.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Foam emery nail file




Called emery boards too.

Since we are talking about knives, thought I’d share this.

This is my well kept little secret but I’m having such good results with them, I had to tell.

Knives are basic everyday tools. Don’t think a day goes by that I don’t use a knife (besides eating, of course)
If you use knives you should know how to sharpen it. No big mystery there.
It’s not easy to use a stone, takes time, but eventually, with lots of practice you get there.
Sharpening gadgets? Some work better than others, but it’s still not everything a knife can be unless you use a strop.

Do you get that brand new, Victorinox type razor sharp edge? Heck, you can bring it to scalpel sharpness with the nail file.

The foam nail file pad comes in various types.
I like the one that has 3 or 4 types of grit.
The coarse one works almost like a sharpening stone (dont get one too coarse, though) , the fine one that almost feels like there’s no abrasion at all, is used to polish nails, you can use it as a strop to get that final razor sharp edge.

The pad is light, you can carry it all day in a pack or case and not notice it at all.
The foam material bends a bit which is great because you get the right curvature for that pumpkin seed shape right in the edge. Just wonderful.

And best of all, IT WORKS. Better than anything I tired.

I thought the use would be too much, but most foam files I use work well. As a matter of fact my favorite one is the first one I started using. Sharpened dozen of knives, even used it for the final touches on my machete.

And of course, they are dirt cheap, which adds a special bonus touch. :)

The Victorinox I use most often, I’ll just use the fine grit side as a strop and the razor edge is back in seconds.

Buy a few, try it, works just great.

If you are the kind of guy that usually pulls his folder for daily use, but misses that original razor edge and no ceramic rod brought it back, you’ll thank me in a couple days. ;)

FerFAL

2 comments:

SheepDog said...

I have done much the same thing with fine grades of wet/dry sandpaper like what the auto body guys use down at the paint shop!!

Some like to glue the sandpaper to a piece of glass so as to have a nice flat work surface, but I usually just use the back of one of my diamond stones as a flat surface to work on!!

Kind of amazing what a 1200 grit or so piece of W/D sandpaper will do to the edge of a good blade!!!

SD

:)

An Unsheltered Life said...

I usually use a diamond-encrusted sharpening stone for my folding knife. However, I'll be giving the emery board suggestion a try, because my folder could definitely use a sharper edge. (I'm not that great at sharpening knives, I'm sorry to admit.)