Reddit mentions: The best abrasive finishing compounds

I think you should pick up another straight that has been honed to shave ready. Larry at Whipped Dog has some very affordable blades that are supposed to be shave ready. You can use this as a measure to getting your blade up to snuff.

Also, technique may be an issue. But you've been shaving a while....

If you can't get it keen on a 4K, you may need to set that bevel again... There is no formula for bevel setting, just a feeling. I'd blunt the blade on a thumbnail, then hone until you can easily pop hair with the edge. Then, move up a measured progression like pyramid honing.

Here's a copy past I did you might find useful:

Equipment Essentials

• A pro honed razor at your side. You need to compare the sharpness of the razor you're working on, with the sharpness of a razor that is shave ready. This will decrease your learning curve considerably. You're working blind otherwise.
  
  

• DMT flattening stone. Your hones don't ship flat, and you must even them out to ensure a smooth edge. Flattening before every use is a good idea. If you don't want to buy the DMT, use 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper and atop piece of marble/glass.
  
  
• Norton 4K/8K A popular choice for general honing, and can perform a laborious restoration/bevel set (if you do more than a few razors, get the 1k below to set a bevel).
  
  
• A jewelers loop to see what happens to the blade as you hone, polish, stop and shave. I feel watching the scratch patterns of a straight razor bevel change is a critical educational step in straight razor bevel maintenance.
  
  
• Chromium Oxide on a strop for final polish, or a diamond pasted strop.
  
  
  Honing Supplies for Restoring a Few Straights
  
  
• If you end up honing a few razor from antique stores or ebay, it's good to have a stone dedicated to bevel setting. This stage is 50% of the sharpening process, so it pays to have quality gear at this level King 1000 K For bevel setting on a budget (beware, it's a slow cutter). Or a nice bevel setter like this Chosera.
  
  
  
• Niawa 12K For a nice final polishing of your razor. 8K is fine, but this puts a great edge on your blade.
  
  To hone:
  
  First, you need to flatten your stone, making sure you've removed the top 1/64th or so of stone material to reach the true grits (the top is a bit rough on Nortons especially).Make sure your stone is perfectly flat. Use the DMT or the sandpaper I described above for this.
  
  Next, clean your SR in soap/warm water. Dry it, and put a piece of electrical tape along the spine and fold it over (like a book binding) if you'd like (not necessary, and I don't do this, but some prefer the look of the end product).
  
  I like to clear the edge of possible errand burs before I hone, so I drag the shaving edge against my thumbnail or a glass bottle. These burs can cause issues, and may make for a rough feeling edge. I've found that this is a good way to remove them. It may be unnecessary for some/most blades, but it's part of my bevel setting routine, and by doing this, I've notice good things and increased consistency when I hone.
  
  Now, to hone. You're going to get your razor sharp in these stages:
  
  

• Set the bevel (establish the sharp edge shape)
  
• Polish the bevel (polish the shape you created earlier)
  
• True the bevel (strop the bevel to make sure the edge is very uniform)
  
  Setting the bevel:
  
  While all steps are important, this step is foundational. Place your razor on your bevel setting stone, keeping the razor spine and edge completely flat on the surface togehter. Do tiny circle strokes (circular motion down the hone) so you do about 30-40 tiny circles as you move own the bottom hone. Repeat on the other side of the razor, moving up the hone in the opposite direction (and counter-wise circle direction). Now do 15 x strokes. This is a set.
  
  Repeat doing these sets until you can shave hair on your arm or leg by very slowly grazing over the tops of the hair - it should catch and cut with a bit of a tug.
  
  It will take many many of these sets with a 4k stone, and less with a 1K.
  
  Once you can shave hair on your arm or leg all along the bevel (toe to heel) with uniform sharpness and cutting, you may be set. Do another 10 or so x-strokes, very lightly, very perfectly as a final sharpening for your bevel. See if this helps your edge.
  
  Once you're happy with your bevel, strop it and shave. If it's painful, it's likely your bevel isn't set. If it's decent, you're ready to move on.
  
  Polishing the bevel
  
  Now move up to polishing. On the 4K and do 35 light x strokes. Go to the 8K and do 35 light x-strokes. Repeat this back and forth going 4K 30, 8K 30. Now keep this up, decreasing the stroke number by 5. When you're at 10 strokes, just do 25 on the 8K.
  
  Always check for sharpness along the edge by trimming a bit of arm hair. You'll learn a lot from an edge by doing this.
  
  Following the grits up in this fashion should give you a fairly polished bevel. It's best to go higher than 8K with a high grit chinese hone from a woodworking store, or a naninwa 12k, but 8K will do for now.
  
  Truing the edge:
  
  Strop about 30 passes on your chromium oxide, clean the blade, and the perform 200 passes on leather - all spine leading, done very lightly.
  
  The Shave
  
  After all this, you should have a great edge. Give it a test shave and compare it to your pro honed blade.
  
  While honing, you'll likely get frustrated, but keep at it! If you're getting aggressive with the razor, just give it a break, and come back later. If the shave is no good, post back here and we'll help you diagnose.
  
  
  Some thoughts:
  
  I tired to present information that's very searchable. Straight razor place has archived many of the ideas that I just presented. I highly recommend researching on your own and reaching a personal conclusion. What follows are my personal opinions.
  
  This equipment I suggest is not necessarily the best, nor is it bad at all. It's great way to get started and find out what you like in a stone/routine. Some ideas to consider if you upgrade your set:
  
  
• Try a natural stone for a finisher. I use a vintage Thuringian hone called an Barber's Delight Escher.
  
