Sharpening and testing for sharpness?

[bushcraftboy]

I have a DC4 stone and I'm trying to sharpen my Clipper 840MG, and not matter how good and polished the blade is, there is always glints on the edge of the blade, when it was new there was no glinting at ALL, but no matter how hard I try there is still glints on the edge and it seems it's not sharp. And I strop the blade alot after sharpening.

What am I doing wrong and how can I test for sharpness?

[Bernie]

Is it stainless or carbon steel? I strop my carbon steel 840MG on a leather strop I made with fine metal polish and I test it by shaving the hairs off my hand. Sharp enough for me.

See: http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?1768-Leather-on-a-block-of-wood-suitable-strop&p=22307&viewfull=1#post22307

[bushcraftboy]

Is it stainless or carbon steel? I strop my carbon steel 840MG on a leather strop I made with fine metal polish and I test it by shaving the hairs off my hand. Sharp enough for me.

See: http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?1768-Leather-on-a-block-of-wood-suitable-strop&p=22307&viewfull=1#post22307

Yes it is carbon, it is the 840, if it was stainless it would be the 860MG.

I don't have any metal polish, but the strop I have is just a belt on a block of wood.

[Bernie]

I'm not sure it works without any abrasive on/in the leather. Have you tried stropping on newspaper? Apparently it works as well. Thanks for the 860 info, I did not know that. I do know that the MG stands for Military Green.

[JonnyP]

Put the dc4 back in your bag and get yourself some wet and dry paper and some 18mm ply board. (Most building sites throw away off cuts of ply).
Glue strips of wet and dry onto ply and mark on the ply what grade it is.
Make up a range of 80 to 1200 grit. My set is double sided.
You will now have a much bigger surface to sharpen on.
One of these days I will get round to doing a vid of all this, as seeing is better than explaining..

[bushcraftboy]

Put the dc4 back in your bag and get yourself some wet and dry paper and some 18mm ply board. (Most building sites throw away off cuts of ply).
Glue strips of wet and dry onto ply and mark on the ply what grade it is.
Make up a range of 80 to 1200 grit. My set is double sided.
You will now have a much bigger surface to sharpen on.
One of these days I will get round to doing a vid of all this, as seeing is better than explaining..

The DC4 is 800 and 2000+ grit, no need for that.

[J_P]

Id do as Jonny says or get a combi water stone and sharpen it properly with that then strop on your board with leather on it but get some Autosol ehich is a chrome polish and strop with that, DC stones are great for in the field but if your inexperienced in sharpening can be a git to use as a main sharpener and should be used as a field dressing tool,however it can be done but it takes a lot of time effort and skill to sharpen a blunt knife with one and its easier to get your self a base sharpening kit.
Also always maintain your edge constantly when in the field keep touching it up and strop it regularly this keeps the edge good rather than completely blunting it then having to sharpen it fully all the time.
You can test for sharpness on an old bic biro or your thumb nail, if the edge smoothly tracks over the plastic ridge of the pen with no resistance then its edge is good if it shows areas of resistance then those spots are blunt still and you need to carry on sharpening, if the edge then can slice a sheet of paper in one crisp movement or shave the hair of your arm you good to go ;)

[bushcraftboy]

Id do as Jonny says or get a combi water stone and sharpen it properly with that then strop on your board with leather on it but get some Autosol ehich is a chrome polish and strop with that, DC stones are great for in the field but if your inexperienced in sharpening can be a git to use as a main sharpener and should be used as a field dressing tool,however it can be done but it takes a lot of time effort and skill to sharpen a blunt knife with one and its easier to get your self a base sharpening kit.
Also always maintain your edge constantly when in the field keep touching it up and strop it regularly this keeps the edge good rather than completely blunting it then having to sharpen it fully all the time.
You can test for sharpness on an old bic biro or your thumb nail, if the edge smoothly tracks over the plastic ridge of the pen with no resistance then its edge is good if it shows areas of resistance then those spots are blunt still and you need to carry on sharpening, if the edge then can slice a sheet of paper in one crisp movement or shave the hair of your arm you good to go ;)


Well I just used my DC4 and stropped it with just leather and it's shaving but badly, I have to use pressure which isn't safe really. Btw what oils or what do you use to keep rust away, I have some silicone oil, and vaselene.

[CanadianMike]

I've had good success with automotive pure carnauba wax.........