wanting to buy an axe for a while and browsing youtube lead me to your channel, and most of the axe channels like wranglestar are saddaneing, but you are by far the most source of knowledge and information on youtube axwise , thanks for being the guy you are!
@@SkillCult Then you are the expert, well versed if you will, on the unfilled niche, because your channel seems to be a outlier on the phenomenal side.
When I was stationed in Japan I used to buy water stones in their hardware stores. They were much cheaper than buying them online. I wish I had bought more while I was there.
If u r going to carry a strop anyway, glue leather belt to back of 160x30mm 320 grit Aliexpress diamond plate. Black buffing compound for the leather. More compact. No water needed.
I bought one of those for $3 at y local Asian market. It works amazingly. I just file the finish it up with the whetstone and it was good in about 5 min.
Great tip on the King water stones. Reasonably priced with an easy option for taking a chunk along with you while still having a useful piece left over. I'm getting one.
This is brilliant, i just got my first hatchet and i have a lot of sharpening stones for my chisels and kitchen knives. The first stone i got was this king 1000/6000 which i don't have a use for now really. I was debating whether or not to get a puck sharpening stone for my hatchet, Now you just saved me money on getting a puck stone, as well as bringing new purpose to my old king stone, Absolutely fantastic! thank you so much
Great video, have been glued to your channel lately, well worth a sub. I also bought the king combo stone on Amazon via your link with free shipping, it was 25% of the price I could get on ebay here in Australia. Thanks for the heads up!
been using this idea for the past year and couldn't be happier. It's just perfect for sharpening axes, drawknifes etc and 1000/250 seems to be a pretty ideal combination perhaps combined with a leather strop. I have been using mine a ton and it getting pretty thin but still functional. I just realized why you grind off the corners - what a difference it makes! So much more comfortable to handle and it seems to wear more evenly without these awkard corners.
Thanks for checking in. I've been nothing but happy too. Sure it could wear better, but it wouldn't cut as well. I haven't heard any negative feeback yet, only positive. I might do a shorter version of this video to get the idea out there more. I cut the corners off to fit in a mayonaise sized plastic lid, which I don't really find myself using anymore, but I think it was a good idea in general too.
Hello there - Ben from Portland Oregon area. Curious where you are? Saw your madrone vid which pretty much is my favorite tree... well in the top 3. I just stumbled across your channel today. Found you on axe-connected through a link to the husqvarna hatchet review. You strike me as a principally minded person. A quality that i appreciate and share. It's rare I find anyone who is as interested and detailed about this stuff and WHO likes axes as much. About the video- great stuff and so glad you shared this idea because I felt the same way you did about the Gransfors/wetterlings stone so I cut the end of my king stone off a couple months ago and now I've gone crazy and started cutting all different kinds of shapes out of stones I don't use as much. (i used angle grinder with a abrasive masonry disk) It's great your taking the time to share this stuff because teaching people who are willing to take the time to learn to be more resourceful is for me one of the best gifts you can give another person.
Nice to meet you. I'm in norcal. We have tons of madrone here and lots of crowded small trees that slowly die out over the years. The madrone berry crop is insane here this year. More berries than leaves on some of them. I've modified stones too for different things. I thought about using a 4 inch grinder with diamond cut off, but went with the saw on the king because I thought it might be safer in terms of chipping out the stone. They are so soft. Worked okay. I'm all about resourcefulness and learning to walk around more self contained. Philiosophy and fundamental overarching principals over rules and specifics and skills over gear. !
How about a 3” grinding wheel for mini bench grinders? I’m sure two stones of different grit and/or different abrasive could be glued together. Thanks for the video
hanks for the recommendation. Cool thing is that after 7 long years and through all these inflations, one can still get the king stone for the same price mentioned in this vid: $19.90!
Off-topic, but an old wood saw can be transformed into a panel hacksaw that people once used in the Cold War. You'll need a carbide bit though. Yes, they can also be sold for Japanese waterstones.
Thank you sir for a great idea for an axe puck! I'm a new subscriber and am really enjoying your videos. I enjoy homesteading topics and find yours the best. Logcabinlooms is great also. Just a sharing of your wisdom without any religious stuff. Your spirituality, ethics and moral come through subtlety and shown in your love of "work". Well done!
Great idea ! I have the exact same stone- it came cracked and now i use it for axes and machetes,not knives.Good quality and the coarse side is not too aggressive .The 1000# side is not too far from a high quality Japanese King stone.If cut in half it is a far better and cheaper option than Falknives to use for both axes and knives in the field.It is easily found on Amazon.
@@SkillCult Just to clarify, I mean when you are cutting a piece off the stone, not using it to sharpen. They will cut with a saw far easier then. King stones in general are meant to be used really wet (soaked), if you don't actually do that, there are stones designed to use far less water, called splash-n-go, you might want to look into them.
Hey, next time you want to buy an axe puck try the Baryonix Knife Company, they make a great stone at 240/400. It makes a really fine finish and is pretty easy to carry.
I've seen that axe puck around from other sources recently. Looks like Baryonyx has some other tools I'm interested in being able to recommend. I'll pick one of the pucks up eventually to test it against the king 1000. It probably would last a lot longer, but the king is my benchmark for now for effectiveness and affordability. his youtube channel fourty two blades is great.
SkillCult I have they're "hybrid bench stone" or Something like that. Super fast material removal, great for axes. I can take recommended one of the billhooks he sells, they are great woods tools for clearing brush and other property maintenance.
I was looking at the German farmer's file. I like the Bahco Farmer''s file, but his is cheaper and I'm sure good quality. He also has a 4 way rasp, which I didn't even know anyone made a quality version of, and it's affordable. I don't really need any of that stuff, but I might buy it for review.
