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Sharpening an Ontario machete with DMT Diafolds (22 replies)

September 3, 2016, 8:40 pm
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Hello guys,

today a tried to sharpen an Ontario machete with my DMT Diafolds (I had previously put a '' primary grind '' of about 0.5'' wide with a double cut file ending with an edge of about 0.015'' thick) and it was literally an exercise of frustration which is quite surprising because steels like 1095 usually take an edge easily. I had actually got better edge in the past on my Spyderco Manix (S30V) than what I'm getting on the Ontario machete using the Diafolds.

I began with circular motions and as I was moving up in grit (325, 600, 1200 then 8000) it got more and more blunt. I then tried with edge leading strokes only crossing the scratch patterns and got better results with the low grits (325 and 600), scraping some hair off the arm but as soon as I moved to upper grit it got more dull again.

Anyone has an idea of what I'm doing wrong?

1095 should become shaving sharp with little effort only... BTW, I know I'm apexing because I get a small burr. I know this is not ideal as it leads to lower edge retention, but I'm too novice to plateau sharpen yet...

Thanks a lot for your help!
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"Splash & Go" Oil Stone (3 replies)

September 1, 2016, 11:40 pm
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I discovered this by accident. Instead of pouring a lot of oil on an oil stone that isn't oil loaded from the manufacturer, if you soak it in water until saturated, the wipe the surface so no water drops or beads are visible, then you can apply oil sparingly and it sharpens like an oil loaded stone. If there's water drops on the surface still, and then oil is added, it makes a mess.
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Tormek and convex edge (20 replies)

September 3, 2016, 7:11 pm
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Hello guys,

I was wondering what you think about the Tormek machine especially in regards to the fact that it produces a concave edge as opposed to a convex edge that so many people claim the superiority?

Thanks a lot in advance!
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Should I buy the DMT DiaFlat? (8 replies)

September 3, 2016, 7:48 pm
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Hello guys,

I already have the full set of DMT DiaSharp (the six 8X3 plates) but I plan on getting a full set of waterstones (120 to 8000/5 or 6 stones).

I know that many people use their DMT DiaSharp for flattening waterstones but I wonder how damaging it is and if the DiaFlat (which is more durable according to DMT because of the way it is constructed) is needed.

Thanks in advance for your help!
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Halls Vulcan Stone (Layered Dunston Black & Soft Arkansas Stone) (6 replies)

September 6, 2016, 7:49 pm
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Halls Vulcan Stone:

[www.knifecenter.com]


I am not sure if this is brilliant an innovative, or just a marketing ploy, as it says it would be great for layered steels like Damascus. It says it also cuts while polishing, which is also interesting, since that tends to be the nature of the Arkansas stones. It would be somewhat challenging to get the full benefits( if there are any) once you condition the stone, again given the nature of how the stones change due to the grit of the conditioning abrasive.

Which brings up another interesting point I have been thinking about but haven't tried yet. If you take different grades of Arkansas stones, and condition them with the same rated grit , would they all cut the same, given their differences in density and grain size? How would the behavior change over time? What would the polishing behavior and abrasive behavior do ratio wise in each stone?
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Arkansas Sharpeners Superstick Ceramic Rod (no replies)

September 8, 2016, 2:04 pm
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I saw one of these a few years ago on a YouTube sharpening video, and it seemed interesting, not only in its huge size (16" OAL, rod 10"x1"), but that it could also reduce the pressure with normal 1/4"-1/2" ceramic rods and still give the benefits of a rounded rod. It has a medium ceramic finish, although it comes with an off-white color, that is misleading, it is rougher than your normal white ceramic.
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Halving the Angle by Turning the Turnbox and Sharpmaker (9 replies)

