Old School Sharpening

I had a hankering to get out the stones and do some sharpening today.

My Sparrow Special and ML Sodbuster/Kephart both could use some TLC and I decided to do them freehand with stones this time instead of convexing them with the mousepad-backed abrasives like usual.

There's something very calming about the sound of steel on stone as an edge is brought back to sharp and then honed to a razor's edge.

After I had both knives sharp on a coarse stone I switched to the fine side and repeated the process--a circular motion down the stone two times for each side followed by 20 strokes on one side then 20 on the other. Then I reduce the pressure and number of strokes by half again and again until I'm down to a single stroke on each side. After two or three single passes the knife is ready for the strop.

I've been using my new JRE strop quite a bit and that black compound really brings the edge to hair-popping quickly. It also helps to blend all the scratches left on the edge from using the stone and brings a high polish to the steel. I'll take a few passes flat on the bevels just to brighten them up before I finish and then everything gets a drop or two of oil before a wipe down. Once that's done the knives go back into their respective sheaths until I need them again.

Thanks for reading,


B