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In Memoriam Comment by D ale on October 5, 2017 at 13:28

!!! .. Thanks, Ron .. !!!

Comment by Ron Cooper on October 5, 2017 at 12:37

@D ale,

Hey, what's 4 years between friends...right? And, I suppose that old adage "Better late than never" might also apply?

To be perfectly honest, If memory serves, I'm pretty sure I knew it was his tongue all along. I was just being 'cute' when I posed that query. But now that you've gotten around to answering, and providing such a wonderful backstory, I'm really glad I asked.

Dogs really are Man's best friend! Tell Jack I said, "Woof!"

In Memoriam Comment by D ale on October 5, 2017 at 10:03

Ron Cooper .. I realize I'm pretty late in responding to your question .. was cruising through my pics ..looking for a specific one .. when this came up. Had to revisit.

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Sausage is a good guesstimate ..as.. I regularly purchased 3 lbs sticks specifically for dog treats. I had to give that up .. for the good of the kids. Jack was gettin' pretty "healthy" !!!

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It is his tongue. 

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We got him as a very young child .. about 6 wks old. He'd just lost an eye & the "breeder" was going to have him put down. Luckily .. our veterinarian knows us ..&.. his wife works with my wife. The vet was reluctant to put the lil guy down ..&.. made the offer .. "why don't you just give me the little guy .. I'll fix him up .. they'll be no bill to you."

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The following day he arrived at @ our house .. in a strange environment, minus 1 eye & all his litter mates. Later that day .. he started whining & crying. We just thought it was the removed eye. It wasn't. He wasn't fully weaned. I warmed a cup of cream for him .. he inhaled. we repeated this twice ..after which.. he quietly slept. He later awoke in good spirits & all was fine for awhile. At which point .. the warm cream was reimplemented. This routine went on for a week or so.

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Point being .. we bonded. He is as faithful as you can imagine. He always positions himself where he can see me .. snuggles up in bed with his back against my side. Quite endearing !!

Comment by Ron Cooper on November 5, 2013 at 2:18

Again, Dale, your in depth explanation of what you did is greatly appreciated. You certainly seem more than up for just about any challenge us knife knuts throw at you! Kudos, my friend!

I do have one question for you, though. I can't quite figure out what that is in your dog's mouth? Is it (A.) his tongue (B.) a slice of baloney, or (C.) his favorite toy? I was kind of hoping that you could answer that for me?

Cheers, mate!

Comment by Jan Carter on November 3, 2013 at 19:17

I can certainly understand the consistent angle being the hardest part.  Thats what I was wondering about.  For someone like me, sharpening the D2 teardrop brings a difficulty in consistency in the angle LOL.  I can not imagine trying to keep that consistency over this large an area

In Memoriam Comment by D ale on November 3, 2013 at 18:55

I started with a belt sander .. 100 grit belt .. the edge was pretty abused. Holding the desired angle constant across the entirety of the 25.5" edge was the most difficult portion. IF I were to do this on a regular basis .. I'd fabricate a jig to maintain the angle.

I proceeded to finish the belt sander portion with a well worn belt. I made a conscious effort to hold the angle constant. I did not measure it. I would guesstimate a 25 ~ 30 degree angle .. for an included angle of 50 ~ 60 degrees. 
Far greater than I use on my Teardrop EDC. However, the teardrop has a D2 blade hardened to something over a 60 Rc & I treat it far more gently than this sword will. This sword has a very functional spring temper .. lower than 60Rc. It needs a more robust edge .. therefore .. a larger included angle.

I removed the burr resulting from the belt sander with a soft 2" X 8" H2O stone. The important & most difficult parameter here was again maintaining a constant angle. 

I ended the process by lightly drawing the stone into the edge as if cutting into the stone. This has a tendency to minimize any resultant burr.

Remember .. this steel is spring tempered .. NOT D2 .. softer than pocket knife cutlery steel .. by design. Therefore .. softer & rolls a burr over @ low angles of sharpening. 

I alternated sides of edges .. 4 total .. till the new "edge" was polished & no burrs were present.

The long double edges certainly presented more cutting surface that I had to beware of in the sharpening process. i.e. would be easy to cut one's self if ya don't keep your wit's about you.

Maintaining the desired angle @ a constant over the entire 25.5" length of the edge was the "unique" aspect of this. I would certainly jig it if this were anything other than a one-off deal.

Comment by Jan Carter on November 3, 2013 at 18:12

challenge?  How different was it to work this one?