# portable sharpening rig ideas?



## monty (Mar 18, 2011)

I am going to be doing some sharpening at my next BBQ competition. My plan is to bring all my stones and sharpen over a large rectangular tub with a board laying across the top lengthwise. I plan to lay a towel down over the board and place the stone on the towel. Does this make sense to those of you who have done this before? My tables are a bit flimsy so I figured keeping the tub on the ground would keep shaking to a minimum. 

Is there anything obvious that I'm missing? My biggest concern is how my back will feel after leaning over that tub.

I plan on drying the stones and putting them in their orig. boxes for transport. I plan to transport them in a Gerstner copy bamboo tool chest.

Thanks in advance for your help.


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## Dave Martell (Mar 18, 2011)

The board over bucket is a great way to go but the bending over part sounds painful and awkward. Look for a very low stool to bring along, maybe even a bucket to slip upside down to sit on.

Don't put the stones back in their boxes after using them unless you don't care about the boxes because they'll be mush by the time you get home. I would just dump the water out of the bucket and leave them in there until you get home and can deal with them as usual.


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## tk59 (Mar 19, 2011)

Totally unnecessary. I saw a cool vid on utube once of some guy slapping a stone against his edge to sharpen it. Problem solved.


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## JBroida (Mar 19, 2011)

i travel with my stones more often that i'd care to admit... i bought a watertight contaner and i keep my soaking stones in there with water in it. My splash and go stones are kept in a plastic bin. I throw em in my car and go... works out pretty well.

The setup for sharpening sounds very similar to one of the setups i worked on in japan...it should work just fine.


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## Schtoo (Jun 20, 2012)

What everyone else said, basically.

Leave the stones in the tub both there and back, leave the boxes at home. If the boxes don't fall to pieces, they'll manage to keep the stones damp for long enough so they'll become naturally anti-bacterial.

(They'll start growing, mold like growing. DAMHIKT!)

I'm looking at carting a few stones with me in a week and a half to a demonstration thing I've been asked to do, but I'm not taking all of them with me. Some of them just aren't worth taking!

Also, wrap each stone with a towel inside the tub so they don't bump against each other while they're being moved around. 

Good luck, safe travels.

Stu.


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## obtuse (Jun 20, 2012)

Just do what Murray Carter does and sharpen in a piece of concrete and cardboard. Just kidding.


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## Tristan (Jun 20, 2012)

Just bring along one of those small pull through sharpeners... they have small ones that fit inside a handbag...


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## 99Limited (Jun 20, 2012)

Forget about putting the stones back in their boxes. The stones may seem dry, but it takes days for them to be truly dry. The boxes will wick up every gram of moisture and start growing mold before you know it.


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## lowercasebill (Jun 20, 2012)

i sit on a low beach chair and put the stone on a towel on a cooler. i transport the stones in a plastic tub wrapped in towels. stones are protected and boxes dont get wet. costco has hand towels 12 for $14 last looked and the auto parts stores sell bales of cotton towel for cheap .. nice to have towels at the comp too . i take a 5 gal bucket full


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## JohnnyChance (Jun 20, 2012)

JBroida said:


> i travel with my stones more often that i'd care to admit... i bought a watertight contaner and i keep my soaking stones in there with water in it. My splash and go stones are kept in a plastic bin. I throw em in my car and go... works out pretty well.
> 
> The setup for sharpening sounds very similar to one of the setups i worked on in japan...it should work just fine.



What kind of container for your soakers? I've been looking for one myself.


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## JBroida (Jun 20, 2012)

i went to the container store and found something... thick plastic, locking water-tight lid


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