Thread: Show me your knives

If you need a sheath I could do you a little kydex job, might be able to get rid of the chip for you as well at the same time, well after I have made the sheath, not exactly the same time but pretty damn close!

I thought I would post a quick review of a new knife. After seeing photos of a few bark rivers on here I decided that I needed one! My requirements of a knife were primarily something of high quality that was going to last well, hold an edge and be lightweight as most of my hunting involves a large amount of walking. So I was tossing up between a few of their small EDC and neck knives but settled on the featherweight fox river with an elmax blade and black canvas micarta handle. When it arrived I was a little concerned that it would be too small for butchering deer but after using it it is fine for my purposes. It is almost like using a scalpel, is very sharp and seems to hold an edge well. I would recommend one for anyone looking for a knife but they are concerned about the weight and the issue of such a small knife being hard to use doesn't seem to be a problem as it is so sharp.

I would wax that sheath, looks a tad dry.
Elmax is very hard stuff, don’t sharpen it with a stone, you will want diamonds to get a decent edge once yours goes blunt.

Use water stones.

Originally Posted by Shelley

I would wax that sheath, looks a tad dry.
Elmax is very hard stuff, don’t sharpen it with a stone, you will want diamonds to get a decent edge once yours goes blunt.

Thanks, yes a wax is a good idea . Any tips for sharpening?

Originally Posted by Tahr

Use water stones.

Haha, diamond or stones? I've got a Japanese water stone which I normally use. Any tips on sharpening, 2 experienced knife guys one saying stones the other diamonds

Diamonds will eat your knife.
You want to maintain the convex grind on your Bark River so avoid putting a V edge on it.

Originally Posted by Benj

Haha, diamond or stones? I've got a Japanese water stone which I normally use. Any tips on sharpening, 2 experienced knife guys one saying stones the other diamonds

Depends on the anniversary

Originally Posted by Tahr

Diamonds will eat your knife.
You want to maintain the convex grind on your Bark River so avoid putting a V edge on it.

thanks yes keen to maintain the convex grind, I have seen people suggesting using finegrit sandpaper on a soft backing like a mouse pad any thoughts on that?

Fine-grit wet’n’dry is excellent for this purpose. I can shave with a KaBar honed thusly, and have done so frequently.

How to sharpen a knife is like a mine field, like what’s the best caliber.
I’m a fan of a wet stone and learning to do it by hand but I maybe about to change my mind having see what Puffin has achieved with a simple home made jig.
The other change is types of steel that maybe too hard to sharpen with a wet stone and need diamond stones?
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....v-steel-52926/

Originally Posted by Benj

Haha, diamond or stones? I've got a Japanese water stone which I normally use. Any tips on sharpening, 2 experienced knife guys one saying stones the other diamonds

Depends on how much time you want to invest and what sort of grit you have, diamonds will not munch on elmax, not if you use a high grit.

The other option to maintain your grind is to get a paint stirring stick, glue 1200 grit wet and dry sandpaper to it then run that away from you over the edge, follow the convex shape, takes some time but will do the job.

By overdoing the downward pressure the mouse pad method can easily end up taking too much off at the edge, taking the edge angle out to where you'd lose some of the slicey attributes that are supported with that thin blade stock and convex profile. Best if wanting to use a flexible abrasive to start out with a firmer backing material I'd say.

well Ive got some very good old oil stones...and a lansky set of ceramic rods...and a fancy wee jig thingy that holds small stones of various grades at correct angles too...what have I sharpened my knives with lately???? a piece of rangitata area rock/boulder that had been run over by tractor and heavy roller and split fairy straightly...Ive been looking at these for ages and finally stopped and picked one up....its that plurry hard you get no sandy grit off it when honing a knife,it polishes as it goes,if I change to a rougher piece of the face I can take more material off....the novelty factor hasnt worn off yet and knives are very sharp....might just be correct technique,but Im able to get stainless knives sharp too which has always been an issue with oil stones.

That’s pretty much how it was done in the dark ages Micky Duck, these days though diamonds are a sharpeners best friend, nothing wrong with what you are doing though, I have seen people sharpen knibes on the bottom of a coffee cup too!