- Joined
- Jun 7, 2002
- Messages
- 3,411
I just bought my first spydey, a Delica, and i'm awfully pleased with it. The gents over at Spyderco forum gave me great advice on which blade steel to buy. I told them I was a sharpness nut ever since I was a kid. Though not an expert, I can turn a decent piece of steel into a shaver with my fine carborundum, red chert stone, and slab of glass. Oh yes, I also like to hone straight razors. The feeling I get when I turn out a really keen edge must be similar to what Japanese sword polishers/sharpeners experience ("I polish souls!")
When I was a kid, playmates would flash their pocket knives around. Me, I made my own knives thus:
1. take a 4-inch long, 1-inch wide cutter blade (stolen from daddy's desk.)
2. blunt the lower half of the blade on a carborundum
3. cover the blunted half with a thin folded strip of tin can or GI
4. wrap that tightly with strips of paper, followed by several wounds of electrical tape
5. make a sheath from cardboard and masking tape.
Voila! A knife sharper than any folding pocket knife. It even has a lanyard hole! And then, I do what I like to do: I try to make the factory grind even sharper. I take a shard of glass, put a few drops of metal polish (aluminum oxide power) on top, mix in a few drops of oil, and spend hours honing the edge, maintaining a 15-degree angle. Cutter blades are tough and after an hour I barely worn out the factory grind marks. But after a while, the metal polish has turned into a black, oily crud and I somehow "feel" that the edge was no longer "arguing" with the glass or the lapping medium. The edge comes out beautifully polished and could shave the baby hair on my small finger with a light push.
And so I'm dedicating this thread to all the toddlers here who love their toys, love to store them properly, and take pictures of them to share with the other tots.
HR
When I was a kid, playmates would flash their pocket knives around. Me, I made my own knives thus:
1. take a 4-inch long, 1-inch wide cutter blade (stolen from daddy's desk.)
2. blunt the lower half of the blade on a carborundum
3. cover the blunted half with a thin folded strip of tin can or GI
4. wrap that tightly with strips of paper, followed by several wounds of electrical tape
5. make a sheath from cardboard and masking tape.
Voila! A knife sharper than any folding pocket knife. It even has a lanyard hole! And then, I do what I like to do: I try to make the factory grind even sharper. I take a shard of glass, put a few drops of metal polish (aluminum oxide power) on top, mix in a few drops of oil, and spend hours honing the edge, maintaining a 15-degree angle. Cutter blades are tough and after an hour I barely worn out the factory grind marks. But after a while, the metal polish has turned into a black, oily crud and I somehow "feel" that the edge was no longer "arguing" with the glass or the lapping medium. The edge comes out beautifully polished and could shave the baby hair on my small finger with a light push.
And so I'm dedicating this thread to all the toddlers here who love their toys, love to store them properly, and take pictures of them to share with the other tots.
HR