SkillCult The farmers file is great! Goes out of stock a lot though. I prefer the cut off the Bacho myself but they're both very good. I haven't tried the 4 way rasp, but I love those too. Might pick one up eventually. It's a slippery slope ordering from a site like that with all the cool, affordable tools. I would be interested to see what you think of one of the Italian pattern axes. Here I am sounding like a Baryonyx spokesperson....
Japanese sickle stones also... They are just miniature waterstones intended to be held in the hand like an axe puck. You can buy them directly from Japan for $10 on ebay. But cutting up that combo stone might still be more economical. I have that same stone. The King 1000 grit is a totally sufficient pre-strop stone. Check out my DIY strop video! I've settled on a strop design that is exceptionally portable and has been working great.
That's cool. I hmight check out those Japanese sickle stones. I should try some different compound. I've always just used whatever is lying around. Do you have a preference?
For stropping compound? I have good results with the regular green chromium oxide that comes in bar form. It is easy to apply and economical. I recently picked up some diamond polishing paste that I am going to experiment with too. I have a couple knives with fancy steel and my research tells me that the vanadium carbide content in the knife steel is harder than the chromium oxide, so diamond is supposed to yield better results. We'll see, but for axes the green stuff is fine.
Yeah, well wears out fast won't always equals cuts fast. There may also be alternatives that cut fast, but wear less fast, but clearly that is why these stones wear quickly. It's not like the Japanese waterstone paradigm exists for no reason. I'm not sure it is obvious to most viewers. Funny thing is that I figured it out a long time ago using an ultra cheapo stone I got for $1.00 I just noticed my hard norton and other stones I had stopped getting used because they took too long.
This Marbles Two-Sided Hand Sharpener is amazing! It is made with two different grits and is easy to carry with you! It comes brand new in the original packaging with warranty!
Looks like you're in NorCal (I used to live in Siskiyou & Humboldt). You should be able to find some Oregon ash near water in you region. That's probably your best bet for tool handles there. Pacific Yew rocks too, but it's usually too rare to harvest.
I love that stone man! I'm going to see how precisely I can break a rectangular stone I already have. I don't know the brand but it doesn't have that plastic band running through it, so it should break without cutting if I use a tile or brick cutting method. It seems like the square sides would provide a better grip than the rounded pucks too. By the way, I've had great luck finding stones on the beach that I can sharpen a knife to shaving sharp with. I spent 45 minutes looking and found around 6 fine grit stones with no high points and had a good shape for carrying.
+BeSatori I've used natural stones quite a bit. Mudstones and slate can be good. After all, thats all people used to have. I have an old scythe stone that is slate. It is easy to grip in a way, but I do prefer the lid holder when using it just for more grip thickness Oregon ash is probably great. I have a bow made from it. Unfortunately it is hard to actually get any because it is almost strictly riparian here, so it isn't abundant and usually in places where I can't cut. Aside from ash, my guess for best native species are Canyon live oak and oregon white oak. I have my eye on a piece of canyon live that I may use next. I want to use native woods a lot. I want out of the Hickory paradigm. For non-native, Black locust is hard to beat and nearly if not equivalent to hickory. I just scored a pile of locust logs I'll be splitting up, mostly for handles.
I can understand about finding a hickory alternative. I have a hell of a time finding any quartersawn and only one in 10 axe handles at the hardware stores are worth a damn, and I still end up putting a few hours work into them before they're worthy of hanging. I do love hickory though. Canyon live oak will be interesting, I'm curious if it will have much spring to it, in my little experience with it it's closer to stone than wood. I've never used black locust in small diameter and seems prone to checking, but I haven't used much in any case. Strong and rot prof though. I made the kayak/lumber racks on my truck out of 5/4 white oak several years ago and it's holding up great. That's where I'd start, barring availability of ash which I know they make quality tool handles and baseball bats out of.
Ash is common handle material the world over. Locst can season out fine, just have to treat it right. I have one locust handle on a hatchet that was lot for a year in the grass and it is totally fine. If the canyon live is stiff I'll just thin it more. My experience is that it's very stringy and tough, but I haven't used it for much of anything. It has been used for handles and stuff like wagon axels. We'll see. Sure is hard to find a straight piece though. Black oak seems open in structure and kind of weak. Tan oak might work tho.
I’m from the East. We have a good deal of locust here in a number of varieties. I haven’t heard of anyone using locust for handles before, but maybe I’ve led a sheltered life. Was your hatchet handle made from a log or a small limb? I enjoy your channel because it always presents some new, valuable knowledge. Take care.
Bam! Just what I was trying to find. ~ Why didn't I think of this? I too wanted a puck of finer grit(s). Thanks SkillCult. Old rusty saw laying around? lol, only if I loaned it out. I'll have to buy one off my neighbor for a buck or two. (-:
Buying from amazon I'll prolly get someone's return anyway. They should have a chip 'n spalling sale for those wanting to cut them ay? Fast, but does getting all sloppy~esque like that effect the wood of the handle ya think? Water is actually a solvent of sorts.
So…. I bought that Kai Japanese (“ceramic” i found they use for a variety of materials could be sapphire or could be corundum? Aluminum oxide…damn from gems to rust that quick) stone quickly realized the king stone is a better deal, 😅 higher quality and cheap.
Nice tip. I could see making another small stone or puck to carry with other tools for those who like to have a stone with each cutting implement. Seems like a very practical option and an option to have two stones with 4 different grits, but less weight.
This is such a good idea that i just bought a stone. Can i ask you the dimensions on the stone you made? How much did you cut off? Also, Damn your axe bites deep. That's impressive.
