Cutting Tools for the Sportsman: Selection, Care and Maintenance
Outdoorsmen find many uses for a wide variety of cutting tools. Saws, axes, and knives are as much a part of hunting and its related activities as are archery tackle and firearms. These tools are designed for different purposes. Saws are usually used across the grain in wood for either coarse or fine cutting jobs. They are also useful in quartering game of cutting bone. Axes are usually used with or diagonally across the grain in wood. As hardened tools, they should not be used on very hard materials, although some may use an axe or hatchet to aid in the quartering process. Their greatest value in the hunting camp will be in the preparation and splitting of firewood. Knives are extremely versatile cutting tools. They may do moderately coarse work, like cutting brush for a blind, or fine cutting, like field dressing a game animal or helping to lift a splinter or thorn from the skin. They are used in food preparation, cutting cordage and leather, filed dressing, and many other operations around the camp or in the field.
All of these tools come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The user must know how to select a tool for the job and how to use it properly. Proper use includes knowing how to keep the tool sharp and how to care for it to keep it in good working order.
Saws for Sportsmen
Sportsmen use a variety of saws. Bow saws are commonly used in preparation of firewood, although some camps may have access to chain saws for that purpose. Many hunters find a meat saw valuable for splitting or quartering a carcass or for removing the lower leg or the head. Some manufacturers provide a takedown saw with interchangeable wood and bone blades. Many sportsmen also carry a cable or wire survival saw as part of their emergency equipment. Saws are fairly simple tools, consisting of a blade and, usually, a frame of some sort to support the blade and provide a means of controlling the saw.
Axes and Hatchets for Sportsmen
Axes and hatchets are versatile heavy cutting tools. They are composed of a head and a handle, usually held together by wooden or steel wedges. The head is composed of a blade with a toe at the far end of the blade and a heel at the end closest to the handle, an eye through which the handle passes and a poll in single blade axes. The handle is slightly curved to straight, depending upon the style of the tool.
These tools come in several lengths. Felling or splitting axes have moderately heavy heads and full length handles. Cruiser’s axes have a somewhat lighter head and a handle approximately three-quarters the length of the full-sized axe. These features make it a bit more portable for the backpacking hunter, although it does not have the same force for cutting or splitting wood. Hatchets are designed with much shorter handles, usually 18 inches or less in length. They are intended for one-handed use on relatively light chores, but they are relatively light and easily carried. Most of them have a pounding surface and a cutting surface on the head, making them a light wood splitting tool and a hammer.
These tools also differ in head design. Single bit axes have a pounding surface to increase their versatility as tools, and many woodsmen prefer them to double-bit axes. They may have fairly straight edges and relatively flat cutting surface or sharply flared edges to the head with a curved cutting surface. While some clear advantages are attributed to each type, the choice of style is largely one of personal preference. Double bit axes offer the advantage of sharpening the two edges for different purposes, e.g. felling trees and splitting firewood. They lack a safe pounding surface, however, and they require a bit more caution during use.
Knives for Sportsmen
Every outdoorsman needs at least one knife, and one is seldom enough. Knives find hundreds of uses in camp and in the field. They come is a bewildering array of sizes, shapes, and quality. Thus, the outdoorsman needs to know something about how to select, care for, and use a knife in order to get the quality needed.
A knife is a simple instrument. It consists of a blade and a handle. The blade has a back, which is usually unsharpened and heavier than the cutting edge. The blade has a point. Together with the general shape of the blade and the unsharpened edge, the shape of the point defines the blade type and its purpose. Some knives have a blood groove, a concave area in the blade. The base of the blade usually features an unsharpened area, often in the shape of the original blade blank, known as the choll. Extending behind the blade into the handle is the tang. The tang includes a means of attaching a handle in sheath knives and an extension to hold the pivot pin and/or locking device in folding knives.
