Good bye mirror finish!

J

Jelly Fish

Joined
Jan 11, 2001
Messages
16
Hi
A few days ago,I got my first HI khukuri WWII 18" with nice wood handle. Very, very nice! I instantly understood why you guys can't get rid of your HIKV. I also instanly understood the edge wasn't as sharp as I want it be. So, I made up my mind to sharpen my WWII before I hack something into pieces. Archives and FAQ on uncle's web site gave me some very useful informations about sharpening, so I guess the sharpening itself won't be such a big deal. And now, I'm ready to say good bye to the sweet mirror finish.

I searched everything I would need for sharpening khukuris including compounds like tripoli, jewelers rouge, and Lee Valley's green chrome. Soon, I found them all on the net. And as I was browsing through one of those on line stores, I found one of them has more agressive abrasives. some of them are about 180-220 grit. I wonder if I could substitute them for sandpaper(cliff's stryofoam tecnique) when it comes to heavy sharpening. Does anyone have any experience of using them?
 
I have seen the stuff you are talking about and have been meaning to try it myself. I think it should work better than sand paper since it does not plug. Sandpaper will probably cut a bit faster as the cutting media is fixed and more densely packed.

You can see what the grit sizes mean at:

http://www.nortonabrasive.com/industrial/M070/

A grit size of 180-220 will remove metal from a khukuri quickly and leave scratches. A grit size of 600 will leave a satin polish. The stuff in between, such as 280 grit will also scratch. The green CrO abrasive particles are around 0.5 micron and leave the edge very well polished.

I would suggest use you use the chakma and the CrO to maintain the khukuri edge. Use the 180-220 stuff for reprofiling the blade or removing serve dings due to rocks.

Good luck and I would be interested in how it turns out.


Will
 
:
Will's advice sounds good to me.
I would like to know as well as I've wondered about that as well.
The way I understand it is some of the strops can be scrapped clean and recharged with different grits, but I don't know for certain.
If not a person would have to have more han the 3 strops I have.

------------------
>>>>---Yvsa---->®

"VEGETARIAN".............
Indin word for lousy hunter.
 
Thanks everyone. I appreciate your comments and advices.
The shop, or rather the manufacturer has various kinds of compounds. But some of those including the 180-220 stuff are not standard goods. They told me to give them a call if I need something not listed in their catalog. I will ask them for further information, and if everything goes well, I will import those stuff and try it. Or, I may find similar stuffs in Japan. Then I will tell you what happened to my khukuri.
Again, thanks everyone.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top