@@SkillCult The fact that you replied as fast as you did, just makes me like your channel even more :D I'm restoring a true temper double bit at the moment that you inspired me to try and get into working shape again. So Stephen or Steven (idk how you spell your name, my dads is stephen) thanks so much, you have fantastic content and i hope your youtube channel keeps growing.
@@SkillCult Don't say you have no life! From what i watch and see through youtube, you seem to have had it made my friend. Only something my girlfriend and I could dream about being able to do.
gloriously brilliant idea with the cutting of the stone!! a tile or stone saw works better, but a hoopty hacksaw blade will damn sure do the trick. brilliant as fuck. will forever utilize, thanks a million!!
Definitely would make a difference, although if you "stropped" enough with the right compounds, maybe you could get a similar effect. I'm not sure. But it's still different because the strop has give to the surface, so it's not effectively flat. I do hewing and carving axes and hatchets to a higher grit like that. I just don't do it on a working axe. I just don't think it's worth the effort. At least not as far as I've been able to tell. a good grind to 1000 and a quick strop with polishing compound gets me to where it will shave, but I wouldn't want to try to actually shave with it. Even if it just shaves with a little hesitancy, that's good enough for me. The first thing I'm probably going to do after sharpening is chop down a tree at 10 inches off the ground, where there is a lot of grit embedded in the bark.
SkillCult Yeah, while I haven't had much to do with axes, I've spent a bit of time sharpening chisels and planes. For me I've found that anything over 1000 isn't worth it, not when stropping with compound anyway
I don't have a ton of experience with stropping using compounds, or multiple compounds especially. I've just used whatever I had around, like jewelers rouge etc. We almost need to call that polishing instead of stropping or make some distinction. There's a pretty large difference between using compound and just a piece of leather or wood. For my chopping axes, I'm just trying to get it sharp enough and I"m off to work. Using a strop with a little polishing compound and 1000 grit, I don't have to carry much in the woods in case I need to do a touch up. It makes sense that it could work fine skipping grits and going from 1000 to polishing compound, assuming the way the soft leather or fabric curls up around the very edge is not a problem.
For me the lansky pug works just fine. I do get a shaving edge with it with not too many afford. These grind numbers warry feom different scales, I don't think this 280 pug would be the same as a 280 japanese waterstone.
Guess I have to find a rusty Japanese wood saw haha. Take care man, your one of my go to channels & I concur with your views about a lot of stuff so thanks for making the videos that you do you've been a good source of knowledge
I was skimming Amazon reviews for another King stone (the KW65, specifically) and was surprised to read that several reviewers found that their stones emitted some fairly high levels of alpha and beta radiation. Just thought I’d pass that tidbit along.
So how does it work when I use the links to Amazon? Just clicking them gives you a little money? Does adding them to my cart and buying them later do the same thing or do I need to do it all at once? I see you have a link that just sends me to Amazon. So if I click that link every time I go to shop on Amazon will you be funded for my purchases? If so I might just cancel the axe I just bought (seriously envious of your axe collection) and buy it again.
any link you use makes it so that anything you add to your cart and purchase for a period of time is credited to my affiliate account and I get something like 4 to 6% commission at no extra cost to you I think it stands for 24 hours. I also have a page of amazon links on my website as a sort of store for all the stuff I've recommended. that is www.skillcult.com/amazon-store
I've been trying to find good stones at a good price for a while. Lots of confusing info and reviews out there. Your video cuts through the shit and gives useful information. Just ordered through your links.
i need to make some tool handles, im very poor at it but i will keep trying to get better, do you think birch is ok for an axe hanlde? i have alot of it.
i cut a tree today for my half hatchet handle, i want to do that first because i feel like the half hatchet will help alot with the handles, not sure what wood but its very hard, the tree wasnt going to grow corectly so i think i chose a good one, il let you know how it comes out
No, it would be terrible for that kind of handle. You're right, it's very brittle. It is very hard and hard is important, but tough is much more important.
You are glossing over the difference between the japanese grit rating sytem, JIS, and the western grit rating system. The Lansky grit of 220 fine is pretty close to the 1000 grit JIS. Slushier stones like King waterstones will blend together the visible scratches on the bevels much better than a harder wearing stone, esp on a convexed blade like an axe. Leaving an esthetically pleasing and more even "satin" or "brushed" looking finish with a more non-directional nature to the scratches. But the edge sharpness would theoretically be fairly similar. Just sayin. FYI, if you want a fast dual sided stone with a slightly finer grit, you would be hard pressed to beat the Mintcraft silicon carbide stone. You can use it with water or oil. It's easily as soft as a typical waterstone, particularly the fine side. I would say it's about 120/330. Which makes it perhaps somewhere between 1K and 2K JIS, but maybe a tad closer to 2K. And it probably cuts axe steel at least as fast. Harder steels, even faster. And the 6" x 2" stone is like 10 or 12 bucks. This is one of the best wear-rate SiC stones for fast cutting and rough sharpening of an axe, IME.
I wouldn't say I glossed over it, I just didn't know. I mean I suspected that the grit sizes were not completely reliable or the same everywhere. Thanks for the download. I might check out the mintcraft stone, since I'm collecting axe pucks to test.
Ok, cool. I'm glad I wasn't being Captain Obvious with the grit rating system thing. As for the rec, there is always some difference between batches of artificial stones. So keep that in mind if you drop a tenner on this Mintcraft. This was my first SiC stone, and it was so effective in reprofiling hardened steel, I immediately bought a couple other brands of cheap SiC stones... and they didn't hold a candle to this guy. Some are way too softly bonded; some are way too hard. (At least for this purpose; the longer I live, the more uses I find for different abrasives). As far as hardened steel goes, this stone is the closest thing I have to a bench grinder, but with no moving parts.
