This is a picture of my outrageously expensive sharpening setup
, eat your heart out you Edgepro, Razoredge, Sharpmaker and Awase lovers .So, while for a while I was hunting the latest and greatest abrasives for sharpening, it occured to me while idling that the more stones, rods, strops etc. I have, the less I actually explore the limits of what I have already.
It reminded me a bit of a time when my interest in photography was on its peak and I had camera equipment worth multiple thousand dollars when I restricted myself to the use of a single (non-zoom) lens and not to take any other lenses to really force myself to get aquainted with that one lense and to explore its limits. During that time I probably learned more about photography and took better pictures than at any other time.
But back to sharpening, this train of thought got me interested in exploring, what is really need in order to get an edge that is more than good enough to get a wide-eyed stare from a NKP and to shave armhair easily without scraping. So I started to sharpen knives that were lying around (mostly kitchen knives, that are of decent quality, but nothing I hang my heart on) with whatever was available. So tonight, my housemate (I hope he isn't reading this
) had a SAK and one of these aweful double-sided $5 stones from the hardware store that have an un-named grid rating of probably 120/320# (guesstimate). The SAK was a neighbor's given to him to be sharpened, and hence as blunt as you would expect the knife of a NKP to be.So, while watching TV, I started to doodle and sharpen the SAK on the stone that I would normally only touch (or maybe not
) for heavy reprofiling. I used a light touch and alternating strokes, didn't really raise a burr since the rough stone cut faster than I would have liked anyways, and the steel in a SAK isn't really the most abrasion resistant anyways and in no time had an edge that was surprising passable. Now, I got curious and wanted to know where I could take this. So I turned over my cup and refined the edge on the bottom ring. After a few strokes the SAK was already shaving, but it was still pretty rough since the difference between the rough stone and the fine ceramic (which is still rougher than a Spyderco white) was simply too large and the area of the rim to small to fully refine the edge. Now I was getting in the swing of things and tore off the side of a package (yes, it contained a knife ) that I had just received and started stropping, no compound, just simple cardboard. After maybe 20-30 strokes the SAK now shaves easily approaching popping but still ways away from treetopping and will catch the freehanging hair at the back of my head. That alien looking thing on the left of the picture is my leg with a bald spot and on the white paper is some of the shaved off hair (my arms are already too bald to make for a dramatic photo ). No, this SAK will not take any prizes for its sharpness, but it is more than servicable and I wouldn't be ashamed to hand it to a hardcore knifenut either.....and all that with a five-dollar brick, a cup and a piece of hastily torn off cardboard
.
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