• Upgrade your progression by adding various in-between grits. I really like going from a Chosera 1K, to Shapton Pro (not glass version) 2K, 5K, 8K, 15K, then finish.
  
• Try finishing a blade with a pasted strop, and try without. Some love one over the other.
  
  The back and forth honing I recommend is a honing series called pyramid honing, where you go between two different grit hones to ensure you don't form a wire edge or a bur. I like to recommend this for folks getting into honing since this is one of the most documented methods for get a razor to shave ready from a bevel set. A quick google search on pyramid honing will give you plenty of reading. I don't hone this way any more.
  
  I highly recommend honing your razor as sharp as possible on one stone, strop as I've outlined, and give it a shave. For example, sharpen as much as you can at the 4K stage, and strop it 200 times. If it shaves ok, you're on the right track. If not, you've got more work to do at that level of stone. You'll be amazed that such a low grit can shave so well. If it's painful to shave after your lowest stone.... you're not done, and moving up the stones will not benefit your edge. Repeating this process of shaving up all the stone grits (4K, 8K, 12K) will help you get a feel for what honing at the different levels provide. Shaving off my 1K bevel provided me the biggest leap in edge quality while learning.
  
  Don't limit your techniques. Once you can confidently bring a restored razor to shave with consistency, I'd recommend playing around and experimenting. Though this, I've developed some strokes that are critical to my routine, and used effectively with every blade I sharpen.
  

This guys list is pretty much what I was going to say.

So for some recommendations:

I've restored an antique 1930s No 5. Bought it for 45, and it is best for those on a budget. Any pre WWII Stanley just needs some light restoration work and a reworking of the blade and it will do 20x better than a harbor freight plane and roughly same as modern Stanley sweethearts at 1/3 the cost. It may not be as good as woodriver or lie Nielsen, but it's a 1/4 or 1/6 the cost respectively.

Paul sellers recommends Aldi Chisels, I got Narex instead for an additional $20. I love them, and will only upgrade out of them once I get enough money to go for some veritas or lie Nielsen. I got a set of 4 with imperial measurements for $60ish. I'd put any extra money into sharpening systems than upgrading them.

I bought David Barron dovetail guides and the Japanese pull saws he reccomends. Gyokucho 372 Razor Saw Dotsuki Takebiki Saw. Look at Amazon for the narex chisels I reccomend and the 'people who bought this also bought' section and you'll find it easily. While there you can find some leather for stropping and the green compound you need with it. Also while looking at these, you'll see a reccomendations for the Stanley disposable knife and the replacement blades. This is what Paul sellers recommends, and it works well. Stays ridiculously sharp, and can be rehoned with little effort and the blade cheaply replaced once it becomes to much work top get the thing sharp. Cutting layout lines is much more precise and helps prevent tearout. I bought narex marking knife and love it. I don't mind trying to hone it every so often. Ditto the scratch awl.

Basically took around the Amazon other bought recommendations and you'll find a bunch of fairly cheap quality things to get you up and running.

This is doable for much less than $600. When I started shaving w a SR I figured it would take about 2 years of shaving to pay off the initial cost. Although if I am being honest I probably spend more now on razors than I did before.

For the most basic of kits you will need a:

• Razor Not really shave ready (used $40 or new $150-200)
  
  
• Sharpening stones $100 (I use DMT, but you can also use japanese water stones. I like dmt because they are always flat and in my experience last longer. You probably need a fine/extra fine (600/1200 grit) and an extra extra fine (8000 grit))
  
  
• Strop ($20 -amazon)
  
  
• Strop compound ( a $5 bar of cromium oxide goes a long way)
  
  
• Brush ($12-35 amazon)
  
  
• Soap ($2-10 depending on what you want)
  
  That's the basics really. You can spend more on aftershave, preshave, synthetic brushes, creams whatever. If you know how to sharpen/strop I would definitely recommend a used razor off ebay ( a nice one you don't have to restore). If you don't know how to sharpen I recommend you get some stones and learn anyway it isn't very hard. Though you may want a cheap $10 razor to practice on just in case. The hardest part is choosing a brand (or buying just one razor). For used razors you have some things to consider:
  
  
• Handle/scales - not broken, pins are ok
  
  
• Blade- no rust, no chips, no excessive spine wear, no weird angles from sharpening, you can polish some imperfections out but not too many and you probably don't want to restore a razor before you learn to use one.
  
  
• Brand- Wade/butcher are good. Dubl duck are good (but probably overpriced/hyped), E A Berg are good, Boker is good, CV Heljestrand- good those are all I have presently but basically anything made in sheffield, solingen, or eskilstuna should be ok to shave with after they are sharpened.
  
  You may also want to try a double edge (DE) razor but then you still need blades (although they are very very cheap) I am not sure if that is a requirement here or not.

Thanks! I hope there was something helpful in that post.

I really think a diamond plate is overkill, at least to start off with. I got really frustrated with how not-flat my stones were, but I couldn't justify spending a huge amount of money on a flat piece of metal. So I went to Menard's and bought a 3/32 pane of glass. I figured that was thin enough that it would still flex, so I put it on top of a piece of 3/4 MDF, and then put the sandpaper on top of the whole thing. It worked really well, and the total cost was under $5. Thin glass is really cheap, apparently.