Excellent that's what I like. I have a pile of American stones collected over many years. When I bought my first Japanese waterstones, and a coarse diamond hone, everything else pretty much stopped being used except for one soft natural stone of unknown origin, because I was spending so much less time with the soft stones. What is funny though is that the stones I had come to use the most before the Japanese stones were the super cheap, soft chinese sharpening stones that used to cost 1:00 or 2:00. Once I used them I just couldn't go back to spending 3 or 4 times as long on all these hard stones I'd collected. It's an entirely different philosophy. I have a lot of the common american natural stones and they are all pretty slow and hard too.
Yes, that's the one. They also have a 6" stone for $9.00. I'm a little less confident of my endorsement if you're including diamond plates in the comparison. But if you like muddy stones, and you don't have a SiC, yet, this is an excellent stone for the price, IMO. Even the coarse side will leave an attractive finish on the curves of an axe.
Lansky is 7.50 on Amazon and this stone is 19.75 and can make a sharpening stone and 1 puck, or 3 square axe pucks and a small rectuangular one. How does this compare to the lansky that makes it worth the extra cost per stone or in general? I have one, but I haven't tested it yet. I have a pile of pucks to test for a video. I usually hate those cheap compostie stones though I've owned lots of them. The only okay ones I've used are the super soft, super cheap ones from India and China because they cut pretty fast, but nothing like the quality of this King stone or finish it leaves while still cutting remarkably fast. Also, no negative reviews on this so far and lots of positive ones. It exceeded my expectations. Or maybe you're just saying the Lansky works fine for you and you wouldn't replace it. I"m assuming you've used something to compare it to though.
Thank you for the EXCELLENT Idea, and the helpful Links in Description!!! 5:34 Had to laugh at that. White people always have plenty of Mayonnaise Jar Lids hanging around!! "Just use a Mayonnaise Jar Lid, Duh !" "Who doesn't have a Mayonnaise Jar lid hanging around?" Hahaha !!
@@SkillCult I bought the King combination stone years ago on your recommendation, good stone. That, and a 120 grit Shapton stone are my most used stones.
great video but have you heard of venev dual sided bonded diamond stones, they work as very fast cutting stones. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071L62SLL/ and are cheap as heck, but also aren't good for high polish since they leave scratches.
Putting the stone in the lid is absoutly genius
wanting to buy an axe for a while and browsing youtube lead me to your channel, and most of the axe channels like wranglestar are saddaneing, but you are by far the most source of knowledge and information on youtube axwise , thanks for being the guy you are!
Thanks. Just don't confuse me with an expert. Just trying to help and fill a niche that needs filling.
@@SkillCult don't sell yourself short.
@@SkillCult Then you are the expert, well versed if you will, on the unfilled niche, because your channel seems to be a outlier on the phenomenal side.
i know it is kind of off topic but does anybody know a good site to stream new movies online?
When I was stationed in Japan I used to buy water stones in their hardware stores. They were much cheaper than buying them online. I wish I had bought more while I was there.
I've got carbide coated hacksaw blades, so I'll use that instead to cut it.
Not on topic, but I love the honesty about where your older puck is. Real life answers there. 👍
Ok. On to the video.
If u r going to carry a strop anyway, glue leather belt to back of 160x30mm 320 grit Aliexpress diamond plate. Black buffing compound for the leather. More compact. No water needed.
I bought one of those for $3 at y local Asian market. It works amazingly. I just file the finish it up with the whetstone and it was good in about 5 min.
Dude, your videos are great, super simple and proven ideas. Love to sit around a fire and bs with you and a few beers! Great content mister!
Great tip on the King water stones. Reasonably priced with an easy option for taking a chunk along with you while still having a useful piece left over. I'm getting one.
I don't think you'll be disappointed. I love all my king stones. Just expect them to wear. That's part of the deal.
Thanks for the info. I did buy the stone (from your channel) and cut it as you said. It works like a charm. Thanks again
This is brilliant, i just got my first hatchet and i have a lot of sharpening stones for my chisels and kitchen knives.
The first stone i got was this king 1000/6000 which i don't have a use for now really.
I was debating whether or not to get a puck sharpening stone for my hatchet,
Now you just saved me money on getting a puck stone, as well as bringing new purpose to my old king stone,
Absolutely fantastic! thank you so much
You;ll still need a coarse stone or a file. I find a file, the 250/1000 and a strop are plenty good for any axe sharpening I need to do.
Great video, have been glued to your channel lately, well worth a sub. I also bought the king combo stone on Amazon via your link with free shipping, it was 25% of the price I could get on ebay here in Australia. Thanks for the heads up!
Again thank you for your good advice regards from south Africa
I did this with a severed 3000/8000 grit alumina stone from China and it works.
been using this idea for the past year and couldn't be happier. It's just perfect for sharpening axes, drawknifes etc and 1000/250 seems to be a pretty ideal combination perhaps combined with a leather strop. I have been using mine a ton and it getting pretty thin but still functional. I just realized why you grind off the corners - what a difference it makes! So much more comfortable to handle and it seems to wear more evenly without these awkard corners.
Thanks for checking in. I've been nothing but happy too. Sure it could wear better, but it wouldn't cut as well. I haven't heard any negative feeback yet, only positive. I might do a shorter version of this video to get the idea out there more. I cut the corners off to fit in a mayonaise sized plastic lid, which I don't really find myself using anymore, but I think it was a good idea in general too.
Make one and it works brilliantly
Love it. Going to get a set my self now.
Thank
Unexpected treat at the end. I could watch good video footage like that of close up axe work all day.
I was thinking about doing a video of just chopping, but I never did. Maybe next season. Too busy with the chainsaw and other stuff now...
