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Posted: 12/3/2013 2:45:19 PM EDT
Got a very nice Wusthof for the kitchen last year and can't stop using it. Never had nice steel before. I've been trying to bring it back to the scary sharpness of new with a Chefs Choice Diamond Hone Sharpener 4633 to no avail. I'm lazy, or rather way to busy to spend time doing it the old fashion/right way. Looking for a sharpening system (read as easy and fast) to get this thing back into scary sharp shape. Suggestions?
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i' put out approximately $100.00 for a Lansky sharpening system and I still managed to screw up one of my expensive knives after first practicing on a few cheap ones.
I gave up on trying to do it myself and take my knives to a professional knife sharpener |
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Knife sharpening is a man skill, you should learn to do it. the method doesn't matter.
I use Lansky because its is very accurate at keeping the correct angle for the use but can sharpen any number of ways. |
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^ This. My family got me one for Christmas last year. Best sharpener I've ever owned. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Spyderco Sharpmaker ^ This. My family got me one for Christmas last year. Best sharpener I've ever owned. I 3rd this.. I only use the 'fine' stones and havent found a knife yet that you can get 'hair poppin' sharp with a little work Brian |
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Quoted: I 3rd this.. I only use the 'fine' stones and havent found a knife yet that you can get 'hair poppin' sharp with a little work Brian View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Spyderco Sharpmaker ^ This. My family got me one for Christmas last year. Best sharpener I've ever owned. I 3rd this.. I only use the 'fine' stones and havent found a knife yet that you can get 'hair poppin' sharp with a little work Brian This. Protip for the Sharpmaker. Wrap some 120 grit sand paper around the stones if you need to remove steel(reprofile or remove a nick). Cheaper than buying a coarser stone. Also, The Smith Sharpener($5 off amazon) is great. Its good for keeping a knife sharp, not sharpening a dull knife. |
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i' put out approximately $100.00 for a Lansky sharpening system and I still managed to screw up one of my expensive knives after first practicing on a few cheap ones. I gave up on trying to do it myself and take my knives to a professional knife sharpener View Quote How did you mess up using a lansky? |
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A nice big flat bench stone is the best option. The reason most people have trouble sharpening knives is they try to do it with a tiny pocket sized stone, holding the stone in one hand and the knife in the other. In the old days, people had nice big stones that sat on your work bench, and you could use BOTH hands to hold the blade steady at a consistent angle for sharpening.
With a good bench stone you can sharpen knives, chisels, and polish metal parts, etc. A lot more useful than an awkward jig. As for the diamond stones, those need a break-in period before they work well. Out of the box they are way too coarse until a bit of use knocks off the big chunks of diamond and then they put a good finish on the steel. And you should always follow up with a leather strop with a little polishing compound on it to get the edge "scary sharp".
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This has been recommended several times before here. I can't speak for it as I don't have one...but I want one.
http://www.edgeproinc.com/Apex-Model-Edge-Pro-System-c3/ |
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Carefully stroke over an oiled White (hard) Arkansas Stone, followed by several strokes over a steel honing rod. Check the knife edge for turns of light. If you see a turn of light, resharpen that area.
