Various Knife Questions

[Vivi]

1. I don't fully understand what exactly stropping is and what it does. I know that it's a finishing touch for sharpening, but I've seen people talk about doing it on leather and cardboard. I don't understand what cardboard has to do with knife sharpening...are other mateirals used?

2. What gives CRKT its somewhat lower reputation than other brands here? Just curious, I don't think they're the end all be all of knives, but from the models I've held and the low-end folder of theirs I own, I am incredibly happy with their knives and look forward to purchasing more. The ergonomics fit me great, very solid construction with proper alignment and no blade play, sharp blade out of box, good grip, LAWKS is a nice addition to liner locks and the flipper is really great for deployment.

3. This question doesn't pertain to knives as much, but I've been reading up on fire-starting techniques. I'm interested in magnesium / ferrocium rods (Believe it's what they're made of) and how to use them. Anyone got some reccomended tutorials and brands of firesteels?

I know I had one or two other questions, but they escape me at the moment. I'll post them if I remember. Thanks in advance.

 

[ahgar]

I'm far from an expert but i'll give you my ideas on your questions.
1. as far as i can tell stropping polishes the edge for a smoother cut. you can use leather, cardboard or even the palm of your hand. I used to see the old timers pull out a knife to cut something and after cutting they would strop the knife on their palm.
2. right now I think the biggest complaint with crkt is they downgraded their steel in many of their lower end knives to aus4 and 420j which is lower in carbon. I have an m-16 from wally world which has aus4 and so far so good.I can tell you my experience with crkt customer service has been great.
3. I'm a lighter man myself{zippo} but as i understand the deal you scrap off some of the aluminum into your tender and flip the starter over and scrap the back of your knife down the rod to create sparks to ignite the al. check on some survival forums and I'm sure you can find several how tos.
hope this helps a little, I sure some sharper people will chime in to answer your questions. later, ahgar

 

[Hair]

Think of stroping like using ultra-fine sand paper to polish an edge. Cardboard and leather are abrasive enough to do this, even more so if a coating of polishing paste is used. You can even strop on your jeans.

CRKT has its fans, but the people here who enjoy higher-end knives tend to look down on them because they don't offer many high-end knives. CRKT has been downgrading their stuff to the point that their highest-end stuff is barely mddle of the road compared to some of the favorite brands on here. The M16 is a classic and is loved here, but until CRKT starts making (more... current) knives with titanium, G-10, and S30V, they won't be seen as on the same level as Spyderco, Benchmade, Kershaw, and even Buck. Look at how Kershaw has been moving up. They have started using better materials and steel, and it has got them more respect. CRKT has done the opposite, and it isn't like they were Chris Reeve to begin with. The story for Gerber is pretty much the same.

I do think the LAWKS is nice, expecially the new automatic versions. I have an M16 and the fit and finish is very good for the price. But making good knives for 30 bucks and some higher-end but not impressive stuff isn't going to win as many knife knuts over as making *MANY* high-end knives with top-of-the-line materials, giving knuts many high-end options.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Stropping just means using the knife edge trailing when sharpening, it is usually done on media which you can't hone the other way because the knife would just cut it apart.

[polish an edge]

Cardboard and leather are abrasive enough to do this ...

Crdboard and leather have only mild abrasives, otherwise you could cut no amount of them before the edge would be "polished" off, similar if you were slicing up sandpaper. They can align edges which are deformed and remove debris from a freshly sharpened edge. Verhoeven showed that plain leather has little ability to sharpen an edge which isn't deformed.

-Cliff

 

[Vivi]

Thanks for the responses. I remembered two other questions I had.

1. I have no clue what the term batoning means. I've read some descriptions in your reviews cliff about you testing the batoning capability of folders, but I still don't know what batoning itself is.

2. I have two cheap sharpening devices. A 2$ rod and a small stone that came with an el-cheapo knife I bought. I also have a ready supply of skateboarding grip tape which I think might work fairly well. Of these three, which do you think is the best for a sharpening newbie to use? I feel like I've gotten fairly competant with the roads, but haven't tried it on any of my nicer knives yet. It also doesn't seem to be as suited to small folders, which is what I buy the most of.

 

[Hair]

Batoning is using a knife to split wood. You stick the knife into the wood, and then hammer the butt of the knife to push it deeper until the wood splits.

I would learn to use the rod and the stone. Learning how to sharpen on a flat stone is something every knife knut should learn, IMO. But I use rods, even for my plain edges, as I find it easier to hold the rod and knife up to a light source and maintain the same sharpening angle. I wouldn't use grip tape.

 

[attackofthe50footman]

The Magnesium fire starter works like this. Have a small pile of some dry tinder like dry pine needles, birch bark etc, Use your knife to make a small pile of fine mag. shavings, Like the size of a nickle. Do this on top of a flat rock if possible. Then run the back of your knife down the flint side to make a shower of sparks on the shavings. Magnesium burns very hot and won't just blow out from the wind and It lights fairly easy. Two or three tries usually, Once you have the magnesium burning start adding tinder. Those little fire starting blocks are almost fool proof. They are cheap and small. If you carry a fixed blade in the outdoors you should have a pouch added to your sheath like on a Randall, to carry one of these fire starters.

 

[22-rimfire]

Vivi these two links may help on the stropping question. I had similar questions and my brother in law hands me a stropping board, leather, and the polishing compound to try it out.... still haven't. Quite generous. I'm thinking about polishing off the Titanium finish on my SOG Tigershark. I use stones and ceramic rods for most things. Some of the sharpening systems that are available are excellent. Eventually you will spend the $50 and get one. First thing all knife nuts do is check the edge when you hand them a knife to look at. I want it scary sharp if I can make it that way. You just have to impress these guys!

http://www.capeforge.com/contstrp/index.htm
http://www.handamerican.com/lhone.html

Batoning... kind of scares me to beat a good knife down through a log to split it. But, it is one of the standard tests for the quality of a large knife. I would prefer to just use a small hatchet and beat that down through a log to split it.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I have no clue what the term batoning means.

Using something to hit the spine of the knife to use the edge as a chisel to cut something, usually done either on small knives to cut thick materials or on larger blades to split wood.

I have two cheap sharpening devices. A 2$ rod and a small stone that came with an el-cheapo knife I bought.

Probably the best way for someone to start would be to buy a set of v-rods and a large x-coarse hone. Use the x-coarse hone to adjust the initial edge if necessary and use the v-rods to apply the final micro-bevels to the edge. A cheap magnifier, even x10 will do, will solve a lot of problems as a quick check of the edge is often all that is necessary.

-Cliff