Hello there - Ben from Portland Oregon area. Curious where you are? Saw your madrone vid which pretty much is my favorite tree... well in the top 3. I just stumbled across your channel today. Found you on axe-connected through a link to the husqvarna hatchet review. You strike me as a principally minded person. A quality that i appreciate and share. It's rare I find anyone who is as interested and detailed about this stuff and WHO likes axes as much.
About the video- great stuff and so glad you shared this idea because I felt the same way you did about the Gransfors/wetterlings stone so I cut the end of my king stone off a couple months ago and now I've gone crazy and started cutting all different kinds of shapes out of stones I don't use as much. (i used angle grinder with a abrasive masonry disk) It's great your taking the time to share this stuff because teaching people who are willing to take the time to learn to be more resourceful is for me one of the best gifts you can give another person.
Nice to meet you. I'm in norcal. We have tons of madrone here and lots of crowded small trees that slowly die out over the years. The madrone berry crop is insane here this year. More berries than leaves on some of them. I've modified stones too for different things. I thought about using a 4 inch grinder with diamond cut off, but went with the saw on the king because I thought it might be safer in terms of chipping out the stone. They are so soft. Worked okay. I'm all about resourcefulness and learning to walk around more self contained. Philiosophy and fundamental overarching principals over rules and specifics and skills over gear. !
How about a 3” grinding wheel for mini bench grinders? I’m sure two stones of different grit and/or different abrasive could be glued together. Thanks for the video
thanks, i just did it and it's amazing.
hanks for the recommendation. Cool thing is that after 7 long years and through all these inflations, one can still get the king stone for the same price mentioned in this vid: $19.90!
It has varied a lot over the years, but it always seems to come back down eventually.
Ur videos r very unique, cool and informative. Thank you 😊
This is really helpful, thank you
Off-topic, but an old wood saw can be transformed into a panel hacksaw that people once used in the Cold War. You'll need a carbide bit though.
Yes, they can also be sold for Japanese waterstones.
Excellent ingenuity
This is perfect as I already have a 3000/8000 stone for my straight razor.
Nice man, very nice. Way to be creative to tailor to your needs.
Simple and effective.
Nice idea.
Thank you sir for a great idea for an axe puck! I'm a new subscriber and am really enjoying your videos. I enjoy homesteading topics and find yours the best. Logcabinlooms is great also. Just a sharing of your wisdom without any religious stuff. Your spirituality, ethics and moral come through subtlety and shown in your love of "work". Well done!
Hi David. Thanks and welcome :)
Great idea ! I have the exact same stone- it came cracked and now i use it for axes and machetes,not knives.Good quality and the coarse side is not too aggressive .The 1000# side is not too far from a high quality Japanese King stone.If cut in half it is a far better and cheaper option than Falknives to use for both axes and knives in the field.It is easily found on Amazon.
Yeah the Manzanita down in SoCal is also actually very light when full seasoned
I've just made one !!!
!
Nice idea for a sharpening system, It's nice to see you know how to cut on the side too. Even today so few seem to do this.
Nice chop placement at the end.
If you really soak the stone, really soak it, then it will be much easier to cut.
I rarely do. I'm either too impatient or don't have water or too impatient.
@@SkillCult Just to clarify, I mean when you are cutting a piece off the stone, not using it to sharpen. They will cut with a saw far easier then.
King stones in general are meant to be used really wet (soaked), if you don't actually do that, there are stones designed to use far less water, called splash-n-go, you might want to look into them.
Those king stones are awesome! Super cheap, but the coarse wide does slurry quite a bit
I just ordered one. That was a really great idea. Thanks for posting this.
Works great for me and you can't beat the price all things considered.
Taidea sells a 3000/8000 stone on Amazon for $24.99.
I picked it up after I got the one you recommended. I'm happy with it so far.
Thanks. I'm not really familiar with that brand. Seems like a good grit combo though.
Hey, next time you want to buy an axe puck try the Baryonix Knife Company, they make a great stone at 240/400. It makes a really fine finish and is pretty easy to carry.
I've seen that axe puck around from other sources recently. Looks like Baryonyx has some other tools I'm interested in being able to recommend. I'll pick one of the pucks up eventually to test it against the king 1000. It probably would last a lot longer, but the king is my benchmark for now for effectiveness and affordability. his youtube channel fourty two blades is great.
SkillCult I have they're "hybrid bench stone" or Something like that. Super fast material removal, great for axes. I can take recommended one of the billhooks he sells, they are great woods tools for clearing brush and other property maintenance.
I was looking at the German farmer's file. I like the Bahco Farmer''s file, but his is cheaper and I'm sure good quality. He also has a 4 way rasp, which I didn't even know anyone made a quality version of, and it's affordable. I don't really need any of that stuff, but I might buy it for review.
SkillCult The farmers file is great! Goes out of stock a lot though. I prefer the cut off the Bacho myself but they're both very good. I haven't tried the 4 way rasp, but I love those too. Might pick one up eventually.
It's a slippery slope ordering from a site like that with all the cool, affordable tools. I would be interested to see what you think of one of the Italian pattern axes.
Here I am sounding like a Baryonyx spokesperson....
Japanese sickle stones also... They are just miniature waterstones intended to be held in the hand like an axe puck. You can buy them directly from Japan for $10 on ebay. But cutting up that combo stone might still be more economical. I have that same stone. The King 1000 grit is a totally sufficient pre-strop stone. Check out my DIY strop video! I've settled on a strop design that is exceptionally portable and has been working great.
That's cool. I hmight check out those Japanese sickle stones. I should try some different compound. I've always just used whatever is lying around. Do you have a preference?
