and used them to sharpen my CRKT M16. It won't cut newspaper hanging loose anymore, it kind of grabs and rips the paper. I think this is correct though as the edge is toothy now. So that's about right. Right?
I got some kind of rubbing compound paste that the guy at the cutlery shop told me to squeeze out onto a dish towel and put it on the corner of my kitchen counter and then rub the side of my blade against the towel/compound and kind of lean into it to clean off the surface rust. He said it would act like a very fine grinding compound. Then I used some generic gun oil and sprayed it onto a corner of the dishrag and wiped it on the blade to give it a light coat. It seemed to work fine. Two minutes of work and the blade was clean and shiny, and ten seconds of oil/rag and it had a protective coat on it. Today was about a hundred degrees and I used it a couple times and no rust spots today. A little pocket lint on the blade but no big deal. Is that about what I should expect?
That said, what should I now do to test the edge I have? What should a diamond sharpened blade cut through properly? I tried cutting through the cheap plastic handle of a thing of cat litter that was sitting in the corner... I don't know how to evaluate it though, it cut through the handle without a whole lot of sawing and BS so that's OK as far as it goes. But how should it work?
Also, can anyone recommend a good book on knife sharpening to me? I have exactly zero experience and am kind of flying blind. I would like to educate myself on the topic and not feel like I'm just buying junk and screwing up my knives.
I have a decent $15 Sarco khukri and don't want to blow through my $60 diamond sticks to get it sharpened. That would be quite the stupid move. I'd be better off throwing it out the window and spending $85 on a himalaya imports Khukri that's already sharp and save myself the aggravation, you know? The blade on the Khukri isn't sharp at all, it's more rounded. It would mash a banana before it cut through the skin. The last $15 khukri I had I took to a sharpener and he apparently sharpened it with a belt sander and ruined the temper of the steel. I don't want to do that again. Any suggestions? Should I just use the diamond sticks and figure they'll survive the job?
Thank you for any replies, I like this forum and read it regularly in a vain attempt to get myself up to speed.
I got some kind of rubbing compound paste that the guy at the cutlery shop told me to squeeze out onto a dish towel and put it on the corner of my kitchen counter and then rub the side of my blade against the towel/compound and kind of lean into it to clean off the surface rust. He said it would act like a very fine grinding compound. Then I used some generic gun oil and sprayed it onto a corner of the dishrag and wiped it on the blade to give it a light coat. It seemed to work fine. Two minutes of work and the blade was clean and shiny, and ten seconds of oil/rag and it had a protective coat on it. Today was about a hundred degrees and I used it a couple times and no rust spots today. A little pocket lint on the blade but no big deal. Is that about what I should expect?
That said, what should I now do to test the edge I have? What should a diamond sharpened blade cut through properly? I tried cutting through the cheap plastic handle of a thing of cat litter that was sitting in the corner... I don't know how to evaluate it though, it cut through the handle without a whole lot of sawing and BS so that's OK as far as it goes. But how should it work?
Also, can anyone recommend a good book on knife sharpening to me? I have exactly zero experience and am kind of flying blind. I would like to educate myself on the topic and not feel like I'm just buying junk and screwing up my knives.
I have a decent $15 Sarco khukri and don't want to blow through my $60 diamond sticks to get it sharpened. That would be quite the stupid move. I'd be better off throwing it out the window and spending $85 on a himalaya imports Khukri that's already sharp and save myself the aggravation, you know? The blade on the Khukri isn't sharp at all, it's more rounded. It would mash a banana before it cut through the skin. The last $15 khukri I had I took to a sharpener and he apparently sharpened it with a belt sander and ruined the temper of the steel. I don't want to do that again. Any suggestions? Should I just use the diamond sticks and figure they'll survive the job?
Thank you for any replies, I like this forum and read it regularly in a vain attempt to get myself up to speed.