Knife sharpening for neighbor

A while back I mentioned helping the neighbor’s kid learn to shoot. Soon after that she got a doe, which I skinned for them. Since then, her Dad got a doe, which he skinned. Yesterday he came over to ask me to sharpen his skinning knife and to show him how to sharpen knives. No problem. So he went home and brought me 6 knives. Well, dang! Only two were really dull, so it was not a tough job. So, not really grumping. The guy watches, listens, and learns fast. And he has good beer. I will work for beer. And it’s nice to pass along skills that most of the grandkids won’t ever want to learn. I don’t want all of my knowledge to die with me, whenever that unfortunately happens.

What kind of beer?

Free I assume.

Good for you for passing on your skills and knowledge. An older guy back in the late 70's and early 80's taught me how to trap. I might have never learned all that he taught me about trapping through books and such. He also showed me how to put a razor edge on a knife using the top of a truck window.

Well, he does buy cheap beer, but to me it’s free beer and therefore good beer.

Teaching someone to sharpen knives is always a good thing. But when the woman of the house says "all my kitchen knives are dull" I go at it, then two or three hours or days later, she slices her finger open and says "you didn't tell me you sharpened my knives" now l have to deal with that. So I taught my son how to sharpen knives, now I let him take the blame.

22Mules, the same thing happens here:

- sharpen my knives
- I sharpen them
- I tell her they are very sharp, so be careful
- shortly thereafter I hear “Ow...D___”

Sorry, but reading that made me giggle....a little too close to home....

I taught the woman of the house to sharpen knives before we got together, now we both sharpen knives in the kitchen so if one of us cur ourselves with a sharp knife. No blame just stop the bleeding

When I was a kid we all carried pocket knives, mine was always sharp. First thing my father taught me after giving me the knife was how to sharpen it, he also shared a little wisdom along the way. One point in particular I'll always remember, "Never let another man borrow your knife, he'll cut open a beer can and spit in it every damn time". He always carried one of those narrow pocket stones and would take it out from time to time and just sit sharpen his knife, It's got kind of a soothing effect I've found out.

Pop always used carborundum stones, here's the two stones I learned to sharpen on.



Pop wasn't much for carrying a hunting knife, he favored 3 blade folders, he'd butcher an elk with an old Kabar 3 blade, the big Kabar 3 blade in the picture has skinned and gutted many. The little Case was the one he carried daily, as you can tell by the wear it's seen the stone many times.




The maddest I've ever seen my Pop get was when one of the other hunters down on the Pecos wanted to borrow his stone. The man slobbered oil all over it and ruined it for ever.

This is the stone.

I remember my grandad’s sharpening stone. I wish I had it, though it was too dished out to be of much use. I’ll often sharpen while in the stand, but I use a two sided folding diamond sharpener.

One of my prized knives belonged to Dad’s best friend. It was the castrating knife he used for many years, and the blades are noticeably worn down. A 3 blade. A Schrade, I believe.

I just inherited numerous stones from my grandfather. One is dished on the course side. Fine side is still flat. The other stone is fine/extra fine. Almost every cutting tool I own, I can easily shave with now, especially after stropping with an old leather belt with buffing compound applied.

Don’t know if it’s truly “right” but by gosh, it works!

every gas station & barber shop in the small town I grew up in had several whetstones laying around. Usually several old guys sitting around BSing while sharpening their pocket knives. My dad always carried a 2 or 3 blade folding knife, each blade had it's own use and you could shave with any of his knifes. Many times we would have 3-4 does hanging in our back yard with a whetstone on the tailgate of the truck to knock the tallow off whichever knife was being used for the skinning and quartering ... it would move inside when we started boning on the kitchen table.

That's my favorite kind.

That's a good skill to pass along. Decent trade for some beer.

Work Sharp is a life changer since I can no longer find the good carborundum stones and my Grandpa's are worn down to nothing.

Switch to diamond stones. Never dish and last forever.

Can't say it changed my life but darn sure saves time and works good. I can do a whole bunch in a fraction of the time it takes to stone one.

Coming from the restaurant business the sharp knife is crucial. That goes for home, fishing and hunting as well. Keep it alive...it’s important.

yes sir. I carry a little pocket steel in my pack for a quick tune up.

Interesting...I have always used oil on my stones. Why would you not?