sharpening rod and if you're in an emergency situation the dollars spent to have a magnesium rod and hot spark will seem minor.
 
I don't know how good EZE lap diamond sharpeners are, but they have credit card sized, carry in your wallet sharpeners that come 400, 600 and 1200 grit. Thinking of getting a set.
 
I've got one of the card-style diamond sharpeners and I usually don't carry it. When I want it most is when I travel on business and I don't dare to take it through airport inspection in my wallet. The TSA is totally arbitrary on what they allow. They will reject anything that is strange to them and made of metal. I always put mine turned sideways in my carry on suitcase so that at least it has other metal stuff to keep it company. The cards are really conspicuous if you carry them in a wallet and have to pass them through inspection. Several strips of sand paper are inconspicuous stuck in the dollar section of a wallet. The cards are also a very tight fit in a wallet.
 
bladefixation2 said:
Admit it, thats the only reason you carry one :D
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sure, never know when you'll meet some young damsel and she see's the black crud and split nail's :eek: Spend a week or more in a swamp or Island with just what your wearing and in your pocket's.The look's and wrinkled nose's you get! :D :D
 
Grey asked where you can find the nail file. check the Women's Product's section at Wal-mart's or any chain store and browse around for any other goodies you could use for the outdoor's or raid your Ladies stuff and dont' get caught :eek: :D
 
Don't know how easily carried around this would be for emergency sharpening, but if you can get your hands on a burned out old streetlight (or other gas capsule light) bulb, and break off the outer glass shell, the internal gas capsule is excellent for blade polishing/sharpening.
 
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