RE: X-acto knife sharpening

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 6/29/2012 5:05 PM

DESERT RATT

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I don't do anything Bob, I probably wouldn't be there but The driver can grab my bottle of Hardened Epoxy with #11's inside it and throw it at the culprit who caused the crash.

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 6/29/2012 5:16 PM

smithcreek

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Paul_BB
I suppose it is easier to carve a balsa block than a string instrument.

Another (last) question: do you think a strop is useful ? Do you use one yourself ?

The only thing is I find balsa to be very weird sometimes, a lot more variance. You basically know how hard a piece of maple is and how well it will plane or carve based on figure and grain. Balsa can be very tricky. It may seem soft, but it may not want to plane or carve well. The wingtips on the P-26 were a real pain. The balsa was not heavy, but it was extrememly difficult to cut. The grain was highly interlocked, meaning that even though the grain was straight, there were lots of fibres running back and forth across the grain. You can see this sometimes if you split a piece of wood. Some split cleanly, others split but fibres running across the wood hold the two pieces together. Not sure if you know what I'm talking about, but it makes cutting, planing, carving difficult.

Absolutely yes on a strop, but you don't need to buy one, just get a piece of scrap leather and glue it to a block of wood. Charge it with buffing rouge or I've used super fine rubbing compound for autos. If your blade is not damaged or nicked, but is just losing a little bit of it's super-duper sharpness you can bring it back once or twice without the need to hone a new edge. Do some research on double bevel sharpening if you haven't already, it makes sharpening easier and faster because you only need to grind the primary bevel once every 6-8 times you hone, and if you polish the edge with a strop a couple times every time you hone the secondary bevel you get 20 or so sharpenings between grinding.

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 6/29/2012 10:04 PM

llindsey1965

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i buy bulk not going to waste time sharpening blades i can replace easily!!!!!

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 6/30/2012 5:28 AM

Paul_BB

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quote:

ORIGINAL: smithcreek
The only thing is I find balsa to be very weird sometimes, a lot more variance.

Do some research on double bevel sharpening if you haven't already, it makes sharpening easier and faster because you only need to grind the primary bevel once every 6-8 times you hone, and if you polish the edge with a strop a couple times every time you hone the secondary bevel you get 20 or so sharpenings between grinding.

Someone told me that the quality of the balsa we modelers find on the market is getting worse year after year because the windmill companies buy the highest grade for their windmill blades.
It seems to me that the balsa we modeler can buy gets denser and denser, at least here in Europe.

Thank you for your double bevel tip, I will try it.
Yesterday I looked around in the house for a piece of leather but did not find one. So I'm gonna buy a trade strop.

I am very happy to have been helped by a stringed instrument maker !

-Paul

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 6/30/2012 3:42 PM

LesUyeda

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"Charge it with buffing rouge "

Don't forget the lighter fluid to liquidize it to allow it to saturate the leather. Used to do that with my leather carving blades, when I was hand tooling leather.

Les

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 6/30/2012 4:55 PM

Paul_BB

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I received today my 1000/2000 honing stone. I sacrificed an old leather belt of mine because I found some steel polishing compound. This French mixture is used to polish plumbing fixture (I just could'nt wait for the buffing rouge).

I grinded the x-acto blade on both sides of the stone and then polished it with the leather belt charged with the polishing compound: the result is spectacular. Maybe will it be even better with buffing rouge.

I have also honed for the fun an old, sligthly rusted, german made hunting knife my father bought in the seventies: the result is even more spectacular. I suppose this is due to the quality of the german steel.

The next step is to order a few violin-maker's knifes and a flat chisel.

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 6/30/2012 5:20 PM

carrellh

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quote:

ORIGINAL: snir2001
make friends with people working in the hospital and get yourself surgical blades... they are the best!

Or buy the surgical blades. These are about double the price of the Tower blades http://www.cincinnatisurgical.com

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 7/8/2012 5:40 PM

Clay Walters

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I've been sharpening my xacto blades with a steel. Just hit a few strokes after any cut you feel dulls it a tad. But once the point is gone my blade gets used for general "on the table" work and not critical covering cuts.