The Veritas honing guide is really nice; I definitely want to get it eventually. But in the mean time, I'm using this $10 guide from Woodcraft, and I'm getting good results with it.

Finally, you really don't need anything fancy for stropping. Literally a piece of MDF with some compound will work. You can use something like this, which costs $6.50.

So you really don't need to invest more than maybe $20 to get from where you are to the place where you can get much better results.

1/4, 1/2, 3/4 will get you started, you can fill in as you go. I bought my first 'real' set of chisels only a few months ago too, and I saved some money without sacrificing on quality by buying old Stanley chisels, you can find them online and sometimes at antique stores, but make sure you know what they're worth, antique stores like to charge an arm and a leg for broken tools. I was lucky to find a complete set at an antique store at a fair price.

Right now I'm lusting after the Veritas PM-V11 bench chisels: http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=69619&cat=1,41504. I'm doing mental gymnastics trying to convince myself how I might be able to justify their price.

When you get a good set of starter chisels I suggest you watch Paul Sellers' video on sharpening chisels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki8tt-VjwqI. You can do it completely with sandpaper and a homemade strop rubbed with chromium oxide.

You can get enough chromium oxide to last you a lifetime for less than $15 on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-D2902-1-Pound-Buffing-Compound/dp/B0000DD35C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418003499&sr=8-1&keywords=chromium+oxide

You'll rub that stuff on a homemade strop, you can me one for less than $5 or you can buy a $30 one that is quite literally the same thing at woodcraft. To make one just go to a craft store like Hobby Lobby and buy a bag of their cheap strips of leather (less than $5), you'll find them usually by where they sell moccasin making kits, not the bolts of fabric. You want the strips that are a little rougher. Then you'll just take it home and glue it to a piece of 2x4. Polishing your chisels on a leather strop primed with your buffing agent will make mirror chisels.

Rejoice, for the things you need are cheap. Get a split shank, tuck a bit of silicon carbide wet/ dry sandpaper in there, and rock it out. Start coarrse, at least 220, then take as many steps to fine sanding as you like. You can get sandpaper up to 3,000 grit, 3M makes an excellent one. You also might choose at some point in coarseness to use diamond paste on a bit of hardwood dowel. The dowel would get ground up a bit, but this actually makes it a better carrier of diamond. Foredom handpieces grip odd size tools just fine, unikle dremels. Finally, polish with cerium oxide+ water paste on a bit of leather or cloth, a bit of old t-shirt stuck in the split shank works.

Have a little tray to immerse grinding tools just under the surface of water to keep them cool, this also minimizes dust, which is moderately hazardous to breathe. Use sandpaper wet, but diamond paste is oil based and doesn't like water. Diamonds are the most water repellent thing we commonly encounter, but they attract oil.

With this setup, you will find it fast and easy to polish flint and quartz. Polishing every curve of a complex carving is NOT easy, but this basic setup will get a polish in the easy areas quickly.

In my opinion the most efficient way to sharpen in terms of both cost and time is to use a bench grinder to hollow grind your edge then use diamond plates to hone it. The grinder will allow you to quickly remove any damage to the edge, reset the bevel and create a hollow grind. A hollow grind means that the bevel is slightly concave. This means that when you put the bevel flat on a stone to hone it material will only be removed from the outer edges making it faster because you don't have to remove much steel. It's also easier to sharpen without a honing guide because you don't have to use a micro bevel. This image demonstrates what I mean. Here's a good video on using a bench grinder. You only need to grind the bevel once the hollow becomes too small to efficiently hone the edge or you chip or dent the edge. A good bench grinder should cost $80-120. This Rikon is a pretty good deal because comes with the right type of wheels unlike most other grinders.

After grinding I like to use diamond stones to hone the edge. I like diamond stones because they're low maintenance and a bit cheaper when compared to waterstones. I personally have Eze-Lap Coarse/Medium and Fine/Superfine doublesided plates. Some people prefer the single sided plates in which case go for the Coarse, Fine and Superfine. I went for the double sided plates because you get an extra grit for the same price and I don't mind flipping them over. A few strokes on each grit will remove the grinding marks and bring the edge up to a near mirror polish. To give the edge a final polish I use a strop and charged with green honing compound. I made the strop out of some scrap leather and a piece of scrap hardwood for free.

To go from a chipped dull edge to razor sharp takes me less than 5 minutes. I usually only grind the bevel when the hollow starts to become to small. Most of the time I can just hone the edge on the diamond stones then polish it using the stop which takes me 30-60 seconds. I've tried out systems such as waterstones, ceramic stones and the worksharp but in my opinion this is the fastest and most efficient way to sharpen. The setup cost is about $250-$270 which I think is fairly reasonable and you don't have any ongoing cost like the scarp sharp system or the worksharp. A set of quality waterstones is $200-300 alone and the power sharpeners like the tormak are quite expensive and don't really save any time.

I just use waterstones (1000, 3000, 8000) and a piece of MDF with honing compound on it. I have to admit that I did buy the Veritas honing guide (for chisels and planes). It's amazing (even if it's a bit pricy).

The MDF with honing compound really does make a big difference in how sharp my chisels get. It also is a very quick way to tune them up free hand (takes <30 seconds). A good honing between uses can double the time between sharpenings.

