Lets talk sharp.

230grains said:
Lets talk sharp, how do you prefer to sharpen your INFI?
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Belt sander with lee valley belts, and a machinist clamp with a bubblejig at a 20 degree angle:

bubblejig-sharpen1.jpg

bubblejig-sharpen2.jpg

nmfbm-savagebeast.jpg

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[youtube]ErB5PsnuZ00[/youtube]
 
230grains said:
What did you do with the blade/handles? Strip it and grind?
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I bought it from a forum member who already had it "banned", stripped and cleaned up. When I got her she wouldn't cleanly slice newsprint though, so I gave her a touchup with the 20 micron belt then the leather belt w/compound.

I just like hosing off my users then spraying with WD-40, so I filled in the handle pins with a little epoxy to make the job easier.
I hate digging gunk out of hollow rivets.

She sure tears through logs. Here she is beside a LE and a BWM:

bushwacker9.jpg
 
Quick newbie question, if you convex edge a chopper (like BWM for instance) and you're away from the workshed for a few weeks, how do you field sharpen it? Do you need a strop with some compound, or would a ceramic rod do the job to bring it back up to shaving sharp again? Reason I'm asking is because of Boss Hog's advice on the company site, but my search-fu on sharpening methods seems to be a bit weak, and I'm confusing myself with conflicting information...
 
It's tough to mate a sharpening steel or ceramic rod with a convex edge without skittering ineffectively across the curved bevel. The best you can expect to do is put a microbevel on the edge with a rod. Much better to carry a square of leather and some stropping compound or a piece of wet/dry sandpaper with something soft to back it with--you can use your thigh if necessary, assuming you have pants of good, durable material. Mouse-pad material is a good alternative, also. :thumbup:

I think Jerry's comment on using the ceramic rod is meant for conventional flat edge bevels, or the flat side of an asymmetrical edge.
 
Lycosa said:
Uh-Oh! The heads of Ank, Stag and 230 WILL butt!! :eek:
:yawn::D
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I dunno about all of that. :D

I like V edges because they are much easier for me to maintain personally the way I have always sharpened knives. :)

Once it starts to lose it's sharpness 5 or 10 seconds later it's right back to sharp again when I take my Ceramic rod to the edge. :)

It's just personal preference.:thumbup:
 
I like to carry along a generator and grinder for my light "in the woods" touch up ;-p
 
On a serious note a good clean convex edge free of any burrs on an INFI blade will stay sharp for a LONG time.
 
I like the idea of a machinists clamp and bubble jig ...... :thumbup:

My take on the different types of edges is that a convex lasts longer but a V grind is easier to repair .... more able to be precisely applied and therefore if you want to avoid taking the edge too thin whereby it can roll .... a V grind may well then last longer than a too thin convex edge.

Also .... topping up the edge .... a V grind is a lot easier to do in the field. As Will says .... a hone or small stone does'nt retain your convex edge .... and they work a lot faster than stropping in a field environment IMO.

For these reasons where you want longevity on the edge and ease of field sharpening .... in my experience nothing beats an Asymetrical edge. The convex side on right hand use just seems to opperate like a normal convex edge giving a great shape to enable the cut to "bite" but the flat side at a high angle when the edge starts to dull from "rolling" ( esp Infi ) is so easy to run a ceramic hone along it to bring back the pinnacle of the edge to be directly in line for a fully restored edge. These two attributes make this type of edge "the best" when it comes to longevity and practicality for me .....

If only the custom shop would supply a NMFBM with a ASM edge as an option ...:thumbup::cool:
 
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