Jerry Fisk's recommended sharpening stone....on the 'net!

Secret spice indeed! Gag! hehehehe


Velitrius,

Keep in mind that set of 5 Oregon stones are small pocket size. My advice is to get an 8" combination stone. Hell if I were in the market for a replacement I'd even go with an 11" job.

Jerry Fisk's method is what I use too... full stone length swipes on each side with decreasing pressure on each subsequent swipe. I will admit to making far more passes than he describes and to slightly incresaing the angle on the last featherlight pass. That and having tried but not liking stroping on leather or hand. I quick flip-flop on my blue jeans works for me!
 
Jerry,

Bald1 brings up a good point. When you say you make a pass on each side of the knife, are you referring to swipe of the blade across the stone or multiple swipes per pass? Sorry if that sound super-elementry.
 
Jerry, what video are you referring to? You said in your video, you sharpen the same knife on different stones to show performance differences. That sounds like a video I need!
 
Bald1, dunno what I was thinkin' there. Measurements are listed and everything. Big forehead slapper. Comes from my Polish roots, I suspect.

As far as a pantleg swipe, you ever try it across a newspaper? I always have the newspaper in front of me so I can swipe across it when I finish. Way back when I was a boy scout an old man suggested it to us. Said there was just enough abrasiveness there to take the last bit of crap off your edge. Sounded reasonable to me at the time, and I been doin' it ever since.

I agree with Crayola, if there is a video out there as described, I need to find a link to it.
 
Mississippi
Don't worry if it sounds elementary. I still go back to the basics of knifemaking/usage in trying to figure out how a knife cuts best. And I mean the basics. This includes sharpening.
When I say pass I mean just one swipe. One hard pass on the public side of the knife then one hard pass on the private side of the knife. Then medium passes then on very light pass.
In sharpening what you are trying to do is bring up the burr that cuts. If you go in circular motions you rely on grinding down the metal of the edge until it goes to zero. "Pulling the burr" is quicker, wears less on your knife and gives a killer aggressive edge with an India stone. Strop on leather,or pants, and he was right even newspaper. I used a church hymn book once on a tight. Bout anything will work just to strop up the edge.
Yes, I do have a video on how to take care of the knife and how to sharpen it. I am not trying to hit you guys with sales on this. It is my belief that every maker should have a video on how to care for and sharpen his knives.
I use a ceramic stone on the video that makes that knife hair popping shaving and then try and cut a hickory hammer handle. As sharp as it is it slides on the wood, no bite. Same knife, India stone. Still shaves but you cannot make it slide, it bites too hard. If you want one you can go to my web site. fisk-knives.com My secretary handles the shipping etc of those. Or email her at jfisk@alltel.net for one.
 
I just purchased a double sided Norton Fine/Medium combo stone. In retrospect, I should've gotten bigger than 5" long though. Anyways, I tried it out on my 1095 bladed stockman, my two D2 stockmans and my D2 Dozier. Holy crapinola! Keep in mind I am an absolute novice in the free hand sharpening department... but I was able to put an amazing edge on all three blades of my 1095 Camillus stockman, a scary edge on my Dozier, though that took longer. However, I must not have put in enough time on the Queen D2 stockmans. They still need a little work.
For those looking for THE thing for sharpening carbon steel, this looks like the end all product. However, get the biggest stone you can, my 5" stone was barely big enough for my approx. 4" Dozier. I imagine that a bigger stone would make it easier for something like say a nice big Bowie.
Happy sharpening y'all, Mongo
 
Folks, if anyone is still looking for a Norton India Stone, I bought one from Smokey Mountain last week, they're closing out some Norton 175th Anniversary stones...the 6" combo India stone is $8.99, their 8" combo India stone goes for the princely sum of $9.99. Pretty good prices. I've got mine, now y'all have fun.

Jerry and Will, thanks again for the info. I grew up using my Grandpa's India stone, but I didn't have one of my own. Worth hunting for one.
 
I've got a cheapie combo fine/coarse stone from Norton. I suppose the fine side is India since it looks like aluminum oxide sandpaper. My problem is that when I use it, it just crumbles really badly and chews the crap out of the blades. Are the more expensive versions any better?

Thanks
 
Jerry,

Thanks for all the good information about the Norton fine India stone. You are talking about the man made Norton fine India stones?

Have you ever used the natural Norton hard Arkansas? I think these are more of an ultrafine stone, but they will still whet and polish instead of just polishing. The Norton hard Arkansas stones are very rare and expensive, and I believe Norton has a lock on the novaculite for this type quality of stone. Just let me know what you think.
Big D1
 
Mutant
You have the wrong stone. The fine india red colored will not crumble from just sharpening. Get the one from Smokey M.

