Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on February 24, 2014 at 19:20

I would be interested in a Kanga stop

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Jeremy B. Buchanan on February 24, 2014 at 19:25

Jack - Let me know when it is available. I would like to get a piece. Thanks.

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on February 24, 2014 at 21:46

I will get a kangaroo hide as soon as I can. Money tied up right now. If anyone is in a hurry and wants to get one instead of waiting the info is in the first post. If no one is in a hurry I'll get it in a month or two max. When I do I'll check this thread to see who may be interested and contact you in this thread and a private message.

Jack

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Jeremy B. Buchanan on April 11, 2014 at 22:30

Jack Haskins, Jr. said:

I will get a kangaroo hide as soon as I can. Money tied up right now. If anyone is in a hurry and wants to get one instead of waiting the info is in the first post. If no one is in a hurry I'll get it in a month or two max. When I do I'll check this thread to see who may be interested and contact you in this thread and a private message.

Jack

Did you ever get any kangaroo hide? I am still interested when you do.

Thanks,

Jeremy

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on April 11, 2014 at 23:26

I have decided not to get any more kangaroo hide.  The reason is I am now getting my edges much sharper using only stones.  I stumbled on a thread on Blade Forums by "knifenut2013" called "The First Sharpening".  I was so impressed with the info in there I got the guy on the phone.  We talked for about 30 minutes Ithink.  I have completely changed my technique to a simpler one regarding hand movement throughout each stroke.  Two key points are 1) keep the knife blade (blade, not the edge) at a 90 degree angle with the stone.  2) Lift the handle for the belly and tip to make contact with the stone.  There's a bit more to it but these are the primary things.  First though you set the knife edge on the stone and establish the angle you want. Then LOCK YOUR WRIST!  Never change this angle but just lift the handle slowly as you stroke to sharpen around the belly to the edge.  I could tell you a bunch more but if you are interested check out knifenut2013's thread and watch his videos.  This simple technique has made it possible for me to improve much faster than I would if I followed most advice.  Most people just say "establish your technique and practice".  I disagree with this completely.  What if "your technique" is full of bad habits.  Instead, I choose to copy a method that works and leave my ego behind.

I wanted to explain how I have improved so much that I don't even strop at all most of the time.  I sent Murray Carter a  folder of mine with M4 blade steel.  He offers to sharpen one knife for free for the ones who subscribe to his sharpening tips he emails to you.  I also recommend them.  Lots of good info. He want's $15 for return, insured shipping.  Anyway, when I got the knife back it was a bit crisper than when I sent it to him.  Before sending the knife to him I sharpened it as best as I could.  He ave his opinion of my edge.  That is not important for this discussion.  But  now I know what a truely sharp edge is like according to the pros. My edges are a tiny bit "not as sharp" but I willimprove even more I'm sure.  So, ince I am not stropping very much at all I don't need any more strops.  I posted the address of where to get the roo so anyone who is still interested can get with them.  When  do strop I use a strop with such a fine grit spray that unless the edges were already very super sharp the strops would haver little effect.  Anyway,  won't be getting any roo.  Sorry or the tease.  f anyone out there is just learning to sharpen I strongly advise checking out the thread I mentioned.  Ask him questions also.  IIf t weren't for that thread and the info in it I would still need a strop to get the edge as sharp as they are now when I just use stones.  My stone setup is Shapton glass 320, 1k, 4k and an 8k stone.  I also have AND LOVE the Spyderco fine and UF grit stones and I use them sometimes for a quick touch up.  I suggest everyone adopt the technique knifenut2013 uses.  Less hand position and/or knife position changes equal an easier and more effective method.

Jack

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Jeremy B. Buchanan said:

Jack Haskins, Jr. said:

I will get a kangaroo hide as soon as I can. Money tied up right now. If anyone is in a hurry and wants to get one instead of waiting the info is in the first post. If no one is in a hurry I'll get it in a month or two max. When I do I'll check this thread to see who may be interested and contact you in this thread and a private message.

Jack

Did you ever get any kangaroo hide? I am still interested when you do.

Thanks,

Jeremy

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on April 11, 2014 at 23:36

http://m.youtube.com/#/user/MrEdgy81?feature=guide  Here us is the youtube channel of the guy "MrEdgyt" I was talking about.

