7.62marksman said:
me and anything to do with sharpening is a
disaster waiting to happen
:8 :8
Heres my tips for people who struggle, its not gospel but it may help some people.
Its all in the angle with a stone ,
spit works best as lube .. its more of a gel than water ,
if you can fix the stone to a post about tit height and move the knife, not the stone , works best ,
Hold the handle almost like you normally do and place yout gammy hands fingers spread across back edge of blade,
Use small overlapping circles, lots of them and systematically travel along the blade and back again,
Repeat on otherside doing the same amount to keep it even,
to little angle is better than to much ,
if you watch the top side cutting edge and increase angle until the spit just teases the cutting edge will be close,
if its climbing your too steep ,
if its not circulating with blade edge your to to flat,
You should only ever use the fine side of the stone on a good knife unless you have the hang of it,
Take note of where the shiny area is on the blade after doing each side this will guide you on angle if you need to repeat the process,
Its about thinning the blade evenly to maintain the right angles .
Most good knifes should only be sharpened with a steel , doing this will give 100s of sharpens without needing a stone ,
Once again less angle is better than to much and then when the edge fades to quick the stone is used to thin the blade and correct angles.
Never use grinders or any high speed grit tools as they instantly destroy the temper in the blade.
We have old knives here worn to the knub from years of butchering etc, we use steels while working , stones occasionally usually before big jobs , and we have a very old homemade wet stone wheel.. one bloke turns the handle and adds water while the over thins the blade it can put an edge on anything and is great for mattocks , chisels , shears and knives .
Sharpening is all practice and theres plenty of methods .
