Diamond feather file

[wm_crash]

To complement my craze for Japanese style tools, I ordered a diamond coated feather file. I wanted to give sharpening japanese saws a fair shot, and diamond was the only option (see explanation below). I tried the file on an impulse hardened ryoba and came to the conclusion that the file works. I have no skills in the area, but at least I have the tools.

The file came from UK via eBay. it arrived rather fast from across the pond. The item and shipping was under $20.

Explanation (as promised above):

Japanese saws come in two flavours:

- traditionally hardened, (possibly) hand made, expensive, RC 54-57, sharpanable blade

- impulse hardened, machine made, affordable, RC 67-69, disposable blade

Unfortunately, as I am starting off, I am not willing to learn new (sharpening) tricks on expensive saws. I am stuck with the impulse hardened ones. To sharpen those saws, you can not use metal files. The files would have to be seriously above RC 69, which is probably hard to find. A diamond coated feather file is strong enough. Suffice to say that quartz is ~RC 80 and diamond is about 1000 times harder than that. The file that I have felt about 800 to 1000 grit as estimated against my DiaSharp Bench Stones. It cuts rather slowly, but it cuts.

cheers,

wm_crash, the friendly hooligan

[wintersedge]

Just curious how the sharpening has worked out for you? I am looking at taking the plunge into Japanese saws after working with their chisels. I would prefer to stay away from 'throw-away' blades.

 

Cheers

[wm_crash]

Staying away from throw-away blades puts you int the $200-$300 per saw category. If that's where you want to be, go for it. You will be able to se the standard feather files then. The diamond ones are ok to use to refresh throw-aways. I don't know how much bite they have on the edge since the edge is very narrow. That being said, they can be used to refresh teeth to where you can immediately see improvement in the cut.

 

cheers,

wm_crash, the friendly hooligan