When I started stalking I used an oil stone to put an edge on my knife (note the use of the singular…) as & when needed.
Then I bought a handful of Mora Companion knives & a Lansky sharpener which made sharpening a lot more consistent & I used the knives in rotation so always had a sharp one after I’d dulled the blade on one of the others.
A couple of years back I bought a Worksharp Precision & that made sharpening even easier, however, I was still relying on stones to put an edge back on the knives after I’d been a bit heavy handed with them or caught the gambrel when taking a back leg off etc.
Over Xmas I decided to see what this stropping lark was all about as I now had a nice pair of knives that I was using a lot & wanted to keep an edge on without too much hassle. Now, no offence to those who make & sell stropping boards but I decided they’re not that difficult to make so cut a 2” x 8” piece of 12mm ‘engineering grade’ ply & stuck a nice piece of full saddle veg tan leather to it. I then bought a small block of polishing compound & rubbed it over the leather surface. I now had a stropping block.
After giving both knives a pass or two on the worksharp with the ceramic ‘stone’ I started stropping them until I got a polished bevel & then did the paper test - wow!
I always keep my knives sharp, but I can’t get over how much sharper these seem to be now I’m stropping them - cutting is effortless, even Muntjac hocking for the gambrel. Yesterday I abused the Bobtail a bit, the buck I’d shot standing on its back legs was a mess at the front end & the chest saw wasn't having it on the last bit of the sternum as there was nothing to pull against so I used the knife to cut through the last bit. When I came to take the head off I noticed that the edge was a bit dull & cursed myself.
Got home, cleaned them properly & stropped them - result was razor sharp again
The knives themselves are an Enzo (now Brisa) Fisher that I bought from @wellyboot & then cut down in length, changed the blade shape & then reground (by hand using a diamond block) & a Brisa Bobtail that I bought as a blade & fitted scales to to make a ‘pair’ - the scales are a slightly different colour & I haven’t yet finished profiling the handle or polishing it as it got rushed into service this winter. The double pancake sheath is one made by @snake_2586 & very kindly offered to me by @FISH BOY & being used while I try to work out how to make a stacked sheath to take the pair of them.
The Fisher is an excellent tunnelling knife & works on everything from Muntjac to Fallow, the Bobtail does everything else needed for a gralloch.
Oh, & one thing I now use as routine is a cut proof glove under the disposable gloves when doing any gralloching or carcass prep - last year, before I started stropping, I cut myself twice - not as badly as @VSS did but enough to make me a lot more careful around sharp blades…
Then I bought a handful of Mora Companion knives & a Lansky sharpener which made sharpening a lot more consistent & I used the knives in rotation so always had a sharp one after I’d dulled the blade on one of the others.
A couple of years back I bought a Worksharp Precision & that made sharpening even easier, however, I was still relying on stones to put an edge back on the knives after I’d been a bit heavy handed with them or caught the gambrel when taking a back leg off etc.
Over Xmas I decided to see what this stropping lark was all about as I now had a nice pair of knives that I was using a lot & wanted to keep an edge on without too much hassle. Now, no offence to those who make & sell stropping boards but I decided they’re not that difficult to make so cut a 2” x 8” piece of 12mm ‘engineering grade’ ply & stuck a nice piece of full saddle veg tan leather to it. I then bought a small block of polishing compound & rubbed it over the leather surface. I now had a stropping block.
After giving both knives a pass or two on the worksharp with the ceramic ‘stone’ I started stropping them until I got a polished bevel & then did the paper test - wow!
I always keep my knives sharp, but I can’t get over how much sharper these seem to be now I’m stropping them - cutting is effortless, even Muntjac hocking for the gambrel. Yesterday I abused the Bobtail a bit, the buck I’d shot standing on its back legs was a mess at the front end & the chest saw wasn't having it on the last bit of the sternum as there was nothing to pull against so I used the knife to cut through the last bit. When I came to take the head off I noticed that the edge was a bit dull & cursed myself.
Got home, cleaned them properly & stropped them - result was razor sharp again
The knives themselves are an Enzo (now Brisa) Fisher that I bought from @wellyboot & then cut down in length, changed the blade shape & then reground (by hand using a diamond block) & a Brisa Bobtail that I bought as a blade & fitted scales to to make a ‘pair’ - the scales are a slightly different colour & I haven’t yet finished profiling the handle or polishing it as it got rushed into service this winter. The double pancake sheath is one made by @snake_2586 & very kindly offered to me by @FISH BOY & being used while I try to work out how to make a stacked sheath to take the pair of them.
The Fisher is an excellent tunnelling knife & works on everything from Muntjac to Fallow, the Bobtail does everything else needed for a gralloch.
Oh, & one thing I now use as routine is a cut proof glove under the disposable gloves when doing any gralloching or carcass prep - last year, before I started stropping, I cut myself twice - not as badly as @VSS did but enough to make me a lot more careful around sharp blades…
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