Sharpening the large blades in the field?

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oguruma

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Jan 3, 2010
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I have never owned a large blade (7+ inches) and I was curious what you do to sharpen the edge in the field, if anything, or what would be recommended. For smaller blades, I usually bring along a small sharpening stone, but I am not sure how effective that would be for, say, a Junglas. Any input?
 
The thinner the blade geometry the easier it is to sharpen with improvised methods. Thus, another reason i like machetes.
 
oguruma said:
I have never owned a large blade (7+ inches) and I was curious what you do to sharpen the edge in the field, if anything, or what would be recommended. For smaller blades, I usually bring along a small sharpening stone, but I am not sure how effective that would be for, say, a Junglas. Any input?
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Reverse your method and see how that works...hold the blade steady and bring the stone to the blade. I usually hold (with my left hand) the back of the blade straight in front of me resting on my leg with the edge up and use circular motions with the stone (that's in my right hand). I've even been doing that with smaller blades out of habit now...it works well for me.
 
Yeah, I've found the whole keeping the blade stationary while moving the stone works great on the big blades
 
DH1 said:
Reverse your method and see how that works...hold the blade steady and bring the stone to the blade. I usually hold (with my left hand) the back of the blade straight in front of me resting on my leg with the edge up and use circular motions with the stone (that's in my right hand). I've even been doing that with smaller blades out of habit now...it works well for me.
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+1

It's like sharpening a hatchet, this method works well for me too...
 
a small hard stone is just fine for a large high carbon fixed blade. IMO you can't get more for your money or be more effective, really.
 
I just take along a ceramic rod from my sharpmaker, or a diamond rod of some random sort. Usually though, I don't sharpen much as most of my trips are 3 days or less.
 
Sharpening puck is pretty useful for large blades and axes... consider the Lansky Puck Sharpener.
 
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