Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2011 5:17:43 GMT
I recently purchased a Chinese Dao from Traditional Filipino Weapons, heck of a sword, tremendous bang for the buck but it came with a dull edge. Ron from TFW offered to exchange it for a sharp one but I figured I'd just put an edge on it myself with my handy-dandy Harbor Freight belt sander. I'm still a novice with the belt sander and this was my first time to take a blade all the way up to the leather strop. I'm satisfied with the edge I ended up with, it will almost but not quite shave and is plenty sharp enough for bottle cutting duties. My question concerns the leather strop: It didn't end up with the dark deposits on it like you see in Tom K.'s video tutorial. Does this mean I didn't use it long enough, or didn't apply enough pressure? I gave it four passes in each direction, it was cleanly slicing paper towels so I figured that was plenty sharp enough.
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Post by chrisperoni on Sept 12, 2011 15:14:38 GMT
what polishing compound did you use?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2011 17:02:19 GMT
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Post by chrisperoni on Sept 12, 2011 17:09:08 GMT
That's the good stuff alright. Hmm, I don't know why there was no dark colouration left on the leather; every time I've ever polished anything either with a strop or a wheel there is some darkening from the slight removal of metal mixing with the compound. Maybe you have the magic touch! I woudn't worry about it as it seems the results are good. I'm curious to see if anyone else has an explanation.
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Razor
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Post by Razor on Sept 12, 2011 18:53:24 GMT
Sounds like you didn't use it long enough. And you shouldn't use a lot of pressure.
You should use the strop untill all of the burr is gone, It does take awhile to do that.
What side of the strop are you using?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2011 0:06:51 GMT
I'm using the rough side. I'll try using it a bit longer and see if I get better results, it almost shaves now so I'm satisfied with it, but I want to do it right, too.
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Post by GUEST on Sept 13, 2011 8:36:36 GMT
I don't known about Tom but I use the finished side of a leather belt to put a fine edge on. It will dod alot better job of polishing than the rough side.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2011 23:12:23 GMT
I re-did the stropping, I was going to try the smooth side but the polishing compound wouldn't stick to the smooth side. I made pass after pass until I finally got an even, black deposit on the strop. I rested the sword on the edge of a piece of cardboard and it sliced it clean as a whistle so I tried it on my arm and it shaved my arm. Thanks to everyone here who offered advice and, of course, a big thank you to Tom K.
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Post by bleachsword on Sept 15, 2011 15:32:54 GMT
Now you just need to post up a photo of your hard work.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2011 10:42:43 GMT
I don't have the steadiest hands, and it looks pretty sloppy. I'll be taking pictures when I cut with it for a little review I plan to do.
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