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Quoted: I've been trying to bring it back to the scary sharpness of new with a Chefs Choice Diamond Hone Sharpener 4633 to no avail. I'm lazy, View Quote The chefs choice is great for a uniform edge on a kitchen knife. The chefs choice works, but it take a long time if your knife was dull. use all three stages, redefine the edge with the first stage, make sure you get it all the way to the edge, 5 min on stage two, should shave hair kinda poorly,, another 5-7 minutes on the last stage, will give a easy clean shave, and be damn careful when you do it. I bet your not doing it long enough. |
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Spyderco Sharpmaker View Quote And once you've mastered your angles using the Sharpmaker, you can graduate to coffee cups. Seriously, go turn over a couple of coffee cups, you'll find that you have 2 or 3 grades of perfectly good ceramic sharpeners sitting within arms reach of your cooking area. Here's my technique: Every time I grab a knife from the knife block, I turn the edge towards me in good light and look to see if there are any shiny bits along the edge. Tiny nicks and rollovers will show up as reflected light. If there are any, I grab a coffee cup and give it the edge few good swipes on either side, holding my desired angle. I then drag my fingernails along the side of the blade and across the edge in order to see if there is a wire edge. A wire edge will roll away from the side you sharpened on your very last swipe, so there will be a microscopic "hook" that catches your fingernail a bit. If there's a wire edge, I'll do one very light swipe at a really high angle - like 50 degrees. That's it. Takes like 30 seconds. The best part is that you can do this anywhere - including rental houses that always have those insanely dull knives. (The $15 set of knives that have been beat to crap for 5 years). It's a neat and very handy party trick. Sorta like being able to open a bottle of beer with almost anything, It also works on scissors - and that's an extra satisfying feat, to bring back the "snick snick" of scary sharp scissors. |
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View Quote Yep, Ken Onion. set to 17deg. Takes 2 min. not including changing belts. Less if you are just polishing up a used blade. |
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A nice big flat bench stone is the best option. The reason most people have trouble sharpening knives is they try to do it with a tiny pocket sized stone, holding the stone in one hand and the knife in the other. In the old days, people had nice big stones that sat on your work bench, and you could use BOTH hands to hold the blade steady at a consistent angle for sharpening. With a good bench stone you can sharpen knives, chisels, and polish metal parts, etc. A lot more useful than an awkward jig. As for the diamond stones, those need a break-in period before they work well. Out of the box they are way too coarse until a bit of use knocks off the big chunks of diamond and then they put a good finish on the steel. And you should always follow up with a leather strop with a little polishing compound on it to get the edge "scary sharp". View Quote I bought a tri-stone, much like this. tri-stone |
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Quoted: Yep, Ken Onion. set to 17deg. Takes 2 min. not including changing belts. Less if you are just polishing up a used blade. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Think I just found my 80-year-old step-dads Christmas present. He's ruined just about every knife in the house "sharpening" them on a shop grinder or dry stone. We butchered a deer last week and it was a miserable process with what he had on hand. At some point half way through the night, he fired up the grinder for an old hunting knife. Seems like the standard Work Sharp would be ideal for him. |
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Yep, Ken Onion. set to 17deg. Takes 2 min. not including changing belts. Less if you are just polishing up a used blade. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Yep, Ken Onion. set to 17deg. Takes 2 min. not including changing belts. Less if you are just polishing up a used blade. I'll third that. Used a friends last night and it was really fast. I sharpened 5 different style knives and got a uniform, razor edge on all. I also keep that little pull through sharpener ins kitchen drawer. I use the ceramic side before each use of a kitchen knife. It keeps them in good shape. |
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Damn, bunch of metrosexuals in here using their fancy jigs and girlie shit. Learn to do it freehand and you can sharpen anything, anywhere. Or, if you sit to pee, get one of them Spyderfag things or whatever and impress all your nancy friends. The OP probably does all-male yoga, too.
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Damn, bunch of metrosexuals in here using their fancy jigs and girlie shit. Learn to do it freehand and you can sharpen anything, anywhere. Or, if you sit to pee, get one of them Spyderfag things or whatever and impress all your nancy friends. The OP probably does all-male yoga, too. View Quote Nope . That would require effort - something I'd rather not do . |
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View Quote I have this an will vouch for it. Hand sharpeners create a different profile. This creates a beveled edge that literally shaves your arm hair clean off once done. I love mine and have given a few as gifts with good success. |
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i' put out approximately $100.00 for a Lansky sharpening system and I still managed to screw up one of my expensive knives after first practicing on a few cheap ones. I gave up on trying to do it myself and take my knives to a professional knife sharpener How did you mess up using a lansky? On knives with blades over 4" or so, the lansky will change grind angle towards the tip. The blade clamp has to be repositioned. Otherwise I'm not sure how it could screw up a blade. |
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On knives with blades over 4" or so, the lansky will change grind angle towards the tip. The blade clamp has to be repositioned. Otherwise I'm not sure how it could screw up a blade. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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i' put out approximately $100.00 for a Lansky sharpening system and I still managed to screw up one of my expensive knives after first practicing on a few cheap ones. I gave up on trying to do it myself and take my knives to a professional knife sharpener How did you mess up using a lansky? On knives with blades over 4" or so, the lansky will change grind angle towards the tip. The blade clamp has to be repositioned. Otherwise I'm not sure how it could screw up a blade. That's a nuisance, indeed. I've been freehand sharpening for 30+ years. Though not an expert, I'm able to keep my knives functional. I've stopped going for a highly polished edge, just sharp and coarse enough for my mostly slicing cuts. Razor strops, cardboard, frosted then smooth glass, etc. are fun to use but overkill for me. |
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^ This. My family got me one for Christmas last year. Best sharpener I've ever owned. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Spyderco Sharpmaker ^ This. My family got me one for Christmas last year. Best sharpener I've ever owned. Same here. One of those gifts that really does keep on giving. |
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Easy and fast? Get a set of paper wheels to put on your bench grinder or buffer.
