Quote History Quoted:
I just bought a really big double sided diamond sharpening stone.
The one I have is about 2" wide by 6" long and has a plastic handle, one side is coarse, the other medium grit.
I did an initial few passes with a regular metalworking file to knock the high spots off then I worked it over with the diamond.
It won't shave hair but it's way sharper than it came out of the box (I have a CRKT Kangee 'hawk).
View Quote
I have medium and fine DMT sharpening stones that are about 2.5" x 10" that are so old they come in the wooden boxes with rubber feet. I use them to dress the edges of our Henckels kitchen knives that my wife enthusiastically smashes regularly. It works well on my Iltis axes, and my hatchets and hawks as well.
a 6" mill file carries easily and restores a chipped edge in the field and still delivers a good sharp cutter.
the sandpaper and stropping compound kits are great on convex edges but are too bulky to carry along with you, and work best on a bench.
the two-sided pucks are good to keep it touched up in the field, but aren't the right choice to rehab an abused edge.
you can use a spyderco sharpmaker on an axe or tomahawk with some care and get a quick usable edge.
I have a woods chogan and a kangee. The chogan is kind of heavy, but worked like a champ delimbing a bunch of large branches for the brushpile.
a 6" mill file and a puck can easily be carried along and will handle 90% of your axe/hatchet/hawk sharpening needs.