Stropping with a matchbox!

[UnitedParacords]

so i've thought about this in the shower today......... the phosphorus on a match box (the striker) has glass in it so it would be (correct me if i'm wrong) almost like a fine diamond sharpener. so i tried it and it works! i turned a sharp knife even sharper. has anyone professional tried it yet? if so tell me the difference please! thanks

 

[Bob6794]

In a pinch people get creative we use car windows, cardboard, paper, bricks, stones, rocks, etc. Once you have your technique down you will be surprised at what you can with minimal equipment. Actual sharpening gear is nice to have but it's not always accessible and sometimes you have to get creative to get the job done.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

In reading about the abrasive used in matchbox strikers (ground glass, a.k.a. silica), I could see how it could work on some blades anyway. Silica isn't as hard as other abrasives we often use, like aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, or diamond; so, with some simpler steels that don't need heavy edge repairs, it could work. Pretty clever idea, just the same. :thumbup:

Most rocks or stones, found on the ground and useful for sharpening blades, will also be silica-based (quartz, flint, chert, sandstone, etc).


David

 

[Bob6794]

I do have to admit he is the first person I heard of using a matchbox, I wouldn't have thought of that.

 

[n7titan]

Sometimes I rub the slurry from my whetstone onto some cardboard. Super light and portable stropping cards.

Good idea with the match striker, it'd probably wear out the striker fast though.

 

[UnitedParacords]

In reading about the abrasive used in matchbox strikers (ground glass, a.k.a. silica), I could see how it could work on some blades anyway. Silica isn't as hard as other abrasives we often use, like aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, or diamond; so, with some simpler steels that don't need heavy edge repairs, it could work. Pretty clever idea, just the same. :thumbup:

Most rocks or stones, found on the ground and useful for sharpening blades, will also be silica-based (quartz, flint, chert, sandstone, etc).


David

thanks David, i will try some quarts and see what the results are.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

thanks David, i will try some quarts and see what the results are.

If you can find some sandstone (or finer 'siltstone', as found near/in stream beds), give that a try. I used a piece of red sandstone like a waterstone, to re-bevel and put a nice toothy edge on one of my Case stainless folders (420HC). Worked very well, and I even used some of the fine slurry on a piece of leather to strop the burrs off of it.

Some quartz can be rather coarse. If you can find an unbroken piece that's been in a stream/riverbed, and rounded & smoothed over time (millenia), that might work better than the broken stuff you might find, which is very blocky and coarsely-structured.

Flint and chert are very fine-grained (these were sometimes used to make arrowheads and cutting tools, long ago), and I'd think they should work well also. Might be a little harder to find, depending on where you live.


David