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Sharpening Challenge

DeadboxHero

DeadboxHero

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
5,540
Is it possible to sharpen a paper tearing 440a blade with a soft arkansas field stone to tree top arm hair? No strops, no other grits
 
Sure but you may wear out the stone first if the knife is really dull. If it is just a large, folded burr, a couple strokes might be all that is needed. Hey, wasn't there somebody on here who can whittle hairs with the edge off a DMT coarse stone? It is about refinement not grit size.
 
Anything is possible, having the skill to do it is another question.
 
I thought it would be impressive, I don't have the skills for such a feat. I've been freehand sharpening for the past 5 years. Just wanted to know if someone could and if so any tips?
 
DeadboxHero said:
Is it possible to sharpen a paper tearing 440a blade with a soft arkansas field stone to tree top arm hair? No strops, no other grits
Click to expand...

Questions like this are the first signs of clinical boredom.....

Why?

There is a great and simple process of how to go from not cutting paper, to hair shaving sharp on stones...you've been free handing for 5 years?!?! I would imagine you know how to get there by now.

I understand that we all want to learn and try new things, but this is a borderline go see a doctor kinda question....
 
Hahaha how insulting.

Hey, If we never challenge ourselves to ask why we can never grow. To perform such a feat shows great understanding and skill.


Treetoping hairs above the skin and dragging the edge to scrap shave are different levels of performance.

Yes I can get a treetoping edge, but to achieve it with the perimeters above would be remarkable and is not possible for me with that stone and steel and my skill.

Peace be with you.
 
Use a fine diamond plate to texturise one side of the stone and make it finer. Will definately help. Dont forget a light touch.
 
DeadboxHero said:
I thought it would be impressive, I don't have the skills for such a feat. I've been freehand sharpening for the past 5 years. Just wanted to know if someone could and if so any tips?
Click to expand...

Not sure I do either. ;)

The tricky thing about Arkansas stones is, they're so variable (because they're natural). Some 'cheap' ones will likely never work for such tasks, and other decent-but-glazed or worn natural stones will likely have trouble too. It's not very hard to 'kill' a good natural stone by attempting to sharpen a too-wear-resistant blade on it just once, after which the stone will be glazed and won't likely work the same ever again.

Having said that, don't give up just yet. I've kept noticing, as my skills have improved over time, that many of the 'marginal' sharpening tools I've accumulated over 25+ years are suddenly working better than they used to. But sometimes, you'll still find that some tools just aren't quite up to a given task. Arkansas stones are at the lowest end of the hardness scale, relative to the modern wear-resistant steels used by many nowadays. Even at their best quality, some combinations of stone & steel still won't work very well.


David
 
When you say a soft Arkansas field stone do you mean one of those tiny pocket stones that are like 3x1in?
 
I have just one stone i sharpen on for all my knives. Its a 50 year old Norton Arkansas. I found if i leave the grit on the stone that builds up during sharpening i get better results. I used to wipe off the stone now i leave it on and add a couple drops of norton light mineral oil and i am good to go. The stone is maybe 3x6. I have even sharpened hatchets on it. The key to sharpening is repeating the same exact angle everytime. I have made rough riders 440a split hair.
 
The only reason it would be a challenge is that a soft Arkansas stone is fine and very slow so if you are starting with an extremely dull or damaged edge it's going to take forever to bring it back to a high level of sharpness. It's more of a challenge to your patience then anything else:D
 
The easiest way to post pics is to use a separate photo hosting site like photobucket.
 
Might take a day or two, I'll still have to give it a go. I'm on pretty good terms with my old soft Arkansas. The old standard was shaving armhair with no jump, just collecting on the blade. This usually puts it pretty close to treetopping.
 
I cant get any steel to tree top, but 440A is easy to sharpen. From paper ripping to say, paper towel cutting (something I can get to), no problem. Could probably be done on the curb in front of my place.

Zdp189 would be more fun to challenge someone to with an ark stone.
 
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