For stropping compound? I have good results with the regular green chromium oxide that comes in bar form. It is easy to apply and economical. I recently picked up some diamond polishing paste that I am going to experiment with too. I have a couple knives with fancy steel and my research tells me that the vanadium carbide content in the knife steel is harder than the chromium oxide, so diamond is supposed to yield better results. We'll see, but for axes the green stuff is fine.
Love the insight 'wears out fast = works fast' Yes I KNOW that's obvious to most viewers but... not if you're a noob
(also it's made me reclassify the fine stone i have that seems to wear very fast from 'useless' to 'treasure it' )
Yeah, well wears out fast won't always equals cuts fast. There may also be alternatives that cut fast, but wear less fast, but clearly that is why these stones wear quickly. It's not like the Japanese waterstone paradigm exists for no reason. I'm not sure it is obvious to most viewers. Funny thing is that I figured it out a long time ago using an ultra cheapo stone I got for $1.00 I just noticed my hard norton and other stones I had stopped getting used because they took too long.
yes, sorry, the stone i speak of seems to last well,. (unless i lose it!). I am in the uk, so my 'range' is about 21ft :(
Just subbed you last night. Nice to see someone talk about axes that can actually use one. I like King Stones as well. Nice solution!
Just placed an order on the last piece!
Great. I don't think you'll be disappointed. All good feedback so far.
This Marbles Two-Sided Hand Sharpener is amazing! It is made with two different grits and is easy to carry with you! It comes brand new in the original packaging with warranty!
Looks like you're in NorCal (I used to live in Siskiyou & Humboldt). You should be able to find some Oregon ash near water in you region. That's probably your best bet for tool handles there. Pacific Yew rocks too, but it's usually too rare to harvest.
I love that stone man! I'm going to see how precisely I can break a rectangular stone I already have. I don't know the brand but it doesn't have that plastic band running through it, so it should break without cutting if I use a tile or brick cutting method. It seems like the square sides would provide a better grip than the rounded pucks too. By the way, I've had great luck finding stones on the beach that I can sharpen a knife to shaving sharp with. I spent 45 minutes looking and found around 6 fine grit stones with no high points and had a good shape for carrying.
+BeSatori I've used natural stones quite a bit. Mudstones and slate can be good. After all, thats all people used to have. I have an old scythe stone that is slate. It is easy to grip in a way, but I do prefer the lid holder when using it just for more grip thickness Oregon ash is probably great. I have a bow made from it. Unfortunately it is hard to actually get any because it is almost strictly riparian here, so it isn't abundant and usually in places where I can't cut. Aside from ash, my guess for best native species are Canyon live oak and oregon white oak. I have my eye on a piece of canyon live that I may use next. I want to use native woods a lot. I want out of the Hickory paradigm. For non-native, Black locust is hard to beat and nearly if not equivalent to hickory. I just scored a pile of locust logs I'll be splitting up, mostly for handles.
I can understand about finding a hickory alternative. I have a hell of a time finding any quartersawn and only one in 10 axe handles at the hardware stores are worth a damn, and I still end up putting a few hours work into them before they're worthy of hanging. I do love hickory though. Canyon live oak will be interesting, I'm curious if it will have much spring to it, in my little experience with it it's closer to stone than wood. I've never used black locust in small diameter and seems prone to checking, but I haven't used much in any case. Strong and rot prof though. I made the kayak/lumber racks on my truck out of 5/4 white oak several years ago and it's holding up great. That's where I'd start, barring availability of ash which I know they make quality tool handles and baseball bats out of.
Ash is common handle material the world over. Locst can season out fine, just have to treat it right. I have one locust handle on a hatchet that was lot for a year in the grass and it is totally fine. If the canyon live is stiff I'll just thin it more. My experience is that it's very stringy and tough, but I haven't used it for much of anything. It has been used for handles and stuff like wagon axels. We'll see. Sure is hard to find a straight piece though. Black oak seems open in structure and kind of weak. Tan oak might work tho.
I’m from the East. We have a good deal of locust here in a number of varieties. I haven’t heard of anyone using locust for handles before, but maybe I’ve led a sheltered life. Was your hatchet handle made from a log or a small limb? I enjoy your channel because it always presents some new, valuable knowledge. Take care.
Bam! Just what I was trying to find. ~ Why didn't I think of this? I too wanted a puck of finer grit(s).
Thanks SkillCult.
Old rusty saw laying around? lol, only if I loaned it out.
I'll have to buy one off my neighbor for a buck or two. (-:
Buying from amazon I'll prolly get someone's return anyway. They should have a chip 'n spalling sale for those wanting to cut them ay?
Fast, but does getting all sloppy~esque like that effect the wood of the handle ya think?
Water is actually a solvent of sorts.
that saw was truly trashed. You can use a cut off wheel on a 4 inch grinder.
@@SkillCult I'll have to give that a whirl. I've a disc that's due replacing.
tips me hat ~
Something else you could pick up for cheap would be a small drywall saw. Big coarse teeth that should go through a soft King stone well.
Pretty cool = it works + practical
Great tip! All I have is the Fallkniven DC3 but always wanted to do the Japanese waterstones. I will get one using your link!
+Bushcraft Girl Karen I hadn't heard of the Fallkniven. It looks pretty nice and low profile. thanks!
Thank you dude, that was super helpful. why didn't I ever think of this. MAN!! awesome bro thanks again!!
I think that is about what I thought when I thought of it... why didn't I think of this sooner? The obvious is not always so obvious I guess.
Great job
Thanks man!
Just bought one
+Mark Wilkie thanks!
Just ordered from your link. Thanks for the tip, man!
👍
So…. I bought that Kai Japanese (“ceramic” i found they use for a variety of materials could be sapphire or could be corundum? Aluminum oxide…damn from gems to rust that quick) stone quickly realized the king stone is a better deal, 😅 higher quality and cheap.
