Five pound sharpening kit

**OldJimbo** · 18-03-2006, 20:44

If only I was doing as well with my project of re-bevelling razor blades. It isn't as easy as a person might think...
If people are wondering what to do with money now that they know how cheaply they can get away with actual sharpening, then I've always found a decent lens of 16X to be invaluable. Handy out in the bush too.
It's certainly not vital to normal sharpening since slicing paper will show edge defects, but in knowing why certain edges work better or looking at tiny bevels on stuff like razor blades, it certainly is.

**-Switch-** · 21-03-2006, 11:37

Roughly how long will these home-made boards last?
And will they work just as good with a knife that has a secondary bevel?

**Andy** · 21-03-2006, 11:54

Originally Posted by -Switch-

Roughly how long will these home-made boards last?
And will they work just as good with a knife that has a secondary bevel?

depends
good quality wet&dry will last longer, it also lasts langer if you use WD40 on it but it may be more hassel then it's worth.
I've used the stuff from my link dry and have just tried cleaning part of it with vasaline and tissue paper (mostly to see how the paper works with that on it)
If it's glued to a board it may be possible to clean it in the same way people clean ceramic rods
The paper will get less aggressive as it gets older but with a wide range of grits it's not such a problem

It will work fine on knives with a secondary bevel, it will just take more skill to keep the angle constant

**British Red** · 21-03-2006, 12:48

Switch,

What Andy said pretty much! If you size the board right, you can get 2 or three sets from a single piece of paper. If you use photomount spray or double sided tape, if a piece wears out or you cut it when sharpening an axe

you can just rip it off an replace it. If you don't want to use expensive 10,000 grit papers, as Andy says, keep them older wet and drys as they smooth out..

Although I now use my "book" of papers for knife sharpening, I like the boards for tidying up the bevels on my axes. I use a smilar technique to that show, but on large working axes I move the board, not the axe

Red

**Hoodoo** · 21-03-2006, 15:29

If you don't glue the paper down, the block can be used over and over again and the paper easily changed.

**British Red** · 21-03-2006, 17:53

You see? Everyones a critic

Seriously, fantastic tip Hoodoo - that modification will be included in my "Mark III" set I reckon!

I love these threads - take an idea, run with it, improve it etc.

Thanks mate!

**-Switch-** · 21-03-2006, 19:23

Well I've made mine (240, 400 and 600) and the knife I'm working on at the moment is a Fury DeSota (you've never heard of one right?

)
After alot of work I've got the blade to a point where I can shave with it which is a hell of alot sharper than the edge it came with.

Red, you're a good man, what with your axe tutorial and the Banko thread too. A big inspiration

**British Red** · 21-03-2006, 19:58

Originally Posted by -Switch-

Well I've made mine (240, 400 and 600) and the knife I'm working on at the moment is a Fury DeSota (you've never heard of one right?

)
After alot of work I've got the blade to a point where I can shave with it which is a hell of alot sharper than the edge it came with.

Red, you're a good man, what with your axe tutorial and the Banko thread too. A big inspiration

Switch,

You are very welcome. I think the Banko thread was a real group effort - I didn't start it and I wouldn't have had one if it wasn't for the thead shouting "cheap axe cheap axe" at me

As for this thread, I think the ultimate success of the material is down to people like Andy, Hoodoo and OldJimbo improving a basic idea I nicked out of a book!

That said, thanks for the kind words - I'm learning loads from the guys on here and if I can do the odd "show and tell" with the digicam and it helps someone else absorb the knowledge its good payback

Now as for your "Fury DeSota", two things
1. Follow Andy's link to the abrasives site and get some 2,500 grit wet and dry (79p inc postage) - you'll never go back

2. Pictures man, we need pictures of your knife! Its sharp, its shiny so we wanna see it

Thanks for the compliment!

Red

**Hoodoo** · 21-03-2006, 20:25

Well, this was Mk I for me a few years ago.

Going to wood was so much easier to do.

Even easier was to use premade sanding blocks.

**-Switch-** · 21-03-2006, 21:21

I'm afraid I don't have a digital camera so I won't be able to post any pics

It's a shame because I'm quite proud of my knife. And the axe I tidied up with your advice. They're both looking good.

**British Red** · 22-03-2006, 06:57

Switch,

No worries mate - its just that I never pass up the opportunity to lust at sharp and shiny!

Hoodoo,

I think I might have gone opver my five pound limit with them, but for myself, if I ever see some like the orange one, I'll grab a few!!!