The knife handle may include a guard at the base of the hilt, another name for the handle. Folding knives are usually supported in the area of the pivot pin by bolsters, layers of metal to protect the knife handle from damage. Folding knives also have springs or some other locking device to aid in keeping the knife closed or open as the user desires. Most pocketknives have only a spring, while lock-back knives include a rigid locking device for greater security. Lock-back knives also have a release of some type that disengages the locking device. All folding knives have a pivot pin that allows the knife to be opened or closed while keeping all the parts together. Most of the handle is exactly that, a handle or grip. In folding knives, the grip encloses the blade when the knife is closed. As in fixed blade knives, the grip surface may be made of many materials, metal, bone, horn, plastics, wood, leather, or combinations of those materials. Handles may be shaped to the hand or left in more or less round, oval, or rectangular shapes. In fixed blade knives, the handles are often attached to the tang on the blade by one or more rivets. Alternatively, a cap or pommel on the handle may be pressed or screwed into place to secure the handle.
Belt knives are the workhorse knives of the sportsman. They are usually heavier than pocketknives, with thicker, more massive blades. They may be of traditional design with a fixed blade, a large lock-blade folding knife, or a non-traditional style, like the Wyoming knife. They are usually worn on the belt and carried in a sheath of leather, Cordura, or some similar product. The sheath keeps the knife securely in place and protects the blade from damage. It also protects the person from carrying the knife from injury. Thus, the sheath should be heavy enough to resist cutting and puncture and equipped with some means of keeping the blade away from metal or other dulling surfaces while preventing it from penetrating the sheath and cutting the person carrying it. While belt knives that look like short swords are available from many manufacturers, there is little need for a knife with a blade longer than about three to four inches. The shorter blades are easier to handle, more convenient to carry and completely adequate to almost any task that might be encountered by a hunter after even the biggest of big game.
Pocketknives are often multiple use knives. They may have a single blade or several different blades designed for different jobs. Some single or double blade knives are as massive as large lock-blade knives, but most pocketknives are designed to fit easily in a pants pocket. Pocketknives for the hunter usually have two or three blades. Two blade designs may include a long clip or Turkish clip blade with a long spey blade or skinning blade. Trapper or muskrat knives frequently have this design combination. Stockman’s knives usually include a clip blade with a spey blade and a sheepfoot blade. This variety of blades serves multiple uses from general cutting to light field dressing quite well. Others may include other blade shapes that you prefer. Camp or camping knives may have one or more cutting blades, usually a spear or pen blade in combination with an array of utility blades or tools. “Boy Scout” and “Swiss Army” knives fall into this category of useful knives. The larger models of these pocketknives are normally carried in sheaths because they are too bulky to be carried comfortably. When they are needed, these portable toolboxes earn their keep, but they are not a true substitute for the traditional pocketknife or the hunting knife.
Utility knives normally stay in camp or at home. These are the knives used in the preparation of food or preparing the game animal for eating or storage. In camp, the hunter will find plenty of use for paring knives – usually the same uses they found at home. Slicing knives can be extremely useful in preparing food in camp and inn slicing meat that is cut and wrapped in camp. Be sure to check state regulations and laws before doing this! Specialized skinning knives usually have a broad sweep of curved blade to make the skinning task easier. Where the skinning task is handled in camp, these knives will save lots of work with a more general blade shape. Boning knives are also very useful for the hunter who prepares big game for storage or consumption in camp or for the backpacking hunter who would rather not carry out the bones. Specialized boning knives with a sweptback blade or short fillet knives are excellent for boning out a big game carcass. Short (four to six inch) Swedish style fillet knives work very well as boning knives in addition to being good for cleaning fish during the off season.
Blade Shape and Function
Knife blades come in a wide variety of shapes. Usually those shapes have evolved for two reasons. The function of the blade often dictates its shape, with generations of users modifying blade shape trying to find one that works effectively for the jobs they are trying to do. The second major shaping influence is aesthetics. The appearance of the blade is important in using the knife. Looking good in the store or when showing a knife to a friend is much less important to the knife’s function.
Several styles of blade designs have endured the test of time to become popular with hunters. A wide variety of clip blades are used in folding and fixed blade knives. Clip blades are tapered from both the back and the cutting edge of the blade with variable amounts of sweep to the edge and a fairly sharp point. Saber clip blades are angled downward from the back and swept upward from the edge to a fairly acute point. The long clip blade has a more gradual taper from the back and a longer and shallower sweep from the edge. The point is much more acute and slender. Fishing knives frequently use this design. The Turkish clip blade has a long, but almost imperceptible taper to the top, turning upward slightly at the point. The relatively thin blade is swept upward to meet the tip in a very thin and sharp point. This blade style is often paired with a long spey blade in folding hunters or trapper knives. Clip blades have an excellent general purpose design with a point that is very good at puncturing tough skin to start a field dressing or skinning process.