September 12, 2016, 8:50 pm
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If you take a Lanksy Turnbox/CrockStix or Spyderco Sharpmaker, if the turn the base to a 45° angle (just at a diagonal if you're facing it) it should halve the angle. On the Lanksy Turnbox, the angles are steeper (20°DPS/40° Inclusive, 25°DPS, 50° inclusive), plus the rods are round, so on the Turnbox it really helps get lower angles for finishing the apex.
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Norton India coarse/fine stone (4 replies)

September 12, 2016, 7:03 pm
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Mail lady just brought me a brand new Norton IB8 stone. First thing I noticed was "Pre-Oiled" on the box. Second it is 6 oz heavier than my Crystolon JB8 stone. no chipped edges, nice smooth surface. added a couple drops of oil and touched up some kitchen blades. 3 or 4 passes per side on the grey, then 10 passes per side on the orange and all 3 blades were push cutting newsprint. a couple drops of oil, wipe with paper towel and stone looks brand new. I like the 8" length when working with larger knives.
I have several 6" combo India stones, but they were all rescue puppies that had had hard lives as lapping stones and wide files.
a 11-1/2 x 2-1/2 x 1 IM2 is now on my Christmas list.
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Sharpening Angle Differing With Direction (6 replies)

September 19, 2016, 9:30 am
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I think on one of Stefan_Wolf's YouTube videos in the comments he mentioned, after a commenter brought it up, that there is a small difference in the angle of holding a knife when sharpening with the pass going away from the body then towards. I just noticed this myself doing it, and I was wondering if there is a way not to do it, or if it matters that one side is a few degrees higher than the other. Anyone else's noticed this? I only noticed it because the angle was higher (20º+, and I was using a marker) than I normally sharpen (close as possible to the stone without hitting the primary grind).
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Re-ground Mora 2/0 (3 replies)

September 19, 2016, 5:49 pm
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I removed the single bevel on my Mora 2/0 (Mora 511 included for comparison):
[www.instagram.com]

I re-ground it by hand using the TASK Garden Hone, it took less than 30min, including a quick refinishing of the primary on the stones and a sharpening on a King 1k and Steelex/Woodstock 1k/6k, then Spyderco UF rod.
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LIANGYAN 10u, 7u, 5u 3.5u, 2.5u, 1.5u, 1u, 0.5u Diamond Paste, Benefits of Stropping Limited (no replies)

September 19, 2016, 8:04 pm
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I found these on eBay (Price was around $6): Liangyan Diamond Paste, 10u-0.5u. Took about two weeks to arrive from China. The paste is a sticky, oil-type paste of different bright colors, in eight 5g tubes: 10, 7, 5, 3.5, 2.5, 1.5, 1, 0.5 micron.
[www.instagram.com]
I used wooden craft (popsicle stick) stick to use as stropping bases. Metal was visibly removed when the pastes where used, as light black streaks were left on the sticks. Again, only a slight improvement in push cutting, if any, was notice if the knife was sharpened properly sharpened. If I high grit (6k-8k+) was used, improvement in push cutting refinement was difficult to notice. The knives used for the evaluating of the pastes were a Mora 2/0, and a Fox Karambit 478 Clone in a mystery steel. Polish wasn't increased as well as using a Stainless Green Polishing compound, and I wouldn't recommend the diamond pastes over it. If the apex had a small, hard to detect burr, the 10u paste was best at getting the apex cleaned up, but it wasn't as effective as using a White Fine Ceramic stone, and it was easy to lose slicing aggression. Best refinement and results came from a already cleanly formed apex(beard or head hair whittling, 3x90º push cut phonebook paper), with minimal use of the passes with the pastes (1-2 passes per side per grit). I plan to try the grits after different hones, and to see if effective for hard to detect burrs.
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two rescued kitchen knives (4 replies)

September 28, 2016, 2:57 pm
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i found these knives in the dirt by the old home place. the handles were rotting and loose, blades covered with rust. cleaned rust off with green scotch-brite and 120 grit belt. the upper knife has no visible maker's mark, family says was bought in the 1930's.. new handle is maple. bottom knife is Regent Forge made in Columbia, new handle is cedar.
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Any experience hand cutting serrations? (2 replies)

October 19, 2016, 1:11 am
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Does anyone on the forum have experience hand-cutting serrations? I am thinking about getting some knives from goodwill and trying my hand at cutting serrations with a file.

