Sharpening patch knife

[LRB]

Whet stones are usually used with water. However the average whet stone is to coarse to give a fine edge. If very dull, start with a whet stone, then move on to a medium Arkansas stone. If you want an edge that will shave the fuzz from a peach then order a block of green chrome rouge from any knife makers supply and charge a leather strop with it and strop your blade a few strokes on each side. By the way, use a thin oil or kerosene on the Arkansas stone. Files make a very good knife, and should be no more difficult to sharpen than any other.

 

[Jay Gardner]

The stone I purchased has a different level of coarseness on each side. So get the stone wet start with the coarse and move to the fine?

 

[LRB]

Yes, if its really dull, otherwise start on the fine side, then go to the medium Arkansas. You may also want a hard Arkansas, but I find them unnecessary if you use the charged strop.

 

[Jay Gardner]

I have been trying to sharpen my patch knife using a traditional "whet" stone, with limited success. It is a new knife with a maple handle and the blade is made from an old file.

Is there something (oil) I should be putting on the stone as I work the blade? It has been a long time since I used a stone to sharpen a knife so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Chuck Deaton]

Use your stone like a file. Rather than scrubbing the knife on the stone, scrub the stone on the knife. Use a permanent marker alone the cutting edge and then just scrub the marker off. Obviously the finer the stone the sharper the blade.

Also Smiths makes a clever sharpener which is sold at Wal Mart.

 

[tommy b]

I never had luck sharpening knives freehand. I couldn't maintain a consistent angle of the stone. Then I came across the Lansky sharpener. What a difference! I can now sharpen any knife (even a patch knife) sharp enough to shave with. There are some knockoffs out there but I would recommend the original Lansky. They sell in most sporting goods stores (maybe even Wallyworld) for about 35 bucks.If you can sharpen knives freehand, my hat's off to you. But if you have trouble putting a decent edge on one, you might check it out.

 

[roundball]

FYI...as a practical matter, the fastest, best way I've found to sharpen anything from axe blades to machetes, hunting knives, skinning knives, pocket knives, steak knives, etc, was to buy the finest grit sanding belt made for a small hand held belt sander (Skil, Sears, etc), flip the sander over on it's back so the sanding belt is facing up, and use the 'loc' button to keep it running without having to hold the trigger manually.
Then in a matter of seconds I've got a razor edge on anything I want to sharpen...

 

[Chuck Deaton]

The Lansky and the Smith's system will put a razor edge on knives and plane irons. The diamond sets are particularly good.

 

[Deadeye]

Get the Lansky, you can put a shaving edge on about anything. I sharpen knives all the time that the owners say they have tried and they can't be sharpened. When they come in to pick up their knife I take them by the hand and run the knife down their arm
and all the hair is gone then I sell them a Lansky sharpener.
Deadeye

 

[TwoShadows]

I believe sharpening a knife without the use of gadgets is a skill to be developed just like shooting. Being able to sharpen one in the field is paramount to our hobby of the frontier lifestyle. Do a little research and practice. Not too long ago I had the pleasure of skinning and quartering 11 hogs with one small patchknife. It required touching up between hogs, but I enjoy using a good sharp knife. There are so many knifemakers out there nowadays that owning one is easy and not as expensive as one would think.

The biggest complaint I have is that the current crop of custom knives are too thick bladed. I find I slaughter many more chunks of meat and veggies than Injuns. Large knives are useless most of the time for me. I like a small thin bladed one with enough handle to get a firm grip and maintain control of it.

There are as many styles and blade lengths as there are users I guess. Choose carefully while giving thought to what you use a knife for. Big ones are great for "profiling and strutting"....smaller ones for everyday and camp use are just too handy to ignore. The many types and hardness factors of available steel today opens the choices to mind boggling proportions.

The one perfect knife for every purpose does not exist. The search for that one design continues.....

 

Doublegun, you said the knife was made from an old file. Some of the makers don't really know what they are doing with file stock when they turn them into knives. A file made knife has to be both TEMPERED AND STRESS RELEIVED. Otherwise you wind up with a blade that is too hard to ever take an edge. I've been forging knives for going on 30 years, and it always amazes me that some "knife makers" don't know what they are doing, and still try to make a living at it!
Is the whetstone removing any metal or is it just sliding aross the blade without getting a grab? If the stone won't bite into the metal at all you will never get an edge on the knife without resorting to drastic measures you don't even want to know about!
Hard to beleive, but there's a difference between a pretty knife and a good knife!
If you are moving metal, any of the advice in the thread will eventually get an edge on the blade. If the metal is properly treated and properly ground and you have a good set of stones you should have a razor edge in ten or fifteen minutes.

 

[blckhrn]

Using a stone and getting optimum life out of it takes a little strategy.

A lot of people throw out stones when they dull (load up). If they aren't too saddled and I find them at a garage sale cheap I'll buy it and take it home and sharpen it with a stone dressing stick and plenty of water or kerosene. Go to http://www.mcmaster.com/ and open any product link. At top left there is page number, delete existing page number and put in 2483 and click forward arrow and go halfway down the page to dressing sticks if you are unfamiliar with these.

Just rubbing the two together will clean and restore the stone and even remove slight saddling.

On the coarser stones, the felt tip pen trick is a good one to find the right angle, then, using as much of the length of the stone as you can (and water or honing oil) hold the blade at this angle moving forward as if trying to shave off the stone. A few stokes on each side and you should be ready to move to the next grit and so on. Stropping will bring the edge to a razor sharp one if the steel will take it. I have a leather wheel that I strop with on my variable speed wood lathe.

A small steel like Schrade and Buck used to make can be carried (although not PC) in the field to restore the edge that has nicked or rolled over in places. Two ways to steel, backsteeling is done to roll back dings that would be ground into nicks in the edge if a stone was use before backsteeling. This is done with moderate to heavy pressure and pulling the knife backwards on the striated edge of the steel. After this steeling with light presssure as described above and forward dresses the edge up pretty well without honing and removing steel from the edge. The Buck and Schrade steels are chisel shaped and the flats have finer striations for finer work. Butcher's steels will work too, just awkward to carry. A steel will save you considerable wear and lengthen the life of your knife.

Another handy item is a diamond stick or small ceramic stick and all this stuff can be found on ebay at times. I don't know why but the steels for hunters aren't made any more by schrade and buck, I think Gerber still makes them but they aren't cheap.

 

[blckhrn]

http://www.gerberblades.com/products/view.php?model=1364 According to Gerber, Walmart has these (probably have to be ordered or from a superstore

 

[musketman]

A lot of people throw out stones when they dull

Not me, I take the hard stones and break them up and use then for emergency flints and fire starting... (no diamond coated stoned)

They will spark... :winking:

It's a good idea to degrease them first...