|
Written by British Red
|
|
Page 4 of 5
In the old days, I would have done this with a fine metal file, however since the advent of diamond files I prefer them. The Gransfors diamond file is great, but  we showed the Gransfors tools last so here is one of the basic diamond hones
One of the things I like with these plastic backed diamond hones is that they can be flexed by pressing with the guiding index finger. This keeps more of the hone in contact with the bevel at once and preserves the convex grind.
Most diamond hones come in packs of three – coarse, medium and fine. It makes sense if you have all three to use them in that order. Use the coarse one in the direction indicated until all the file marks are removed. Then change back to the original (file) direction with the medium grit until all the scratches from the coarse grit are removed and finally reverse again with the fine grit. In theory these hones need to be wet to work, although I have used them dry and just rinsed them after use to stop them “clogging” and they worked fine.
Using the Gransfors system, you only have one grit available, so smooth out all the file marks in the direction indicated.
|
Step 3 – Sharpening
At this point, the techniques used in the two systems diverge. Lets look at the Gransfors system first. The axe stone has two sides – coarse and smooth. The axe stone needs to be wet to work. I carry some “water” in my mouth that seems to work quite well!
Wet the stone and put it onto the bevel. Move the stone in a spiral motion along the bevel from heel to toe. |
The water will build up a “paste” on the bevel. Avoid the temptation to remove this. The paste is the abrasive that will sharpen the axe
Use the coarse stone until all marks from the diamond file are removed.
|
To sharpen with the “assembled” system, we will use the sanding block.
These are the sanding blocks I like to use (they cost the princely sum of about £1.20). |
I like them because under the flaps that secure the paper are spikes that hold the paper firmly in place |
|
There is a problem though. If you wrap your wet and dry over something flat, you will make contact on a tiny area - like this
|
|
We all love to take photographs and keep a record of what we've done and where we have been. Michelle Jones has written this article is for those starting out into photography so that you can get the most from your camera and what you are trying to capture.
I used Hazel wood. Choose the
thin long shoots of wood which i would think are a couple of years old.
If you don't catch anything at first don't worry. It may just be a case of
changing a few things.
Most bushcrafters know that Birch bark is fantastic for fire lighting
because of all the oil concealed within it. This tutorial guides you
through the process of extracting that tar from the bark.
Now we could bung a label on (which should always say they type of wine and when it was bottled). I suggest you cross-reference to a book of recipes and notes so that when you get a cracking wine you can recreate it. We are going to add a little something to the presentation of the wine by putting a foil cap over the neck. First we drop a foil cap (available for a couple of pence from a wine shop) over the bottle neck.
Right, we now have clean, fined and filtered wine. We pour it into clean (yes and sterilised) bottles with a funnel. We need to cork it. Its possible to put corks in with a mallet. I use a corking gun and waxed corks that do not need to be soaked (plain corks do)
Well, the finings have worked – the wine is beautifully clear.
As soon as I'd finished my Paracord Bracelet, I'd decided to write a tutorial on making one. A good thing considering the majority of the responses since I posted it were asking me how to do it! Here goes.. You will need approximately 3 metres of paracord with the ends already sealed/melted, and something to make a temporary knot - a twist tie or piece of string should suffice.
I have been asked a number of times recently to provide some advice of guidance on the best way to sharpen an axe. Whilst I am always happy to provide input, I thought that it might be worthwhile to put together a tutorial on the basic techniques. The techniques used in here are intended to provide not only a sharp axe but also a safe and efficient axe.
There was a period in my life where I lived out of a pack for months at a time and this was one of my staples.
I like to coil it like a rope on a stick and bake it over hot coals...
There are many different ways you can make a berry picker but this is just a design i came up with which uses a packet of kebab skiewers and some discs of wood.
The whole kit took less than three hours to finally pull together — though that really overlooks by far the most time-consuming aspect, the preparation of materials. In fact, preparation has two components, actually. The first is the selection of materials. The second is the actual preparation.