Sharpening, Polishing, Stropping Shastar

[Kaljug]

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

In a series of seven videos, this goofy looking kid does an admirable job of explaining the process of sharpening and polishing a katana, but the same methodology can be used to sharpen any kind of sword or knife. Though Japanese waterstones are the best material for sharpening, they are quite expensive, so he uses sandpaper of increasing grit to achieve the same result.

Note that antique swords sould only be sharpened professionally (if at all), because any damage will greatly decrease the value of the sword and, should you muck the job up, you will be committing the unpardonable sin of destroying a piece of history.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOofugPm1Ck&feature=related

The following video describes how to use a leather strop and a honing compound (jewelers' rouge in this case) to polish an already sharp blade so that its edge becomes razor-sharp edge and there is a mirror-like shine to your blade. You can use a barber's leather strop, but the cheapest and easiest way is to use an old leather belt coated with honing compound.

The following video shows you how to take a blade with a secondary bevel and blend into into a convex zero edge in order to improve blade geometry and cutting power. He uses a belt grinder, but it's possible to achieve the same effect with stones or sandpaper - it just takes a godawful amount of time to do it that way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR6xf8byLZs

Regards,

K.