Also, a honing board is darn near free. . . $12 for enough to last you for years and years (extra fine green)

https://smile.amazon.com/Woodstock-D2902-1-Pound-Buffing-Compound/dp/B0000DD35C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483338609&sr=8-1&keywords=green+honing+compound

I got this set (though, I got mine from Lowes - most hardware stores should have them. Heck, even Walmart probably has 'em). They're not great, but they're really impressive for the price. If you use them a lot, you'll probably want better chisels (i.e. the Narex ones everybody has mentioned. Those have been on my shopping list for a while now).

Also make sure you get something to sharpen them with. Chromium oxide paste/bar and a strop is also really helpful for quick touchups (My strop is a scrap of denim glued to a scrap of wood - doesn't have to be fancy). This isn't necessary to start, but it's inexpensive and something to keep in mind.

Thanks! I'm pretty proud of it!

I got some old Nicholson files off ebay..... I think I paid $30 for 10 different files.... Then I annealed it by throwing it in the coals/ashes of a brush pile that I was burning and let it air cool overnight.... Cut out the size and blade tip with a hacksaw (tiring process) Used a belt sander to shape it down until I got the profile I liked and the blade was about the thickness of a dime. Drilled out the holes on my drill press. Used a makeshift kiln with a MAPP gas torch to get it to cherry red (about 25 minutes of torch time, I'll use charcoal next time) and quenched it in motor oil. Threw it in my shop toaster oven at about 425 for an hour to temper it, then quenched in water. I used Padauk wood for the handles ( I had some scrap leftover from a picture frame and gun rest that I made) I used a 5 minute epoxy, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ALJ4NS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Which setup in about an hour and a half. And 1/4 brass rod, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FMWZ5Q/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Then shaped the handle with my bandsaw, belt sander, and lots of hand sanding (to try and get all the bandsaw marks off) Finished off with Boiled Linseed Oil which helps make the wood really pop with it's natural color.....
Then used a Gatco system to sharpen it, http://www.amazon.com/Gatco-10005-5-Stone-sharpening-system/dp/B001DB9CQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422323386&sr=8-1&keywords=gatco+knife+sharpener
And honed on a strop with some green compound http://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-D2902-1-Pound-Buffing-Compound/dp/B0000DD35C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1422323451&sr=8-3&keywords=honing+compound
and now I have to make a sheath...

http://imgur.com/a/h3oQj

1000 grit can get an ok edge at best, so you definitely need at least a cheap leather strop with a cheap compound for that quick edge that every one chases.

Strop

Compound

These two boys should be more than enough.

As for sharpening with a stone, you should start out on one side stroking back and forth on the stone with medium pressure until a very uniform burr forms, (how to feel the burr with your finger) it should extend all the way from the very tip to heel without any pause for an optimal edge.

On the 300 grit stone, this may take anywhere from 40-60 back & forth strokes, but I have no experience with whatever steel Global uses so take this with a grain of salt. If you can't get the burr within 100 strokes and while using a good amount of pressure (3-4 pounds) then you are probably holding the knife at an improper angle. If this is a problem, train yourself using this technique

Then repeat on the other side until you have a uniform burr on that side. Remember, the burr appears opposite from the side which is making contact with the stone.

Then you want to start gently removing the burr by performing strokes with the edge trailing, at a lighter pressure with one stroke on each side. Once the burr can no longer be felt, go for another 20-30 repetitions for good measure. You must do this part with the edge trailing or you will have done all your work for nothing.

After you are done with this on your 300 grit side, use the 1000 grit side and do the same thing. Just keep in mind that the 1000 grit stone will produce a smaller burr which may be harder to feel, may take more repetitions to achieve the uniform burr, and may take more time to remove the burr.

Once you are done with your stones, you must take out your strop with compound applied to it. (To apply compound, heat up the side with the rougher leather with a hair dryer or by other means, and rub the compound bar in with good force. You should aim for a uniform, but fairly thin application. You will only need to do this occasionally after the first time.)

Make one edge-trailing stroke on each side with light pressure, and repeat 20 times at minimum.

If you find that your edge has dulled after a day of use, you can strop it to bring it back to sharpness. Many people will perform a quick strop it after they use their knife everyday, or between several days. That way you will keep the amount of time spent on a whetstone to a minimum.

Congratulations, you've read my wall of text and probably have a razor sharp knife in your hands. Enjoy.

>I would like to maintain the blade through continual touch ups rather than redoing one. With the strategy, will I have trouble maintaining the proper angles?

Some. Touch up will help maintain an edge for MUCH longer, but you will still eventually have to actually sharpen the knife.

I would go with this if you can't put any more money into sharpeners. You may have trouble with s30v or anything harder, but it should work for MOST of your blades just fine.

Also, look into making a good strop. You only need some stropping compound and some cardboard or better a good piece of leather glued to a piece of wood. That will be the easiest way to maintain your edge to shaving sharp.

honestly if you're not looking to get into all the ins and outs of sharpening then the spyderco sharpmaker is a pretty solid choice and it can get you a hair shaving edge. i'd also recommend picking up some untra fine ceramic stones, a strop, and some green compound. for more in depth info check out this thread as well as the sidebar over at /r/knives. i hope this helps you out.

Paul Sellers put out some youtube videos for sharpening woodworking tools (chisels and handplanes) that are not completely applicable to kitchen knives, but there are a few details that do apply.

1. If you're using diamond stones, a little bit of glass cleaner will help float away the particles, without you having to worry about rust afterwards.
   
