Steeling/Burnishing

B

bobwill

Joined
Feb 10, 2001
Messages
147
Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone has any advice when it comes to steeling my khukuri with the chakma. Should I be at all afraid of screwing up the edge geometry?
Thanks for your input,

Bob
 
Thanks Howard. I've read the stuff you and Yvsa. So, it's normal for a khukuri to have a rather rough edge after being steeled? I've been playing around with the chakma a lot recently, and the chakma bears the marks as evidence. So, you can't really over steel?

Thanks again,

bob

[This message has been edited by bobwill (edited 03-13-2001).]
 
:
Bob I believe you can "over steel" a blade.
The chakmas can exert a lot more pressure than what one realizes. I have pushed some good sized dings out of some of my blades towards the tip and behind the sweet spot towards the bolster.
The idea to finish up a good burnishing is to stroke the blade lightly, it takes some practice, but as Howard has said, "you won't hurt it."
And the finish can be quite rough on a steeled blade.
The idea is to align the edge to the center of the edge and if you get to heavy handed with it you can actually start pushing the metal there from side to side and that's when it needs a few strokes on a ceramic rod or ceramic "steel," or strop to remove the burr that's been formed there.


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>>>>---Yvsa-G@WebTV.net---->®

"VEGETARIAN".............
Indin word for lousy hunter.
 
Bob,
I never had good luck w/chakma. I like my blades razor sharp. I use a cardboard wheel on a bench grinder motor and a leather strop wheel. In the field where you do not have the luxury of electricty I use a Spyderco double stuff stone or a DMT fine grit stone. If I spent more time using the chakma I bet it would work well to a point.

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Chris B.
 
I sometimes use the chakma in the field to realign the edge. It does not remove metal so much as reposition it. If I'm at home I like to use a ceramic rod to both realign and resharpen at the same time. The ceramic rod does remove a small amount of metal from the blade, whereas the chakma removes virtually none.

If your chakma has nicks in it, (say from striking against flint) you could roughen the edge of a sharp khukuri and put some small nicks in it. Nothing a few minutes with a sharpener couldn't fix though. I would use a smooth part of the chakma for steeling to prevent nicking the blade.
 
I like to steel the edge with the chakma then wrap the chakma with 2000 grit sandpaper and run that along the edge in the same fashion as I would to steel it. Produces an pretty good and quick working(convex)edge that'll take more than a few hairs off the arm
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Be careful though or you'll sand the finish off close to the edge. I speak from experience and I'm not too proud of it
smile.gif
 
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