Sharpening at the camp site

Bubble Jig is an excellent tool with many uses. We always have them in stock when you care to order.

I have a mobile sharpening set up with a 2X72 belt machine and a 9 inch horizontal disc with VS. and reverse. I also sharpen at local events and give demo's on how to sharpen knives. It is truly amazing what people carry in their pockets and the condition of the edges. :eek::eek::cool::barf::o Some can't be fixed with any amount of work.
The damage done by the pull through "V" sharpeners I've seen is depressing. Its one reason I started working on the ERU. If you think about it, the "V" shape is the logical shape to use when sharpening a "V" shape. I found, after taking apart dozens of them, that much of the damage they do is a result of the alignment of the carbides, the positioning, where a pointed cutting edge is used to remove metal, the lack of any way the user can align the blade being sharpened and the fact that most people use them as a bludgeon instead of a precision tool. The ERU is a precision tool with perfectly mounted carbides that match in attitude and with a way to position the blade to where it is drawn through the "V" in alignment with the carbide faces. Most of the scrapers I tore apart had fixed angles from 36 to 45 degrees which is almost useless when it comes to modern blades.
Maybe you will get a chance to try my invention at some future date. If you would like I can put you on a list and when I have one available I will gladly send it to you and let you try it first hand. Its really the only way to assess anything.

Regards, Fred

Happy sharpening!
 
Hey, if you ever do a pass-around with one of those sharpeners, I'd be more than happy to give it a try and report on what I experience. Who knows, wouldn't be the first time I've been pleasantly surprised by a tool I didn't think would work at all!

It seems from most of the ones I've tried that the carbides tend to dig into the blade steel FAR more aggressively than they need to, resulting in a chatter-filled, scored edge with a hideous burr. Often, I have seen actual visible metal curls coming off of the blade! :eek: Another common symptom I can see wouldn't be so much of a problem with the ERU's design, in that it will actually get all the way to the heel. A lot of knives I see come in that people have used the carbide scrapers repeatedly will have a depression a quarter inch or so from the heel, where the guard on the scraper first lets the carbides touch the blade. The Chef's Choice is more or less the same in that respect, only far worse.

You certainly aren't kidding about some of the stuff people carry, man! Also, people give up on knives way too early. "Oh no, a quarter inch of the tip on my four-inch blade broke off, is this knife trash now?" It never fails to make me smile when I slam the 32-grit belt on the Kalamazoo, and have a knife that someone thinks is shot with a half inch of blade missing back to shape and sharp again five minutes later. :)
 
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I second the Work Sharp Field Sharpener. I am not very good freehand and the guides make it easy. I sharpen on a Ken Onion Work Sharp so all of my knives are convexed but th diamond stones make quick work to raise a burr if I need to field sharpen. My favorite part about it is the way you hold it. Easy to use while leAning back in a chair.
 
Well, time for me to put up or shut up! Just dropped a message to order an ERU. Let's see if this carbide sharpener can impress me, where all others have failed! :)
 
Komitadjie said:
Well, time for me to put up or shut up! Just dropped a message to order an ERU. Let's see if this carbide sharpener can impress me, where all others have failed! :)
Click to expand...

I will keep my eye out for that thread.


To the OP's question,

My go-to was a coarse/fine DMT diafold for a while but in recent times I have been taking full size stones. When I sharpen at home I use waterstones in most cases and have gotten comfortable to that edge, when I used the diafold to touch up it was coarser and the edge was not as nice. So, being stubborn, I decided I would just start taking the stones I use to keep my edges performing as I expect them to.

I take my Shapton stones when camping/traveling because they are light and don't require any soaking. I usually take my 2k Stone because it's what I finish on and is fast enough to remove a fair amount of steel if needed. In the past I tried taking a King 1k and it too worked, it's a durable and cheap stone but soaking and its muddy mess was not convenient. I also didn't need a stone that coarse, I don't let my edges get too far past the loss of shaving sharpness so the 2000 grit Shapton is a ideal choice for me considering it's also the typical finish on my edges.

If my camping was more mobile, as to include lots of hiking then something small and light like some sandpaper on a paint stick would be my choice.
 
Komitadjie said:
Well, time for me to put up or shut up! Just dropped a message to order an ERU. Let's see if this carbide sharpener can impress me, where all others have failed! :)
Click to expand...

I think you'll be happy with it. I did some work on a cheap version a while back to find out why these do or do not work when they do or don't:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-(with-micrographs)?highlight=carbide+scraper

and this type of sharpener is capable of good results. Fred's version addresses the negative factors very well.

Edit to add:
next time out I'll be using a piece of natural stone I found in a stream and flattened - circular shaped about 3" across, makes about a 400 grit edge. I can reclaim the grit when used with water, and it makes a good stropping compound applied to smooth wood. Edge will shave some arm hairs and can be taken up further by stropping again with ashes from the fire. Method won't work on some stainless, but for touching up my carbon steel hatchet or machete will work great.

I also drilled a depression into the underside and will use that for a socket when starting fires with a bow drill.
 
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