   
2. A leather strop is great for honing, and with a little bit of chromium oxide added, it's quite capable of polishing. Note though, that on softer metal, the CrOx can actually take the edge back off a knife, as I've done that myself :P

If anyone was curious about some of the things Paul was using (especially if you had in mind that it might be nice to do things yourself, and on the cheap), he says in one of his other videos that the plates were EZ-lap plates. You can spend a significant amount of money on those plates, or you can some smaller ones off of ebay for pretty cheap:

• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RL83IQ/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RL83H2/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  then pick up a strop somewhere, and buy some chromium oxide. The stuff is pretty cheap, I bought a giant block here
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DD35C/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  for only like $10. With some practice, I've been getting my chisels sharp enough to cut off hair on my arm / cut pieces of paper with very little effort. It's fun!

I always get the pure green compound (ex: amazon y un mas)
Since stropping removes that little bur formed from use (or sharpening) and restores a keen edge, you should be stropping every time. It doesn't remove much material and doesn't take any amount of time. Only after hard or extended use should you need to revisit the stones.

Ideally you strop more often than hone and hone more often than grind.

If I'm hand-planing I don't strop my chisels, just like I don't pay bus fare when I drive me car :)

Good for you for building it!! Ya if your SPARC II is confirming your rifle is shooting lower right, then it's most likely your barrel or upper receiver face, not the handguard or the MBUS. If you're always going to be around 15-50 yards, you're golden. But if you stretch out to let's say 400-600 yards, this issue might rear its ugly head.

Ok so you had some timing issues with the barrel nut. What did you torque it to? I usually tighten to 35 ft/lb, and tighten a little more until the barrel nut aligns for the gas tube. I found that my AR's are most accurate between 35 ft/lb and 40 ft/lb. If this is what you did, and you want to try to fix this issue then the tool is relatively inexpensive and easy to use.

Here's a quick video of how to lap your receiver face. Start at about the 3 minute mark since you'll buy the tool, vs making it.

https://youtu.be/HAL5DqNJd9s?t=3m2s

It's as easy as putting the tool on your hand drill, smear some lapping compound on it, then stick it inside your upper receiver and spin her up, checking often until you see a nice clean, even surface. If your upper receiver face not square, then looking at the receiver face, the upper right will start wearing first when you start lapping.

Here's a pic of an Anderson upper that I started lapping a while back. This one was pretty bad, would have probably been hitting high right on this one. http://i.imgur.com/tDmaKrG.jpg

Here's a lapping compound you can use: https://www.amazon.com/Wheeler-Replacement-Grit-Lapping-Compound/dp/B0063HCP3E/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1485810867&sr=8-13&keywords=lapping+compound

If this doesn't work, then your barrel just has a low right tendency.

It might be an easy fix, other people have had good success with similar issues (based on the amazon reviews)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009XUAA4Y/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1485096706&sr=8-3&pi=SL75_QL70&keywords=glass+polishing+compound

The bottom budget (or lowest you could go without blaming your sharpening equipment for failure) would be a Norton combination India stone or King combination water stone, plus some honing compound and a scrap of denim or leather glued to a block of wood for a strop.

Use a honing guide like this if you aren't comfortable trying free hand.

A tool is sharp when two surfaces (the back/face and bevel) meet at a sharp corner with ~0 radius. The edge is honed/refined on finer and finer stones to get a better surface finish and better edge retention.

Here are some tutorials with and without a honing guide. I recommend watching both, because each covers a different aspect of initial chisel prep.

On top of your sharpening equipment, work from both sides and use knife lines to prevent blow out.

3 Diamond Plates and honing compound on a strop.
The diamond plates are true and flat and will last a life time with depending on use. They will sharpen effectively for a very long time (life) unless used by multiple people for multiple edges daily.

There are many brands here's one of them.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=67660&cat=43072

Honing compound to be used with a piece of leather (strop).

http://www.amazon.com/Green-Chrome-Oxide-Compound-oz/dp/B003E65XYU

The cheapest way? If you're using a Gough jig, you can use a protractor to rig your angle, and tightly wrap your file in 220 grit sandpaper (you can also use a piece of flat steel for more precision). Then progress through the grits, raising a burr each time. Use the rough side old leather belt (I stole one of my husband's) as a strop. Green Polishing Compound on an old belt after using 2500 grit sandpaper will get you plenty sharp.

I sharpened our kitchen knives for a couple years before starting bladesmithing using this method. It'll easily create a good shaving edge, and is much faster than a lansky

I bought the 8 inch DMT diamond plates. 250 grit, 600 grit and 1200 grit. I think they are called coarse, fine, extra fine. Found this comparable item on Amazon.

I built the holder from a discarded IKEA chest of drawers. The strop is a piece of leather from an art supply store glued to an offcut mahogany. The buffing compound is chromium oxide.

I will surely share the finished bench here. Since I am vlogging my progress, I forget to take photos, so I will remember to do that.

Thanks! I think I will try the wood burning. I'll try it out on a scrap piece first just to check.

I haven't bought a leather strop but I cut up and glued a piece of my old jeans onto a 8" block of wood and bought this:
(https://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-D2902-1-Pound-Buffing-Compound/dp/B0000DD35C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468086393&sr=8-1&keywords=green+sharpening+compound)

So far it seems to be working well. My knife still can pass the paper test. I have had a few nicks in the knife after dropping it once but I used a Accusharp Knife and Tool Sharpener we had at home:

(https://www.amazon.com/AccuSharp-1-001-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B00004VWKQ)

It made it nice and sharp again without the nicks but I don't know if it's good to use for the knife. I'd like to learn how to use a wetstone eventually to sharpen my knife but will probably practice on my Leatherman's knife before I try it on the Mora just so I don't mess it up.

http://www.amazon.com/Lansky-Diamond-Standard-Sharpening-System/dp/B000B8JDRC/ref=sr_1_8?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1320462335&sr=1-8

http://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-D2902-1-Pound-Buffing-Compound/dp/B0000DD35C/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1320462373&sr=1-1

Use the Lansky system, it's awesome. Then take a section of an old leather belt and glue it to a paint stick. Load it up with the green rouge and strop away. I use Flitz polishing compound on an old belt with fantastic results.

