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Post by wtrfwlr on Nov 29, 2012 9:04:09 GMT -7
If you use a ceramic type rod or rods to sharpen your knives here is a tip that works great for me. I learned this from a taxidermy friend of mine over in Mississippi. The ceramic over time will get sorta clogged with metal that it removes from the blade. To refresh it so that it's like new again, simply use some abrasive cleaner such as Comet or Ajax with some warm water and it will remove and metal, dirt, debris or film that may have accumulated on the sharpener over time. I've done this for years on my ceramic rod and it does not harm it it only improves the surface. This is just a sample for the photo. Mine has gotten much darker than this before and it comes back bright white after cleaning.   After a quick cleaning with Ajax.  |
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Post by offtrail on Nov 29, 2012 9:08:52 GMT -7
Do you lubricate your sticks before you use them?
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Post by wtrfwlr on Nov 29, 2012 9:10:47 GMT -7
Do you lubricate your sticks before you use them? No Sir not ceramic, use them dry just like a steel. I use honing oil on my whetstones. |
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Post by offtrail on Nov 29, 2012 9:29:50 GMT -7
Do you lubricate your sticks before you use them? No Sir not ceramic, use them dry just like a steel. I use honing oil on my whetstones. Is there a reason for not using a light oil? Would it keep the sticks from doing there job? I may have been doing it wrong all these years  Thanks for the tip  |
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Post by wtrfwlr on Nov 29, 2012 9:56:33 GMT -7
No Sir not ceramic, use them dry just like a steel. I use honing oil on my whetstones. Is there a reason for not using a light oil? Would it keep the sticks from doing there job? I may have been doing it wrong all these years Thanks for the tip I'm certainly no bladesmith but this is the way I have always used both the sharpening steel and the ceramic. I use a ceramic for a very fine finished edge. I actually use it on my scapel blades to keep them super sharp for taxidermy work. If oil is used or the surface has the dark coating of metal on it won't have any abrasive action to it. Or at least that's what I would think? I know when I clean my ceramic it sharpens the edge MUCH faster when it's clean and the edge comes off razor sharp. I can actually "feel" and "hear" the difference before and after cleaning. Maybe one of our more knowledgeable bladesmiths can chime in and provide something more definite than my laymans opinion? |
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Post by kutkota on Nov 29, 2012 9:59:23 GMT -7
Thanks for the tip. I had a great grandmother that came west in a covered wagon that told me that you could use the old ceramic pots, the big 3-4 gallon pots, to sharpen a knife. I wish I had spent more time just sitting and talking with her.
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Post by wtrfwlr on Nov 29, 2012 10:04:22 GMT -7
Yep, thywar told me the very same story about his Grandmother (I think, maybe an aunt?) when we were hunting last week. He said every time she grabbed the knife it got a few quick strokes on the big crock pot. He said that knife had a very unique profile shaped like an 'S' from all the years of sharpening on the crock.
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Post by rangerxanatos on Nov 29, 2012 10:15:58 GMT -7
I've used baking soda with success in cleaning my ceramic rods.
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Post by mud on Nov 29, 2012 23:01:43 GMT -7
I use dawn or any handy soap. anything with a 'lifting' action will suffice. My stick is grey though and gets shiny when it needs cleaned
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Post by Redneckidokie on Nov 30, 2012 1:08:07 GMT -7
Hey Ranger, where ya been?  I've used baking soda with success in cleaning my ceramic rods. |
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Post by Redneckidokie on Nov 30, 2012 1:21:20 GMT -7
Better watch your fingers duck man. I clean all my stones regularly to. The Arkansas stones get a better bite if clean and oiled. The oil helps lift the dirt and metal out of the stone as you sharpen, and mixes fine stone with it to make a cutting slurry that helps get a fine edge. The only advantage I have found to oiling ceramic is if you have a flat ceramic sharpener, like a regular stone. Don't get em too sharp with duck season coming you'll need at least a couple of fingers and a thumb.   |
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Post by wtrfwlr on Nov 30, 2012 1:29:58 GMT -7
Better watch your fingers duck man. I clean all my stones regularly to. The Arkansas stones get a better bite if clean and oiled. The oil helps lift the dirt and metal out of the stone as you sharpen, and mixes fine stone with it to make a cutting slurry that helps get a fine edge. The only advantage I have found to oiling ceramic is if you have a flat ceramic sharpener, like a regular stone. Don't get em too sharp with duck season coming you'll need at least a couple of fingers and a thumb. I do the same with my Arkansas Whetstones. I've never tried a flat ceramic but thywar and I were talking about those diamond impreganated flat stone things when we were hunting last week. I don't know anything about those. I would like to know though, how do you get a knife TOO sharp? ;)We both know that the knives that cause cuts and you have "accidents" with are dull ones now don't we? |
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Post by mud on Nov 30, 2012 1:59:07 GMT -7
I just got a set of diamond stones and love them. Picking up a set of water stones for my present this year
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Post by rangerxanatos on Nov 30, 2012 20:54:29 GMT -7
Hey Ranger, where ya been? I've been around. I usually check in atleast once a day. I don't post often, but when I do something I think of worthy note, I start a thread for it. |
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Post by offtrail on Nov 30, 2012 21:38:29 GMT -7
All the knives I own are sharpened with a sharpening kit. it has a vice that attaches to the spine of the knife a rod goes through the top of the vice with the stone on the other end. you then simply run the stone over the blade.
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Thanks for the tip 