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on April 12, 2014 at 7:03

I just watched a video by "Mr. Edgy". This is the first time I watched one since I first found the thread on blade forums. Somehow I have developed a different way I position the knife blade on the stone than he does. He positions the blade at a 45 ° angle with the stone and I keep the blade at a 90° angle. I put a video on the Spyderco forum with two videos on how to maintain a consistant angle along the edge. One way involves a technique I developed mainly from Ken Schwartz's influence. I learned this way of holding the knife and was doing pretty good with it. However, while this method works very well with some practice I like the other method. The one I have developed. I thought I was doing it the same as Mr. Edgy. I don't know exactly when or why or how I came up with the 90° angle (knife vs stone) but I like it better. When keeping the blade at a 90° angle with the stone it's easier to SEE why the angle consistancy is kept. I might have posted my videos on this forum. I seem to remember doing that. Or maybe I thought about it but didn't do it. :) After watching half of one of Mr. Edgy's videos I feel while the aspects of his technique are just like I explained them but it's hard to see it.

I'm not going to get into it any more because I'd be repeating what I put in the video's on the Spyderco forum. Also, I'm having a bit of a problem posting videos right now. I suppose I learned the basic aspects of Mr. Edgy's technique and added a change I somehow came up with. Where the change I made came from I have no idea. But, I like it and will continue with it until possibly I find a reason to change it. I still have Mr. Edgy's phone # (I think) so I may call him. I talked to him on the phone before. Maybe he said something that put the idea of holding the knife at a 90° angle with the stone. Either way, I like the way I do it. Not that the results will be better but it's easier to see WHY the angle consistancy is kept. Understanding WHY something works makes it easier to remember and understand IMO. But, until Italk to Mr. Edgy I will stick with my way. It's not really MY way. I didn't re-invent the wheel. I may have added a spoke or two but the ability to maintain a more consistant angle came from reading knifenut2013's (Mr. EDdgy) thread and talking to him once on the phone.

This is getting off the subject of kangaroo hide and should be in the sharpening section of this forum probably.

I hope someone gets a hide of the kangaroo hide and shares the savings with people here. Even though I don't strop much right now doesn't change the fact that the kangaroo is a great hide to use for strops. I use two strops now. A leather strop mounted on glass which is mounted on a piece of wood with .5 micron CBN spray. The .5 micron strop is my coarse grit strop. Then I use a kangaroo strop with no compound. This is the fine grit strop. I would like to get another roo strop to use the .5 micron spray on.

Another reason I don't need strops as much now is I like strops for polishing a bevel. This has nothing to do with the sharpness of the edge. A soft leather is best for polilshing a bevel because it wraps around the bevel more than a hard leather strop. Since sharpening free hand always leaves the bevel a bit convexed I like the leather to be soft. But now, with the Shapton glass stones I can get a mirror finish starting with the 8k grit. The 4k leaves a very nice finish also. The 8k will leave scratches that are almost invisible to the naked eye. The scratches are easily seen under magnification. But I have also stopped working for the perfect edge under magnification. If it looks good to the naked eye I'm happy. After the bevel has a nice finish I can then evaluate the edge for sharpness and work on that by raising the angle JUST A TINY BIT. The angle change is not enough to create the standard micro-bevel. Instead it just looks like a continuation of the convex bevel.

Moral of this story. Keep practicing and the skill on stones will improve enough that we don't need strops to get the edge that at one time we needed a strop to achieve. But, once the very sharp edge and pretty bevel is achieved on stones you can still increase the sharpness a tiny bit making the edge "crisper" when touching it with your thumb pad. But this added "crispness" is hard to notice when using the knife under normal EDC needs. Especially a pocket knife because these knives end up cutting almost anything from one day to the next. Kitchen knives in the hand of a skilled chef may benifit from the additional "crispness".

Jack

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on April 12, 2014 at 8:46

Thanks for that update Jack! I can't wait to see the video and will reserve comment until I watch. It sure sounds like this guy is a devoted sharpener so be curious to see what he does. Not sure I totally understand what he does or how that is different from what I do? But as I said will reserve judgement/comments until I can watch.

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