Your shop teacher should have supplies on hand but the link I gave you mentions compounds as well. Aluminium can happily be polished with Car cutting compound they use for paint, so that's a budget option to consider. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009SOB9O/ref=nosim?tag=finishingcominc

You should use a buffing/polishing compound specifically for glass, like so. Works best if you have some kind of power tool to spin a buffing pad with the compound on it, hand polishing will take a while.

Diamond isn't necessarily expensive. 25 carats is about 14 USD, and likely much less in bulk (and a coarser grit). A custom diamond-impregnated copper IHS would have like $10-50 in diamond. The most expensive part by far would be machining it, because tools will degrade super quick because diamond is one of THE hardest materials we know.

Also (speaking from experience) diamond as a thermal paste is really annoying because it doesn't like to spread well at all. I've used it with potent success, but it's extremely application dependent and can make things real worse. (120W@95C -> 145W@95C; though I haven't been scientific about it. I don't want to shit where I eat.)

(Graphite+silicone grease was muuuch easier to get right the first time. less potent in the end, but I don't have to do voodoo and sell my firstborn to satan to make it work well)

From that, it's muuch more practical to delid and engineer a heatsink/waterblock that sits directly ontop of the die(s), massively reducing the space between the heat pipes/water and the dies.

Remove the hammer and hammer spring
Clip one leg on the trigger spring then bend up the other so the trigger itself has very light, but noticeable pull. The trigger NEEDS to be able to reset.
Get some jewelers rouge and apply it to the sear/ trigger interface.

While keeping the trigger from impacting the mag well and bolt catch work the trigger over and over, apply more rouge if needed. Once the gritty feel has been removed from the trigger disassemble everything, clean out the rouge, reassemble it, lube it up and put the rifle together. Do a function test and if the rifle passes go to the range and enjoy the long, but smooth trigger pull.

I've done this and more aggressive trigger work on my AR-15's. This has always helped while the more aggressive stuff has had mixed results.

I use the green bar: https://smile.amazon.com/Woodstock-D2902-1-Pound-Buffing-Compound/dp/B0000DD35C/

For maintenance I do maybe 10 strokes on the strop free hand on the bevel side, then one on the back to remove the (microscopic!) burr.

Ream it to the wood and then give it an alcohol dip, run some pipe cleaners through til dry and then let it dry out, and you should be good to go. Apply some carnuba wax to the bowl and stem and use a dremel with a buff pad to buff out to a shine, or get one of those shoe polisher machines and use it to buff it out. Red Jewelers rouge can be used to buff out scratched, teeth jitter marks, and polish silver collars and such. Red rouge is soft, green will cut stuff up to much, it's way to rough. You can get it off Amazon for $2.00

http://www.amazon.com/oz-Jewelers-Rouge-Polishing-Compound/dp/B0009SOB9O

My best friend used to own a Tobacco Shop in Texas Called J.Morgan's Tobacco, and I had the run of the place and learned a lot there. I was one of the few allowed to use the buffer. If you're not careful though you can fling a pipe across a room and really hurt yourself or someone with it.

If you want to make spoons then that set isn't really want you need.

What you need is a hook knife for carving the bowl and a straight knife for all the other cuts.

It would be great to have a hatchet to rough out the shape of the spoon so it doesn't take you all year. I've seen lots of people do the roughing with a band saw though. You could use a coping saw if you don't have one.

I don't love the hook knife I have. If the wood is a little dry it kinda hurts my hand. It's this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00343VCCK/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487362012&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=mora+hook+knife&dpPl=1&dpID=31qGjXQoECL&ref=plSrch

I wound up grinding the bevel off mine to make a smooth curve and it worked a little better than new. But it works ok as is.

I've also got this straight knife https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005IW5YN8/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1487362243&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=mora+carving+knife&dpPl=1&dpID=31CuaoTEJGL&ref=plSrch

They have a shorter version that would probably have given more control, but I'm ok with it.

You'll also want to make a strop to maintain the cutting edge. You'll need a block of wood, a piece of leather and stropping compound. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000DD35C/ref=pd_aw_fbt_469_img_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=YGCVJKF34JWCTN2MNFPV

Can't say about this compound. I got mine from lee valley.

All in all, if I did it over again I would have bought higher quality knives, but the ones I wanted (from a guy named Nic Westerman) were out of stock. And since you're on a budget they would fit in your price range.

Now, I don't want to give the impression that any of these items are spectacular or needed to get this sharp. The point of this was to show that it is obtainable with cheap stuff.

Also I would like to note that the knife was sharpened to 10 degrees on both sides, a rather unrealistic angle for most uses except the single beveled knives.

That being said:

similar diamond plates

10k stone

fake leather

rouge

knife

It is rust, basically.

Works like a champ. I was summoning lels with my abbreviation.

