I know I have made a thread on sharpening and got some very valuable advice so thanks for that.
However I am currently rather aggravated and very deflated.
I have been practicing sharpening my scandi bushcrafter and I just don't get it!
How on earth do you keep the angle right and the bevel completely flat on the stone all the way to the tip in one stroke? Every stroke!?
I just cannot seem to do it, its upsetting me as I really want to sharpen my bloody knives but I feel as if I am ruining them.
After its been on the stone the bevel has all sorts of funny angles and is not uniform at all. Its sharpening a bit don't get me wrong, but I just cant keep it flat.
How much pressure is needed, also?
Am I missing something?
Or is it just one of those things you have to keep and keep at until you snap and get it?
I don't want to ruin my knives but I need to learn :(
Please any help much needed and appreciated!
Dave ]]>
I have a new black leather watch strap which has white stitching and ideally I would like to dye the thread orange to compliment the watch better.
Would buy a custom one from Toshi but given that they are near £60 I thought I would proceed down the canny Scotsman road 1st.;)
The strap in question is one of Time Factors 22mm parallel Aviators.
I may of course be barking up the wrong tree and it may be this cannot be done, thats where you guys come in hopefully. ]]>
this Cerax brand is sposed to be less likely to erode, ie not need flattening so often:
Quote:
|
The Japanese waterstone manufacturer Suehiro, from Niigata Province, makes the Suehiro und Cerax brands. Cerax is the most popular of the two. Cerax stones are notable for the fact that they do not erode as quickly as classic Japanese water stones. With the 8000 grit stone, one can achieve the sharpest and most mirror-polished blade. |
ok, im not goin for a 8000 grit, but this quite small combo
Japanese Combination Stone small 1000/6000 Size 182 mm x 62 mm x 27 mm CERAX
from http://www.fine-tools.com/suehiro-stones.html
anyone got experience of this brand before i pull the trigger ]]>
i use more or less what ever steel i can find (if it hardens up i will use it) , today i was about to start grinding a new blade out of a piece of flymow blade (softened it last time i lit the forge) but i decided to test it first.I cut a few small pieces and heated them to non magnetic and then quenched , first in veg oil and then tried in water and i cant get it to harden up.
so if you were wondering weather lawnmower blades could be used for knives the answer is no
I will test a few other makes of mower blade but i wont bother with flymow again
warren ]]>
Can anyone tell me what is the best lubricant for Arkasas stone? I have been told variously, oil, water. soapy water, paraffin. Any advice from the assembled multitude:)
Cheers ]]>
I need to re oil my axe handles. I read somewhere that by warming linseed oil up it penetrates the wood better, though i also read it can be dangerous?
So the question is, how much do you warm the oil? Just enough to thin it a little? or do you want it hot?
Cheers ]]>
I am currently deciding on what to about my knife handle (made from a nicholson file). Its a full tang and was looking for other ideas and spare materials i have around home to use.
I was going to make some micarta stuff but saw some 50x3mm aluminuim bar and thought maybe i could use this, but ihave a question.
Can i clear coat the tang then glue and pin the scales over this or any other ideas??
Obvisouly i want to avoid a steel to aluminium reaction.
Thanks ]]>
The balsawood was 3 mm thick.
I drew a design on the balsawood with a pencil, and then cut it out with a knife. A very hands on design process. Worked for me. Now I am even more anxious to get hold of my steel, and get filing:lol:
Stig ]]>
I now tried to make something that I could use rather than just a rough lump.
I melted down a wax candle and poured it into a plastic canister. As the wax hardens it will dip in the middle so I topped it up as it hardened. When set I pushed it out of the tube, I had to cut the bottom off the can to do this.
You need this to be a lot longer than you need. After it was out of this mould I shaped it up and cut a dragons head into the wax. This did not come out to well in the finished casting and was ground away. I then found another tub, filled it with plaster of paris and suspended the wax in it. Keep the wax off the base so that you have a decent layer of plaster at the base of the mould.
The next day I put the plaster mould in the wifes oven (she was out at the time). 30 mins at 200 degrees. It was placed upside down on a couple of pieces of wood and on an old metal tray. The idea was to make sure that the wax melted out, there was no moisture in the mould and to raise it's temperature. The pewter was melted and poured into the mould.
When it had set I made a couple of saw cuts down the plaster and broke the plaster apart This is how it came out of the mould. Then just cut it down to lenght.
My conclusions. With my limited skill and know how it's best to forget about making fancy castings. Following this method will not result in a clean smooth casting ready to use as it is. Do a casting that is over size that can then be shaped as you want it when you are making the rest of the handle. I have bought a pewter tankard at a boot fair for a pound, it will make 5 or 6 bolsters. Any off cuts left can go back in the pot for re-melting. It is a cheap easy way to get a piece of pewter for a bolster or end cap. ]]>
Conditioning / flatting Japanese water stone.
When you pick up new stone or stone which was used, usually the sharpening / polishing surface is not flat. If this is the case the stone is not that good for sharpening so need to flat the surface before start sharpening the blade.
Here is what I have used:
> King #6000
> Trueing Grille for Sharpening Stones (or rough grid diamond sharpening plate)
> Straight edge
> Flat surface (larger than polishing surface of the stone)
> Some container with lid.
1) Check how is the stone by placing the straight edge on polishing surface.
Place it on different direction then see if any gap is observed between stone and straight edge.
If there is gap, then you can see the light coming through the gap as on picture.
2) Draw grid line all over the polishing surface of the stone by pencil.
3) Place the Trueing Grille on flat surface.
4) Place the stone on Trueing Grille, then start grinding the stone to flat.
You can see in the picture that the top and bottom edge is grind down, not centre. This is because the centre is lower than edge.
Use circular motion to grind, also keep turning the position of the stone to prevent one side of the stone gets grind down faster.
5) Wile flatting the stone it will produce quite lot of stone powder. This will fill up the mesh of the Trueing Grille. So remove this, but do not waist the good polishing powder. Collect this in to the container, so you can later make polishing past by mixing it with oil or water.
6) Keep grinding the stone till all the grid line are gone.
7) Check the flatness with straight edge again.
Now you cannot see the light coming through.
8 ) Soak the sharpening stone for about 20 – 30 min in water.
9) Use Nagura stone to clean scratch marks and particles from Trueing Grille.
10) Now this sharpening stone is ready to use.
This process is needed whenever the stone is not flat. Japanese water stone is quite soft, so you might want to do this every time before start the sharpening.
When the stone is wet, I prefer using diamond rather than Trueing Grille because I am not quite sure how good the Trueing Grille will stand the wet condition.
I hope this was useful. ]]>
I've made some googleing but no much of results
have one that is intersting but not perfect
http://www.overstock.com/guides/knives-buying-guide
if any one have tips or link to share will be thankfull.
Khaled. ]]>