Knife porn thread

So why not just use wet or dry on a piece of modern glass or mirror, have used this technique to make well worn knives sharp again as I didn't have a stone available. So would it make an easier sharpening with out worrying about stones going concave. Or am I missing something?

very uniform grits and faster cutting in the stones mean you get an even finish quickly, and the watery goop + swarf that comes off helps to cut quicker. Plus for very hard knives/tools you'd be through the wet dry paper in no time at all, especially on the higher grits. At least for waterstones this is.

I use my dad's 30yr old norton indiastone dry to do all my families' kitchenn knives and it hasn't concaved at all, but they're softer steel. I imagine wet or dry paper would work at a pinch in those cases.

Thank you for the reply, think that the bit I don't get is the stones going concave as I thought that the stone is the hard bit and that the water or oil is to clean the surface if the stone of the detritus generated. Then using the whole length of the stone with the same pressure to keep wear even.

@jurek and @Sharkstar any videos that you would recommend as similar t what you learnt or any to avoid?

I've seen videos on Youtube, and most are good as a general guide, but none go into the level of detail afforded by a one-on-one (ok, 1-on-5) class.
Little things like the direction in which you should pull your thumb across the edge of the blade to check for the burr. How to ameliorate if you've managed to form a burr on all but 15% of the blade edge. How the colour/reflection of your honed edge should be consistent along the entire length of the blade - stuff that is generally too fine for a camera to pick up on. The sound made by the blade against the stone when material is actually being removed from the blade, as opposed to the futile rubbing of metal against stone - too subtle, I suspect, for most microphones to pick up.
To sum up, without stating the obvs. I think a video would be hard pushed to match that delivered by a well tutored class.

Synthetic waterstones are made up of small evenly sized bits of cutting particles (not sure exactly what they're made of) held together with a binding agent. You soak them in water, softening the binding agent and helping to release the particles. As you move the blade along the particles cut the steel, and become unbound from the stone (forming the sort of watery goop) which stays on the stone surface and helps cut.

Yep if you used the whole length and even pressure then that would be the case in theory. In reality I start about a couple of inches from the bottom end (i like to rest my thumbs on the stone as a sort of angle guide) and finish a inch or so from the top on each pass. This causes the middle bit to wear faster than the ends, hence concavity. Also causes my thumbs to wear out, although as of yet they havent required flattening.

You can use this approach, and some people swear by it for sharpening the blades of hand tools. You need to make sure the paper is stuck down well, and of course you need to replace the paper quite often as it wears out. Diamond stones are a abetter bet if you don't want the faff, but they're nowhere near as nice to use as waterstones, and they don't go down to super fine polishing grits.

Have a look on the Japanese Knife Company web site: there's at least one technique video on there.

I have a UK legal knife that is generally moved each day to whatever pair of trousers i am wearing.

It's not a stupidly expensive knife, just a spyderco made for the UK market. I gave my partner a nicer knife for xmas but still ensured it was legal to carry.

At home I often carry a small hatchet for forestry work but don't take it out with me in public.

You do live the wilds now.

Yeah, not many of my others are actually EDC due to locking. This looked a good option but first impressions exceed that.

I googled your replacement, that looks good too.

And do ppl still buy expensive knives with the current carry laws being enforced ? Is it worth it???

I wouldn't carry an expensive one. I should've lost the Antonini already when I was unexpectedly bag searched at a local venue. I told them immediately there was a knife in there, security just glanced inside the bag, shrugged, then waved me through. /csb.

This is the one I really want. https://chrisreeve.com/products/impinda

Nice

Cheeky for sales (Now Sold),
bought my mum some Niwaki Bonsai Scissors for Christmas with the intention of buying her a nice tree for her 70th, apparently not what she wanted! Missed the returns date, cost £53, sell for £40 inc UK postage? I have the exact same pair (in pics) otherwise would keep. SOLD

Also took a pic of my ebony handled Sakai Takayuki Ginsan Sujihiki which spends too much of its life in a box.

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I earned millions of brownie points by giving my wife Niwaki snips, secateurs and a few other bits for Christmas. Such nice things.

Our gardening is larger scale (tree felling, coppicing etc) so not sure we need bonsai scissors.

Sakai Takayuki Ginsan Sujihiki

How much dorrah?

I think it’s a great company, we dropped into their Dorset store last summer and picked up some shears. Hopefully this spring we’ll plant a long box border and attempt some real ‘niwaki’.

@Stonehedge The sujihiki was more than I remembered, $400 inc postage etc in 2015. Although not the justification for buying, we did use it to cut our wedding cake.

Ah, I misunderstood. I thought it was for sells.

I bought a Rockstead partly as a bit of a treat (see the post) but mostly for the cutting edge. I do fine leather and woodwork. I have knives that are much sharper than a cut throat razor needs to be, and they take a lot of time and skill to get that way. Some days I like to start off by honing them before I start work, some days I want to get to work and not faff around. Some days I do something dumb and because the edges are so fine they damage quite easily (I use metal rulers as cutting guides, I commonly snag the blade or tip on it, and that means at least 15 minutes of work to rest the edge.
The Rockstead is so hard (and sharp) that it doesn't need any attention, so far despite a lot of cutting it hasn't needed any honing, and I just take it out and start cutting right away. It makes me smile it is so effective.
Worth £300? To most people, no. It's the plainest knife out there. To me it certainly is.

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Worth £300?

£300≠£1,679.95

£300 for a small fixed blade compared to £1,679.95 for an exquisite folder?
Compare car price ranges. Or jewellery. Or optical equipment. Or anything. Very nice things don’t come cheap.

Such as
https://www.heinnie.com/rockstead-nehan-marble

My wife really wants a Rockstead neck knife. This chat has got me thinking about it some more.

That's obscene...