random newbie questions

[dingdong]

A few dodgy questions but don't know what the hell these things mean...

What does EDC mean?

what is a bevel?

what's bead and sand blasting?

 

[Bayoublaster]

EDC stands for Every Day Carry

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Welcome to Bladeforums!

EDC means every day carry, the knife or other equipment you always have with you.

Bevel refers to the slanted edge ground into a blade to sharpen it. It can refer to a primary bevel, the main ground down portion of the blade, or the secondary bevel, put in a narrow strip at the very edge for extra strength, at a slightly more obtuse angle than the primary.

Blasting metal with ceramic beads or smaller media, like sand, will dull the surface, for stealth or visual effect. Actually, a mirror polish protects steel from corrosion better. Bead or sand blasting scars the surface microscopically, but moisture can get into those scars.

Here are a few articles on knives that may help you with terminology and materials: A.G. Russell Knife Encyclopedia Articles.

 

[Ether]

Nice link there esav - loads of info in there!!

 

[dingdong]

Yeah some good stuff there
One more thing - whats a burr when sharpening? I guess its like a rough lump that comes up. But why do you need to get rid of it?

 

[Esav Benyamin]

When you sharpen a knife to a very thin edge, the thinnest portion at the very edge is so fragile it bends over at almost any pressure when you are trying to cut something. This is known as a burr or a wire edge or a feather. If you are using a blade as a razor, you want an extremely thin edge, but not for ordinary utility cutting.

See: "the secondary bevel, put in a narrow strip at the very edge for extra strength, at a slightly more obtuse angle than the primary"

So what you need to do is to break off that wire so the blade is left sharp but not flexible at the edge. One good way to do this is to sharpen it a few strokes at a more obtuse angle than you've been using, and to strop it. (Sharpening is generally done with the edge moving forwqard, stropping by pulling the edge back.)

 

[Esav Benyamin]

We have a new subforum now, The Toolshed: Knife Care, Maintenance, Tinkering & Embellishment, where you can learn about sharpening and maintenance.

 

[eightman]

It took me all day to figure out what IMHO meant. In my honest opinion.. right?

 

[TearsofKorah]

In my humble opinion

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Abbreviations aren't a good idea if you're trying for clarity, no matter how common they may seem. There's always someone who's not familiar with them, and those are exactly the people who are not familiar with the topic itself -- that's why they're reading it.

If all else fails, here are a few sources:

http://www.netlingo.com/
http://www.acronymfinder.com/
http://www.newbie.org/reference/abbrev.html

 

[madcap_magician]

Especially on this forum, where members vary from 13 to... um, more mature? Is that a polite way to put it?

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Yeah, well, some of us old guys know more than some of the young guys may live long enough to learn. Even lacking intelligence, experience will get you there.