TorontoJoe
Administrator
@Gladstone1969 - I’m currently going down a stropping rabbit hole 
Grafting Knife - Field Sharpening
- Thread starter TorontoJoe
- Start date
Gladstone1969
Well-known member
@TorontoJoe (not sure if you saw the easy button below). It varies by what I’m trying to sharpen (pocket knife, camp knife, straight razor) and how bad the edge when starting. It also varies by stone type.
The knife you are showing is carbon steel The first step, unless you are already starting with a knife with a decent edge, is to set the bevel. I like a clean new edge so I burr sharpen with a 1000k waterstone after dulling it on the same to get back to clean metal. If it is in really bad shape I might go down to 400k. I finish with an 3K or 4k for a pruning knife and some swipes on pasted denim. Also, if you don’t want to spend money on stones, you can do it with wet sandpaper cheaply. Look here: https://scienceofsharp.com/2014/04/13/the-bevel-set/. And then here: https://scienceofsharp.com/2016/04/14/simple-straight-razor-honing/ for the easy button. There is a description of what he does with his pocket knives in the comments or in the text - I can’t recall. This will get you beyond what you need for pruning.
The knife you are showing is carbon steel The first step, unless you are already starting with a knife with a decent edge, is to set the bevel. I like a clean new edge so I burr sharpen with a 1000k waterstone after dulling it on the same to get back to clean metal. If it is in really bad shape I might go down to 400k. I finish with an 3K or 4k for a pruning knife and some swipes on pasted denim. Also, if you don’t want to spend money on stones, you can do it with wet sandpaper cheaply. Look here: https://scienceofsharp.com/2014/04/13/the-bevel-set/. And then here: https://scienceofsharp.com/2016/04/14/simple-straight-razor-honing/ for the easy button. There is a description of what he does with his pocket knives in the comments or in the text - I can’t recall. This will get you beyond what you need for pruning.
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Gladstone1969
Well-known member
I spent the good part of a year learning how to get my straight razors better than anything you can buy. And science of sharp is what got me there first. I now have a few other ways but they all get to the same place - SHARP.@Gladstone1969 - I’m currently going down a stropping rabbit hole
TorontoJoe
Administrator
I have 4000 and 1000 stones. The stropping part I need to figure out. It seems a lot of people make strops from leather, denim, linen, etc.. I have yet to look if they’re readily available to buy at a reasonable price
The edge on this knife is currently quite good
Gladstone1969
Well-known member
Word to the wise - setting the bevel gets you 90% there. Don’t stop or second guess if you’re there. It should be obvious. If you don’t get there none of the later steps matter. And don’t go by the number of strokes - FEEL the burr by drawing your finger perpendicular to the blade. It should catch your prints along the ENTIRE blade. If it doesn’t you aren’t done.@Gladstone1969 - I’m currently going down a stropping rabbit hole
Gladstone1969
Well-known member
Use an old pair of blue jeans for the denim hanging strop. Don’t waste money on a store bought. For the leather I’d buy an few inexpensive ones with both the smooth side and rough side. Also don’t waste money on expensive pastes. Use what he recommends - a simple chrome/metal polishing paste from your auto store will do just fine on the denim. If you want to get into sharper stuff then we can talk diamond pastes/etc. Read his post on strops.
TorontoJoe
Administrator
I have reading to do
did your dad teach you how to graft? if so, at what age? grafting is something that i really wish that i had learned in my teens, instead of in my middle ages.
i have a typical grafting knife that is pretty dull. i mainly use it for branches too big for my hobby knife, which is pretty rare. i typically replace the razor between trees. the couple times i've cut myself was when i was already tired from grafting numerous normal sized branches and i got greedy and tried to graft the leftover twigs. twigs are too hard. when i'm grafting i always try to imagine where the knife would go if it slipped. then i try to make sure my fingers aren't in that area.
lucky for us, figs are one of the easiest trees to graft. still though it does help to be able to focus and concentrate. it's really easy for your mind to wander if you let it.
i have a typical grafting knife that is pretty dull. i mainly use it for branches too big for my hobby knife, which is pretty rare. i typically replace the razor between trees. the couple times i've cut myself was when i was already tired from grafting numerous normal sized branches and i got greedy and tried to graft the leftover twigs. twigs are too hard. when i'm grafting i always try to imagine where the knife would go if it slipped. then i try to make sure my fingers aren't in that area.
lucky for us, figs are one of the easiest trees to graft. still though it does help to be able to focus and concentrate. it's really easy for your mind to wander if you let it.
TorontoJoe
Administrator
He passed the knife on to me but sadly I’d never even attempted grafting until recently. I’m eager to get some practice
bushdoctor82
Well-known member
If you want to go down a sharpening rabbit hole, there’s a fellow Canadian, Rob Cosman that has plenty of information on his YT channel. I follow his channel for woodworking projects and chisel/plane sharpening, but similar process can be done with knives.
Ikibahd
Well-known member
I made myself a strop for my knives that works well whether I’m stropping kitchen knives, pocket knives, or anything else sharp. Granted it may not be as refined as a manufactured one or an artisan’s (mostly having to do with how thick the leather I used is) but it gets the job done well for me now.
You can load it up with green compound (which works well but it’s like using a crayon on it - it gets brittle and waxy flakes come off eventually) but I got some diamond spray - this one is from Chefknivestogo.com but there are lots of good places you can get it from and I read that 1 micron is a good all around finish for a working edge - it’s not for straight razors but it’ll bring your blade back to hair shaving in just a few strokes if it was apexed well to begin with and hasn’t been too abused in the interim
TorontoJoe
Administrator
Is that denim glued to pine?
Ikibahd
Well-known member
It’s actually leather (from a “craft pack” with a load of random cutoffs in different colors and all odd shapes) glued to poplar ($3 “hobby” board from Home Depot that’s 2in by 3 feet or so when I bought it a couple years ago)
TorontoJoe
Administrator
It’s a bit difficult to tell. You use the hard side, or the softer suede side of the leather?
Ikibahd
Well-known member
If you use a compound or a diamond spray or whatnot, you want the suede part so that it has more surface area to stick to
Some people like having the harder outer part of leather for a strop without compound also, but I have not found it to be very useful personally - I thought stropping seemed pretty useless when that’s all I had, but once I tried with the additives (green compound first, then diamond spray later when I learned about it) it made so much difference!