What Did You Sharpen Today?

Nice job! I've been meaning to sharpen my Gerber/Fiskars hatchet (it's already pretty sharp though). I actually got the KME axe sharpener jig, however it hooks onto the rear of the axe head and the rear section has to be flat, but it's got that ridge in the middle which makes it not flat. I'm going to take it to work one of these days soon and grind the rear of the axe head flat and with 90 degree angles.
 
Using my Shapton stones ending with the 1k I sharpened up this Real Steel Serenity slip joint, n690 steel and took a nice edge.



Edited to add that a fellow asked about the edge near the middle, it’s just a reflection, the edge is very nice 😇
G2
 
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LimpCroissant said:
Nice job! I've been meaning to sharpen my Gerber/Fiskars hatchet (it's already pretty sharp though). I actually got the KME axe sharpener jig, however it hooks onto the rear of the axe head and the rear section has to be flat, but it's got that ridge in the middle which makes it not flat. I'm going to take it to work one of these days soon and grind the rear of the axe head flat and with 90 degree angles.
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I tried sharpening axes a couple of times with those sharpening pucks or stones in one hand and axe in the other. I got decent results that way and would use that technique when I’m out in the field obviously but I still get the best results when I’m sharpening the axe like a knife on the stone in the kitchen sink :D
 
lonelyronin said:
I tried sharpening axes a couple of times with those sharpening pucks or stones in one hand and axe in the other. I got decent results that way and would use that technique when I’m out in the field obviously but I still get the best results when I’m sharpening the axe like a knife on the stone in the kitchen sink :D
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Right on, yeah those pucks are pretty cool, I don't have one of those. The Fiskars hatchets have a very pronounced bevel though so it should be real easy to get the angle right. Maybe I'll try throw it on the stones freehand. Thanks.
 
Brock O Lee said:
Thank you… yes they are a bit of an investment. They are effective though, one pass per side per grit produced a small burr.
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Yeah, after typing my last comment I searched them, man those things aren't cheap. That's really damn cool though. Do you use them with the water trough? Man.. It must be super nice to reprofile on that thing.
 
LimpCroissant said:
Yeah, after typing my last comment I searched them, man those things aren't cheap. That's really damn cool though. Do you use them with the water trough? Man.. It must be super nice to reprofile on that thing.
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Yes they are designed to run wet. They cut fast, which is a blessing and a curse. Nice on long blades like kitchen knives or fixed blades when you have to remove a lot of material, but also easy to put a mark on an expensive knife if you are not careful. I am still getting the hang of it. It is a versatile and capable setup once you have the technique down.
 
Brock O Lee said:
Yes they are designed to run wet. They cut fast, which is a blessing and a curse. Nice on long blades like kitchen knives or fixed blades when you have to remove a lot of material, but also easy to put a mark on an expensive knife if you are not careful. I am still getting the hang of it. It is a versatile and capable setup once you have the technique down.
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Hell yeah man, that's awesome. Very sweet machine ya have there! Now that I think about it, it's basically doing it just like they did it in the old days over the big wheel/sharpening stone, except its got the latest sharpening technology. Tried and trued!🍻
 
LimpCroissant said:
Hell yeah man, that's awesome. Very sweet machine ya have there! Now that I think about it, it's basically doing it just like they did it in the old days over the big wheel/sharpening stone, except its got the latest sharpening technology. Tried and trued!🍻
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Exactly 👍
 
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This is a fixed blade Benchmade I bought in about the nineties. It had never been sharpened before today. The blade is ATS-34.

I broke out a soft Arkansas stone, some soapy water, the same stone holder you probably use, a sharpie, and a couple of 16 degree angle guides to keep me on the tracks. I was aiming for a 40 degree inclusive edge.

It immediately became clear that the factory edge was closer to 25 degrees per side, and the soft Ark was not the right tool to reprofile this blade! I broke out Atoma diamond stones at 400 and 600. It took a while, but I finally corrected a little recurve and got fairly crisp bevels all the way from the heel to the tip.

It was cutting hair and receipt paper straight off the Atoma 600, but not particularly smoothly. I went back to the soft Ark to finish up, and I was very surprised at the improvement. The soft Ark smoothed out the edge considerably, making it murder on hair, paper towels, receipt paper, and a pine walking stick I am whittling.

I don't understand why the Arkansas stone is so effective in the polishing stages while being ineffective in the more coarse stages.

I though about reaching for a hard Ark to make it more sexy, but the knife is cutting like a beaver and I resisted the urge to get stupid about it!

Here are the tools I used, including a scrap of receipt paper.

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