Knife Sharpening - New Glossary Term

T

TedGamble

Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Messages
431
One of the ways that I relax after a stressful day at work is to sit on my back porch and sharpen a knife. I'm sure that most of you can relate and appreciate that comment.

Last night, my favorite EDC 1972 vintage 8OT, my Lansky sharpener, and I took a walk out onto the back porch. In the past, I have only put a 20 degree single bevel edge on the knives that I sharpen, but last night, since I had some time to kill, I decided to do it the right way and put a "professional" 15/20 double bevel edge on my trusty companion.

Following the very excellent instructions described by Chad Ward on eGForums (yes, as Codger reminded me, there are other knife forums in existence) which can be found at http://forums.egullet.com/index.php?showtopic=26036, I proceded to put the mother of all edges on my Senior Stockman.

The only way to describe the edge is DBAS, which means Double (as in double bevel) Bad-Ass Sharp! So, I submit to you a new term for your knife glossary: DBAS.
 
Being an old timer myself, I have long used the double bevel. Weole White and his son Leo White chopped cotton on our delta farm in the '50's and '60's. They had a unique style of sharpening their hoes that made the blades last, and stay sharp longer. This was important to men who had to buy their own hoes at $7.50 each when they only made fifty to seventy five cents an hour. Weole hooked is leg around the handle like a farrier with a horse, and in a few brief strokes of his file on each angle produced a polished edge that seemed to clip tough cockle burr and Johnson grass with the wind from a near miss. It was from Weole and Leo that I learned to sharpen knifes and I have used their system ever since. This is one reason why my thirty year old Schrade hunting knife still has a full blade after many, many touchups.

Just be careful if you wrap your leg around your hunting knife. And remember...a sharp hoe is a happy hoe.

Codger
 
I usually do 15/17 or 15/20 double bevels, my plywood jig is a 20 degree inclined plane and I raise the lower end a bit for smaller angles, my crock sticks are about 22 degrees, I use them for quick touch-ups and go back to my jig when I want the really good edge back.

So, can you cut hair tips above the skin ?.

Luis

uy34k
 
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