New sharpening idea

David and Tom,

I can follow most of your conversation except the references to Kipling. I’ve never had a chance to Kipple. What is it like? Is it something like cricket?

Now, If I can only keep my head when all about me are losing theirs and blaming it on me …
 
Howard, you worry me. You are either starting to make sense or I need to change my medications.

Has anyone ever used a razor hone? 25 or 30 years ago before I appreciated it, I had one stone about 2 1/2" x 6". And yes, I did use it to sharpen the straight razor I shaved with back when I was young and insane as opposed to older and overmedicated.

( I remember the time I went into a hospital/nursing home with the state review team and found the residents were fine, however most of the staff showed strong signs of being overmedicated. Oh the stories I could tell you ... )

Anyway, I have some of Yvsa's strops glued to wood, and was wondering if the stones/hones are still being made and how well they work.

I've also tried using the cardboard off the backs of legal pads/writing tablets.

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"The dumbest question is the one you didn't ask." JKM
Himalayan Imports Website
 
I've used just about every non-powered way imaginable to sharpen my khuks & have recently settled on the Spyderco Sharpmaker 204 as giving me the best results. The problem I had experienced with the 204 is that the brown (medium) stones are not coarse enough for initial reprofiling with a reasonable amount of effort. After a little bit of experimentation, I've solved the problem. Here's an excerpt from my recent post in the Spyderco forum on the topic:

I've tried leaning a diamond bench stone against one of the ceramic rods, as other have suggested, but found it to be very awkward at best. I have, however, had very good success recently using a diamond rod in the 204's base. Here's the deal...

A friend had given me a Chef's Choice Edge Crafter pocket diamond steel (medium grit). This is a retractable rod, approximately 3/16" diameter with about 4" of usable surface, in a brass sleeve with pocket clip.

Anyway, if you look into the 204's base you will find that there are round holes at the bottom of each stone opening. I removed the diamond steel from the brass sleeve and tried fitting it to these round holes. It fit with some play in the round hole itself but, when the steel is allowed to rest against the side of the stone cutout, the play is eliminated.

Although the resulting angle may not be an exact match to that of the ceramic stones, I found that it is close enough to allow me to use it for reprofiling. To date, I have used this method to reprofile the edges on 4 khukuris (5160 steel, hardened to 57-60 RC or so, 8-12"+ blades). It may be there but I couldn't detect a difference in sharpening angle when switching over to the ceramic stones. Of course, YMMV.

FWIW, I did experience a loss of some diamonds from the steel when using this method. Frankly, in light of the time it saved me & the excellent results I achieved, I don't care. There is still life left in the steel & I'll simply replace it if & when necessary.
Click to expand...

My bro, Blues, followed my method using a diamond Gatco rod with good results as well. On the downside, the short rods don't give a lot of surface with which to work. Like many others, I am impatiently awaiting Spyderco's development of diamond stones for the 204.




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Cheers,
Brian

He who finishes with the most toys wins.
 
After seeing Yvsa work his magic at the convention, I picked up two of the folding DMT diamond hones. I got a blue/black and a red/green to cover the range of grits. You can follow the curve of the blade and the convex edge with the thin hones. A light touch is all it takes with these hones.

I usually finish up with a couple of passes over the crock sticks. That’s sharp enough for me.
 
After reading these enjoyable posts I'll have to get some of those diamond rods and/or hones. But the only power tools in our house are a drill and a lawn mower and after these frightening observations from David and Yvsa I don't think I'll even get in the same room with a buffer.
 
Any machine in the shop can be very dangerous if you don't pay extremely close attention to what you are doing and exercise the utmost caution.

I saw a man in my own shop get his finger between an endmill and the part he was machining with a Bridgeport mill and I was the unlucky fellow who had to take him to the emergency room. My own son (with 20 years experience as a printer!) a couple of years back ran his right hand through a printing press. It can happen. I have come so close so many times it makes a cold chill run up and down my back when I think about it but I have been lucky. No damage to date.

Pay attention, be careful and if there is any doubt -- DON'T!

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Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.

Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Archives (18,000+ posts)
 
I wasn't going to post this but may as well. Can't remember the size but I think it was a 35 ton punch press that my boss was running while making notes in his head and thinking about the business instead of paying attention to the job at hand. He let the routine hypnotize him and stuck his hand in to straighten a piece of sheet metal and his foot stomped on the pedal, keeping up the rhythm. He didn't lose the hand, but it was flattened from tips of fingers to web of thumb to the extent the sides of the fingers split open.

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"The dumbest question is the one you didn't ask." JKM
Himalayan Imports Website

[This message has been edited by Rusty (edited 10-06-2000).]
 
Hi all,
I hadn't looked at this thread for a few days. I'm very impressed with the technical knowledge displayed by all, also the good sense and safety considerations employed. Like I said, one of my jobs has been renovating TCT circular saws and tool and cutter grinding, so I like to think I know what I'm talking about. Some of you guys seem a trifle over keen about perfection and sharpness, but I guess the urge to find and maintain a perfect cutting-edge is compelling.
One of the methods I have used for blades is ordinary chrome polish, (Autosol, a German product) as you may use for a car, on a piece of ox-hide. The khuk blade seems a little too 3d (as Tom pointed out) for this, but I have found that it works ok. I do it as if using a steel, not a razor strop and finds this produces a burr-free cutting edge.
My new get up is a strip of oak, with a piece of dense packing foam glued to it. I've glued the ox-hide onto the foam. I'm talking of a rig that is 12" by 4".
I don't trust myself not to get hurt with a big blade like the khuk, hence the oak base. It keeps my left hand sufficiently far from the edge of the blade as it is being polished. The combo of hide and chrome polish works as good if not better than my earlier suggestion, also is more controlled and safer.
I think that has to be the overall consideration here... Safety and control.
David

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"Old too soon, smart too late"

Uncle Bill M, 2000
 
Oh BTW Howard,
'Kipling' is a decadent European method of producing unbeleivable hights of sexual ecstasy. I believe it would attract a heavy sentencing tariff in US courts, either life with no option or, in southern states, capital punishment. I aint gonna talk about 'Freuding' as I fear I may be banished by Uncle Bill.
Sorry about the dirty talk,
David
smile.gif


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"Old too soon, smart too late"

Uncle Bill M, 2000
 
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