This is all I've used now for the last 4-5 years or so. http://sharpeningmadeeasy.com/paper.htm FWIW, I sharpened up a coworker's 4" lock back last night (which was pretty dull) in less than 5 minutes just using the polishing wheel and a little white rouge. It wasn't so bad I had to use the grit wheel, imo. It's hair-shaving sharp now, and before you could draw it across the palm of your hand safely. I also use this setup to keep my wife's nice Henckel knives razor sharp, too. Each blade will take maybe 2-4 minutes to get back to a razor's edge depending on how rough she's been on it, so in 15-20 minutes I'm usually done with her set. She's a much happier lady in the kitchen now that she has sharp knives, and knows that when she does dull them down some, I can bring them back to a nice edge easily. I've used a Spyderco Sharpmaker, a tri-stone, various other stones of different grits, etc... and nothing works as fast and well, IMO, as using the wheels. It was *really* frustrating to spend 20-30 minutes working on a big blade so she could cut some sort of huge squashes with it, only to have it dull again after she was finished... and then have to spend another 20-30 getting it sharp again. Now I'm done in 1/10 the time and I have a better edge on the blade. I don't think it's hard to learn to use the wheels, either... If you can draw a knife across the wheel and keep it from moving up and down the wheel, then you can sharpen a blade with this system. If you're really uncoordinated and don't care about details or you think an edge that goes from 5 degrees to 30 on the same side of the blade is ok, then look for something else. In my experience, though, it took about 10 minutes to get the hang of using it and within an hour I was putting a compound bevel edge on some of my knives just to see if I could do it. It's not hard to put a convex edge on a blade with this, either, if you take your time to do it right. |
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I like the lansky just takes time to get it to a consistent angle.
I hand sharpen as well. It is a labor of love both ways. They are not really happy with stainless, High Carbon loves it. I just got a sharpener from Snap-On. it's a v notch and works mint. I've had a few v-notch sharpeners in my pack or go bag. never liked them. This works real well even on my high stainless blades. If i need some alone time, sharpening knives and talking to yourself increases the amount of personal space And Limits stupid Questions. |
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www.kmesharp.com is the best "lazy mans" system I know of.
A bench stone, properly oiled, is worth having. Learn to use a steel and don't let your knife get dull. A large steel in the kitchen is mandatory. A belt steel (find an old Schrade steel) will keep your knife sharp through a pile of deer. Stropping on leather, using jewelers rouge, is awesome. If you don't have leather and jewelers rouge, stropping on a cardboard box works almost as well. Not taking a shot at the OP, but I am SHOCKED at the amount of men who can't sharpen a knife, broadhead, lawn mower blade, etc. Just re-read OP.....probably all you need is a QUALITY steel. |
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www.kmesharp.com is the best "lazy mans" system I know of. A bench stone, properly oiled, is worth having. Learn to use a steel and don't let your knife get dull. A large steel in the kitchen is mandatory. A belt steel (find an old Schrade steel) will keep your knife sharp through a pile of deer. Stropping on leather, using jewelers rouge, is awesome. If you don't have leather and jewelers rouge, stropping on a cardboard box works almost as well. Not taking a shot at the OP, but I am SHOCKED at the amount of men who can't sharpen a knife, broadhead, lawn mower blade, etc. Just re-read OP.....probably all you need is a QUALITY steel. View Quote I do know how, but it takes me forfreakingever and I do not have the time to dedicate to it. |
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View Quote So......is the guy at 1:15 missing his arms or is he cold? Anyone else think he looks a little weird? |
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This is what I do
I use a lansky guide. I make a primary bevel using the largest grit, on both sides, until I get a bur/wire edge. Then I refine that primary bevel down to 1000 grit. Then I use the 1000 grit stone to put another bevel (using the steepest setting on the lansky guide), and GENTLY!!!!! (I don't even use any more pressure than the weight of the stone) refine the cutting edge (this helps remove the bur/wire edge). After that, I strop on a smooth leather belt, with red polishing compound embedded. I strop until I can see my reflection in the primary bevel, and when it will cut a time magazine inner page without any back or forth movement. You can also use the paper to find places in your blade that aren't sharp (they will catch rather than cut). ETA: when stropping, I pull (cutting edge being dragged, not pushed). When using the lansky, I push the stone towards the cutting edge (the opposite of the strop). |
