Wild Wood Sharpening: How To Sharpen Steel - Like a Real Man.
Always - be careful with sharp things.You can get a flesh wound - it will heal, (be careful of infection); but, you can also sever a tendon and that needs immediate medical attention or you’ll lose mobility of whatever it moved - assume how I know.
If you find yourself pushing the edge of a blade into an object or otherwise not slicing - stop, sharpen, or figure out how to reach a material that can be sliced. If it wont cut - stop. A ready edge does not need a sawing motion.
Take care of the leading edge. Dont pit it or ding it.
You can grind off bevel with concrete, sandstone. Diamond files are great too. Spiderco whet stone is fantastic, but a SMOOTH river rock is the natural prescription.
THE KEY THEY DONT WANT YOU TO KNOW and noone talks about (except Dave Cantebury, but i was too young to appreciate it) -
Sharpening a knife is done by feel. The inital, crucial, step is to ALWAYS begin by rubbing the obvious bevel, acomplishing two things - reducing bevel and feeling the bevel gind, knowing this feeling. Then tilt while rubbing grinding. Slowly. Riding the bevele on a smooth feel until the feeling just changes to a little gritty as the edge reaches the surface. Lighten up to touch up the true cutting edge and then - your done. ITS THE SUBTLTY AND BREIFNESS OF THE TRANSITION THAT IS KEY. Use a constant rub for continuous feedback and grind.
Its a feel thing.
You have to FEEL a sharpening process; otherwise, youll be reducing steel where it need not be reduced; this feel may take time to hone, and focus may be lost at times, allong with hope, bit stick to it as with everything.
Keep in mind, a leading edge is microns thick steel, so you dont need to apply too much pressure. Only apply pressure when reducing bevel on a rough brick.
The edge should be terifying, but it's time to turn it to a glass sharp edge - the final step is strop. You can use a peice of cardboard, but what works far better is a thick strip or thong of bucked, smoked, moose hide; a thick suede thong or a thick flesh side commercial hide will do too. A thick long thong of bucked moose hide is far more moble than a strip glued to a wood board. Tie as shown to a branch or other stationary poll, pull and hold taught, and slowly, carefully, and thoughtfully, run the blade, spine leading, side flush angle with the leather, back and forth. You will quickly feel the leather cleaning and polishing the rough honed edge of your tool. No compound required.
The best leather I have used is heavy moose thong from the periodically stiff borders or a moose bucked hide; this type of leather will last a long time, stand the strain of tearing off tough burrs formed from your apexed tools and putting that terrifying glass edge on.
The hide can be knarly, tough in sections and uneven, just make sure you knife face is flush with the strap; you pushing down into the taught strap will provide the propper angle of hone.
If you are wearing bucksins, your sleeve or pant leg will do.
SURE, you can follow an angle with your thumb, use carful strokes, use all sorts of expesive stones, knife steels , lye to keep the surface clean, a stitting posture &c. &c , and it will work; but by feeling the touch grind, it becomes the practical, need to know to be a real man, old as time, in the field, touch and go, with a rock way.
If you want to reprofile - which should be rair - find a brick with minimal grog and hold the angle you want.
Better steels will hold a sharp edge longer, so less shaprening for keen edge - duh, but to be REAL MAN, you need to able to not care. I love the "pulled from a old native igloo" look.
Extened a flat surface by rubbing a rock against another.
People get tired of knives because, for whatever reason neglect to keep the pace of chew grinding the bevel with the sharpening of the secondary bevels and leading edge. Grind down the steel, and find useful life again in the chunk of metal.
Dont stand there massaging at a hone or 200$ rock for a half hour.
