New Field Kit (and how I use my DMT Diafold)

A kitchen towel isn't going to protect your arm if you have a bad slip or mis-swipe. If you insist on sharpening that way, consider covering your arm with a piece of leather. Or chain mail. ;)
 
Hi Bob,

It's hard to tell from the pic, but the kitchen towel is the heavy, Egyptian cotton kind, folded over twice. But agreed, you need something strong and thick underneath.
 
I definitely don't mean to offend and I'm certainly not arguing with your results but the first thought that entered my mind when you start sharpening was, "cleaning a loaded gun". I'm not a good sharpener (yet ;) ) and I have no sharpening advice to offer anyone, but I don't think I could use your method. I appreciate the effort you put into refining your process and as I said, you're obviously skilled and your results speak for themselves, but I'd be so distracted by the thought of the blade running back and forth over my wrist that I'd cock up the edge for sure.
 
I'm really disappointed in you all. "You might cut yourself?" :confused:
Do you all use knives? Don't touch the sharp part, it ain't all that hard.
I've been sharpening like this for years and never had a problem.
 
Chris Pierce said:
I'm really disappointed in you all. "You might cut yourself?" :confused:
Do you all use knives? Don't touch the sharp part, it ain't all that hard.
I've been sharpening like this for years and never had a problem.
Click to expand...

"You might cut yourself?" Well...yes, and for a couple of reasons. Swiping a blade back and forth over your inner wrist - an area with a significant concentration of tendons, ligaments, veins, and arteries - is a fundamentally dangerous proposition. I mean out of all of the places you could be sharpening a blade, this is one where the consequences of an accident, however unlikely that may be, are potentially severe.

The other part is that this is the OP's field kit and field sharpening process. Having an accident 15, or 5, or 0.5 miles into wilderness is a whole different problem than cutting yourself in your living room and those potential consequences become compounded.

I'm not telling him or you or anyone else not to do this: have at it. This is simply my opinion. In general, I try to minimize risk where possible, not increase it and, in my opinion, this method increases risk.
 
Maniacal Pete said:
What you are proposing is a very dangerous sharpening technique.
Click to expand...

Cutting yourself when sharpening means you've got a high sharpening skill level or you put too much strength on the blade.

Magnanimous G,

Thanks for sharing, i've never tried this way to handle a DMT diafold. I will, but if i cut myself...

Al Sue.
 
Those who commented that it's dangerous seem to be forgetting that when sharpening using diamond hone, light pressure is recommended.
As such, if the knife slip, it will be a mere skin cut. Further, with the position (sitting) and arm raised as such, one cannot exert body weight behind the movement, something that can be done if sharpening from standing position.

I'd suggest try it out with a dull knife, and a stick rather than a DMT sharpener. Test out if the method helps to make the edge angle more consistent, something that has always been a problem for me when using portable sharpener like what Mag uses.
It's not that scary/dangerous.
 
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This might be a dumb question regarding freehand sharpening but here goes anyway! LOL

Does it matter if you go "tip to handle" or "handle to tip" when sharpening? I was told to go "handle to tip" but I seen a Washboard vid and the guy sharpens "tip to handle".

Thx.
 
sinnyc said:
"You might cut yourself?" Well...yes, and for a couple of reasons. Swiping a blade back and forth over your inner wrist - an area with a significant concentration of tendons, ligaments, veins, and arteries - is a fundamentally dangerous proposition. I mean out of all of the places you could be sharpening a blade, this is one where the consequences of an accident, however unlikely that may be, are potentially severe.

The other part is that this is the OP's field kit and field sharpening process. Having an accident 15, or 5, or 0.5 miles into wilderness is a whole different problem than cutting yourself in your living room and those potential consequences become compounded.

I'm not telling him or you or anyone else not to do this: have at it. This is simply my opinion. In general, I try to minimize risk where possible, not increase it and, in my opinion, this method increases risk.
Click to expand...

Life is a fundamentally dangerous proposition. So is hiking, camping, shooting, riding a motorcycle, having kids... well you get the idea.

I just think that it's silly to tell someone something is unsafe, just because you don't trust yourself to do it. Like I said, I've been sharpening like that for years and never had a problem. You should ALWAYS pay attention to the sharp part of the knife.
Do you carry a pistol? How do you holster it without pointing it at yourself? Oh, thats right you don't. But wait, isn't the first rule "don't point a gun at anything your not willing to destroy?" HMMM.. Yep, life is dangerous, and we'd better all pay attention to what were doing. :D YMMV
 
sir_mike said:
This might be a dumb question regarding freehand sharpening but here goes anyway! LOL

Does it matter if you go "tip to handle" or "handle to tip" when sharpening? I was told to go "handle to tip" but I seen a Washboard vid and the guy sharpens "tip to handle".

Thx.
Click to expand...

I've never noticed a difference. Which ever is more comfortable and Safer ;)
 
sir_mike said:
This might be a dumb question regarding freehand sharpening but here goes anyway! LOL

Does it matter if you go "tip to handle" or "handle to tip" when sharpening? I was told to go "handle to tip" but I seen a Washboard vid and the guy sharpens "tip to handle".

Thx.
Click to expand...

I sharpen handle to tip when moving edge leading, and tip to heel when using an edge trailing motion. There's a reason for this, I get better angle control when I have more surface area, and when the edge is moving at an offset angle to the grind path (approx 45 degrees or so, swept down from tip to heel). I also find this effects the way the edge cuts, making it a bit more aggressive on a draw, and a bit more refined on a push or press.

So, better stability and slightly enhanced cutting characteristics. I will switch to a perpendicular motion when working right up at the heel or choil, but only out of necessity.

*I am that guy in the vid, thanks for watching.
 
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