Recommendation? Sharpening with a file vs. a stone?

[Smaug]

I'm ready to give the first sharpening to my trusty little Fiskars X7 hatchet.

A file is a cutting tool, vs. a stone, which is an abrasive. The stone also cuts, but in a different way.

Am I right to assume that the file should be used for rougher sharpening, such as getting the nicks and folds off of the edge, and that I should finish with a stone?

Anything else I should know?

 

[phantomknives]

youre right

i usually go file -> stone -> 2k sandpaper or strop, but usually it's enough to stop at the stone

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

If you're good with files you can get a dry-shaving edge right off a file, but refining it a little more with a stone usually yields enough of a benefit in use to be worth doing.

 

[Leafpoint]

I use a file for my machetes,axes, and hatchets and that’s good enough for me

 

[Blue Sky]

…Am I right to assume that the file should be used for rougher sharpening, such as getting the nicks and folds off of the edge, and that I should finish with a stone?

Anything else I should know?

A file is good for establishing the bevels you want. I prefer a sharp single cut. Then sandpaper on a block works to smooth them out. 200, 400, then 800 will get them pretty smooth. Unless you realy bang the edge up badly, you shouldn’t really need the file again.

 

[catspa]

I’m with Benjamin, I used to use a single cut bastard and refine with a double cut smooth. But awhile ago I bought a bull thistle stone from him, and use it now instead of the smooth.

I wish he sold one that would fit into a chainsaw tooth…

Parker

 

[Idahawk]

File was all we carried in our forest service Conservation crew back in the Early/mid 70s. Did the job just fine.

 

[Square_peg]

Shape with the file. Hone with the stone.

 

[Idahawk]

Shape with the file. Hone with the stone.

We carried a fine file in the field in case we needed to touch up the blade. When the tools were turned back in at the forestry camp the tool maintenance crew spruced and honed em up. Crews that packed into the wilderness areas for days at a time would pack both. I was on some big fires where we pitched out for few days. We’re issued Paper composition type sleeping bags that were tossed when we pulled out. We were so tired anything was comfortable. The helmet or canteen was the pillow

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

Fiskars are soft and already come with a viable profile from the factory. No need for a file, diamond stones are all you need.

 

[Square_peg]

We carried a fine file in the field in case we needed to touch up the blade. When the tools were turned back in at the forestry camp the tool maintenance crew spruced and honed em up. Crews that packed into the wilderness areas for days at a time would pack both.

I'll carry an F. Dick mini file if I'm on a back country response team.

https://byxco.com/products/friedrich-dick-all-pupose-mini-file?_pos=15&_sid=375fa86cf&_ss=r

https://www.wta.org/get-involved/volunteer/ways-to-volunteer/bcrt

 

[Smaug]

Fiskars are soft and already come with a viable profile from the factory. No need for a file, diamond stones are all you need.

The edge is nicked up. I used the hatchet once to help chop a shelf bracket away from a tree that had grown around it. (previous homeowner did that) I hit the bracket and screws a couple times, despite my best efforts not to. I think stones would take FOREVER to correct this. I don't currently have anything more coarse than the Spyderco diamond rods for the Sharpmaker.

Can you recommend a good coarse stone for use on axes and chopper-type knives?

Come to think of it though, I do have a WorkSharp machine made for garage and yard tools; I'll have to see if I still have the sandpaper discs for it.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

The edge is nicked up. I used the hatchet once to help chop a shelf bracket away from a tree that had grown around it. (previous homeowner did that) I hit the bracket and screws a couple times, despite my best efforts not to. I think stones would take FOREVER to correct this. I don't currently have anything more coarse than the Spyderco diamond rods for the Sharpmaker.

Can you recommend a good coarse stone for use on axes and chopper-type knives?

Come to think of it though, I do have a WorkSharp machine made for garage and yard tools; I'll have to see if I still have the sandpaper discs for it.

If you've fubared the edge, a file couldn't hurt. I chopped mine into some rocks and just used a extra coarse stone and simply kept on chopping. The nicks and rolls eventually got sharpened out.

Thing about coarse stones is they don't stay coarse for very long.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Thing about coarse stones is they don't stay coarse for very long.

They certainly should, if they're any good.

But when dealing with a banged up edge, that's where files shine. Iron out the damage with the file, then refine with the stone.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

They certainly should, if they're any good.

But when dealing with a banged up edge, that's where files shine. Iron out the damage with the file, then refine with the stone.

I should have added the word "diamond". Extra coarse diamond stones don't stay extra coarse for very long imho, regardless of brand.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Ah yes, diamond works best in finer grits in my experience as well, and coarse diamond is best reserved for tasks that actually require the grain hardness. Coarse bonded silicon carbide or aluminum oxide stones, by contrast, should remain roughly (no pun intended) the same throughout their useful life.

 

[catspa]

SP, I need one of those!

Been my experience that all diamond abrasives start out coarser than they end up. Maybe Benjamin can tell us why.

My speculation is that the dust is laid on the subsurface a little unevenly, and in use the sticking up-most particles wear off.

Parker

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

SP, I need one of those!

Been my experience that all diamond abrasives start out coarser than they end up. Maybe Benjamin can tell us why.

My speculation is that the dust is laid on the subsurface a little unevenly, and in use the sticking up-most particles wear off.

Parker

They are still my faves but the function of the extra coarse in particular, is reduced rather quickly. Using too much pressure will knock it down even quicker The dia sharp's aren't what they used to be but weirdly the polkadot pocket dmt's seem to hold up better.

Ah yes, diamond works best in finer grits in my experience as well, and coarse diamond is best reserved for tasks that actually require the grain hardness. Coarse bonded silicon carbide or aluminum oxide stones, by contrast, should remain roughly (no pun intended) the same throughout their useful life.

I very much like the idea of these stones, (the stones you offer) but how often do you have to lap them flat?

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

SP, I need one of those!

Been my experience that all diamond abrasives start out coarser than they end up. Maybe Benjamin can tell us why.

My speculation is that the dust is laid on the subsurface a little unevenly, and in use the sticking up-most particles wear off.

Parker

Generally it's because they're a coated abrasive and the diamond either wears from use and so becomes less aggressively cutting, the diamonds fracture (in the case of polycrystalline diamond vs. monocrystalline), or pressure is great enough to pull the diamonds out of their metallic plated "glue". Or a combination of all three. Basically plated diamond is more like sandpaper than it is like an actual stone. Because of the high grit protrusion and abrasive hardness they cut aggressively for their grit rating when new, but once excess loose diamond has shed and they've settled into their actual grit, that aggression tends to degrade due to abrasive pullout, wear to the grains, and fracturing into smaller grains.

 

[catspa]

Thank you, I’m smarter now.

Parker