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What do you use to sharpen your blades?

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savage12k

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Post Sun May 01, 2011 6:32 pm

What do you use to sharpen your blades?

I was just wondering what you guys use to sharpen your knives. I am thinking of making some strops to sell. I have the leather, I just need to lathe out some wood to make the backboards and handles for them. Just wondering if you guys would be interested in buying any. and yes, I will post the for sale topic in the for sale section on the site. PM me if you want a strop.
Angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night... Ginsberg.

Ut in acuta!!!

"Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Steady, Steady is Fast, and Fast is Deadly." 1Lt Chong, 4/6 Air Cav
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cja245

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Post Sun May 01, 2011 6:36 pm

Re: What do you use to sharpen your blades?

i use a spyderco sharp maker. then a leather belt with strop compound to finish it off.
"I wanna stab someone in the mouth and tell em to "Taste the Rainbow" -MoreBeef

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savage12k

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Post Sun May 01, 2011 7:00 pm

Re: What do you use to sharpen your blades?

you know, I heard a lot of good things about the sharpmaker, but I was just not all that impressed with it. Just another sharpening device that I regifted to my family...
Angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night... Ginsberg.

Ut in acuta!!!

"Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Steady, Steady is Fast, and Fast is Deadly." 1Lt Chong, 4/6 Air Cav
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Erenoth

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Post Sun May 01, 2011 8:18 pm

Re: What do you use to sharpen your blades?

I use a Sharpmaker as well. It's simple, and effective. Other guided systems I've looked into are essentially the same, other than using a belt or paper wheel.

I am looking for a strop, though. There's a few I'm debating between from different makers, but if you're using quality leather (details appreciated), and are willing to, y'know, offer a discount to fellow flippers, I may be interested. ;)
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savage12k

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Post Mon May 02, 2011 4:00 pm

Re: What do you use to sharpen your blades?

Erenoth wrote:I use a Sharpmaker as well. It's simple, and effective. Other guided systems I've looked into are essentially the same, other than using a belt or paper wheel.

I am looking for a strop, though. There's a few I'm debating between from different makers, but if you're using quality leather (details appreciated), and are willing to, y'know, offer a discount to fellow flippers, I may be interested. ;)


I am currently in the process of making the wooden backers for my strop, after that I will need to pick up some hardware. I am using very good quality Horse butt leather. When I have finished one or two of them I will definitely post some pics. the back boards will be of either red oak, or honey Locus wood. I just need to turn the handles (wood lathe) and then cut the backing to size for the leather. all of my strops are 2.8" wide and at least 11" long.

I do not offer compound right now, mostly because I have not found a reliable supplier that is willing to give a decent price. IF I do find one, I will most likely be offering a chalk based compound, as they do not cause your strop to turn black, and are insanely easy to clean off of your strop. I can offer some advice as to a good site to go to for compounds. But right now advice is all I can do for that particular topic.

All flippers will, of course, get a discounted rate. especially the guys, and girls, from this site. I cannot go much lower than 25$ though. When you see the quality work I produce, you will see why.

I expect to be able to offer some pics by the end of the week. Of course the strops will follow.
Angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night... Ginsberg.

Ut in acuta!!!

"Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Steady, Steady is Fast, and Fast is Deadly." 1Lt Chong, 4/6 Air Cav
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Erenoth

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Post Mon May 02, 2011 10:11 pm

Re: What do you use to sharpen your blades?

I don't tend to be this blunt, but that sounds fantastic!

As of yesterday, I was leaning towards a hand-made strop from an eBay seller, but if you're actually able to profit at around a ~$25 range using gorgeous wood and cordovan, then I'll definitely buy from you.

In particular, would you be able to fulfill a not-so-uncommon custom order? If you were to craft me a double-sided cordovan strop with the red oak, or other colorful, slightly dark wood, I would be extremely grateful. The price is completely up to you, so long as you can use the above materials and guarantee a competitive rate with the aforementioned eBay vendor. Apologies for the mouthful in advance, and I look forward to hearing from you be-it PM, or a response on this thread.

Chris
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Boomaga

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Post Tue May 03, 2011 1:43 pm

Re: What do you use to sharpen your blades?

dang i'm definitely interested
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ShavingSharp

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Post Tue May 03, 2011 4:22 pm

Re: What do you use to sharpen your blades?

Don't know how well cordovan would work, considering that it's got a very fine, tight nap... Cowhide might work better, specifically latigo or Bridle leather.

As for me, I sharpen on a Spyderco Sharpmaker up to the Ultrafine Rods, then use a Naniwa 5k Superstone, followed by a wool paddle strop pasted with .5 micron Diamond paste, then I use a cowhide hanging strop that I made, with a roughed surface and .25 micron diamond paste. I finish on a hanging strop made from Latigo, and one made from Horsehide.

