Bald arms???

[JLA]

Anyone else have bald arms this time of year??

With hunting season opening saturday here (archery for deer/turkey) I have been diligently honing all of my hunting/skinning/boning knives. And as I was taught by my grandad, you stop sharpening when you can easily shave with the blade...

I have done 4 knives so far, have 2 left to go and am running out of hair on my left arm..

[Zhurh]

I picked up a spyderco set, works pretty well on all my knives. I got it for some damascus blades I have. Only problem is I have to clean stones often with comet & scrub pad.

Funny, you all are getting ready for huntin and it's about done here. I'm sharpening all my knives an putting them away in my knife box so I don't misplace them around the house.

[Brisk44]

I check mine the same way.

[JLA]

I never used the syderco, folks say its the cats meow as far as knives and sharpening systems go. My grandad taught me with an old whetstone and a leather hone. Today i use diamond steels, but only because they last longer. But I do still have his old leather razor hone. I have just about retired my whetstone. Its U shaped from sharpening so many knives. I get just as good results with the steels and they dont wear out like a whetstone does.

[garydude]

Originally Posted by JLA

am running out of hair on my left arm..

You could start on your legs?

[JLA]

ahhhNO

[garydude]

Hey Josh, a bit off topic so I hope you don't mind. When you go hunting in snake country do you wear snake chaps? I'm going quail hunting this weekend and I never have worn them but the group I'm going with all do wear them. Just curious if you or your fellow Texans wear them.

Hey good luck on the hunt! I can't wait to see the pics of that.

[hunter29180]

Originally Posted by garydude

Hey Josh, a bit off topic so I hope you don't mind. When you go hunting in snake country do you wear snake chaps? I'm going quail hunting this weekend and I never have worn them but the group I'm going with all do wear them. Just curious if you or your fellow Texans wear them.

Hey good luck on the hunt! I can't wait to see the pics of that.

personally never wore any chaps..but then always made sure someone who did went in front of me. then after a few shots sounded we never found a snake who was dumb enough to show themselves anyways. Figure snakes there in texas are at least as smart as the ones where I grew up!

[H-D]

only my left one and only in spots...

[JLA]

Originally Posted by garydude

Hey Josh, a bit off topic so I hope you don't mind. When you go hunting in snake country do you wear snake chaps? I'm going quail hunting this weekend and I never have worn them but the group I'm going with all do wear them. Just curious if you or your fellow Texans wear them.

Hey good luck on the hunt! I can't wait to see the pics of that.

Nope. Only snakes really round here thatll go outta their way to bite you is a big ribbon racer. Rattlers are good about warning you first with a deafening rattle, and copperheads are plum skeered of everything and wont bite unless attacked. moccasins wont venture far from the water and are just as afraid as copperheads. I hunt in a camo wranglers and a camo pocket T shirt, or my hush hide suit if its cold out. Good pair of boots on my feet. cactus' are far more of a threat to your feet and shins than snakes here.

[JLA]

Originally Posted by H-D

only my left one and only in spots...

yep, me too. Got 2 spots, one the size of a softball and one the size of a golfball.

[JLA]

all the ones on the left are razor, all the ringhandle skinners are done but the big one, which incidentally is the one i just cut myself with, The buck skinner on the .44 mag holster is done, its my favorite aside from the gerber folder. just need to do the bowie and the ginormous kukhuri.

[permafrost]

Hey Josh,
I never think everything is going my way until I draw blood! After that, I know its all good! Kinda a strange superstition, huh?

[JLA]

youre right PF. Thinkin back. I dont think i have ever had a knife sharpening season where I didnt cut myself.. I mean I have the odd knife sharpening session where i get it doen without drawing blood but everytime I get the whole family out at once I get sliced.. This time one of my newest blades got me.

[jstgsn]

