New sharpening idea

I'm a new forumite, having been one of those infamous "lurkers" for about 3 months. I have a 15" AK (which I love) and have a GRS by Bura on order.

Anyway, I had read Yvsa's thread about using leather glued to a wooden dowel, and also another article about using 1200 grit and 2000 grit sandpaper to sharpen a carpenter's plane blade. Since I didn't have any leather, I combined the two ideas; taping some 1200 grit sandpaper to a piece of 1/2" PVC pipe, and stroking in the direction of the spine of the blade.

I now have a very shiny, smooth, shaving sharp edge on all my blades.

Randy
 
Yvsa

Yvsa

Joined
May 18, 1999
Messages
15,395
:
Great job Randy!!
biggrin.gif

I bet the edges are Highly Polished
as well!!

You could also glue on a few layers of old worn out denim keeping the joining edge smooth and then using
a compound like tripoli or jewelers rouge have basically the same thing I do with the leather.
Or using spray glue to glue the sandpaper on the denim or other tough cloth.

The "trick" to having a
"true convex" edge is having something that will give when the edge is pulled across it.

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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"There's no trick in being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you."

...............Will Rogers......

Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Website
 
Thanks for the idea, Randy. I'll give it a try this weekend -- I have a villager in need of a major sharpening job.
 
I already had a pretty sharp blade to begin with, the sandpaper was just to hone and polish.

Randy
 
:
Oh!!!! And most important!!!!

Welcome to the Kantina!!!



------------------
>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"There's no trick in being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you."

...............Will Rogers......

Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Website
 
Forumites may like to try this method of attaining burr-free razor sharpness (although I cannot imagine why anyone needs to!). I used to sharpen chisel and plane blades like this: It is a No 1 top tip.
Take your bench grinder and remove both mineral or diamond wheels (or whatever). Replace these with industrial rag wheels. Apply industrial metal polish - you know, the stuff that comes in bars, to one of the rag wheels and polish the blade up lightly, including the edge you have just sharpened up on an ordinary stone (sorry, forgot to mention that first). Complete the task by burnishing with the clean rag wheel. Ensure the blade does not overheat during this process, for obvious reasons. You should now have a very sharp, burr-free edge.
David

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"Old too soon, smart too late"

Uncle Bill M, 2000
 
:
When doing as David has said.....
I also remove all the guards on the grinder.
And you want to be sure and keep anything you put to the buffing wheels BELOW the centerline of the wheel.
Next to a bandsaw I believe that a buffing setup is the most Dangerous of all tools in any shop!!
Part of my job description many years ago was running a very high powered buffer. I polished "Toe Stops" for roller skates and every now and then one would get loose and rack me. That could literally have me rolling in the floor.
frown.gif


Fortunately and "Knock On Wood" I have never been seriously hurt with a buffer, BUT I have had the POO Scared out of me Many times!!

I Never do any hard or serious buffing unless my sweet wife is home with me, just in case of an emergency. A flying knife of any kind can be really Bad News!!


------------------
>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"There's no trick in being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you."

...............Will Rogers......

Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Website
 
Take a bow Yvsa!
Sorry, forgot to mention that bit... Am now having visions of dozens of forumites with missing limbs, or just plain ole dead, with 12" of Nepalise steel through the torso... Maybe I better change my name to 'Widow-maker' or some such.
I had a job once renovating very large tungsten carbide tipped circular saws. They were too big to get pulled into the buffer, so no problems there. It has happened with smaller tools, but I seem to have forgotten about that... I guess, so far I have been lucky. Come to think about it, much the same problem occurs when turning wood, but that's of no relevance to the forum whatever, so I'll stow my gab.
Listen to Yvsa. He knows much of life.
David

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"Old too soon, smart too late"

Uncle Bill M, 2000
 
After a few minutes reflection on what Yvsa and Uncle Bill just posted, I feel I should say this: Don't do what I suggested unless you have a good deal of experience of working with the bench grinder. Take my personal benchmark of experience: I can re-sharpen small drill bits on an ordinary grinder, back to better than new. There isn't any need to get a blade like a khurkuri up to the level of finish this process will create anyway - that is, unless you are about to set an amazing new standard in the field of heart surgery. No, come to think about it, it would really annoy the nurses. Best just stick to the conventional tools, scissors and scalpel, as you would get struck off.
I cannot stress enough that this post is a retraction of my suggested methodology. Please kids, DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME. Sure it works, but it isn't worth the risks. Try this: Don't do anything I say might be a good idea, or ask for a more sensible forumite for their opinion first... Unless you like the idea of orphans living in your house.

