Chaps my behind

[Piedmont Plinker]

I hpe there is a copy of 20,000 Leauges Under the Sea on that movie shelf.
Every kid should see that movie.
You are a PICU nurse? I respect you, and thank all in your profession. I was recently in PICU, after my heart surgery, and I was taken great care of.

 

[Okiecruffler]

There's a copy of just about every movie around here somewhere, the wife is addicted.
And unless you're under 18, you were probably in the PCU, where they also give great care. I work in the pediatric intensive care unit. Or did, I'm on sabatical for at least another 6 months. (don't ask why). Currently I work at the JD Mccarty Center. (http://www.jdmccarty.com/) working with CP, autistic and the like. Different kind of stress, but no one dies. Looking to move somewhere that has a top notch children's hospital soon and I'll get back to the PICU. I do miss it so.

 

[Piedmont Plinker]

I was in PICU first- I'm fourteen.

 

[Okiecruffler]

Then I stand corrected. If it's not too personal, which hospital were you in? I know most of the pediatric cardiac surgeons in the US, worked under 4 of the best from time to time. My skills lie more in trauma and neuro, but I've run more than a few hearts when the need arose.

 

[The Tourist]

my trusty Old Timer SharpFinger has long since been given away

Then you'll be happy to know that sitting here somewhere amid a case of empty Patron and six cocktail waitresses I don't think I've met (or remember) is the replacement Sharp Finger as promised by TrapperReady.

One of the girls claims to remember I was a knife sharpener at one time, and who am I to dispute someone in LED lit up tassles?

After all, she was right before in informing me I ride a motorcycle. I went to visit the head, and sure enough, there's a black Harley parked in her kitchen. I believe the six townies it is parked upon did not suffer. To my way of thinking their suffering came from being townies...

I will make every attempt possible in finding the motor that is making this cheap apartment spin, and barring any other startling information this nice young woman departs to me, I will find this supposed sharpener and give him your knife, post haste.

Oh, look, another bottle of Patron...mercy, there's a seventh cocktail waitress!

I figure you'll have it by October, December at the lastest unless New Year's is at the end of the month, again. Don't fret one bit.

Arriba, arriba, agave...

 

[sm]

Okie - hopefully, someday will have a Sharpfinger .

If lucky, this Sharpfinger will not have a Delrin handle sharp enough for a Sushi chef to use and have a chrome plated blade that says:

"Tassel to Live - Live to Tassel."



Plop plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is.[/I] - Alka-Seltzer

*wink*

 

[The Tourist]

LOL, by now both the giver and the receiver are worried...

 

[sm]

The rest of us are having a real good time.

Okie needed a knife
Trapper provided one.
Some Biker Dude is supposed to sharpen it.

I mean you can't get heart wrenching, honest to goodness "Pass it Forward" and all with humor like this from TeeVee.

This is great!

All "we" need that are viewing is for Okie to toss out some Orange Push Up Ice cream [the door on the left behind Nurse's Station, adjacent to Drug Med Computer, and Crash Cart] and we would be set!

Okie, check to see if there are any little stuffed Quail animals while you are back there...I lost mine to a cute kid two years old...

 

[Okiecruffler]

Okay, that's one of the funniest things I've ever read.

Just checked, no push-up back there, just those little cups of vanilla ice cream. But if you stick one of those little cups of P-Nut butter in the micro wave and pour it over the ice cream...Oh yeah.

But to be truthful, I'm not really being given a knife. I'm being entrusted with it until the young prince is old enough to need it. On that day he will be gifted this knife and this story so that he may know 2 things.
1. There was a day when the US made steel and it was good.
but more importantly
2. No matter what action you perform, it always comes back to you, good or bad. But if you surround yourself with fine folk, the good may come around alittle quicker and alittle more substancial.

Can't thank you guys enough, not just for the knife, but for another story, and reinforcement in my belief that there are still good folks out there, even on the web.

 

[sm]

Daddy?? What is a tassel?


You know, there are some questions a kid asks a dad, and they cannot reply:
"Go ask your mom".

 

[sixgunner455]

Hopefully, the biker dude won't get too distracted by the cocktail waitresses to remember to sharpen the knife.

Life is full of burdens. Show your character, Tourist!! Don't forget to take the knife when you go home!!!

 

[The Tourist]

the biker dude won't get too distracted

Have no fear. Dinner is over, dishes are done, the mutts are dozing. The house is quiet and it's time to start sharpening.

Pictures to follow...

 

[TrapperReady]

the mutts are dozing

Lucky you! Ours are out in the backyard, uneating the things they ate off the coffee table while we were out at dinner. Ahh... the wonders of hydrogen peroxide. :banghead:

In your honor, I am now posting under the influence of margaritas.

 

[Piedmont Plinker]

Jaggers at Duke, to answer your question.

 

[sm]

The Tourist,
Sir..

Old Timer is 1095 Carbon, and I am curious how you approach not only this steel, also the blade shape in sharpening.

I am not sure some know what that blade shape actually is.

