sharpening 110

I use a soft Arkansas stone then a hard Arkansas stone. For just a fine touch up on my AG s30v I use a translucent stone. I have a few knives that are convexed. I convexed a s30v Vanguard. The truth is I still can get them sharperwith the stone than I can convexing an edge. (But thats just me) My convexed edges I have seem to cut better when they are sharp but I have a heck of a time keeping them sharp. So for my Bucks, Case and other beveled edges I use a good old stone.
 
mainewoodsman said:
Buck stone and oil...

RB-4.jpg
Click to expand...

Cool pic of Dave's first rubber buckie! :thumbup:
 
Sharpmaker and a loaded strop. If any of my knifes get bad I may go to a 1000/4000 water stones or even sandpaper.
 
I've been using soft and hard Arkansas stones plus a very fine Viking reproduction stone from Ragweed forge. I'm pretty good at sharpening and hold a consistent angle but I had a "breakthrough" last night. I was working on a Buck 111 and 422. I finally realized my angle was a little too high. I lowered it and after some work with the hard stone and a technique change I found the rough grind from the factory edge was starting to polish up very nice! After some work on the Viking stone I made it to the lower realms of "hair shaving sharp"! I have a translucent Arkansas Stone on order from Ragweed.

Paul
 
PaulTX said:
I've been using soft and hard Arkansas stones plus a very fine Viking reproduction stone from Ragweed forge. I'm pretty good at sharpening and hold a consistent angle but I had a "breakthrough" last night. I was working on a Buck 111 and 422. I finally realized my angle was a little too high. I lowered it and after some work with the hard stone and a technique change I found the rough grind from the factory edge was starting to polish up very nice! After some work on the Viking stone I made it to the lower realms of "hair shaving sharp"! I have a translucent Arkansas Stone on order from Ragweed.

Paul
Click to expand...

It's all about the angle and pressure... when you get a good cut going between the blade and the stone, a practiced hand can tell. Some recommend using a sharpie to mark the blade edge then you can tell when you are in that "sweet" spot.

I have a translucent stone that came with the set I have, you can get a blade very, very sharp with that combination. I have started playing with stropping; I have to say initial results are quite good.
 
I was using two hands (one on the the handle and the other on the blade) to pull the blade straight across my large, hard Arkansas Stone like I've seen it done in a video of leather stropping. It seemed to work very well.

Paul
 
The quest for a shaving edge is not for me. I let the shop hit my knife when leading factory tours...however...I use a medium grit diamond stone.

There are only two key issues to resharpening for a working edge (not shaving)...always cut into the stone (never drag your edge across the stone) and always maintain the angle. Our new edge bevels are flat and thus easier to maintain by hand.

The trick with sharpening by hand is all about getting accurate feedback. If you can feel the sudden drag in the middle of a sharpening stroke which tells you that you either raised up too high and hit your edge or went too low and dragged the top of the edge bevel on the stone then you will recognize and seek the consistent resistance you feel when you maintain the angle...like hitting the sweetspot on a baseball bat or golf club.

The felt pen trick (which I heard from my grandfather) is another way to get feedback. Paint the edge bevel and take a few strokes. You will get a visual of exactly what you are doing and can make corrections.

One key I always tell people when sharpening is do not take too many strokes without checking the edge to see how you are doing (and check the grind you leave as well as feel the edge for sharpness) Another key when using a free hand method is I like a larger stone because longer strokes means fewer strokes and the less chance to mess up...

I often wonder if people get their knives sharp and then dull them and sharp again during a sharpening session.
 
CJ, You strike a cord w/ me in your last sentence. Gettting a knife sharp then dull and sharp again. I've done that at times and its taken me some time to notice and make adjustments to correct this during sharpening. So, now I give it one or two strokes on each side and check it. Which helps. Then using a large stone like you said is also beneficial. DM
 
I also picked up on that awhile back. I give the knife a few licks and then check it. While on the recent antelope hunt I did that with my four dot 110 and Randall #25. I'd never sharpened the Randall before and with a few careful passes it was extreamly sharp. I worked not to put any scratches on the blade and was pleased with the outcome. The 110 made short work of skinning out the head.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top