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 7/12/2012 9:30 PM

acdii

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I use a diamond encrusted flat steel stone to put the edge on, and a rubber hone with aluminum oxide powder to polish the blade. Takes about 5 minutes to put an edge on a worn out blade, better than new.

Cost me all of $20 for both. I also have some diamond files for the other types of blades in my knife kit. I do woodworking too, and have some chisels and carving tools that are extremely sharp, used a tri stone for the edge, and the rubber strop for the finish. Some are so sharp just the weight of the tool alone is all that is needed to make a cut.

Here is something that p1$$3d me off to no end. I bought a Delta sharpening station, the one with the 10" wheel on top and 4" wheel on the side, and they stopped making the damn things, and now I cant get replacement wheels for it. The 4" wheel is out of balance now. This is used for edging my planer blades, which I need to do again since some glue joints nicked my thickness planer blades.

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 7/12/2012 9:39 PM

AmishWarlord

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OMG, three pages of post about sharpening disposable X-acto blades.

Well since I'm here I think you should get one of these!

http://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-WS3000-Wood-Sharpener/dp/B000PVHIMW

I know your saying "But Amish, isn't it crazy to spend $200 on a machine just to sharpen disposable X-acto blades"?

Why yes it is crazy.

Don't listen to me though. I'm saving for a $1,500 lathe so I can make $2 hobby parts.

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 7/15/2012 7:20 PM

LouisB

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Interesting thread. Yes, it seems ludicrous to resharpen blades but what the heck, it safes the planet. Just look at the number of (expensive) components in your automobile that are throw-aways these days. easily repaired. That is how you get into this trap. First they start cheap, not worth to repair/ sharpen. Once hooked, the purchase price starts running.

Regarding old blades, I suggest that you take it to your nearest medical facility as they have a disposal procedure on dealing with "sharps".

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 7/16/2012 5:28 AM

Paul_BB

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quote:

ORIGINAL: LouisB
Interesting thread. Yes, it seems ludicrous to resharpen blades but what the heck, it safes the planet. Just look at the number of (expensive) components in your automobile that are throw-aways these days. easily repaired. That is how you get into this trap. First they start cheap, not worth to repair/ sharpen. Once hooked, the purchase price starts running.

Yes this is a way for me to ease my guilty conscience.
The world is running out of raw material. A lot of steel is lost in the form of rust.

What kind of world are we gonna leave to our children ? I hope they will have the possibility to transmute matter.

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 7/16/2012 10:02 AM

AmishWarlord

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Paul_BB

I hope they will have the possibility to transmute matter.

They'll have it in another 20 years. Graphene will be the new plastic, or glass, or metal or what ever you want it to be.

Combine this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QP73uTJApw

With this, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zpbIOpZ14Y

Jest "Anyone have plans for the Moki 250cc radial"?
Frank "I have then, "send".
Jest "OK got the file. "Print"
Jest "Dang this thing it going to take over an hour to print out"!
Jest "I was hopeing to run this engine tonight before the WWII fly in tomaorow".
Frank "Yeah I know, I just printed out a 1/4 scale P-40 with a 1/4 scale Allisone engine in it".
Jest "I have my Grandfathers old 1/4 scale Corsair. The vintage Moki is all gumed up so I'm printing out a new one for it".
Frank "Damn your changing engines in by hand? That's cool man. I wish I had skills like that".

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 7/16/2012 11:33 AM

Paul_BB

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Pretty cool !

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 7/16/2012 11:51 AM

AmishWarlord

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...and here is a cheap home vertion. LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt3EGgtSAUc

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 7/16/2012 11:53 AM

AmishWarlord

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Worlds first 3-d Printed RC plane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRDg4UB9Ajg

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 7/25/2012 2:52 AM

KitBuilder

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Leather strap glued to a piece or wodd is all you need... just like at the barber...

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RE: X-acto knife sharpening - 7/25/2012 5:34 AM

Paul_BB

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Yes but if the blade is blunt you need a honing stone. Or did I miss something ?

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