I know how I did/do these, still this is such a neat thread, I look forward to learning how you do sharpen this, and suggest maintaining it.

Okie can make a copy of this thread and share with his son all about this knife someday.

"Dad! You sure knew some weird folks on teh Intrawebz. "

 

[The Tourist]

I promised pictures. I tried my best to show the mirror finish. BTW, it's quite "toasty."

Edit: Tinkers' polish removed all of the patina.

sm, for you, the perfect edge...

 

[sm]

The Tourist,

Please call me Steve.

Very Nice!!

 

[Okiecruffler]

Dr. James Jaggers, one of the youngun's in the game, reflectively speaking. Never met him, but know of his reputation. I've read a few of his papers, mostly on aortic switch. Quite the transplantist as well from what I've heard. Duke has a great program that I've always wanted to visit.

 

[Okiecruffler]

WOW, what a blade. I may just use that to shave with. The blade shape is a bit different. Dad hated the things, he was the one who called mine the gut nipper. Said you couldn't gut anything with it and not nip a gut. He may be right, but tradition is tradition.

 

[The Tourist]

Old Timer is 1095 Carbon, and I am curious how you approach not only this steel, also the blade shape in sharpening.

To best answer your question I need to define where I am in the world of cutlery.

A "sharpener" does simply that. Big ugly rock rubbed on a knife.

A "polisher" is a usually a trained Japanese craftsman who does historic appraisals and documentations, repairs and 'polishes' what we would consider the edged weapons of the samurai. In this pursuit, he uses traditional Japanese style polishing stones, historic and stylized training and methods.

I am a "tinker." Yes, the bulk of my day is "sharpening." But in providing that service, I also repair and salvage knives, tools, pots and jewelry clasps. I have chosen to provide the best service I can by studying and duplicating as many of the polishing procedures I can in a Japanese understanding.

To accomplish this, I seek out tools and systems which are simply a modern rendition of the Japanese idea. I might use a stone from Edge Pro, and a paste from Hand American. I might polish with a .5 micron paper from 3M, using an application of pastes and oils secured to a thick piece of glaziers' glass. I also utilize real horsehide strops, primarily in repair. I have no recognized formal training.

(If I worked in front of a 12th century polisher, even though we did not speak the same language, he would simply sort through my supplies and polish a sword.)

Having said that as a back story, I would take your knife and appraise it. I could learn quite a bit by my historical study, a small library, experience and marks on the ricasso. (Polishers removed handles and studied marks and caligraphy.)

Unless you specify a need, like reprofiling a thicker edge for caping, I would repair and blend out chips, re-form the tip, remove patina (unless it damaged historic value) make the bevel as uniform side to side and front to back as possible, sharpen, and then polish to the most brilliant finish the alloy will hold.

In short, imagine if you took your modern pocketknife, climbed into a time machine set for Edo in 1150 AD, found a polisher and secured his services.

Now imagine holding that pocketknife upon completion.

That's what I would do to your knife...

 

[sm]

The Tourist,

You and I are on the same page.
In private, you and I would get along just fine.

Oh I did not study Japanese swords and methods, still I do know the difference in sharpening, repairing, and polishing.

One of the neatest "toys" I played with, were old surgical scalpels.
I wish I still had some, but for fun and certain folks, repair and freehand sharpen and polish, where they could be, and were used for surgery.
These are well liked by taxidermists.

Gen Ivory takes an interesting edge as well.
I fixed a letter opener, and was asked if could make it so it would cut an apple if need.
It did.

I had a powder from Germany used dry, or "just moist", that would really brighten things up.
A neat stone I used was a Scottish Tablet.
Just fun stuff, that I like messing with for a mental change from real tasks.

Now-a-days, I don't get into all this.
I have though...


Sharpfinger is a neat design, and many do not appreciate the ergos or how to use it.
There was a "push" to drop point and other shapes, and knives in general.

These Old Timers were not that expensive, and the sheaths were pretty good.
Everybody that ever got rid of one, lost one , or for whatever reason does not have one, wants one today.
Many folks ran as fast as they could for every new and fangled that came out on the market.
With time, comes maturity...
Sharpfinger is that good of a knife, just many did not know what they had until is was gone.

Life is that way...

 

[The Tourist]

You and I are on the same page.

Steve, from our past posts and PMs, I knew we would agree on the cutlery portion of the sport. Now, I don't want to mislead you--I'm not a snob about having a nice knife. I guess I could find a 3,000 dollar Loveless if I wanted. Today I carried a 50 buck Spyderco D'Allara (with a Japanese edge)

Here's the set up I used to repair and sharpen a Japanese laminate deba used by a local caterer. As you can see, I threw the whole kitchensink of cutlery history at the little knife.

Below that is my favorite reference book.

 

[sm]

Steve, from our past posts and PMs, I knew we would agree on the cutlery portion of the sport.

Oh yeah, "cutlery sport"...

The wind never stops blowing in OK, I mean in OK if the wind "ain't so bad today", this means your ice cream won't get blown out of its ice cream cone .

