Ok guys my turn [again]. Up for grabs is a sharpener I made from a quartz-ceramic rod, if your unfamiliar with quartz-ceramic its the only transulent material capable of holding up to the heat of the electric arc discharge inside of a high-pressure sodium lamp. It is an extremely fine material and as such this sharpner isn't a general use sharpener, its for finishing or touch-up work.
I ask that you have already given something, or give at the time you ask for the sharpener. The other thing I ask is you already have a coarser sharpener and need a higher-grit stone for finishing (cause again that's what this is really for). Its just slightly more abrasive than a steel and it'd be nearly impossible to sharpen a dull blade with it. If I had to guess I'd say its somewhere around ~3k grit.
This particular rod came out of a 600w bulb, I use one of these in my own sharpening (but I have a ~2" longer rod from a 1000w bulb) and it really works well for touch up and finish work on my recurve blades. It would work great as an add-on to a sharpmaker or other similar sharpener.
Construction is quite simple, a sheet of HDPE with a handle milled in it and the quartz-ceramic rod is seated in a milled in channel and secured with epoxy (so it doesn't come out). Care is simple, it can be cleaned with water and a powdered abrasive cleaner (like comet) every few uses.
(The bill is for size reference, its not included!)
, but it sounds like a great edge finisher!
