Ultralight Sharpening Set-up?

[Justin Baker]

Do you guys have any ideas for a lightweight sharpening set up? I have a fallkiven dc4, it's a good size but a little weighty at 3.5 oz (well, maybe that's not to bad) What do you guys think about a credit card sized diamond stone and a credit card sized strop? Instead of going with leather and compound, is there another material that I could apply compound to? (leather is relatively heavy, but not the end of the world)
I use my knife a lot. I don't carry stakes, I make them, I fish and hunt, I notch pot hooks, make feathersticks, ect. so unless it's just a couple days, I would really want a way to sharpen, especially if I accidentally damaged the edge badly.
The DC4 works great but hey, maybe there is something that will save me a couple ounces. Plus, something credit card sized could be used as an every day carry in my wallet.

[James Marco]

Try a half sheet of 2000grit or 2500grit sand paper. (Used for metal work, auto body work.)
This was the lightest I could figure out for long trips into the back country.
Wrapped around a stick it works well. Not a diamond card, but a bit lighter.

[spelt with a t]

Look at diamond lapping film
http://straightrazorplace.com/advanced-honing-topics/30822-diamond-lapping-film-new-source.html

mounted to a strip of balsa
http://www.nationalbalsa.com/balsa_blocks_s/215.htm

with the other side using mounted leather as a paddle strop (pasted or not). Shoemakers can get you strop quality leather if you don't have one you're willing to cut up. Even lighter, CrO pasted balsa (no leather, bare wood) is sometimes used for stropping, though I've never used such a setup myself.

[Dale Wambaugh]

A diamond "credit card" sharpener is pretty good. Eze Lap is one brand name that comes to mind
http://www.knifecountryusa.com/store/product/118785.118814/eze-lap-sharpeners-201-credit-card-fine-diamond-wallet-sharpening-stone.html
http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2004340/8630/Diamond-Sharpening-Card-Fine.aspx

The folding DMT diamond sharpeners are great. You can take the handle section off to save weight, but it is safer with it on of course. I can't find mine to get you a weight. http://www.dmtsharp.com/products/other.htm

The Lansky Dog Bone sharpener is a good design. It is a ceramic rod with rubber stops on the ends. The stops do a surprisingly good job or protecting your fingers and help set the angle too. I have the round version and it is 0.68oz/19.4g without the keychain and 4.25"/11cm long.

http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_store.html?ttl=Dog%20Bone%20Style%20Sharpeners&srch=eqKEYWORDdatarq%3Ddog%26eqWWWCAT_1datarq%3Dsharpen

[Talbot Hardman]

Watch the video at the bottom of this page:

http://www.knivesshipfree.com/pages.php?pID=4&CDpath=0

The DMT "credit card" hone is 1.6 oz.. The DMT "diafold" paddle is 2.7 oz. Remember, in the field it is more important to simply keep a working edge on the knife, so one fine grit stone or a coarse stone may be all you need. If you use the knife hard, you can always whip the edge back into shape when you get home by walking it through the various grits.

I think one of these may be the lightest options http://www.knifeworks.com/dmtdiamondanglermini-sharpsharpenerfine.aspx but I don't have one to weigh for you.

Tal

[Jacob D]

Nice series of videos there. Thanks for posting. The lightweight strop looks pretty good!

[Stephen Barber]

I'm with James on this – a half sheet of fine grit sandpaper from your nearest auto supply store will do a great job. Wrap it around a stick, or over something flat (bottom of a pan, etc).

Or learn to use such things as a well worn stone from the stream – seriously! You can usually find a range of "grits", and with practice do a surprisingly good job. How do you think the old mountain men kept their knives sharp? It sure wasn't on a grinding stone wheel!

[Javan Dempsey]

Here's a picture of my setup for convex grind/edges:

That was a foam hip belt pad from the GG Gorilla I used as a pack for a while. Now I carry a similar piece of 1/4" closed cell foam, and a couple of cut-to-size pieces of wet/dry paper or micron film.

For flat/scandi grinds, I'd want something more rigid and hard than balsa personally. Ideally a piece of flat carbon fiber, with micron film lightly glued to each side.

[Javan Dempsey]

Wanted to add, for badly damaged edges, that are rolled or dented (ideally, hopefully not heavily chipped), you'll need a burnish of some sort. You need to "push" the rolled sections back into place.

If it's chipped heavily, there's no way you're going to work that out in the field without a serious commitment to work, and the field sharpening setups usually don't incorporate abrasive course enough to do serious metal removal.

Using rocks you find is very tricky business. Most old timers in the mountains did have stones that were specifically designed for sharpening, or had the requisite knowledge to find more ideal materials than random river rocks.

Give it a try if you don't believe me, because I certainly have. Getting anything other than a barely serviceable edge, especially with modern stainless or high alloy steels, is nigh on impossible without serious experience.

[J Boro]

I've used this guy on my fallkniven f1 and it has always worked well. http://www.rei.com/product/708614/smiths-two-step-pocket-sharpener 1.6 ounces on my scale.

[Ankar Sheng]

Those DC4's are fantastic, good choice. For touch ups in the field I broke the diamond grit plate off the ceramic part of one of the smaller DC3's. I have some credit card sized plates too, but this is a much lighter option, so would the plate off a DC4, they're thinner than the credit card plates I've seen. I also wouldn't bother with a strop. In a pinch you can remove the burr by stropping on your pants, or just use a very light touch with the sharpener. I use my knife a lot in the field as well (same tasks that you're familiar with) and I wouldn't be able to notice a difference between an edge polished on a strop and one finished on the diamond plate unless I was shaving my face, so it's really just unnecessary weight.

If you opt to pop the plate off your DC4, be gentle. I pried mine off and the flexing caused the top layer to bubble a little bit, seems as though the diamond grit is laminated onto the plate. If i were to do it again I'd try heating it first, or just slowly working it off with a thin razor or something.

[Justin Baker]

Yeah, the DC4 is great. It's solid, all I would ever need. I also use it sharpen my axe or hatchet with, if I have it with me. I will look into the sandpaper stuff. That sounds really light.
As for damaging the edge, I am not talking serious denting or rolling on like a rock. Just when you use the knife heavily, and you get a few spots that are slightly reflective for batoning or pushing really hard against nasty hardwood knots. Sometimes you just have to use your knife hard to get a job done.

[Roy Staggs]

http://www.smkw.com/webapp/eCommerce/products/diamond/Eze-Lap%C2%AE+2-12%22+x+34%22+Keychain+Diamond+Stone+with+Fishhook+Groove+%28Colors+Our+Choice+Only%29/ELH.html
Weight not including the little clip thing!

[Mike M]

here's a little kit I put together. It's a small paint stick (cut down), I glued a piece of leather (gorilla glue) on one side and loaded w/ stropping compound, the other side a cut a piece of thick mouse pad and glued it to the stick). I cut several grits of paper (mostly in the rougher grits- stropping for the finer work)

the whole kitandkaboodle weighs 1.2 oz

I also have a Fallkniven D3- it's pretty abrasive, but light- less than an oz, a thin med ceramic of the same size might make a pretty nice pairing

[S. Steele]

On the bottom edge of my survival mirror i’ve epoxied a diamond rod knife sharpener for knives and fish hooks, available at Cabelas.

[Author]

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