These were both done for a customer. The esee 4 stainless just got a polish job. Again with 400-3000 grit sandpaper alternating dry and wet.
Spent some time up in the mountains with my Junglas and 4, made some mountain man glue sticks. Killed two mice in my room with my Junglas. Notice the peg leg you mouse lovin land lubbers.
I am going on a 4 day hike tomorrow and will bring the 4, so I decided to sharpen it. I did it at a lower angle than the factory one - freehand with a Norton India coarse and fine, ruby ceramic and BRKT black and green compounds on a strop. It got extremely sharp and cuts really well - I tested it on a piece of dry and hard beech and the improvement in carving is significant. I noticed no edge degradation after this. Since it is done freehand with my skill it far from perfect - the angle on each side is probably different, but it cuts really well so I am happy with the result. A few more sharpening sessions will make the edge a bit more convex and will make it more robust.
Thank you! Most of the rough work on the edge is done, so I might later give it to a friend of mine who has an awesome fixed angle sharpening system, just to give both sides an even 20 degree bevel. Or I might just leave it like this and use the hell out of it - who knows
Last week I was cutting some old carpet, so the dogs can lay on it. The 4 got quite dull after the dust covered carpet, so today I sharpened it on the India . This time it got incredibly sharp, but I am not sure if I haven't thinned the edge too much - we will see about that, when I do some testing on hard wood. The logo side is fine, the Rowen side would need a few more sessions to get it fine all the way back to the choil and to remove some of the scratches just above the current edge bevel. It got some scratches on the coating from the stone so I might consider stripping, a bit of polishing and patina once I get the edge to how I want it to be. I guess 2-3 sharpenings and it will be OK
I could not resist and tested it today Batonning, cross grain batonning and whittling - the knife cuts more than excellent and the edge held up great - kept shaving. I am impressed with the steel and will use the 4 more these days, to see when will it get dull.
Yep, it's definitely my favorite ESEE, and I've got a few larger and a few smaller models to choose from. A buddy asked to borrow a good blade last month for an outing so I handed it over to him. I didn't think I was gonna get it back.
Thank you! The 4 is now my best cutting knife. I have to get some TKC extended scales for it, so I can get a better grip and really use the most from that blade.
I am wondering if I should strip the 4 , I use it often daily on food and carry it in a pack, not that often on my person, so rust from sweat should not be an issue. With the thinned edge it is great for all kind of urban utility and kitchen duty