So I picked up what I thought was a decent knife from a local maker. It's saw steel (carbon steel) and it's already hardened. Thus far I've had to fix a poorly sawed antler crown, reset the blade with epoxy versus gorilla glue, and now I'm trying to sharpen this thing to no avail. I've got coarse to slightly less coarse diamond stones, some decent fine work files, 80-240-400 wet or dry sandpaper and my favorite, ceramic cup bottoms. I know that you're probably thinking this is a lost cause, but it's razor sharp where it is sharp and it holds it very well, so shabby assembly or not it does its job. I can make my own handles but I can't forge or do stock removal without the tools to do it.
Knife was dirt cheap but good steel. It's not a forever blade but it'll serve till I can get a proper skinner. I just need something for general tasks my large knife is too big/thick bladed for.
