Electrician Talk banner

sharpening hawkbill knives

36K views 41 replies 24 participants last post by  paulengr 
#1 ·
does anyone know any good stones to sharpen these kinds of knives? it needs to be thin since a regular bench stone doesnt work
 
#2 ·
They do make round India stones, but my linemen friends tell me they just throw them out and get a new one. They're just a couple dollars.

The arc tube inside an HID lamp words pretty decent to touch one up.
 
#3 ·
They do make round India stones, but my linemen friends tell me they just throw them out and get a new one. They're just a couple dollars.

The arc tube inside an HID lamp words pretty decent to touch one up.
the cheap lineman knives i would throw out but the pocket knife is too expensive to throw out its around 20 - 25 dollars
 
#4 ·
does anyone know any good stones to sharpen these kinds of knives? it needs to be thin since a regular bench stone doesnt work
I have a couple of Klein 48036 sharpeners. I’ve used this type for years on all kinds of blades. They make a decent enough edge, at least for stripping wire and sheath.
I find that most of my knives don’t hold an edge for long anyway, so I get plenty of use out of the sharpeners.
I’ve also bought identical sharpeners from L.L.Bean before, so these aren’t exclusively a Klein item. I think they were around $10.00 each. A nice Mill-Smooth file is also useful for dressing blades on work knives.
 
#12 ·
Got that right. I really don't want a knife that needs sharpening. At the least, I'd want several so that a sharp one is always at hand and I can take a whole batch in to the sharpening guy. How much is a Buckingham lineman's knife? I think they're every bit of 5 bucks maybe.
 
#13 ·
I bought a wet and dry grinder from grizzley you can freehand them on the top stone really good.

You can buy workman pocket knives from the knife store by pigeon forge tn for about $6. each , I bought a dozen had to put them in the safe my kid wanted a new one every time he went camping with the boy scouts.

Has anyone figured how to sharpen a wood owl bit yet ?. Ive looked at tool grinders on e bay, or are they throw aways.
 
#14 ·
For all of my sharpening needs, I bring my stuff to an old Italian guy, man is he the best. People send him things from all over the US. I read somewhere that a tube from K&T sharpens pretty good, I use one on my kitchen knifes.
 
#22 ·
I was sitting at a traffic light just up the road the other day (AM), and I happened to be checking out the poles (go figure), and I looked up and here is this 2' tall (+/-) owl with big yellow/orange eyes sitting on top of the pole - the light turned green and I didnt have time to get a pic. don't see them hanging around in the daylight too often.
 
#29 ·
I use a basic utility knife (sheet rocker type.. fixed blade) with a very dull blade.

It skins romex and works great on THHN.. those other knives you speak of look more for cutting tree branches
heres the thing...i hate utility knives so thats why i use a hawkbill pocket knife. much more sturdy

i bought the spyderco triangle sharpmaker. it sharpened my other pocketknife to hair shaving sharp. i have a bald spot on my hand testing it out. it sharpens hawkbill knives too but its a little difficult so im going to practice. i got a pretty good edge on it good enough for skinning 600 mcm conductors and romex :thumbsup:
 
#38 ·
I enjoy sharpening knives and those are the hardest to do. I have the klein one and you basically have to use the crappy blade cutter to sharpen it good. I would normally only use those on cheap kitchen blades or hard to sharpen hunting blades. I like to use several different grit stones for different applications and metals.
 
Top