I receive a number of inquiries regarding how I sharpen knives and what angle I use. This will hopefully answer that question. I use DMT diamond hones and DMT's aligner guide. The guide clamps to the back of the blade and the "legs" control the angle. I use the 3rd notch and aligner leg(s) which gives an angle of approximately 30 degrees. Once I get the guide clamped on the blade, I set the hone on a rubber mat so it will not slide. When creating a new edge I start with the coarse hone, then switch to the fine hone. For the purpose of touching up an edge, the fine hone will do the job. I don't use the extra fine hone very much because I think an edge that is a little "toothy" cuts better. When I am done with the fine hone, I strop the blade on a piece of leather coated with green chrome buffing compound. This straightens the burr or wire edge created by the honing process. I receive a lot of comments that my knives cut extremely well, like a hot knife through butter, so I am pretty satisfied with this system. Below is a link to DMT's video of the process.
Hones, guide, and knife. The knife is a Semi-Skinner with fabricated ivory handles and red liners.
A couple of recently completed knives. The top knife is a Drop Point Hunter with a little more length added to the blade. It is 3 3/4" from guard to tip whereas the original Drop Point Hunter was 3 1/4". Not sure what to call it, but am leaning towards Large Drop Point Hunter.
The bottom knife is currently in the mail to Wisconsin, where it will be used on whitetails and small game. Note that it is missing the thong tube and has a rounded butt that is not typically what I make. This was per the customer's request and is one of the many advantages of having a knife custom made.
As always, if you are interested in commissioning a custom knife I can be reached at
baumgartknives@gmail.com My current backlog is approximately two months.
Lee
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