Oh no!!!! You know when someone in the group always chimes in and tells you they know more than anyone in the world about everything and proceed to tell you their opinion. And everyone knows about opinions, everyone has one; they are like.....something else everyone else has....and it don't mean they are right. Well I hate people like that. I always roll my eyes and say here we go. "Someone knows all the answers". ho humm....
With that said, I know about sharpening knives! REALLY. At least I have some suggestions to save your bald arms (and in my case, legs above the knees, paper, including important documents on my desk, various wash clothes, towels, book pages, and anything else that caught my ADD as I sharpened knives.)
Okay, I'll try to keep it brief.
HOW I KNOW ABOUT KNIVES:
Years ago I couldn't cut nuttin. I always liked knives, cause they scared me, ( I was a police officer and early on had a young girl stick a steak knife through several layers of a leather gun belt, with a bit of the blade going into my belly). More importantly, I was a deer hunter, and wanted to be able to field dress a deer without appearing to be attempting to kill it again. I bought more expensive knives, I read up on sharpening, and after a few years bought a lansky knife sharpener. Man I thought I was hot! My edges never looked so uniform and the edge never so sharp. One day I stopped into a local coffee stop between home and hunting and there was a man at a table with some knives laid out. He was talking about "sharpness" and I had just hand honed my buck woodsman to a perfect lansky edge (down to the "fine" stone".) I proudly walked over and laid my freshly sharpened knife on the table. The man picked up a piece of 20# mono and ran the edge of my knife up the fishing line. Nothing. Then he picked up a made in china two blade pocket knife and proceeded to filet the fishing line. He would lay the blade against the fishing line, slice upwards, and a sliver of fishing line peeled off. He would take the blade and take off sliver and sliver until it looked like a dozen small threads. Then he picked up a huge bowie style knife made in Pakistan, and slivered the fishing line, and then another. My Buck knife would brush against the fishing line without a sliver coming off. Sure, it would cut the hair off my leg, it would slice a piece of paper effortlessly, and it would do a deer with no problem, but, it wasn’t as sharp as those cheap knives on the table in front of this man.
I was captivated. I introduced myself and he gave me his card. “Knives Sharpened” and his name and telephone number. A few years later, I was able to meet the man for some time, and he showed me his secret. I also learned his downfall.
The man had a trailer set up to sell knives as well as sharpen them. He allowed me inside. His method was to take a belt sander and put a new edge on whatever knife he was working on. (anyone can put an edge on a knife) His secret finisher was to put the blade on a polishing wheel. A grinder with cloth wheels instead of grinding wheels. He would finish off the edge with a polishing wheel on a grinder.
I ran to sears, bought a grinder and cloth polishing wheels, along with polishing bars (for lack of a better description, bars of polish in different grits) and ran home. I used the lansky and then went into the garage and using the polish bars, buffed the lansky edge with the wheel. CAUTION!!!! THE WHEEL WILL GRAB A KNIFE BLADE AND THROW IT FASTER THAN YOU CAN BLINK!!!!!!! IT WILL ALSO GRAB IT AND BASH IT AGAINST THE GUARD, SENDING YOU BACK TO THE COURSE STONE ON THE LANSKY.
I found all of the knives he sharpened were losing blade size, I mean, my Buck 110 soon had the blade of a filet knife???!!!! He was into quantity instead of quality. The belt sander took off way too much metal. He made a living doing this so oh well. (He has since passed away, and if he had not continued to flirt with my wife, we would have been good friends.)
I have found using a lansky, or any other style of sharpening, and then the real secret, buffing with an electric buffing wheel, (using some buffing stone polish) as long as you are careful will result in knife edges where you can take 12# mono, held between your index finger and thumb, place the edge of the knife against the fishing line one half inch from your fingers, and slice, and you will sliver off a hair like piece of mono. If you have done it right, you can turn the fishing line into a miniature cat of nine tails.
No longer will you sit at the desk, while your friends and family look at you like you are crazy as you shave your legs and arms, instead they will marvel as you take small pieces of mono fishing line, and slice sliver after sliver off. You can even use copper wire for similar results.
AND IF YOU CAN’T TAKE A PIECE OF MONO AND TRIM IT, YOUR KNIFE AIN’T SHARP!
Warning. If you get it this sharp, and cut yourself, super glue and direct pressure.
My first trip afield after using a lansky knife sharpener and then going to the garage and buffing the edge found me walking in a hunting trail and encountering an older hunter (like I am now) coming out. He was dragging a nice sized doe which had not been field dressed. We chatted and I observed it would be an easier drag after field dressing. He said he forgot his knife. I handed him mine and said, it’s sharp. He looked at the little Bucklite folding knife and grabbed the does hind leg. He swiped at its already swelling belly. The little knife cut through everything it touched as though it were a hot butter knife against already soft butter. The deer’s belly exploded into the old hunters face. He stepped back sputtering. I told him I had a bottle of spring water for $5.00 and he started digging for his wallet. I gave him the water and together we finished dressing the doe. He continued to comment on how sharp my knife was.
As a bonus, the little buck lite I let the old man use, has the most beautiful blade on any knife I have ever owned. The blade now looks like a mirror from all of the polish and buffing it has gone through. I ended up putting two buffing wheels on the grinder. One has layers of the polish on it, the other I only use to clean the polish off. No matter what value knife I sharpen and then finish on the polisher, I end up with a razor sharp blade. A spool of 14# mono sits beside the bench and I’m not done until it slivers the line.
CAUTION..REALLY… THE WHEEL WILL GRAB THE KNIFE AND STICK IN SOMETHING CLOSE BY, AND STUFF DOES FLY OFF THE WHEEL, WEAR EYE SAFETY. I FOUND A PROTECTIVE FACE SHIELD WORKS BEST.
Thank you. Thank you. No need to applause. I know, I’m wonderful for sharing this. I only ask you send money when you find out how great this work.

[The Duke]

Mine look like I got the mange...

One thing I learned about sharpening a blade is not to try it after ya had a few beers down the guzzle pipe.....Most of my 'surgeries' have occured after the beverage has started to take it toll on my neurons..

However, I got a Kershaw once and read the documentation that came with it...In BOLD type it said...Use Extreme Care, This Knife Is Very Sharp.
Guffaw...What moron wouldnt know that???...Must have been written for the knife noobs... Wasnt 5 minutes after that I was looking for the steri-strips and bandaids...

[JLA]

Been there Duke. That reminds me of a funny firecracker story.. Bout 4 years ago just before my grandads health gave out and he couldnt get out no more, we had 4th of july at my property in Godley. Grampa was helping us set mortars and lite 6 at a time, he was reading one of the labels on the mortar shells and it says in caps DO NOT HOLD IN HAND, and my gramp says "What dumbass is gonna hold a mortar shell in their hand" just about the time my lil bro says "hey watch this" and lights a mortar to attempt to throw it like a hand grenade, he held it until the fuse was just about to disappear into the shell and threw it, and it barely cleared his hand before it went off. Then Grampa says "well nevermind, apparently they printed these labels for dip$#!+$ like brett." We all had a good laugh!

[JTM]

Originally Posted by JLA

all the ones on the left are razor, all the ringhandle skinners are done but the big one, which incidentally is the one i just cut myself with, The buck skinner on the .44 mag holster is done, its my favorite aside from the gerber folder. just need to do the bowie and the ginormous kukhuri.

looks sharp enough to me.

[JLA]

They are now.

Hey after the game is over im gonna head over and shoot my finn, if you aint doin nuttn stop by. I got your .223s done.

[bluesea112]

Originally Posted by JLA

I got your .223s done.

I knew I should have tipped better.

[JLA]

Thats my father in law charles. I reload his .223 ammo and he buys the reloading components for both of us.