How do you sharpen your blade?

That's correct. Once you have a good edge it keeps it dressed pretty nicely IMO without removing more steel than necessary.
 
I am going to pick this up at noon today. I'll report back with my thoughts. I want something to provide the finishing hone on my axes and machete after I used the puck. I can use this by hand in a circular motion so I think it will work well. 750 grit diamond stone. I thought about getting that Arkansas stone, but wanted something more fine, so 750 should fit the bill.

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just to follow up. This sharpener is pretty good, but it really leaves cut marks, even though its supposed to be a 750 grit. I am still trying to get used to freehanding on the axe, so I haven't really been able to successfully get a keen edge with it, but its very comfortable to hold free hand sharpening an axe. I may have wasted 10 bucks, but it was worth it to try it out. I can throw it in my car or something to have on the road if an emergency were ever to take place. It does need a break in period. The initial surface is very rough and will cut hard, so I would use it on some junk piece of steel or junk knife before you use it on the items that matter. At least 10 minutes of break in.

One thing to note is it leaves a real toothy edge, compared to the 280 medium side on the lanskey puck, I really feel the puck leaves a more polished edge (if you can call it that). Just wanted to be honest and let you all know. It may be a much lower grit, but it seems to be smoother.
 
Yeah, as I understand it the diamond will wear at first, then smooth out. I've also found light pressure with diamond and some water is the way to go. The puck at 280 grit probably acting as a much higher grit as well as it's probably a bit worn and the pores are filled with slurry, so it may be acting as a finer stone at the moment.

I have the Abuse Eraser stone from Baronyx, and it's very, very coarse (70 grit or so), but once a slurry is formed, the pores are filled and it smooths out quite a bit until it's cleaned. Then it goes back to cutting aggressively again.
 
SC T100 said:
Yeah, as I understand it the diamond will wear at first, then smooth out. I've also found light pressure with diamond and some water is the way to go. The puck at 280 grit probably acting as a much higher grit as well as it's probably a bit worn and the pores are filled with slurry, so it may be acting as a finer stone at the moment.

I have the Abuse Eraser stone from Baronyx, and it's very, very coarse (70 grit or so), but once a slurry is formed, the pores are filled and it smooths out quite a bit until it's cleaned. Then it goes back to cutting aggressively again.
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That's actually what I was suspecting. I might just stick to the pick fine side, it seems to be around maybe 400 or so right now. I finally had some success with it a couple days ago on of my axes (which was a first!), then I tried this 750 diamond one, and am just having a tough time finding the edge and honing it. Its definitely a skill that takes time to master.

Does anyone make a puck arkansas stone? I find the pucks are really easy to use for axes, its a natural movement with the circle.
 
I like pucks also for axes. The downsides are:

1. they tend to wear the center down before the edges and need occasionally dressed to keep them flat
2. you need to be careful with gripping the edges especially when the puck wears thin so that you don't inadvertently cut yourself
3. they don't work well for dual duty such as also sharpening your pocket knife

This is why I recommended the small Arkansas stone for field sharpening. I've personally used it with good success on axes and knives. If you have your edge good before going into the field it maintains it well.

I prefer a plain stone over the various models which insert a stone or diamond on a plastic frame. Sometimes the stone and plastic separate and sometimes you can't get close enough to the end of an edge as I prefer.
 
Depends on the knife. I like mirror finishes on a lot of my knives. Using the wicked edge lately. 18 degree up to 22 depending on the knife. Usually with a slight convex.
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Start with 100 grit to reprofile. Then it goes 200,400,600,800,1000 diamond stones. Then 1200,1600 ceramic. Then it's onto the Chosera stones 2000,3000,5000,10000. Going backwards in grit to 5 micron strop and 3.5 because the strop seems to react different so going back in grit works better IMO. Then to the 1 micron and .5 micron. Then with kangaroo strop with .25 micron diamond spray and .125 micron spray. Finish with nano strop .05 and .025 diamond spray.

I may switch up to a balsa strop down the road to get rid of the convex on some knives. Especially the emersons.
 
I recently purchased a Smith's ceramic stone. On some of my machete steels I have not been able to see much if any improvement over Smiths 600 grit soft Arkansas stone I referenced before. I wanted to stay within the same company and see what advanatges a super fine sharpening surface might offer. I have more experimenting to do on higher Rockwell vintage axes.

I'm just sharing based on my experience that grit grade alone doesn't always dertermine the best sharpening stone for field use. Sometimes you just need to try them on your particular steels and see which one performs the best on a variety of steels. Some steels respond differently to different sharpening surfaces. The stone needs to be coarse enough to to cut some and not just polish; but it also needs to be fine enough to keep a keen working edge. At this point in what I've tried to date that little Smith stone wetted with water is pretty hard to beat as all-round convenient carry field sharpening stone. I can get the same results with a fine puck stone on an axe but I find the puck more cumbersome to use on a knife. If there is something more versatile I would be happy to hear about it.
 
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I worked on a vintage Collins cruiser last night and I'm not seeing real practical advantages of spending the time to super fine (ceramic) hone the edge. The one thing I have found which does does give a noticeably sharper edge quickly after a fine stoning ... is to give the edge a few swipes following the length of the edge with a butcher's smooth steel rod. This removes any micro burr and fine tunes the edge in a few seconds. You can get these rods also in pocket carry size.
 
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