Sharpening

[beenn]

Just wondering the best way of sharpening blades.

At the moment im using my DC4 and than putting then on the strop and although they are sharp i was wondering whats the best way.

Bought a Mora 120 today too and would i sharpen in the same way?

Cheers

 

[Kepis]

This one, Reds £5.00 sharpening kit

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11571

i use this and water stones, but only go to the stones if the blade is damaged or the bevels are out of shape, ie no longer flat, 9 times out of 10 all a blade needs is a good strop to get it back nice and sharp, my convex blades i use wet & dry and a mouse mat

 

[beenn]

This one, Reds £5.00 sharpening kit

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11571

i use this and water stones, but only go to the stones if the blade is damaged or the bevels are out of shape, ie no longer flat, 9 times out of 10 all a blade needs is a good strop to get it back nice and sharp, my convex blades i use wet & dry and a mouse mat

Was going to try that kit but bought the DC4 instead. Is the sandpaper really better?

 

[Kepis]

I use a DC4 when im out and about for touching up the blade if it becomes dull and that's about it, but at home a bit of wet & dry does the job perfectly, used it for a while now with no complaints at all

 

[beenn]

I use a DC4 when im out and about for touching up the blade if it becomes dull and that's about it, but at home a bit of wet & dry does the job perfectly, used it for a while now with no complaints at all

Will give that a go. With the wet and dry do you use it in the same way as a DC4or as if your sanding?

 

[suenosch]

I have tried various methods. One observation seems to be that the blade material makes a difference. The best method for me varies depending on the steel. Probably the best all round method I have found is the DC4 followed by stropping. A slight improvement is obtained, for hard steels, by using a fine (novaculite) Arkansas stone after the DC4 and before the strop.

I find that Japanese water stones work well with high carbon steels, but not so well with material like VG10. For things like traditional wood planes they are excellent. A correctly prepared wood plane is a joy to use.

On the whole I prefer high carbon steels in use. So the DC4 works beautifully in the field. Sometimes I use it at home too, and sometimes the water stones.

 

[robin wood]

Just wondering the best way of sharpening blades.

There is no "best" way only a best way for you and that depends on lots of things. All sharpening is doing the same thing, removing metal using abrasives to expose a new edge below. All the different systems you see are just variations on a theme, some remove metal faster, some slower, some require more maintenance and others will put up with a lot of abuse. Technique is more important than exactly what you sharpen on. The really important thing with a 120 (if you are using it for woodcarving) is that the bevels remain flat and beginners often lift the back of the blade unintentionally creating a rounded convex bevel. This can still be sharp and will cut leather just the same but you loose the control of sliding the flat bevel along the wood.

 

[santaman2000]

I've tried several different stones as well as stropping and sharpening steels and had good results.

But the absolute---best method I've found is to take it to Bass Pro Shop and let them do it.

 

[salad]

which ever-way you choose to sharpen your stuff and with which ever sharpener the most important thing to help you get good consistent results is to make sure your stone or pocket stone is proper flat.
A good way to check is to scribble wiggly lines over it with a pencil and then rub on a piece of glass with some carbide powder on it or if you have one a lapping stone. If after a few strokes you can still see pencil marks in some places and not others then the chances our your stone is not truly flat and will need to be lapped (there are many many ways of doing this some cheap some expensive,they all work) . once your stone is proper flat sharpening becomes a Joy.

It took me some years of getting a just OK edge before I had this information passed on to me, now I am well happy with my results every-time as my stones our flat. The difference in results from a freshly flattened stone our quite dramatic