That many steps really aren't necessary, but I do it for my straight razors, so why not my knives? It doesn't benefit the knives like the razor, because the microserrations of the edge aren't as fine... but it's mostly fun to do.
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savage12k

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Post Tue May 03, 2011 7:42 pm

Re: What do you use to sharpen your blades?

ShavingSharp wrote:Don't know how well cordovan would work, considering that it's got a very fine, tight nap... Cowhide might work better, specifically latigo or Bridle leather.

As for me, I sharpen on a Spyderco Sharpmaker up to the Ultrafine Rods, then use a Naniwa 5k Superstone, followed by a wool paddle strop pasted with .5 micron Diamond paste, then I use a cowhide hanging strop that I made, with a roughed surface and .25 micron diamond paste. I finish on a hanging strop made from Latigo, and one made from Horsehide.

That many steps really aren't necessary, but I do it for my straight razors, so why not my knives? It doesn't benefit the knives like the razor, because the microserrations of the edge aren't as fine... but it's mostly fun to do.


so far, I have noticed that my cordovan, makes an invisible edge faster than my cowhide hanging strop. and it does that to my straight razor with no paste. I use the fine chalk based compound when I sharpen my knives, but that is just because the blades are so much thicker...
Angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night... Ginsberg.

Ut in acuta!!!

"Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Steady, Steady is Fast, and Fast is Deadly." 1Lt Chong, 4/6 Air Cav
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Erenoth

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Post Tue May 03, 2011 9:09 pm

Re: What do you use to sharpen your blades?

Horse hide was widely used up until the mid 1950's for a reason. From everything I've researched, it's superior in almost every aspect to cowhide when it comes to strops.
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ShavingSharp

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Post Tue May 03, 2011 10:19 pm

Re: What do you use to sharpen your blades?

By all means, if it works for you, do it! :TU: I didn't mean to sound like a naysayer, I was mostly speculating. I figured the tight nap/grain on the cordovan would be more suited for razors (and is, in my experience) while the rougher, more textured latigo would be better for the larger microserrations of a knife. Then again, I use both, and with and without paste, so I should probably do a few comparative tests before making assumptions eh?

Keep me posted on the cordovan. You have me intrigued!

Thanks!
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savage12k

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Post Wed May 04, 2011 4:47 pm

Re: What do you use to sharpen your blades?

Unfortunately it appears that I will hae to remoe Honey Locus wood from the list of possible materials. The wood I cut 18 or so months ago is STILL green! I have a beautiful piece that i spent an hour or so working on the lathe, and it has started to split... so unbelievably pissed off right now... I am happy to say that it looks like I will still be able to offer the Red oak, and as a bonus, I have found a small supply of Cedar I will be able to turn. I am looking into getting some Hickory, Ironwood and Maple. I will do some experimenting with gluing some stock together and then turning it. All in all it looks like I will not be able to have any finished product until the middle of next week at the earliest, unless something actually manages to go right before then. Sorry for the delay.
Angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night... Ginsberg.

Ut in acuta!!!

"Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Steady, Steady is Fast, and Fast is Deadly." 1Lt Chong, 4/6 Air Cav
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Erenoth

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Post Mon May 09, 2011 11:14 am

Re: What do you use to sharpen your blades?

Any news on how the backers are coming along? I'm a bit anxious.
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savage12k

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Post Tue May 10, 2011 4:37 pm

Re: What do you use to sharpen your blades?

This is the ONE strop I have that is anywhere close to production. These took way more work to get this far than I believed possible. the blade of the backer is Red Oak, the scales are Red Cedar. I have one ready to turn that is Red Oak with Black Walnut scales. I have 2 more Red Oak and Cedar that are already turned, Just need some file work, and polishing. I have some Magnolia wood that I MIGHT be able to use, it is distressed wood. Finished, it looks great I just don't know if it is strong enough to turn. I have a VERY limited amount of Horn that I might be able to use for scales, I have never turned horn before it might not work.

I only have one set of the clamps made. they are on the prototype. They need to be polished and the edges need to be filed smooth. I am sure that you can see the amount of finishing work needed on the proto. I will be spending tomorrow working on making more clamps, when I am not watching over the 18mo old terror that lives with me.

The amount of work that went into making these, not to mention the 80 mile commute, (round trip) to get to the lathe, makes me feel no shame in putting a $40 price tag on the oak and cedar strops. That is a discounted price, Ebay price will start at $55. Oh, and $5 of every sale in the arena will go straight back to the Arena.
How's that for an update?
Attachments
Cordo Proto.jpg
This is the Prototype
Cordo Proto.jpg (140.3 KiB) Viewed 8721 times
Angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night... Ginsberg.

Ut in acuta!!!

"Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Steady, Steady is Fast, and Fast is Deadly." 1Lt Chong, 4/6 Air Cav
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Erenoth

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Post Wed May 11, 2011 8:00 pm

Re: What do you use to sharpen your blades?

I'll take it!
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