Tuning Steels-How I make mine

It has been boring around here, so I decided to show you my tuning steels.
I placed a new #2 pencil beside them so you could get an idea of size. The wooden handles are made from oak dowel. The steel rods are made of 2% thorieated tungsten, purchased from the welding supply house. The short one is the bottom steel that fits under the lip, and the long one is for strapping the top. If you look close, the tip of the bottom steel is shaped kinda like a bullet tip. Not like a .270 or a 30-06, but more rounded like a .22 FMJ.
I make the top one so long, to require gentle use. If you apply too much pressure on it, it will break, since the rod is very brittle. You need to inspect your steels if you drop one on a hard surface like concrete. If the bottom one especially, develops a tiny crack or nick, it makes tuning the blade very difficult. Inspect both on a regular basis.

Use an old wet stone that you sharpen knifes with to make the rounded point on the btm steel. It takes a while, and make sure your not going to miss that wet stone. You will dig a grove in it. Don't use a grinder. It will likely crack the steel. Fine grit sanding cloth to keep the top steel smooth.

 

Those are cool! Never thought about giving them a rubberized coating. Damn good idea!

It's also good to see you selling blades with a lip the correct size. Those blades being sold by some supply folks have a giant lip turned. Either they don't know better, or they grind that giant lip to make you use up blades faster. That huge lip serves no purpose at all to me, except to make an injury more severe if you slip up and get cut.

 

Thanks for that Rawhide Furdressers model machine. I thought I would never be able to find one of those again. Good deal. Happy customer!

 

1/16

You could get away with 3/32, but probably not with a small lip.

 

That guy above sells some good ones. The longer you shave, you will figure out that all round knives are not created equal. The hardness and quality of the blades differ a bunch from supplier to supplier.


http://fleshingmachines.com