Red

**Hoodoo** · 22-03-2006, 12:50

Originally Posted by British Red

Switch,
I think I might have gone opver my five pound limit with them, but for myself, if I ever see some like the orange one, I'll grab a few!!!

Red

That's one of my favorites. Unfortunately the company that makes those just started making them out of plastic within the past year. The plastic works but I like the wooden version better. I don't think it would be too hard to fashion a homemade one of similar style.

The nice thing about these is that you can swap in a piece of leather and do your stropping as well. Often this is all you need to do to your edge during a week in the woods.

**OldJimbo** · 23-03-2006, 05:24

I love those wooden Hoodoo hones for the times when you have to take the hone to the blade.

**-Switch-** · 23-04-2006, 01:53

This is slightly OT and many apologies if it's old news.

I was working on my first proper spoon today and got to the sanding stage which was taking quite a while. I went for more sandpaper and caught sight of my £5 sharpening kit. I made another 3 boards of 80, 320 and 600 grit and this time carved some contours and curves into them and then stuck on the paper. It was fiddly to make but it worked a treat when it came to sanding the spoon

Just place the board down and move the spoon instead of awkward sanding with handfulls of paper.

This is getting to be a very good and versatile idea of yours Red

**British Red** · 23-04-2006, 08:51

Originally Posted by -Switch-

This is slightly OT and many apologies if it's old news.

I was working on my first proper spoon today and got to the sanding stage which was taking quite a while. I went for more sandpaper and caught sight of my £5 sharpening kit. I made another 3 boards of 80, 320 and 600 grit and this time carved some contours and curves into them and then stuck on the paper. It was fiddly to make but it worked a treat when it came to sanding the spoon

Just place the board down and move the spoon instead of awkward sanding with handfulls of paper.

This is getting to be a very good and versatile idea of yours Red

Switch,

Not my idea mate - I nicked it of Mors Kochanksi!

Sandpaper stuck to a mouse mat is handy too - easy to curve around the handle of the spoon

Red

**pibbleb** · 02-06-2006, 16:57

Got all my bits and pieces to make the sharpening kit, but it's just crossed my mind. Is this also suitable for sharpening axes?

Pib

**British Red** · 02-06-2006, 17:33

In a word Pib - yes.

Be careful of the profile you want to achieve (many axes are a convex grind), but that can easily be managed. I also tend to move the board rather than the axe on large axes (but always pushing the burr away from the cutting edge).

No problem though - works fine

Red

**pibbleb** · 02-06-2006, 17:41

Cool stuff cheers. I'm hoping to get it built this weekend so I'll let you know how I get on.

Paul

**leon-b** · 02-06-2006, 21:38

hi my frosts clipper should be coming soon so i will look forward to trying this £5 sharpening kit

**pibbleb** · 18-06-2006, 22:53

Ok so I've had my first go at the £5 sharpening kit and I have to say it hasn't been a brilliant success, my doing!. However, I've learnt a couple of leasons that I'll share but i'm sure many of you have probably thought of these anyway!

Firstly, don't overlay the tape. The rise in the tape actually lifts the sandpaper sufficiently enough for you to slice into the paper, the rise is also sharpening the blade unevenly the result being a divit in the blade.

Don't mindlessly count away the pushes, if I'd not done this I would probably have spotted the damage I was doing in the first place.

So this week I'll have another bash and see how we go.

A leason shared is a leason learnt!

Pib

**Hoodoo** · 19-06-2006, 01:01

Here's another little twist. When I convex a secondary bevel on a knife, usually I will first put it on a flat stone of one sort or another and knock the corner off, then hit it with the mousepad hone. But lately I've been trying a new strategy. I glued a thick piece of leather to a sanding block and used that for my sharpener. This seems to work well, especially for smaller, thinner blades and I can convex the edge to a nice thinness in one step without going to the stone first. The leather has just enough give in it to make a nice convex edge.

**Grimnir** · 26-06-2006, 16:37

Oh dear! I think I've just realised how many hours of reading I'm going to be putting in on this site :P

Many thanks for this, I've learnt a lot from all of you and will be making my own sharpening kit soon

**British Red** · 18-08-2006, 14:59

Well, having shared the learning from all this stuff around, I got asked for a new varuiation the other day by a Hunter - a credit card sized variety that would slip in a trouser pocket. Now building on Hoodoos hone, if lightness is the key - clearly this needs to be one hone and several grades of paper and leather etc. Heres what resulted

Start with a sheet of 2mm Foamex (just what I had to hand….this A3 sheet is enough to make two pocket hones and two 1/3 sheet full sized hones). Anything stiff with a slight flex would work here – plywood, bits of plastic cut from a lunch tray.