So you stand outside the hotel room on a little baloney, so you can smoke, since the powers that be, got gummit money about folks not smoking inside.

You stand up there and free hand sharpen a Sharpfinger, on a dry Norton Stone, trying to not get blown off the darn balconey.
Bikers are doing a fund raiser for kids, as planned, you have a bag of stuffed animals.

Sport is (a) getting enough lead with the wind, dropping the bag to the Biker Babes down below and (b) remembering where you were when you pick up the knife again.


Ask me about "sport" and sharpening a Buck 110 in OK with some ticked off Bulls sometime.
FWIW, them old Ford Courrier trucks, really small, that a ranch with bulls and oil has for use...
Will tump over if'n a bull is really ticked and decides to come after you.
It was bad enough getting "scooted", getting tumped, is really something.
This is the part you do some broken field running and climb atop a shed - and wait.
Might as sharpen a knife, the bulls ain't leaving, the wind ain't gonna stop blowing, and the others ain't showed up - yet.

Don't know about Japanese Stone, I do know Cherokees will laugh them selves silly though.

 

[The Tourist]

Don't know about Japanese Stone

That's why I included the picture.

If you just to the right of the Edge Pro, you will see a 3x9 inch Japanese stone of 12,000 grit. Most often, they are now used to sharpen barbers' razors. A tinker uses it to sharpen (polish) the obverse side of a laminate knife.

At the bottom right of the picture you will see a strap on a chain. That's real horse hide.

To the left you will notice a flat iron device with grooves cut into it. That's a flattening iron used to keep waterstones in shape.

To the mid right are some modern pastes and oils which duplicate the pumice a polisher might use.

To the left of the Edge Pro is a typical Japanese laminated deba. It's a heavy knife, thick spine, weighted like a meat cleaver. Don't be fooled. When I finished, it would shave blonde baby hair from your arm. (A good sharp knife might shave the dark, coarse hair, but a really sharp knife toasts those tiny blonde ones.)

And just for fun, in the top left of the picture is a banzai tree.

Sorry about the word "sport." I use the word as I would use the word "discipline." Like "the sport of motorcycling." Or perhaps the "discipline of target shooting." Being retired and sharpening/polishing when I choose I do not find the word "work" to be proper.

And I do not know of a singular word which translates into "sleeps late, hits the gym to look at girls, smears Pig Snot onto a Harley, takes a nap, fixes a few knives, finishes off the latte' if some is left, does some laundry and plays with the mutts until the wife comes home for dinner."

I condense it down to "sport."

 

[sm]

When you get good...
You can take dirt, and put it on a bare spot on a log, and strop and polish.

*grin*

Okie and others know what The Tourist and I are doing.
Mutual respect for experiences , some derived from years of apprenticeship.

This thread is about what I and others, and THRs Mission Statement is all about.
Okie's handsome son, is being raised with these values.

This is for Okie's boy, and one can learn from others, if they pay attention.
Okie's son does not know right now he is passing forward, he has not idea what a Sharpfinger really is, nor a Japanese Water Stone, or a Norton stone.

Okie's son is passing forward, though he does not know it, and about what life is about, and what it means to be truly rich.

TrapperReady, will be explained is a user name, used on Internet, not some toy at the store.
The lessons of how like kind, helping others, just like his daddy's does at work.

The Tourist is another user name, and just like daddy, he "apprenticed" and learned what he does.
Books and going to school only teaches so much, actually having to do, and be mentored along the way, even after getting out of school is the key.
It just takes time, and doing, to be proficient at anything.

Skill sets earned, allows Okie to use a Sharpfinger.
Skill sets earned, allows Okie to use a 311 shotgun as he can and does.

Okie's son will learn about this, and how one cannot just out and buy a fancy knife, and fancy gun, and be a expert with it.

He will also learn, it is about the people one meets along Life's Journey.
Sharpfinger's used to sell for $15 new back in the day.
There are too many Sharpfingers, like this one, one cannot put a dollar value on.
One cannot buy a $300 even $1000 custom knife, bring it home and it have the value this Sharpfinger has, and Okie has not received it yet.

Eventually, maybe these more expensive knives might, many will not.

Already we have Trapper and The Tourist, that are a part of this knife.
Trapper will share some things about that knife with Okie.

"Semi-Worthless-Dawg" spilt all his dawg food when he tumped that sack over after I opened that sack, with that Sharpfinger one night..." Trapper might share with Okie.
SWD is a respectful nickname for Trapper's Dawg.

"I cut some cheese and summer sausage for me and boy one afternoon" - he might share.
Trapper, has a handsome son too.

The Tourist might share how that Stone, was a gift from a Mentor, and stories about this mentor.
Maybe some know chef that needs to stay private, but that stone was used to do up a knife.

Neat stuff for Okie, and neat for a kid!

This Sharpfinger is not some dumb old antiquated knife made from antiquated steel.
It is a proven knife.
It keeps on proving itself.
It keeps passing forward .

*neat*