Thread: Knife Questions

I love knives. I've watched videos where guys get a blade hair-whittling sharp... then chop through a few logs... and then demonstrate how their knife can still whittle hair. I've never been able to do that. It is easy enough to get a shaving sharp blade, but retaining that shaving edge after cutting through a pig hair or maybe cutting off hocks seems impossible. So while I would like to achieve that level of sharpening mastery, I am happy enough to keep doing what I've done for decades.

A friend let me use her Tri Angle Sharpmaker. I got excellent results. I didn't achieve 'everlasting' shaving sharp, but it created a good edge. However I haven't been able to convince myself to spend money on an expensive system which would be lovely to have, but not essential.

My methods are fairly old-tech. I might use a sanding belt or bench grinder (carefully to avoid overheating) to shape a worn or damaged blade. Then I use a large sharpening stone or two and perhaps follow that with a few wipes along a sharpening steel or ceramic hone. If I don't have either of those, I might use the unglazed underside of a crockery plate or coffee mug for the final stage... swiping the edge forward with a gentle pressure.

The most frustrating time to have a blunt knife is when I haven't finished processing an animal in the field. In my youth I often carried a rabbiter's steel, but seldom bagged enough animals on a hunt to justify carrying it. I sometimes have a small pocket stone or diamond sharpener in my pack or pocket. But in recent times I've gone back to carrying a steel. I have two small steels... a rabbiter with a cross bar, and a miniature steel that Bumblefoot made me aware of. Both are excellent and they will generally restore an edge to virtual perfection in the field.

Here is a photo of some of the gear I use the most. Not shown is a full length steel with a handle that I keep at home and use often. I also have a leather strop glued to a board and the abrasive compound I rub on to the leather. It creates a nice edge, but a steel works well enough so I generally don't bother to strop. When hunting nowadays, I generally carry the blue-handled Victory knife in the white plastic sheath shown above it. I made the sheath from some industrial plastic I was given. Dunno exactly what it is, but it is less than 2mm thick, quite tough, and fairly easy to keep clean. I have slung this sheath on a bit of cord which holds the sheath in a horizontal position. It sits under my (small !) pot belly where I can reach it with either hand and it won't clunk against my rifle. I also have a home-made grey canvas pouch on this cord for carrying odds and ends. The black-handled knife is a Giesser boning knife with a modified tip. A great all-rounder, although I find I do most of my processing with the blue Victory now. There is a set of three diamond honing plates I bought on AliExpress. These seem to be very good quality, but I don't use them much. Below the diamond plates are a small, cheap abrasive stone, and a small diamond honing plate.... both handy to stash in a pocket or pack and better than having nothing to sharpen with. On the top right is a strip of fine wet&dry abrasive paper. I can get knives really sharp using abrasive paper... but I pull the edge backward over the paper rather than push it forward. In the middle is a ceramic hone with a red handle I ordered from Aliexpress. I use this more or less like I use a steel. It works quite well with my Svord folding knives... but these knives also respond well to a conventional steel, even though some say you shouldn't use a steel on them. Works for me. Incidentally, I keep reading that steels don't remove metal from the edge. I say they do remove metal. If I look at an edge before and after using a steel, I can sometimes see the change in the abraded pattern at the edge. Also, some steels are magnetic so that they hold the shavings. The large bench stone in the photo was purchased for about five dollars from 'Hello Banana'. It does the job.



I was not expecting to shoot five pigs on the night that the photo below was taken. The only knife I had was the Svord folder. I managed to field dress them all, but I would have been happier if I'd had a steel with me (and if someone had helped me carry them back to the car).