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Easy and fast? Get a set of paper wheels to put on your bench grinder or buffer. This is all I've used now for the last 4-5 years or so. http://sharpeningmadeeasy.com/paper.htm FWIW, I sharpened up a coworker's 4" lock back last night (which was pretty dull) in less than 5 minutes just using the polishing wheel and a little white rouge. It wasn't so bad I had to use the grit wheel, imo. It's hair-shaving sharp now, and before you could draw it across the palm of your hand safely. I also use this setup to keep my wife's nice Henckel knives razor sharp, too. Each blade will take maybe 2-4 minutes to get back to a razor's edge depending on how rough she's been on it, so in 15-20 minutes I'm usually done with her set. She's a much happier lady in the kitchen now that she has sharp knives, and knows that when she does dull them down some, I can bring them back to a nice edge easily. I've used a Spyderco Sharpmaker, a tri-stone, various other stones of different grits, etc... and nothing works as fast and well, IMO, as using the wheels. It was *really* frustrating to spend 20-30 minutes working on a big blade so she could cut some sort of huge squashes with it, only to have it dull again after she was finished... and then have to spend another 20-30 getting it sharp again. Now I'm done in 1/10 the time and I have a better edge on the blade. I don't think it's hard to learn to use the wheels, either... If you can draw a knife across the wheel and keep it from moving up and down the wheel, then you can sharpen a blade with this system. If you're really uncoordinated and don't care about details or you think an edge that goes from 5 degrees to 30 on the same side of the blade is ok, then look for something else. In my experience, though, it took about 10 minutes to get the hang of using it and within an hour I was putting a compound bevel edge on some of my knives just to see if I could do it. It's not hard to put a convex edge on a blade with this, either, if you take your time to do it right. View Quote I can't believe it took this long for someone to recommend the paper wheels. Go get a harbor freight el cheapo buffer and a set of paper wheels and for less than 100 bucks you will be able to put a hair popping edge on dullest blades in just a few minutes. The great thing is if your blades are nicked and dull as hell you can hit them with both wheels and be right back to razor sharp. If they just need a little maintenance a couple passes on the polishing wheel and your hair popping sharp again in all of about 30 seconds. Keeps my new kitchen knives like scalpels. Oh. And its easy as hell. I was getting great results with about 10 minutes of practice on a cheap knife. |
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So......is the guy at 1:15 missing his arms or is he cold? Anyone else think he looks a little weird? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
So......is the guy at 1:15 missing his arms or is he cold? Anyone else think he looks a little weird? Them knives were really sharp. |
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I can't believe it took this long for someone to recommend the paper wheels. Go get a harbor freight el cheapo buffer and a set of paper wheels and for less than 100 bucks you will be able to put a hair popping edge on dullest blades in just a few minutes. The great thing is if your blades are nicked and dull as hell you can hit them with both wheels and be right back to razor sharp. If they just need a little maintenance a couple passes on the polishing wheel and your hair popping sharp again in all of about 30 seconds. Keeps my new kitchen knives like scalpels. Oh. And its easy as hell. I was getting great results with about 10 minutes of practice on a cheap knife. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Easy and fast? Get a set of paper wheels to put on your bench grinder or buffer. This is all I've used now for the last 4-5 years or so. http://sharpeningmadeeasy.com/paper.htm FWIW, I sharpened up a coworker's 4" lock back last night (which was pretty dull) in less than 5 minutes just using the polishing wheel and a little white rouge. It wasn't so bad I had to use the grit wheel, imo. It's hair-shaving sharp now, and before you could draw it across the palm of your hand safely. I also use this setup to keep my wife's nice Henckel knives razor sharp, too. Each blade will take maybe 2-4 minutes to get back to a razor's edge depending on how rough she's been on it, so in 15-20 minutes I'm usually done with her set. She's a much happier lady in the kitchen now that she has sharp knives, and knows that when she does dull them down some, I can bring them back to a nice edge easily. I've used a Spyderco Sharpmaker, a tri-stone, various other stones of different grits, etc... and nothing works as fast and well, IMO, as using the wheels. It was *really* frustrating to spend 20-30 minutes working on a big blade so she could cut some sort of huge squashes with it, only to have it dull