I just got a 12" fleshing knife today, and I was wondering how sharp is this thing sopposed to be? It has an edge on it, but it's not sharp. Am I supposed to hone an edge on this thing or what?
Nick
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Once you have it sharp, turn the edge under. this will take a bit of work. Keeping a lot of oil on a large round screw driver and the knife, knife in a vise, roll the edge over, make a lip. This lip will let you push the meat and thin the hide incredably quick. Push away from you down the bench.
Rick Morgan of Carolina told me to hone it to the sharpness of butter knife. If you use a fleshing beam, that's more than sufficient to separate the meat from the skin. A sharp knife chances cutting the hide, especially for someone new to the game.
We all have our way's of using knife's, but Geo is right.
I have a beautiful "dull" blade for all my quick flesh
job's.
Thanks a lot for the input guys.
It has been my experience tha a sharp knife will only cut into and scar your hide a dull edge works great but will take some elbow grease!
Check your silverware drawer! I found a verrrrrrrrry sharp and pointy serrated (steak?) knife, wore leather gloves for protection, and, using two hands, curved the blade while holding it almost flat against the skin.... working the knife in a downward and counter-clockwise motion, putting just enough pressure on the skin for the serated points to catch the unwanted muscle/membrane fibers. This worked extremely well! I can't believe people actually buy 'fleshing tools'.... Go to a thrift store and check the knife selection for more options...
One word of warning: don't dig too deep; it's real easy to scrape too deep with such a knife, and the smooth-skin feel is gone, leaving a rough feel. With such a sharp knife, it may make for a tedious job, but considering the financial gains and thoroughness of my 'tool', I have no intention of support the fleshing tool market. :) Good luck.