Something New-To-Me from Blade Show -

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Fiddleback

Knifemaker
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Every year at Blade Show there is a multitude of new sharpening domahickies. Rods, or angle setters, etc. They always seem gadgety to me, and not worthwile. But this year during setup I met Kenneth Schwartz, and he had a new sharpening system that I thought was really worthwile. Dylan thought I was nuts, but after some testing, its my goto sharpening method! The basic idea is to use Balsa wood as the base, and put compounds onto it. The balsa wood has just the perfect amount of give. Stiffer than leather, but not totaly unforgiving. This makes it really easy to get convex AND Scandi's sharp fast. Kenneth makes and sells compounds that are carbide, or diamond, and work really well with the wood also.

When I came home I built a new sharpening system for myself. Its plywood, ripped 2" wide and joined into a long rectangle. The top and bottom sides are 24" long and the sides are 3". This allows you to clamp it to the table for stability, and to clamp sanding belts to the faces for sharpening. The long length lets you have a very long stroke with the knife against the abrasive, which, I find allows for great control of the angle by hand/eye. I don't use an angle jig in my sharpening. One face is covered in thick leather, for convexing, and the other side has a strip of balsawood glued to it. The compound I bought is roughly 600 grit, but you can really go fine with this stuff! In this picture you can see the fixture, and the layers glued to each face.

20110815101_4384-vi.jpg


In this pic, you can see the fixture clmaped to my desk, and a 2x72" 240 grit belt clamped tightly to the sides. Ready to start sharpening. Before I start, I've gotten back into the habbit of coloring the edge of a knife with sharpie so that I know I'm removing metal from the right place. This allows the knife to set the proper angle. The angle where you are working metal to the edge. I think a lot of folks get fed up sharpening because they're removing metal behind the edge with their rods set at a specific angle and working metal off in the wrong spot. I had gotten cavalier about this for a while, but have gone back to it, and it never fails. After 240 I go to a 400 grit belt, then switch to the balsa side to finish, then strop. For Scandi's, I've been just using the balsa side and strop. It really excels at Scandi's.

20110815101_4388-vi.jpg


Leather side:

20110815101_4385-vi.jpg


Balsa side with compound.

20110815101_4386-vi.jpg


You can reach Kenneth at Precise Sharpening (google that) or buy the compounds at:

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/kenscorner.html
 
Pretty cool! Now I understand what you were talking about for sharpening scandi's. I'm going to have to put one of those together.

So the compound goes directly on the balsa? Any special way to apply it or just color it on like a crayon?
 
I'll be durned. . .

That looks slick as snot

a 2 x 4 x 12 bit of balsa could make a light but bulky sharpener. Different compound on sides. I can see it
 
oeser said:
Pretty cool! Now I understand what you were talking about for sharpening scandi's. I'm going to have to put one of those together.

So the compound goes directly on the balsa? Any special way to apply it or just color it on like a crayon?
Click to expand...

Its a liquid compound. I spread it thickly onto the balsa and let it dry. Haven't had to re-apply.
 
oeser said:
Pretty cool! Now I understand what you were talking about for sharpening scandi's. I'm going to have to put one of those together.

So the compound goes directly on the balsa? Any special way to apply it or just color it on like a crayon?
Click to expand...

If you follow that link that Andy supplied it will lead you to a video of it in use. It's in a spray bottle that looks stupid-easy to use. A bit expensive to buy first time, but I guess it lasts quite a while...
 
Yea, he said it lasts a long time. I've only used my supply once. The bottle is still mostly full.
 
You know, I haven't tried it.
 
Seems like it might work well. It's always a struggle to get the other compound on my leather belts evenly. If this is more liquid I bet it would go on smoother.
 
Great looking setup but I'm a little confused: is your sanding belt over the leather and you're stropping on the balsa w/ compound?
 
The sanding belt is over the leather. Then I strop just to get the wire edge off of there. Then I hit the balsa for just a few swipes to polish the edge. Then strop again.
 
So are u using a stropping method throughout when using the belts, or are u pushing into the belts then following with a stropping method?
 
Its a stropping actiion. Pull the knife toward you with light pressure on the belt. Check to see that your angle is getting to the edge. Once you have an edge, hit the shoulder with a pass or two.
 
J. Oeser said:
Seems like it might work well. It's always a struggle to get the other compound on my leather belts evenly. If this is more liquid I bet it would go on smoother.
Click to expand...

A heat gun or hair dryer works great with those compound crayons. Or some alcohol on a rag will smooth out the application also
 
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