again after she was finished... and then have to spend another 20-30 getting it sharp again. Now I'm done in 1/10 the time and I have a better edge on the blade. I don't think it's hard to learn to use the wheels, either... If you can draw a knife across the wheel and keep it from moving up and down the wheel, then you can sharpen a blade with this system. If you're really uncoordinated and don't care about details or you think an edge that goes from 5 degrees to 30 on the same side of the blade is ok, then look for something else. In my experience, though, it took about 10 minutes to get the hang of using it and within an hour I was putting a compound bevel edge on some of my knives just to see if I could do it. It's not hard to put a convex edge on a blade with this, either, if you take your time to do it right. I can't believe it took this long for someone to recommend the paper wheels. Go get a harbor freight el cheapo buffer and a set of paper wheels and for less than 100 bucks you will be able to put a hair popping edge on dullest blades in just a few minutes. The great thing is if your blades are nicked and dull as hell you can hit them with both wheels and be right back to razor sharp. If they just need a little maintenance a couple passes on the polishing wheel and your hair popping sharp again in all of about 30 seconds. Keeps my new kitchen knives like scalpels. Oh. And its easy as hell. I was getting great results with about 10 minutes of practice on a cheap knife. So about big knives, using them, and not wanting to use a stone again. Get a strop!!!!! If you put a good edge on your blade, that does not have a wire edge/burr, it won't be dull after you cut a squash. Seriously. I have condor kukri in 1075 that I can chop wood with, and still cut paper after. Edge retention is a combination of material quality, edge geometry, and if there is a wire edge. 1095 or any other steel that is harder than 1075 should hold an edge even better than 1075 (1075 is good for a chopper in that you will not chip the edge out as easily, but it will get dull faster than a 1095 blade will). The wire edge will give your knife the appearance of being really sharp, in that it will feel super sharp and cut paper well, but when applied to a tougher substrate the wire edge will bend over and instantly your knife will seem very very dull. I will say that paper wheels are the way to go if you want a convex edge fast. Practice on a cheap blade you don't care about. |
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Being able to sharpen a knife is a necessary skill.
Having a knife that requires sharpening less often is just as important. I constantly amazed at the absolutely shitty knives people carry. You won't know if your doing a good job sharpening if your edge goes dull after opening one cardboard box. Pay for a good knife with good steel and your time sharpening will be worth the effort.
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Got a very nice Wusthof for the kitchen last year and can't stop using it. Never had nice steel before. I've been trying to bring it back to the scary sharpness of new with a Chefs Choice Diamond Hone Sharpener 4633 to no avail. I'm lazy, or rather way to busy to spend time doing it the old fashion/right way. Looking for a sharpening system (read as easy and fast) to get this thing back into scary sharp shape. Suggestions? View Quote We only use Lamson Sharp knives in the kitchen. Not only are they made just an hour away from where I live, they offer free factory sharpening for the life of the blade. They do it better then I ever could. Maybe Wusthof will do that for you to? Here is there catalog. |
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Quoted: I have this an will vouch for it. Hand sharpeners create a different profile. This creates a beveled edge that literally shaves your arm hair clean off once done. I love mine and have given a few as gifts with good success. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: I have this an will vouch for it. Hand sharpeners create a different profile. This creates a beveled edge that literally shaves your arm hair clean off once done. I love mine and have given a few as gifts with good success. When you can shave with a KBAR and have no drag you know it's sharp |
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Another vote for the spyderco sharp maker.
keeps all my blades razor sharp and its quick and dead simple to use. |
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Stropping on leather, using jewelers rouge, is awesome. If you don't have leather and jewelers rouge, stropping on a cardboard box works almost as well. View Quote Best all-around stropping medium I've found is cow-ass leather glued to a flat hunk of mesquite and charged with diamond paste in whatever grit you fancy. Almost as good is chromium oxide (the green crayon) on MDF. I actually like that combo better on carving chisels as it doesn't round the edge as quick and let's me go longer between trips to the stone. |
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