Ohen Cepel
Member
Edge of a mirror.
When traveling I like to use the mirror edge often found on the folding closet doors in the hotels.
When traveling I like to use the mirror edge often found on the folding closet doors in the hotels.
odd sharpening materials
- Thread starter Colt46
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I was in a cheap motel once and I actually used the toilet bowl lid LOL the underside of it has a lip that is not glazed and worked really well for sharpening my leatherman. Granted it was only 420 steel but I think it would have worked with my better knives in a pinch. The lid actually worked really nice because it was so heavy, it didnt take much to keep it stable while I worked the blade.
Kinda gross though lol
Kinda gross though lol
Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow
member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2007
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Wow, I'm amazed at the stuff I'm learning in these threads - thanks guys!
Wow, that's awfully gross. It'd be kind of gross if it was your own toilet lid, but it's unbelievably gross that you did it at a cheap motel.
Kind of reminds me of Amazonian tribes impregnating their spears with poison...hope you didn't cut yourself after that.
Tom Krein
Member
You are correct, there will be no damage, or benifit at that temperature...
If you get it colder you can actually get some benifits (not damage) from cryogenic treatment.
vicdotcom, that has GOT to be unsanitary! Imagine a cut from a blade sharpened like that... or worse yet forgeting and cutting up an apple later on.
As has been said silica carbide paper works really well and is pretty dang cheap.
I have used a window in my car and it works.
Tom
kBob
Member
A cobble stone. A red brick. A concrete curb. A smooth, flat, river rock. Edge of car window. Underside of ceramic sink. A marble shelf.
Old guy I knew swore by red brick followed by edge of car window. Of course the two kives he kept up that way were a hawk's bill Barlow and an Old Hickory butcher knife and not supper duper artsy fartsy serious collector custom made knives.
In the service I did keep my double sided stone in my pack and a cheap knife pouch type stone in my gear as well as a file for doing e-tools, axes and shovels and yes even knives' first passes with. I saw some of you cringe, hey it worked.
Knew a guy that thought the sole of his low quarters were made to be used in kife sharpening.
-Bob Hollingsworth
Old guy I knew swore by red brick followed by edge of car window. Of course the two kives he kept up that way were a hawk's bill Barlow and an Old Hickory butcher knife and not supper duper artsy fartsy serious collector custom made knives.
In the service I did keep my double sided stone in my pack and a cheap knife pouch type stone in my gear as well as a file for doing e-tools, axes and shovels and yes even knives' first passes with. I saw some of you cringe, hey it worked.
Knew a guy that thought the sole of his low quarters were made to be used in kife sharpening.
-Bob Hollingsworth
OldCowHand
Member
<MildThreadDrift>
<if SqueamishCityFolk == TRUE>
Wow, that next post is really amazing! Slide right on down there and read it. This isn't the post you're looking for ...
<else>
On the topic of "you don't know where that knife might have been," my uncle (the original OldCowHand) always kept a small, very sharp folding knife in his pocket, a well-worn Arkansas stone somewhere close to hand, and his cowboy boots always had a spot just above the left ankle that showed the marks of countless stroppings. Different folks around had different skills, and at roundup time each would gravitate to the area where he could contribute the most. In my uncle's case, this was the castrating. Others were wizards with the dehorning tool, great ropers and such, but my uncle always ended up doing the castrating, and having watched him in action I understand why -- position, slice, extend, slight "haggling" cut to heal quicker, hold with one hand for the guy with the antiseptic powder while dropping the Mountain Oysters in the bucket with the other hand, and the bull calf was a steer before he quite understood what was going on.
My father was quite a bit younger than my uncle. One day when they were lucky enough to have apples (rare in their part of Texas in those days), my father asked to borrow his brother's knife to peel it. After scrolling off a neat, uniform-width peel from the whole apple with that well-maintained edge, my father wiped the blade dry on his pants, then, as he started to close the blade, something caught his eye. Inspecting the knife more closely, he asked his brother suspiciously, "What did you cut last with this knife?" My uncle casually replied, "Mmmm -- pigs, I believe."
<endif>
</MildThreadDrift>
<if SqueamishCityFolk == TRUE>
Wow, that next post is really amazing! Slide right on down there and read it. This isn't the post you're looking for ...
<else>
On the topic of "you don't know where that knife might have been," my uncle (the original OldCowHand) always kept a small, very sharp folding knife in his pocket, a well-worn Arkansas stone somewhere close to hand, and his cowboy boots always had a spot just above the left ankle that showed the marks of countless stroppings. Different folks around had different skills, and at roundup time each would gravitate to the area where he could contribute the most. In my uncle's case, this was the castrating. Others were wizards with the dehorning tool, great ropers and such, but my uncle always ended up doing the castrating, and having watched him in action I understand why -- position, slice, extend, slight "haggling" cut to heal quicker, hold with one hand for the guy with the antiseptic powder while dropping the Mountain Oysters in the bucket with the other hand, and the bull calf was a steer before he quite understood what was going on.
My father was quite a bit younger than my uncle. One day when they were lucky enough to have apples (rare in their part of Texas in those days), my father asked to borrow his brother's knife to peel it. After scrolling off a neat, uniform-width peel from the whole apple with that well-maintained edge, my father wiped the blade dry on his pants, then, as he started to close the blade, something caught his eye. Inspecting the knife more closely, he asked his brother suspiciously, "What did you cut last with this knife?" My uncle casually replied, "Mmmm -- pigs, I believe."
<endif>
</MildThreadDrift>
LOL yea my wife said "eeewww" also. But i did wash the lid in the sink with soap and wiped the blade down with an alcohol swatch afterwards. I even smelled it to make sure hahah
Yea it was pretty gross but you gotta admit that was an odd item to use! Id do it again in a pinch though! Maby thats one reason prison cans dont have lids haha.
Vic
when i was down by the river in arizona i was talking to this older indian.he was telling me that he kept his knives sharp with an old dull file.
he pulled this old case fixed blade from its belt sheath,it was very sharp but had a very toothy edge.he said his grandfather had taught him that and thats all he ever used on any of his knives.
he pulled this old case fixed blade from its belt sheath,it was very sharp but had a very toothy edge.he said his grandfather had taught him that and thats all he ever used on any of his knives.
FLoppyTOE
Member
I've never heard of anything like this. Very interesting.
Great thread!
I must however interject (strongly)
that the *underside* of a toilet TANK LID is the cleanest part of a water closet! A great idea to be sure if you get jammed up
Don't forget to put a couple of washcloths on the top of your thighs so your legs don't turn all red. And you can do a final strop on the toilet paper roll conveniently located at your elbow.
Carry on...
I must however interject (strongly)
that the *underside* of a toilet TANK LID is the cleanest part of a water closet! A great idea to be sure if you get jammed up
Don't forget to put a couple of washcloths on the top of your thighs so your legs don't turn all red. And you can do a final strop on the toilet paper roll conveniently located at your elbow.Carry on...
I regularly strop on the edge of a cutting board, I doubt that's all that unusual though! I also use paper for stropping pretty often, I fold it over a few times put it over the edge of my desk and do it that way. I've also steeled against the back edge of another knife. That works ok if the other knife doesn't have any nicks on the spine.
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