Hi All
This is my first post, but I've been reading and researching here for a long time. Thanks to all the folks who provided me with the info to go ahead with my ASH-1 mod.
I eventually got around to stripping my ASH-1. I thought long and hard about it, because I suspected the blade would be very rough beneath the coating. I was not disappointed. There are circular grind marks on both sides of the blade, and I have come to the conclusion that I will not be able to sand them off by hand. Not before Christmas, anyway. So, I have decided that since this will be a working blade, Im going to leave it like that and concentrate on the edge. The spine, also, was very rough but is a lot better after a couple of hours of sanding.
The stripping was easy with paint stripper and took about 30 min to get all the coating off and out of the talon holes. I sanded the spine and blade with 400 and then 600 grit. Although it doesnt look that smooth, it feels very smooth to the touch and I think this will assist in keeping rust at bay. Alas, no Infi dimples were to be found on the ASH
Waiting...
Scraped clean:
Nice smooth gray:
After 400 & 600 grit:
Spine:
I noticed something interesting (see pictures). Right after stripping the blade it had a nice gray color but I thought the blade was exceptionally smooth and could see no tool marks. However, as soon as I starting sanding the tool marks popped out like magic. Very strange. I guess there is another coating under the coating, so the speak.
Anyway, then on to the edge. I do not like the mousepad and sand paper stationary on a table or bench, but use a sanding block that has a rubber backing. This allows me to rotate the sander and the blade when sharpening the tip so that it becomes easier to keep a constant angle. The rubber on the sander is also harder than a mousepad and allows me to put a little pressure on the knife without rounding off the edge. I went through 320 grit for re-profiling to convex, then 400, 600, 800, 1000 and 1500 grits. Then I stropped on leather with black and green stropping compound.
Start of the stroke:
End of the stroke:
After leather strop - black then green compound:
Apologies for the long first post, but I'm very impressed with the new convex edge and I will never go back. My Lansky is now in the back of the garage somewhere.
Regards,
Gideon
This is my first post, but I've been reading and researching here for a long time. Thanks to all the folks who provided me with the info to go ahead with my ASH-1 mod.
I eventually got around to stripping my ASH-1. I thought long and hard about it, because I suspected the blade would be very rough beneath the coating. I was not disappointed. There are circular grind marks on both sides of the blade, and I have come to the conclusion that I will not be able to sand them off by hand. Not before Christmas, anyway. So, I have decided that since this will be a working blade, Im going to leave it like that and concentrate on the edge. The spine, also, was very rough but is a lot better after a couple of hours of sanding.
The stripping was easy with paint stripper and took about 30 min to get all the coating off and out of the talon holes. I sanded the spine and blade with 400 and then 600 grit. Although it doesnt look that smooth, it feels very smooth to the touch and I think this will assist in keeping rust at bay. Alas, no Infi dimples were to be found on the ASH
Waiting...
Scraped clean:
Nice smooth gray:
After 400 & 600 grit:
Spine:
I noticed something interesting (see pictures). Right after stripping the blade it had a nice gray color but I thought the blade was exceptionally smooth and could see no tool marks. However, as soon as I starting sanding the tool marks popped out like magic. Very strange. I guess there is another coating under the coating, so the speak.
Anyway, then on to the edge. I do not like the mousepad and sand paper stationary on a table or bench, but use a sanding block that has a rubber backing. This allows me to rotate the sander and the blade when sharpening the tip so that it becomes easier to keep a constant angle. The rubber on the sander is also harder than a mousepad and allows me to put a little pressure on the knife without rounding off the edge. I went through 320 grit for re-profiling to convex, then 400, 600, 800, 1000 and 1500 grits. Then I stropped on leather with black and green stropping compound.
Start of the stroke:
End of the stroke:
After leather strop - black then green compound:
Apologies for the long first post, but I'm very impressed with the new convex edge and I will never go back. My Lansky is now in the back of the garage somewhere.
Regards,
Gideon