Look up lapping or grinding compounds.
A 280 grit lapping paste https://www.amazon.com/Loctite-1777012-Grinding-Lapping-Compound/dp/B00O542WDK

Here is another brand: https://www.amazon.com/Goodson-Lapping-Compound-600-Gr/dp/B0009RGTI6/ref=mp_s_a_1_34?keywords=lapping+compound&qid=1571520293&sprefix=lapping&sr=8-34


Hopefully that can help direct your search. I have used similar products for buffing and sharpening knifes.

Whenever I get a new Benchmade I disassemble it and polish the washers and blade tang with a Lanksy leather strop and 0.5 micron temo paste. Polishing the washers and tang make a huge difference.
Lansky Leather Stropping Polishing Hone https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008BS0OCM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_3t9xxb2NYNDXM
TEMO 0.5 Micon 5gram Diamond Polish Lapping Paste Compound Syringe Final Finish https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004HR5PJ8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_6u9xxbSV7G3DE

Home Depot, Amazon, just about any auto parts store; several places carry it and something called cerium oxide (also a gentle polishing compound for glass).

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TKQILCY/ref=biss_dp_sa1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007R69W9A?psc=1

this

And this

Are the only two stones you need.

I also recommend you get this

To use with this

Diamond paste goes the whole way down to .25 micron and 0.1 micron if you want to get really silly.

25 carats worth of diamond powder for $9.99 + shipping on Amazon

There's a green compound good for stainless steel. I don't know what works for carbon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000DD35C/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1464535370&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Green+compound

The site seems to be out of the Chromium Oxide. Pursuant to this conversation I just ordered this:
http://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-D2902-1-Pound-Buffing-Compound/dp/B0000DD35C/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1343430484&sr=8-12&keywords=strop and this
http://www.amazon.com/A-z-Automatic-Woodturning-Handled-2-Sided/dp/B0037MM830/ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1343430551&sr=1-4&keywords=strop

You could get by with rubbing the CrO on a piece of MDF, or getting a cheap piece of leather scrap and gluing it to a block of wood/MDF.

Do work your chisels to be flat. A simple piece of 400 grit sandpaper glued with contact adhesive to a small glass plate will do wonders for you.

Happy sharpening!

This is one I made a little while back. Compound Loaded Side and Smooth Leather Side

One side is just plain smooth leather which I wet sanded with 120-Grit and then massaged a lot of mineral oil into the leather. I like a strop which has more drag to it, some people prefer smoother and dryer ones.

On the other side I used this green compound. Through trial and errors on previous strops I found the best way that works for me is to put mineral oil into the leather (rub it around) and then start rubbing the buffing compound on it (like coloring in with crayons). I also keep light heat on the strop with a heat gun. After I have everything "colored in", I stop the heat and keep massaging the green in (be careful...once I kind of burn't my skin a bit).

Do note a lot places had recommended putting the compound on the suede side, I however went with the smooth on it.


>PS: In hindsight I wish I just made two separate strops, instead of using both sides. I always have to put something underneath when the compound side is at the bottom cause I don't want small pieces mixing in to our cutting boards etc.

Sure thing.
https://www.amazon.com/Green-Chrome-Oxide-Compound-oz/dp/B003E65XYU/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3F3GNHSZK257I&keywords=green+chrome+oxide+compound&qid=1551133808&s=gateway&sprefix=Green+chrome%2Caps%2C418&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

Jewelers rouge. I assumed that is what you were going to use when stropping razors. You can typically purchase it at woodworking stores. Somewhere that sales sharpening supplies might have it as well.

If you want a mirror finish this paste will even polish Tungsten Carbide!

https://www.amazon.ca/TEMO-Diamond-Lapping-Compound-Syringe/dp/B004HR5PJ8/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?keywords=.5+micron&qid=1557882014&s=gateway&sr=8-7

I bought a pound of green compound from amazon years ago. I've barely even scratched the surface of it and I have strops strewn about my house. I don't know how consistent the quality is (cheaper buffing compounds tend to vary a bit in grit size) but it puts a scary sharp finish on my blades.

https://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-D2902-1-Pound-Buffing-Compound/dp/B0000DD35C/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=green+buffing+compound&qid=1554569951&s=gateway&sr=8-2 This is the stuff I bought back in 2015. My brick looks a bit different, but the quality should be the same. (just make sure you get the extra fine green).

I mean in theory that should work out. Might not be the easiest way to handle it haha. I just have a little stroping block I use. It's like a 4 inch X 12 inch piece of leather on a block of wood. I've heard you can use stropping compound on cardboard as an alternative to leather but I don't have personal experience with that. Either way you would want stropping compound I use this

Green polishing compound. It's the paste that I load my strop with for honing.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000DD35C#Ask

I use a King 250/1000 and a strop with some buffing compound.

If you do pursue diamond stones, here is a list of what I have.. I am not sure if this the be-all-end-all, and I can definitely recommend trying lots of things, because sharpening seems to be something so personal. Just wanted to collate in one place what I have settled on thus far.

This is one of the cheaper setups. I think it would be interesting to try ceramics at the top end, and better leather for a multi-strop setup.. Just ran out of funds after trying several failed other methods ;)

OP gave you some good advice about research. I'd add that if you can somehow find someone local who can show you what sharp really is, that would be a big bonus. I haven't found that person yet myself, because I am a hermit.