The plan:

1. Put some some marker lines on the blade ( perpendicular to the edge).
2. Hacksaw a shallow kerf on the lines.
3. Use kerf to guide a chainsaw file.
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Diamond Plate Ceramic Stone Progression (2 replies)

October 21, 2016, 4:50 am
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Lately I've had the need to look into a way to get to a high grit finish on relatively easy to grind steels such as those found on plane blades and chisels.

I initially started out on my SPS II stones working up to the 3000x but quickly realized this was the opposite of what these stones were designed for, and quite frankly wasteful and likely to cause the need for excessive flattening. This seemed a good enough reason/excuse to try the Atoma plates as they really should last close to a lifetime in my personal use. I decided to initially forgo buying the 140x and got the 400x and 1200x. Both of which live up to their reputation for being high quality, extremely consistant and (at least initally) on the coarse side of what would be expected for those grit ratings.

The issue then becomes how to refine the finish past the limit of the Atomas. Initially the answer most people seem to give is green compound on a leather strop. Having had the benefit of starting out with the knowledge I gained here from Cliff and others I feel like this solution kind of goes against the best practice I've learned and have been having great and repeatable success with (plateau sharpening). I am also very intrigued by SteelDrakes posting on coarse particulate strops and I now have pastes from 7 to 40 microns but have yet to try them. I also have the Lee Valley honing compound which claims to be a nominal .5 micron but seems to also have much coarser components in the mix.

I tried and had good success with some 3M AO films LeeValley in the 1-3 micron range when used on a granite surface plate but they wear alarming quickly. I then looked at the DMT EEF but the consistent reports of grit issues were hard to ignore. The only other option I could find seems to be the UF ceramic stone which seems to have known issues with overall flatness.

So some of the questions I'm left with are:

-Are strops with high grit compounds viable/applicable in chisel/plane usage because of the lack of slicing requirements? Am I crazy to think that this kind of force applied to a strop is excessive? Youtube (about 20 minutes in)

- How much of a practical issue is the spastic grit of the DMT EEF in this application?

- How much of a practical issue is the uneven surface of the UF Ceramic 3x8 stone? Also, given the the UF stones finish level is dictated by how it is polished at the factory how could one possibly flatten it without altering this? And even further to that how careful does one need to be with the choice of cleaners used on such a surface if it is to retain it's high polish surface? Are abrasive cleaners (Comet/Bar Keepers Friend) to be avoided? Is there a best material eraser to use? Rubber, Vinyl, crepe blocks?

I know that Cliff and some others here have experience with these particular stones. Any input would be appreciated.
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current recommendations for fast cutting set of stones? (3 replies)

October 27, 2016, 8:13 pm
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This is for stainless kitchen knives mostly.

I'd like to get a set of stones that will let me finish up quickly.

Is the Suehiro 320 chemical still a good choice here for fast cutting and fairly cheap or has it been superseded?

If one stone will (quickly) get blades within 80% of "perfect" sharpness, that's good enough. I know "80% of perfect" is loose and woolly but I hope it conveys something useful.