Spey blades have a fairly obtuse tip with plenty of upswept edge. Usually the back of the blade is relatively straight until it tapers downward to the tip rather abruptly at the end of the blade. Spey blades are often the “for flesh only” blades on stockman knives, and they are frequently coupled with a thin Turkish clip blade in trapper or folding hunter styles. The maize blade is essentially a “swollen” spey blade withy much more curved cutting surface. Many skinning blades use a spey design, sometimes on a curved blade.
Sheepfoot and coping blades have a straight, flat cutting edge with the back of the blade curved downward to support the cutting edge. They are useful for cutting cordage, slicing leather, or making sharply defined cuts in wood. Many three-blade pocketknives combine this blade with a spey blade and a clip blade for broad utility.
Spear and pen blades are curved nearly equally from the back and the edge. The major difference between them is their size. Spear blades tend to be both longer and wider than pen blades. While they are good general use blades, they are not as effective as more specialized blade designs at either making initial incisions or skinning.
Drop point knives resemble a broad Turkish clip blade with more sweep to the cutting edge. These blades are excellent field dressing and skinning tools, and many hunters prefer them to other blade designs for general use. The back of the blade is slightly curved or angled toward an up-swept cutting edge, producing a fairly sharp point with a wide curve of cutting surface for skinning or caping work.
The Green River skinning blade is an old design used by fur trappers who specialized in beaver. Beaver hides adhere strongly and must be removed with a wedge or a good skinning knife. Cuts or nicks reduce their fur value, so a broadly curved and angled knife was developed to permit the trapper to skin the animal effectively and with minimum pelt damage. Several specialized skinning blades are available today on this same basic design. The shape of these blades requires that they be fixed blade knives.
Boning of fillet knives have a relatively narrow blade with either a relatively straight back or one that is angled upward from the tang. Their general shape varies from a narrow drop-point design to an elongated and curved Turkish clip design. Some of them have a rounded and extremely sharp point, which is used for much of he incision work. These knife blades are usually relatively thin and flexible. They are excellent, versatile blades for final preparation of a big game carcass for packaging and storage.
Some specialty knives have other tools. Bird knives often include a long, smooth and narrow hook, known as a gut hook, which is an aid in field dressing small game birds. These knives may have a blade that functions as a choke tube wrench as well. Big game knives may include a folding saw blade that aids in cutting through the sternum or the pelvis during field dressing.
No blade design or knife does everything well. Most hunters find a need for a multiple-blade pocket knife with blades of their choice, a general purpose belt knife that meets their preferences and the tasks they expect it to perform, and a set of specialized knives of their choice back in camp or where the carcass will be handled.
Carefully chosen, maintained and used, good knives are life-long investments. Consider your selection carefully. First, think about the primary use of the knife and the suitability of the blade(s) for the use(s). Consider your personal preferences in blade types or shapes for various chores. Choose a knife from an established manufacturer or maker with a reputation for durability and ruggedness. Select blades with the steel quality and edge-holding ability you prefer. Softer steels will sharpen more easily, but they will require more frequent sharpening. Stainless steels do not tarnish as much, but high carbon steels are harder and able to take on a finer edge. Finally, consider how the knife looks and feels to you. Does it feel balanced in your hand? Can you maneuver the blade effectively? Does it carry some pride of ownership?
Sharpening Cutting Tools
Dull cutting tools are dangerous! Keeping your knives, axes and saws sharp is a factor in both safety and the effectiveness of the tool. Although saw sharpening is a more advanced activity and is often best left to a professional with the proper equipment, anyone can learn to sharpen knives and axes effectively.
The temptation when faced with a sharpening job is to head for the shop and an electric grinder. Please avoid that temptation. Grinders can heat the metal in tools, drawing their temper and leaving them with an edge that is easily dulled. Specialized grinding tools may be used if they have both a means of keeping the tool cool and a way to maintain the proper angle during the sharpening process.
