- Joined
- Apr 10, 2015
- Location
- NSW Central Coast
As I have mentioned previously, I scored a couple of good looking blades in a Cooma antique store recently.
Today, I finally had the chance to honemeister them.
The Maschco was first, and wasn't that a mistake! I had to kill the edge, and then grind some pitting out towards the heel. This had the bonus of squaring the edge quite well. One thing that I hadn't noticed when I picked this up, was that the spine at the toe-end had quite a bit more wear than the heel end. This would eventually affect the edge depth at the toe, but not enough to be a big problem.
So, killing the edge/grinding out the pitting was done on a #600 diamond plate, and was quite a smooth job.
Next was #1000 synth stone, followed by #3000 synth, and #8000 synth. Final hone was on a #13000 natural stone, followed by a hundred or so laps on the strop. All stones had slurries applied. Strop was just left bare.
This blade took almost 90 minutes to get a satisfactory edge! I ended up starting back at #1000, four times, because what felt ok at the start, didn't finish right. Eventually, though, it all came together. I had similar issues last year with the Broken Hill Bengall, so this time I was half expecting it. It didn't disappoint.
A quick run up the arm saw the result I was wanting, Lovely, clean and hairless!
Super glued the damaged scales. Turns out the the other side had a fault line in the same spot, so I ran a bead of super glue inside there, to get it to infiltrate the crack. Left it a couple of minutes, then drew up the excess with some paper. It doesn't look great, but it is certainly authentic.
Pics in the next post.
Now, the Korten was a different beast altogether. One thing that struck my right away, was that it appeared to have been honed on a butcher's steel. Touching the edge, it felt like it was a single-sided edge. It was very weird.
Anyway, lightly killed the edge on the #600 diamond, then a single run up the stones saw this one finished in under 15 minutes. 60 or so laps of the strop, and this one is now the sharpest in the stable... even sharper than the Wester.
Pics in the next post, too.
Blades are now bathing in a quaternary ammonium solution for a couple of days. Then they should be ready to slice. Once they come out, I will see how the polish up.
I gave the Wester a touch up on #8000 and #13000. But I noticed it has a fairly significant pit-mark down near the heel. Surgery will need to happen fairly soon, unfortunately.
Today, I finally had the chance to honemeister them.
The Maschco was first, and wasn't that a mistake! I had to kill the edge, and then grind some pitting out towards the heel. This had the bonus of squaring the edge quite well. One thing that I hadn't noticed when I picked this up, was that the spine at the toe-end had quite a bit more wear than the heel end. This would eventually affect the edge depth at the toe, but not enough to be a big problem.
So, killing the edge/grinding out the pitting was done on a #600 diamond plate, and was quite a smooth job.
Next was #1000 synth stone, followed by #3000 synth, and #8000 synth. Final hone was on a #13000 natural stone, followed by a hundred or so laps on the strop. All stones had slurries applied. Strop was just left bare.
This blade took almost 90 minutes to get a satisfactory edge! I ended up starting back at #1000, four times, because what felt ok at the start, didn't finish right. Eventually, though, it all came together. I had similar issues last year with the Broken Hill Bengall, so this time I was half expecting it. It didn't disappoint.
A quick run up the arm saw the result I was wanting, Lovely, clean and hairless!
Super glued the damaged scales. Turns out the the other side had a fault line in the same spot, so I ran a bead of super glue inside there, to get it to infiltrate the crack. Left it a couple of minutes, then drew up the excess with some paper. It doesn't look great, but it is certainly authentic.
Pics in the next post.
Now, the Korten was a different beast altogether. One thing that struck my right away, was that it appeared to have been honed on a butcher's steel. Touching the edge, it felt like it was a single-sided edge. It was very weird.
Anyway, lightly killed the edge on the #600 diamond, then a single run up the stones saw this one finished in under 15 minutes. 60 or so laps of the strop, and this one is now the sharpest in the stable... even sharper than the Wester.
Pics in the next post, too.
Blades are now bathing in a quaternary ammonium solution for a couple of days. Then they should be ready to slice. Once they come out, I will see how the polish up.
I gave the Wester a touch up on #8000 and #13000. But I noticed it has a fairly significant pit-mark down near the heel. Surgery will need to happen fairly soon, unfortunately.