It really is a great deal!
That is truly awesome. thanks for the great videos.
this is genius
Nice tip. I could see making another small stone or puck to carry with other tools for those who like to have a stone with each cutting implement. Seems like a very practical option and an option to have two stones with 4 different grits, but less weight.
This is such a good idea that i just bought a stone. Can i ask you the dimensions on the stone you made? How much did you cut off?
Also, Damn your axe bites deep. That's impressive.
Just make it a square, so cut to same dimension as the width it comes. You'll like it :)
@@SkillCult The fact that you replied as fast as you did, just makes me like your channel even more :D I'm restoring a true temper double bit at the moment that you inspired me to try and get into working shape again.
So Stephen or Steven (idk how you spell your name, my dads is stephen) thanks so much, you have fantastic content and i hope your youtube channel keeps growing.
@@Valscorn01 Or I just don't have a life lol. You're welcome :)
@@SkillCult Don't say you have no life! From what i watch and see through youtube, you seem to have had it made my friend. Only something my girlfriend and I could dream about being able to do.
gloriously brilliant idea with the cutting of the stone!! a tile or stone saw works better, but a hoopty hacksaw blade will damn sure do the trick. brilliant as fuck. will forever utilize, thanks a million!!
Be interesting to see if you can really notice a difference between sharpening to 1000 and stropping or sharpening to 6000 and stropping.
Definitely would make a difference, although if you "stropped" enough with the right compounds, maybe you could get a similar effect. I'm not sure. But it's still different because the strop has give to the surface, so it's not effectively flat. I do hewing and carving axes and hatchets to a higher grit like that. I just don't do it on a working axe. I just don't think it's worth the effort. At least not as far as I've been able to tell. a good grind to 1000 and a quick strop with polishing compound gets me to where it will shave, but I wouldn't want to try to actually shave with it. Even if it just shaves with a little hesitancy, that's good enough for me. The first thing I'm probably going to do after sharpening is chop down a tree at 10 inches off the ground, where there is a lot of grit embedded in the bark.
SkillCult
Yeah, while I haven't had much to do with axes, I've spent a bit of time sharpening chisels and planes. For me I've found that anything over 1000 isn't worth it, not when stropping with compound anyway
I don't have a ton of experience with stropping using compounds, or multiple compounds especially. I've just used whatever I had around, like jewelers rouge etc. We almost need to call that polishing instead of stropping or make some distinction. There's a pretty large difference between using compound and just a piece of leather or wood. For my chopping axes, I'm just trying to get it sharp enough and I"m off to work. Using a strop with a little polishing compound and 1000 grit, I don't have to carry much in the woods in case I need to do a touch up. It makes sense that it could work fine skipping grits and going from 1000 to polishing compound, assuming the way the soft leather or fabric curls up around the very edge is not a problem.
For me the lansky pug works just fine. I do get a shaving edge with it with not too many afford. These grind numbers warry feom different scales, I don't think this 280 pug would be the same as a 280 japanese waterstone.
Lansky Lpuck?
Brilliant.
What would be the ideal hand saw to cut the stone? (non powered)
Would it be worth the time to save some of your chips for kindling?
Yes, takes about 2 or 3 minutes to pick up most of the chips from a tree this size in a bucket.
Can you do this to any type of stone, or just Japanese water stones? Thank you
I'm sure you could with the right tool to cut it. Most stones would not cut with an old saw though. Maybe a cutoff wheel on a 4 inch grinder.
SkillCult thank you, loving your channel!
What hacksaw blade did you use for cutting the stone? Every blade Ives used dulls within minutes even this "stone blade" I used
It was just a rusty old japanese woodsaw. If you have a 4 inch grinder, try a cut off wheel
Ok, thanks brother
Guess I have to find a rusty Japanese wood saw haha. Take care man, your one of my go to channels & I concur with your views about a lot of stuff so thanks for making the videos that you do you've been a good source of knowledge
@@iam-mp1pe Thanks. I'm surprised you had any trouble with it. I think the teeth were half gone by the time I finished tho.
I was skimming Amazon reviews for another King stone (the KW65, specifically) and was surprised to read that several reviewers found that their stones emitted some fairly high levels of alpha and beta radiation. Just thought I’d pass that tidbit along.
thanks, very interesting.
Is your axe and that rooster having a conversation at the end?
No, he's still around. I tried to shoot him a few days ago though and missed. He's been very quiet ever since. It's awesome!
I love you, Ben
So how does it work when I use the links to Amazon? Just clicking them gives you a little money? Does adding them to my cart and buying them later do the same thing or do I need to do it all at once? I see you have a link that just sends me to Amazon. So if I click that link every time I go to shop on Amazon will you be funded for my purchases? If so I might just cancel the axe I just bought (seriously envious of your axe collection) and buy it again.
any link you use makes it so that anything you add to your cart and purchase for a period of time is credited to my affiliate account and I get something like 4 to 6% commission at no extra cost to you I think it stands for 24 hours. I also have a page of amazon links on my website as a sort of store for all the stuff I've recommended. that is www.skillcult.com/amazon-store
I've been trying to find good stones at a good price for a while. Lots of confusing info and reviews out there. Your video cuts through the shit and gives useful information. Just ordered through your links.
Cool, glad I could help. thanks.
Skip to 4:24 if you want to see what this video is about.
i need to make some tool handles, im very poor at it but i will keep trying to get better, do you think birch is ok for an axe hanlde? i have alot of it.
