Dumb luck, and the cart before the horse.
Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 3:58 pm
Sometimes when I sharpen something I discover a minor imperfection I cannot even see under a lighted magnifying loupe. That knife will not cleanly slice newsprint, and it often "sticks" instead of making a smooth pass. I keep a real-deal horseside strop handy, and whisk the edge a few strokes.
If that simple procedure doesn't work, at least it makes a slight mar on the leather to help me better discern a repair on the "gremlin."
Keeping that in mind, I rotated my EDC again, and decided to use the ZT0300. I hadn't carried it in a bit, and so I made a pass through some news print. I did get a minor 'stick,' but I did not feel it was serious enough to remove metal. Like always, I thought about smearing a little Mothers Billet Paste onto a central point of the strop to see if that would help.
However, that creates a mess. When finished I have to dig out some mechanics gel pumice soap and clean the strop. Then hang the thing out to dry, and that takes +24 hours.
I decided against it, and just took some Mothers to clean the blade. When I wiped it off I noticed that the paste had made the bevel cloudy. I decided just to strop off the excess.
And then the light bulb went off!
When I finished, the bevel gleamed! The edge was refined, and the gremlin was gone! Instead of taking the knife to the paste on the strop, I took the paste on the knife to the strop. I was amazed on how little it took!
You might not have the exact tools I do, but no matter. If you have some whitening toothpaste, clean your knife with it until the finish is a tad hazy. Then take any strip of a leather--an old worn but softer belt will do--and make some gentle strokes.
Go slice something. Thank me later!
If that simple procedure doesn't work, at least it makes a slight mar on the leather to help me better discern a repair on the "gremlin."
Keeping that in mind, I rotated my EDC again, and decided to use the ZT0300. I hadn't carried it in a bit, and so I made a pass through some news print. I did get a minor 'stick,' but I did not feel it was serious enough to remove metal. Like always, I thought about smearing a little Mothers Billet Paste onto a central point of the strop to see if that would help.
However, that creates a mess. When finished I have to dig out some mechanics gel pumice soap and clean the strop. Then hang the thing out to dry, and that takes +24 hours.
I decided against it, and just took some Mothers to clean the blade. When I wiped it off I noticed that the paste had made the bevel cloudy. I decided just to strop off the excess.
And then the light bulb went off!
When I finished, the bevel gleamed! The edge was refined, and the gremlin was gone! Instead of taking the knife to the paste on the strop, I took the paste on the knife to the strop. I was amazed on how little it took!
You might not have the exact tools I do, but no matter. If you have some whitening toothpaste, clean your knife with it until the finish is a tad hazy. Then take any strip of a leather--an old worn but softer belt will do--and make some gentle strokes.
Go slice something. Thank me later!