A flat mill bastard file, whet stones of various types and grades, kits or devices designed to keep angles true, sharpening steels and or ceramic (crock) sticks all have a place in sharpening cutting tools. Whetstones, either manufactured or natural, are usually made of carborundum, a hard aluminum oxide similar to ruby, emerald or similar stones. These stones come in a variety of grades. Coarse or soft stones, sometimes called Ouachita stones, are used for rapid removal of material. Using progressively harder or finer stones, like hard Arkansas to black Arkansas stones, reduces the amount of material removed from the edge and leaves a progressively smoother edge that cuts more smoothly. A variety of kits or tools are available to assist you in keeping the angles of the edges uniform while sharpening. Unless you are experienced and skilled, try to maintain the manufacturer’s angles on the tools being sharpened. Steels or crock sticks can be used to refresh an edge during use or to further smooth the edge after treatment on the stones. A heavy leather strop can be used to further polish the edge of the blade on knives to make it sharper and smoother. Some people are satisfied with the edge produced by a scraper-type sharpener, usually carbide or tool steel cutters in a device designed to produce a sharp edge while the blade is drawn through it. Seldom will these devices yield the quality of results attainable with good stones and other sharpening tools, but they are fast.
Sharpening an Axe
Although axes can be sharpened without a vise or other means of holding and securing it, the task is much harder under those conditions. Using a good bench vise is preferred, but the ax head can be held firmly against a convenient surface like a bench or stump, too. Following the angle ground into the edge by the manufacturer or one that you have determined suits your use better, draw file the edge equally on both sides of the blade. This is accomplished by placing uniform pressure on the tip and the handle of the file and pushing the file forward as it is pushed from the heel to toe or toe to heel of the blade. Make the strokes smooth and let them cover the length of the blade’s edge while keeping the pressure even and the angle the same. If there are nicks in the blade, work the entire blade until they are removed.
Once the edge is sharp, polish the bevels using one or more whetstones. Use either a circular motion or a draw-filing motion, but make sure the blade is covered evenly. Maintain the angles used with the file and try to use a lighter but consistent pressure on the stone. Round stones work best in a circular motion, while rectangular ones will last longer if a draw-filing type of motion is used.
Once the edge has been sharpened, protect both the edge and yourself from damage by placing it in a sheath or scabbard. A sheath of heavy leather or a padded fabric sheath will keep the edge from getting nicked or blunted and people from getting cut while the ax is not in use. Take a few moments to check the handle to make sure it is tight before putting the ax away or stowing it in your hunting gear. Apply a light coat of linseed oil to the handle occasionally to keep the wood in good shape. If the head is loose, replace the wedges or add steel wedges at an angle to the wooden one to tighten it. Soaking the head in water will effect a temporary cure for a loose ax head by causing the wood to swell. This should be considered a temporary or emergency cure. The leather sheath can be treated with saddle soap, neet’s foot oil or leather restorer to keep it flexible and in good condition. Use oils sparingly, since they tend to soften the leather and may reduce the protective nature of the sheath.
Sharpening a Knife
Knives can be sharpened wither at home or in the field if the proper tools and a comfortable place to work are available. Once the tools have been assembled, select the desired angle. The angle at which the edge is sharpened determines it sharpness and its durability. Sharpness increases as the angle gets shallower, but the durability of the edge decreases at the same time. Most of us select angles that give us the optimum compromise between the two for any given job, sometimes using different angles on the various blades of a pocketknife.
For relatively coarse work where a tough edge is required, many people prefer an angle of about 25 to 30 degrees. An angle of about 15 to 20 degrees yields a much sharper, yet durable edge that is excellent for field dressing, skinning and boning as long as the blade is not used to cut through too much bone. Even the small bones in the rib cage of small game or scraping on the wing or leg bones of game birds will dull knives sharpened at these angles. Very shallow 5 to 10 degree sharpening angles are excellent for fillet or boning knives or for the “for flesh only” blade of a pocketknife. Many wood workers try to keep an edge of about 5 degrees on their wood carving knives, touching up the blade’s edge frequently. Beginners should stick with the angles used by the manufacturer of their knife until they have experimented enough to find the edges that work best for them. Many hunters prefer to use an extremely sharp edge, even though it does need frequent touch-ups with the stone or crock sticks. They key is matching the edge selected to the job being done.