So I marked up the sizes and decided to use a panel saw to cut them up.

It’s a quick job, and we have 4 large boards (enough for 2 large hones) and 4 small boards (2 small hones). The edges are a bit rough, but nothing that sandpaper cant cure.

Now, we just need two of the small pieces. I plan to glue two pieces one on top of the other. I want to only glue the middle, so I can lift the ends apart and trap the wet and dry paper between the two sheets of foamex. So I measure 30mm in from each of the ends of one board and mark a line. I plan to use epoxy resin (two part) glue for this as its strong.

So I mix equal parts of each tube (resin and hardener) on an old paper plate and spread it thinly between the lines like this. Make sure you don’t spread too thickly or it will ooze sideways when the boards are pressed together

I then carefully align another board on top. You may notice one board is slightly larger than the other. This makes it easier to put the wet and dry paper in later as you can catch the protruding edge with your thumb and pry the boards apart. Once I’m happy with the alignment, I bung a big weight on top and let the glue harden.

So we now have two board glued together in the middle. Next step is to cut some pieces of the right grades of wet and dry paper 40mm longer than the boards but the same width.

The paper can be fitted by levering the boards apart and curling the ends in like this. Do the same at both ends and in effect that’s the basic pocket hone. The paper will form to fit the hone after first usage. Create half a dozen grades of paper the same size (write the grade of sandpaper on the back of each as you go) and you have a credit card sized hone that weighs less than an ounce.

I know a lot of you like to convex grind. No problem. I made up the second set of boards to include a piece of mousemat glued to the top. This hone can be used to convex one way up of flat sharpen scandys the other way up.

A picture of the finished hones with a credit card and SAK for scale.

There we go – one Hunter Pocket hone

Red

**Draven** · 18-08-2006, 16:25

Awesome!

**Simon E** · 27-08-2006, 11:04

For those who like even simpler sharpening, try a convex edge.

Here are my two most used knives with the system I put together in about 20 minutes.

Mouse pad type foam from a DIY shop, about 1 pound (200x200mm & 8mm thick) Its stuck to the plywood with some left over bathroom silicone.

There are screws on the other side that that cord attaches too. Parachute cord is nice as it has an elastic characteristic and it will stay taut.

Just put a load of pressure on the blade to make it sink into the foam a little and push it to the right, swap it over and pull it to the left. As you get sharper gradually reduce the pressure on each swipe.

I purposely blunted this A1 by rubbing the blade on a stone, it was as blunt as a butter knife. This took less than 5 minues. I only used #400 & #600 Wet & Dry.

**Hoodoo** · 27-08-2006, 13:10

Red, that's a pretty nifty little sharpener!

**British Red** · 27-08-2006, 13:47

Lol,

I came up with it for a young lad on OMF (called Hunter) who really didn't have access to DC4s and the like and wanted something to slip in his pocket for scout camp (he just got given his first Mora and had honed it to a razor). I was looking at your "Hoodoo hone" thinking - "should be able to make a mini slim version of that"..and there it is. Called it the Hunter pocket hone to make him smile. I must say that a larger version is in the offing for my own use - I'm thinking paper back book size.

Could do with your input into the "OMF axe" by the way

.

Simon - love the floor based block - cracking variation mate - it needs a name though

. We have a "hoodoo hone" and a "hunters pocket hone" - howabout a "Simons Sit Down"

. As for the convexing, I suspect you are "preaching to the choir" to everyone round here. Except for me. Say it once, say it loud, I'm Scandy and proud!

Red

**dwardo** · 26-10-2006, 11:47

Originally Posted by Ketchup

I'll give it a try

The two left ones are (used) water stones, two different grades. To the right, two cotticle stones (white red, one set in wood by former owner) and right is the old steel: all for 1,5 €!
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Just browsing and your oil stone thats set in wood in the center is exactly like mine that was passed down to be by my grandfather

**Buckley8219** · 23-11-2006, 13:32

Red,

I take my hat off

You have to go into production, and start stick these in the classified section LOL.

**British Red** · 24-11-2006, 18:31

Thanks Buckley,

I consider this thread a joint effort though - Loads of people have chipped in and made it better than I could ever have managed alone!

What sort were you after by the way? I won't sel but am happy to "pay it forward" with a set if it helps?

Red

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