Yours, mortified and embarrassed.
David (on first name terms with Grim. Reaper that is)

[This message has been edited by David Innes (edited 10-05-2000).]
 
David - Thanks for the info. I agree with Yvsa and yourself that the buffing wheel can be a vicious SoB - so can most machines. I reckon the miller is the scariest piece in my workshop, but they'll all bite you if you don't treat them with respect.

I use a buffing wheel on the blades I make; but I find that it takes the edge *off*, rather than sharpening. Any idea what I might be doing wrong?
 
Now that is another tricky one, Tom. Could possibly be you are (please don't be insulted by this, it's meant well) mistaking the perfection of the polished edge, burr-free, with the imperfection of the burred edge produced by the stone or steel for 'sharpness'.
There. I've said it. Now Tom will flame me for days, and start going on about how horrid & stupid I am!
Another, more reasonable, explaination could be that you are going at it to hard and at the wrong angle? Personally, I only found 'the right angle' by accident with an old Opinell blade, which forgave me many sins before going to Wayland's forge...
Tom, do you like the reference to Kipling there? I do, which would explain much about my last post in 'Blue on Blue'.
Also, please, no comments about me having spelt 'Opinell' incorrectly, or about having owned a French-made blade. My ego shrinks day by day, and simply will dissappear if you do. (Reference to Freud. God! I'm on a roll here...)
Yours, feeling slightly molified by the nice post from Tom, but still expecting the worst.
(Reference to Voltaire)
Oh, I could go on all night...
(Another, the greatest of Irish writers, Flan O'B)
Stop this idiocy now! Sorry.
David

------------------
"Old too soon, smart too late"

Uncle Bill M, 2000
 
:
Tom, I've found that a hard tightly sewn buff, medium loaded and a light touch works best for me when I want a super high polished very sharp edge.
I can't do it on the buffs I have right now. They are all to soft.

An old foreman I once had showed me the trick. He would take broken feed fingers from automatic screw machines and make some really nice gouges from them.
He put the final edge on with a buffer. The dayumed thngs would cut you without you hardly noticeing.
Up until then I had never seen a mirror finished edge on anything.



------------------
>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"There's no trick in being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you."

...............Will Rogers......

Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Website
 
David wrote -

"Now that is another tricky one, Tom. Could possibly be you are (please don't be insulted by this, it's meant well) mistaking the perfection of the polished edge, burr-free, with the imperfection of the burred edge produced by the stone or steel for 'sharpness'. "

Easily done, admittedly. I try and use more objective tests, eg cutting paper, shaving hairs &c.

"Another, more reasonable, explaination could be that you are going at it to hard and at the wrong angle?"

That's quite possible. I'll try a lighter touch and experiment with angles. Thanks for the tip.

"Tom, do you like the reference to Kipling there?"

Iron, cold iron...

Yvsa; I hadn't thought of that; the mop I'm using at the moment is pretty darned worn and soft. I'll try a new one.

FWIW, my sharpening routine is; very rough passes on the bench grinder to set the profile; clean up and improve on the belt grinder; work down with stones, from coarse scythe-stone through slipstones of various grits to my grandfather's old India oilstone; finish on a leather strop charged with 1600 grit dental plate polishing compound. This rigmarole will put a razor edge on anything, but it takes a *very* long time, esp. when doing a 30" sword blade...

Does anybody use Arkansas stones? If so, how do you use them and where can you get them from?
 
Tom:
Re: Arkansas Stones:
I get mine from Brownell's. Get their catalog, it's worth what they charge for it. They have a web site...brownells.com.
I think they can ship overseas.
I have several in different shapes to use on small knives, and to do pistol trigger and sear work, but I've never thought to try them on the khuks, as I prefer a coarser edge on the big knives. On khuks I use an EZLap "M" diamond stick, and a fifty year old bench carborundum stone. I get a shaving edge that is still tough enough to chop orcs with.

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The sword cannot cut itself, the eye cannot see itself.
 
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