Once the desired angle has been determined, dress the edges equally on both sides to the desired angle. On dull knives or those where you are changing the angle, begin with a coarse or soft stone. Keep using it until the edge has been cut to the desired angle and it is quite sharp. Repeat the process with medium and fine/hard stones, keeping the pressure and the angles constant. A few strokes on either side of the blade should be sufficient if the coarse stone has done its work. Following the manufacturer’s recommendations, moisten the stones with cutting oil, kerosene or water while they are in use. This keeps them from filling with metal filings and losing their effectiveness. The stones can be used with either a circular motion or a slicing one. The circular motion passes the blade through a series of overlapping circular patterns from poll to tip or tip to poll. This approach tends to take off material quickly; but it also tends to hollow the center of a stone and it may result in uneven sharpening of the edge. Some people will find it difficult to maintain the selected angle as well.
The slicing motion resembles an attempt to slice a very thin layer off the surface of the stone using the entire length of the knife blade. It tends to use more of the stone, wearing its surface more evenly. Most people find it easier to maintain their selected angle with this technique, even though it may require a bit more time to finish the sharpening task. For best results, the blade should be turned from one side to the other after each stroke and the strokes should get lighter with the harder stones.
Many of the true-angle kits use a series of guide slots with a protected stone mounted on a rod. The manufacturers recommend that these devices be used by pushing the stone into the edge using overlapping strokes from the poll to the tip and back again. Usually three complete laps of the blade on each side will be adequate to refresh the edge. Regardless of the tool used or the style of sharpening motion, keep your flesh out of the way of the blade!
Once the edge has been hone to its desired angle, polish it with very light strokes on alternating sides using a set of crock sticks or steel. Be sure to maintain the proper angles while doing this. If desired, a heavy strop can be used to polish the edge even further. Draw the edge over the strop from the back of the blade to the edge, alternating strokes on opposite sides of the blade. This results in an extremely smooth, razor-sharp edge that will cut very cleanly.
There are many ways to test the edge on a knife. No matter which one is chosen, some caution must be taken to avoid being cut in the process. Traditional methods of testing an edge include slicing paper, shaving hair, feeling the edge with a fingernail or feeling the edge with the ball of your thumb. The first three methods dull the edge slightly and require that it be stropped again to refresh it. The last three methods run some risk of a cut. Try them to see which ones suit you the best, but BE CAREFUL not to cut yourself in the process. When using your thumb to test sharpness, come across the edge carefully and at right angles to the blade. Do not run your thumb or finger along the blade!
Once the edge is sharpened to your satisfaction, protect it from corrosion. A light coat of oil or petroleum jelly helps if the blade is to be stored for some time, and having it clean and dry before storing it is very important. Using the blade for the purpose you selected and avoiding abuse of the edge will also keep it sharp longer. Sheaths can be cared for in the same fashion as those used for axes.
Using Cutting Tools Safely
Well-sharpened tools will cut the materials they were designed for very well and with a minimum of effort. While they are less likely to slip or be deflected than a dull tool, they are also capable of wounding the user if they are not used with care. Every user of a saw, ax or knife needs to use some common sense and responsibility in keeping the tool and the area around it under control. Fatigue and excitement are frequent contributors to injury. Try to use extra caution when you are excited or tired and you need to use a cutting tool. Keeping the work area clear and keeping body parts out of the way or sharp edges avoids most accidents. With knives, the most frequent injuries are to the hands and fingers. Occasionally missing the sheath, using a damaged or inadequate sheath or putting away an open pocketknife causes a cut to a leg or the rump. Axes often involve injuries to the feet or legs from deflected blows or injuries to the head from flying objects, including improperly placed wood, or by getting the axe head caught in obstructions. Any of these can sure foul up a hunting trip.
Common hazards include deflected tools, damaged or loose tools, dull tools, cluttered work areas, careless people, flying pieces of wood from improper cutting or cutting tensioned wood. Make sure the area being cut is supported. All of these can be avoided. Safety glasses should be used when using an ax or saw, and gloves are a good idea for hand protection. When using a chain saw, users should wear a hard hat with a face shield and ear protection. Finally, wise hunters use protective gloves while field dressing game to prevent blood-borne diseases from reaching any scratches or cuts on the hands.
Cutting tools are part of every sportsman’s life. Learning to choose, use and sharpen them safely and effectively is part of the basic training of a hunter.