Birch is used. You might have to make it on the thick side. I haven't used it, so I can't say much.
i cut a tree today for my half hatchet handle, i want to do that first because i feel like the half hatchet will help alot with the handles, not sure what wood but its very hard, the tree wasnt going to grow corectly so i think i chose a good one, il let you know how it comes out
SkillCult would a clear piece of madrone work or would it be too brittle
No, it would be terrible for that kind of handle. You're right, it's very brittle. It is very hard and hard is important, but tough is much more important.
I just use a 14" farrier's rasp to sharpen my axe!🙀😝
hi are you sharpening the hole of the bevel are just the tip
I hardly always sharpen just the edge. I try to do just as much work further back on the bevel. I'd almost say never, but never say never!
Living in the woods for fun and profit.
Marbles mr326 double sided stone 8 bucks
Looking for the link.... any help?
It's in the description, just have to click the Show More tab. Thanks.
That's what she said.
You are glossing over the difference between the japanese grit rating sytem, JIS, and the western grit rating system. The Lansky grit of 220 fine is pretty close to the 1000 grit JIS. Slushier stones like King waterstones will blend together the visible scratches on the bevels much better than a harder wearing stone, esp on a convexed blade like an axe. Leaving an esthetically pleasing and more even "satin" or "brushed" looking finish with a more non-directional nature to the scratches. But the edge sharpness would theoretically be fairly similar. Just sayin. FYI, if you want a fast dual sided stone with a slightly finer grit, you would be hard pressed to beat the Mintcraft silicon carbide stone. You can use it with water or oil. It's easily as soft as a typical waterstone, particularly the fine side. I would say it's about 120/330. Which makes it perhaps somewhere between 1K and 2K JIS, but maybe a tad closer to 2K. And it probably cuts axe steel at least as fast. Harder steels, even faster. And the 6" x 2" stone is like 10 or 12 bucks. This is one of the best wear-rate SiC stones for fast cutting and rough sharpening of an axe, IME.
I wouldn't say I glossed over it, I just didn't know. I mean I suspected that the grit sizes were not completely reliable or the same everywhere. Thanks for the download. I might check out the mintcraft stone, since I'm collecting axe pucks to test.
Ok, cool. I'm glad I wasn't being Captain Obvious with the grit rating system thing. As for the rec, there is always some difference between batches of artificial stones. So keep that in mind if you drop a tenner on this Mintcraft. This was my first SiC stone, and it was so effective in reprofiling hardened steel, I immediately bought a couple other brands of cheap SiC stones... and they didn't hold a candle to this guy. Some are way too softly bonded; some are way too hard. (At least for this purpose; the longer I live, the more uses I find for different abrasives). As far as hardened steel goes, this stone is the closest thing I have to a bench grinder, but with no moving parts.
Excellent that's what I like. I have a pile of American stones collected over many years. When I bought my first Japanese waterstones, and a coarse diamond hone, everything else pretty much stopped being used except for one soft natural stone of unknown origin, because I was spending so much less time with the soft stones. What is funny though is that the stones I had come to use the most before the Japanese stones were the super cheap, soft chinese sharpening stones that used to cost 1:00 or 2:00. Once I used them I just couldn't go back to spending 3 or 4 times as long on all these hard stones I'd collected. It's an entirely different philosophy. I have a lot of the common american natural stones and they are all pretty slow and hard too.
this is the one? amzn.to/2rjdduK
Yes, that's the one. They also have a 6" stone for $9.00. I'm a little less confident of my endorsement if you're including diamond plates in the comparison. But if you like muddy stones, and you don't have a SiC, yet, this is an excellent stone for the price, IMO. Even the coarse side will leave an attractive finish on the curves of an axe.
I’ve used a Lansky for years. Works fine. Don’t believe the hype...
Lansky is 7.50 on Amazon and this stone is 19.75 and can make a sharpening stone and 1 puck, or 3 square axe pucks and a small rectuangular one. How does this compare to the lansky that makes it worth the extra cost per stone or in general? I have one, but I haven't tested it yet. I have a pile of pucks to test for a video. I usually hate those cheap compostie stones though I've owned lots of them. The only okay ones I've used are the super soft, super cheap ones from India and China because they cut pretty fast, but nothing like the quality of this King stone or finish it leaves while still cutting remarkably fast. Also, no negative reviews on this so far and lots of positive ones. It exceeded my expectations. Or maybe you're just saying the Lansky works fine for you and you wouldn't replace it. I"m assuming you've used something to compare it to though.
Thank you for the EXCELLENT Idea, and the helpful Links in Description!!!
5:34 Had to laugh at that. White people always have plenty of Mayonnaise Jar Lids hanging around!! "Just use a Mayonnaise Jar Lid, Duh !" "Who doesn't have a Mayonnaise Jar lid hanging around?" Hahaha !!
Nothing will ever be good enough will it
this guys got big stones
You in wa?
NorCal.
SkillCult would of thought Oregon or wa! Still in the pnw! I’ve learned well from what I could, appreciate your work.
$19.11 as of 11-10-20 !
It keeps going up and down. last I checked it was almost 30.00 glad to see it's back down!
@@SkillCult yep . Already had the 3000/8000 so picked it up !
Those lansky axe pucks really suck
I'm not a fan of those old style American composite stones in general. I've owned and still own many and they pretty much sit in a box somewhere.
@@SkillCult I bought the King combination stone years ago on your recommendation, good stone. That, and a 120 grit Shapton stone are my most used stones.
A man that breaks an axe is a real (woman) man. Everyone, should break an axe in their life. So much to learn from working an axe til it breaks.
G Haver that's actually a wise comment.
great video but have you heard of venev dual sided bonded diamond stones, they work as very fast cutting stones. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071L62SLL/ and are cheap as heck, but also aren't good for high polish since they leave scratches.
I don't think i've seen those. Thanks.