scerts of a whittling bowhunter

[trashwood]

this is no secert among whittlers and wood carvers.  get a peice of light leather with a modest nap on the wrong side.

 

use some contact cement to glue the peice of leather to a 1/4 sawn (to keep it from warping).

 

my favorite polish (strope compound) is flexcut gold.  ya put it on the leather nap just like you use a crayon.

 

polish the bevel (26 degrees) by pulling the blade with the edge away from the driection of the pull.  then raise the blade another 4 dergees and polish a microbevel.  

 

if you have a peice of end grain chinaberry (soft wood about like bass wood but prettier) and cmpare the cutting ability of a honed carvering blade to a honed and stroped blade your will find that the stroped blade cuts much cleaner and easier than just the honed blade.  ya can pull a foam shaving off the end grain.

did ya every wonder how much more arrow penetration ya might get from a stroped BH.  well i don't know either but I can tell ya it makes whittling much easier.    

if whittling is any kinda of indication about the ability of an arrow to penetrate (and i don't have a clue that it is but it makes sense) we should be strope our BH edeges  

rusty

[trashwood]

ya see the exacto knife.  it is the chuck from a exacto knife with a broken handle.  I used a leg bone of a 1&1/2 spike mule deer i shot 3 yrs ago to build a knew handle (and keepsake).   the exacto knife makes a great caper with the right blade.  It is my favorite squirrel skinner.  works river cane very well.  ya always got a sharp blade although i think they need stropping too.

i think a hunting kfine maintains an acceptable hunting edge a good deal longer if stroped than it does if not stropped.

rusty

[trashwood]

ya see that glove.  cost $20.  if ya buy one and use it while stroppig your BH's ya won't ever have to bleed for sharp BH again.  i have know sevral bowhunters that almost cost themselves a season from sharpening BH.  is a season worth $20 bucks to ya  

rusty

[wingnut]

Dang Rusty,

Where do you get them gloves.  How are they on sanders and bandsaws.  LOL

Mike

[countrygirl]

Cool!!!

[JEFFRO]

folks that ain't nerver cut them self's
NEED one of them gloves, cause thay's gona someday..
gona get some of the flexcut, i like crayon's
great post rusty..

[NEW GUY]

Is that one of them fish cleanin gloves Rusty?

I hopped into this thread, thinkin you were gonna be workin on a hatchet bow or something.

Nice info on the strop though.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Ya know, the only time I've stropped was when I would have trouble honing a head.  Maybe I should've taken the clue.        Thanks Rusty.

You and Van should write a book or something.    

[trashwood]

i get the gloves from WoodCrafts here in fort worth.  the glove is a WhiZard Handguard II.

I don't know if it is advisable to use the glove with powers tools are not.  

rusty

[trashwood]

i guess most of ya know that the 26 degree bevel is really for wood working.  your hunting knife bevel sjhould be around 22 degree meat cutting bevel.

between ribs, tough skin and meat I make my BH bevels at 26 degrees.

Ya got any opinion about the bevel of a BH edge?

rusty

[Roadkill]

they sell those kevlar gloves at restaurant supply places like Smart and Final

[AZStickman]

Mike I can get ya some good cut resistant gloves...The Ansell  Kevlar dyneema gloves are the best for cut resistance and flexibility hands down..... Rusty what could I trade ya for the little javie it is cool..... I still have the one ya did in camp a couple of years ago I've got plans to haft a little obsidian blade on it...... Terry

[trashwood]

sure Terry.  I have been working on my javie carving and getting the shape down better.  practice makes prefect...????? well maybe not but better anyways.

the main point of this thread was indeed to introduce the glove to BH sharping bowhunters and to think about the extra killing power of a honed and stropped BH.  I am a true believer in both.    

rusty

[trashwood]

btw i don't ever recommend "hand held" sharpening.  not becuase to the safety issue (although it is certianly there) but becasue to get sumpin sharp ya HAVE to maintain a constant, consistant angle of attack to the stone from stroke to stroke and throughout the cutting stroke.  nothing is better than a high quality 8" bench stone and a bench hook.  

I don't know of any professional carvers that ever use hand held stones for anything but to touch up when in the field.

rusty

[trashwood]

anybody got any thoughts on the best bevel angle for a BH?

rusty

[B n Az]

Rusty...I know sharpening has gone the rounds here before...but do you have a picture/video of your sharpening setup or method and how you use the 8" bench stone and a bench hook?  I don't even know what a bench hook is.

I'm always looking for a better way to sharpen things.

Bobby

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Originally posted by trashwood:
btw i don't ever recommend "hand held" sharpening.  

rusty

I do.    

[trashwood]

LOL well you are right losthawg.  it is gonna be hard to sharpen sumpin without your hands.         I guess I ment hand holding the stone?? but who know for sure what I meant.  heck I can't even riead the stuff I wrote      

good questions bobby.  

a benchhook is a holding devise older than the hills but often useful

   

   

please for give the introduction of one of my bench carvings (pigeon).  I have shown several of my freehand, nolines campfire carving i bet ya wander why such a no talent hacker even bothers      

bench hook is so simple.  three boards, one long enough to hold your work, stone, carving, etc  and two small boards on the ens and opposites sides.  works great for bench sharpening

sa you can see the benchhook is a driectional holdfast.  it only works by pushing you tool from front to back.

rusty

[trashwood]

B oin Z i think Tom still has a video on sharpenoing tha is very good.  I will leave the sharpening to that.

this stone is a norton 1000 grit waters stone.  to keep the water stones in good shape ya have to conditions them, that is make them flat again.  i use a piece of 24"x24" 1/2" plate glass and 220 grit sand paper.

flat stones give flat consistant bevels.  scooped stones give a headache  

rusty

[B n Az]

Cool...so simple, yet so effective...Thanks Rusty