Stones:

• DMT D8X (Extra-Coarse) - $55. Amazon
  
  
• DMT D8C (Coarse) - $55. Amazon
  
  
• DMT D8F (Fine) - $53. Amazon
  
  
• DMT D8E (Extra Fine) - $55. Amazon
  
  Paddles:
  
  
• DMT Paddle Kit (Coarse, Fine, Extra-Fine) - $23. Amazon
  
  Stropping:
  
  
• Leather piece of scrap - From an old weight belt. Can be bought new for about $12, but I suggest cutting up a thrift store leather jacket or something.
  
  
• Woodstock Honing Compound - $13. Amazon
  
  
• 1" x8" Pine board as strop backing
  
  
• 3M Spray adhesive - $13. Amazon
  
  Sandpaper:
  
  
• Porter Cable 80 grit PSA Roll - $12. Amazon
  
  
• Porter Cable 120 grit PSA Roll - $12. Amazon
  
  
• Shower Door Glass used as sandpaper backing -- I got mine from the scrap bin at a glass shop, you can use premade granite blocks from Woodcraft for about $40. Or granite countertop scraps. If money is no object buy something premade just to avoid the "is it me or the tool?" doubts.
  
  
• Miscellaneous wet/dry sandpaper sheets in grits from 220-1500 for sharpening gouges and carving tools, I wrap around wooden dowels along with stropping compound to polish at the end. I bought the dia-wave sharpener and it was not as good.

Just kidding.

Start off with a good angle grinder, I use a Milwaukee and a cheap throw away one from Harbor Freight for the hard cutting (it's not good for the motors on these things)

Then stick a 4" buffing wheel on it, I buy mine from Harbor Freight because they tend to hold up well once you get past the initial explosion of fluff.

Then get a bar of Black Compound and use that to get the majority of the crap off of the top. Light recharge and often is usually what they say to do. I had to do heaver charges which can cause clumps to build up and burn. It just smells bad, doesn't hurt anything.

Next, rub it down with some mineral spirits to get all of the old compound off.

Take the 4" wheel off the grinder and begin using these the rest of the time

The next step is to hit it with some brown compound


followed by some Blue compound

wiping all residue off each time with mineral spirits

Green comes next

followed lastly by purchasing a block of jewelers rouge, melting it down in a bowl mixed half with mineral oil. Let it dry until it becomes a paste and then go over the surface 2 more times.

Finish it up with some regular paste wax. I actually had to go over mine with some 2000 grit sand paper because it was too much of a mirror finish for my liking. It wasn't a mirror but it was close.

Or he rubbed someone the wrong way.

>a whetting stone

Well, that's problem 1, IMHO. If your single stone is too rough, you'll never get a good edge. If it is too fine and your knife is dull, you'll never remove enough metal. Do you know the grit of your stone?

You probably need 4 surfaces to get a knife really sharp. A coarse stone to repair a nicked or damaged blade, and a few more successively finer stones/strops. Get one of these and some of this on an old belt, and you'll have the right tools.

Now, for feel. Yes, there is a very specific feel and sound when you are doing it right. To find the right angle, place your knife edge on the stone, and slowly rotate to the side, pivoting on the edge. At some point, you'll find a second point of contact on your bevel, and then your knife will rotate around that bevel, lifting the edge. Go back to where you found 2 points of contact. You want the knife resting on those 2 pivot points - that's the angle of the grind of your knife, and that's the angle you want to hold the knife at when you sharpen it.

If you sharpen at the correct angle, the knife will move smoothly along the surface (unless your stone is really rough), and it should make a hissing-type sound, not unlike what you hear in a movie when someone pulls a knife out of a holster. You won't get a good hiss if your stone is too rough though.

What kind of grind do these knives have? If they are hollow ground, you can't recreate that on a flat stone, take the knives to a pro sharpener with the right tools. Are they "scandi," flat, or high flat? If they are, they'll be extra easy to find the right angle. If they are convex, you'll probably have to work the 'hardest' to find the right angle, but just look for the sound and feel feedback.

This sounds daunting, but it really is a task that takes an hour to learn and a lifetime to master. Even with just an hour of the proper technique down, and the right tools, you should be able to get any blade to go from crap to tomato slicing in 20 minutes or less.

Nonononononononononononononononononononononoooooooo.
Seriously, that thing is just going to chew right into the plastic and potentially damage something.

Use a plastic polishing compound, a very small amount at a time, go slow, and be very careful not to let it get inside of the handheld. Ideally you'd disassemble the console to do this, but the Vita isn't exactly easy if you're not already experienced with disassembling snap-closure plastic enclosures.

Again, absolutely no power tools on plastic! It's too imprecise, and buffing wheels generate heat astonishingly quickly.

> I want to break in the gun properly

Give it a basic cleaning as the manual istructs, then shoot it a lot.

> Also, what should I use to polish the metal bits?

Jeweler's rouge and a soft cloth. You can also use a rotary tool on a low speed setting with a cotton wheel and jeweler's rouge, just go slow.

Not quite the right sub, we deal predominantly with glass art however, there is something that may work if the scratches are not too deep. Cerium Oxide Powder can be used as demonstrated on This Page to polish glass. You don't necessarily need an expensive electric buffing tool if they arent deep it will just take some elbow grease. Alternatively if you have an electric drill you can get Buffing Wheels and Cerium oxide powder combos as well

All things considered though I'd first contact the manufacturer and ask about warranty options for a broken (smashed not scratched) jar or if they can supply you with a new one and at what cost. sometimes the manufacturers will really stand behind their products no questions asked. Had huntington Beach send me 2 new crockpots because mine went bad after only a year, never hurts to try.