More stones to get sharper would of course be great if getting the result's short, sweet & easy.
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Dragon's Tongue &Llyn Melynllyn (Welsh Slate Hones) (2 replies)

October 27, 2016, 3:43 pm
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I have had the Dragon's Tongue (5 3/4"x2") from some time, it came from Whipped Dog, and I just got the Purple Slate (5 7/16 x 1 1/2") (Llyn Melynllyn) hone. Determining the estimated grit is difficult, depending on the steel being sharpened, if a slurry is used, and whether water, oil, BlisterSteels sharpening formula, or Smiths Sharpening solution is used. From what I can tell, the DT is anywhere from 6k-10k, and the LM is 10k-12k. Same with the polish left by the both hones, depending on the technique, it can range anywhere from hazy to a very high polished edge, almost a mirror. Cutting speed is nominal for how fine these hones are (I cut of the apex on the Old Hickory 3" paring knife in 1095, and on the LM (Purple Slate) I did 5 scrubbing passes per side, then 10-15 forward leading alternating passes per side, and the edge was tree-topping sharp again) as long as the edge is properly prepared. Both have the same feel with use, are very heavy and dense, but gouged easily with the tips of knives, so caution should be used around that area. They are easily lapped with SiC Wet/Dry paper, and work fine without having to be lapped to high grits. Using the slurry stone takes some work to develop a slurry, on the DT it's milky white/light grey, with the LM, it is purple. These hones are relatively inexpensive, less than $15-20, with shipping often costing as much as the hones, if bought from the source, Inigo Jones. These hones would be nice for straight razors, although reports vary greatly (according to who sourced the stones), and good for knives.
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Power sharpening: how fast is too fast? (5 replies)

October 31, 2016, 9:48 am
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I find that I often have to grind away a lot of metal when sharpening. E.g. sharpening for friends where the edge is about as sharp as the spine, reprofiling, zeroing, etc. So I am thinking of an electric sharpener. The knives involved are mostly VG10 and lower carbide steels.

The model I am looking at is like this:



On low setting it has a 1450 rpm with a 100mm diameter diamond coated disk. So the edge of the disk would be 7.6m/s or 25f/s. No cooling except maybe I can put some grease on the disk.

Is that going to ruin my edges?
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jeans to sharpen disposable razors (4 replies)

November 3, 2016, 11:22 am
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does this sound reasonable to experienced sharpeners here, or is it a fishy, ineffective, time-wasting internet meme?

[gizmodo.com]

20 to 30 strokes of the blades across jeans material.

I don't know what to make of it - is there anything in jeans that's abrasive enough to rehabilitate these blades?

this other claim I do believe - dry out the blades and put them with a silica gel packet in a container that excludes moisture.

[lifehacker.com]
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Curious Response From Great Eastern Cutlery (no replies)

November 6, 2016, 10:45 am
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Quote

[

Hello,

I am very fond of your products. I would like to know what type of oil you use on your knives. It seems to be a machine way oil as opposed to a general light lubricant.

Thank You,

Rob L.

Chris Tucker <sales@greateasterncutlery.net>

Good Morning Rob,

We have our oil made for us that contains a rust preventative in it. You can use any non water based oil on your knife.

Christine Tucker
Sales/quote]


When I asked about the type of oil GEC uses I was surprised about the statement of, "non water based oil." I am sure it is only a wording mistake, but the statement is a curious thing to read.
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GEC Lockback Repair (2 replies)

November 9, 2016, 11:31 am
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I have three lockbacks (#42 and #72) from Great Eastern Cutlery (GEC). Each had minor blade play, both horizontally and vertically. I use the term "minor" to mean more noticeable than "slight," but not extremely pronounced.


video: [www.youtube.com]


I asked GEC about the issue of blade play and received this response:

"There should not be any blade movement in the lockbacks. If you have one that has blade play send it in to us and we can fix it for you."

I have always heard positive comments about GEC repairs (much better than Queen or Case), so I mailed them the folders to see how much of an improvement GEC could make. After two weeks the lockbacks were returned, each having a secure and tight lock-up.

One difference, however, is that the blade pivot on each is now very stiff. This is neither surprising nor problematic, since the stiffness will decrease over time. It does raise the concern about user opinion. Which is more preferred or practical: a tight lock-up with noticeable stiffness; or minor (more than slight) blade play with fluid and almost frictionless opening and closing?
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