I bought a package of the Woodsman Elites a while back and set out to sharpen them. I tried several methods and got them where they would pass the fingernail test but would not shave hair easily. Then I thought I'd try the "scary sharp sandpaper method". For those not familiar with this,-you can Google it - it's a pretty common way to sharpen woodworking tools. (it's the easiest way I found to get a chisel where it would cut end grain easily). Anyway, since Woodsmans are sharpened flat, I figured it would work. I went to an auto parts store and bought an assortment pack of wet/dry sandpaper. Most guys glue the sandpaper to a glass plate but I just use an old cutting board and spray adhesive. If the head gets dinged up I will start with more aggressive grit but since they are new, I went with 220, 400, 800, 1,000 then finished them on a leather strop. Why the magnifying glass? Well, it may be overkill but the way to tell it's time to move to a higher grit is when the smaller striations of the sandpaper you are using cover up the larger striations of the previous one. It took some trial and error to get the right number of strokes, but it dang sure worked. It's hard to see in the pic because I don't have much hair on my arms to start with, but it shaved what little I've got.
BTW, you can do it wet or dry, but I spray a little water on it
BTW, you can do it wet or dry, but I spray a little water on it
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