Big D
Is that the black one? I have used it and another one kinda clearish. Used one of them for a dagger handle one time. Neat knife. Take it apart and sharpen the blade on the handle. Kinda expensive though. :)
It really all depends upon the edge you want. There are many degrees of sharpness but depends upon usage. What I sharpen on my daily folder it will vary from how I sharpen the same folder when I travel. My hunters the same but sometimes I have to vary the large camp knives. Let me know more.
jf
 
Jerry,

No, it would not be a black one. I heard the black ones are mainly for polishing. My dad had a natural Norton hard Arkansas at one time, but it got lost over the years--probably stolen. It was a solid white stone with no color variations. I had the pleasure to use it when I was younger, and it would really put an edge on a blade. I think these stones are rated some where around 900 grit USA standards. The Norton hard Arkansas cost about $130.00, and I was just trying to convince myself to buy one especially if they are of the same quality they were years ago. Big D1
 
Just got offline from SMKW! Norton 8" India is on the way :D.

I almost pulled the trigger on the 6" also! A last act of sense overtook me (I think), do I really NEED TWO OF THESE? You know one for the glove box when I go camping or something...sheeesssshhh when does it end?

Anyway thank you Mr. Fisk for the heads up. My last experience hand sharpening was on an old family heirloom Carborundum stone (still have it). Nothing BUT carbon back then-heheh. We stropped everything on my Dad's 2" black leather work belt. I started on it (the stone and the belt!) when I was very young then got lazy in later years and fell prey to the Lansky system, and most recently the Sharpmaker. All this talk of Carbon and hand honing got the old juices flowing (I was taught to spit on the stone)for an honest to goodness real sharpening experience.

Seeing how I've just picked up a bunch of John Greco carbon blades, it sure seemed the way to go.

Again thanks for passing this on...

Sincerely,

Mongrel
 
Mongrel
Glad it helped. That is good prices. Working the knives on a flat stone brings back the fun and tradition of knives which is one of the reasons I like carbon steel knives anyway.

Big D
I have worked a sorta translucent whiteish stone in novaculite. Good stone for fine work. If you get one let us know how it went.
I picked up a clay type stone from Brazil, which is the traditional stone of Brazil. They are mined and cut by the natives. very interesting to work it. I use it in the Kitchen.
 
Been using the Norton Fine India/Medium Crystalon stone for some time now. High carbon blades, CPM steels , BG42, ATS....doesn't matter--this stone does a better job than anything I've ever tried! (I think I've tried them all!)
I would suggest trying low-odor kerosene rather than WD40--it seems to work better for me (Got that tip from Wayne Goddard)
 
Nice tip. I'll try that ;)
BTW I have a Oregon 8" AO bench stone. I found the ultrafine breaks down easily and good for only polishing. Also it's already curved and I gotta find a good way to make it flat again. Sandpaper ain't doing it.
 
Time to revive this thread, because I have a good question!

Mr. Fisk, I was wondering what has been your experience with Japanese waterstones? I know that many a woodworker swears by them, including guys like Leonard Lee, president/founder of Lee Valley Tools. Your recommendation, however, is the Norton Fine India stone. Have you used waterstones much? How did you use them? How do they compare with Norton stones? Are these included on your video? Thanks!

On a side note, thanks for making such amazing looking bowies. I have been staring at a bowie made by this fisk guy in Greg Waker's Battle Blades book for days now! What a beauty.
 
I use the Norton Tri-Hone in it's oil bath, though I tend to not use the oil in the bath, but apply New fresh oil when sharpening, as bits and pieces of stone/metal and what not are in the mix of fluid, so I keep it clean when sharpening.

One tip when using the stones is to NOT go in an ARC motion, but move along the stone in as straight a motion as you can, you pick up control of the angle much better when trying this technique, lock that wrist as well and don't let it flex as you push the blade along.

Below is a pic of my Stone setup, Custom knife maker Phil Baldwin is using it to sharpen a sword that he just forged and heat treated, I'm standing behind him with my hand on my hip, didn't know I stand like that? It's a good set of stones, cost me $145 for the set about 10 years or so ago, the Coarse stone wears out the quickest and the Norton India stone, the one on top right now, lasts a good long time!...

G2
 

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I use the Norton Fine India on a regular basis, and it does a good job. Mine was given to me by my step-dad, who had already let it get a bit clogged up. I have scrubbed it with abrasive powders and got it clean enough that it works, but I think the performance might go up if I got some sandpaper and resurfaced it. What grit should I use?
 
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