How do you sharpen your spear tip?

[dito haryo prasetyo]

Hello,
My name is Dito, I'm from Indonesia,
I used custom speargun (with 90 cm long, 1x16 mm band + 1x14mm band, and 7 mm shaft) for reef hunting, I usually shot 1-4 lbs fish here with range of shooting around 1-3 ft.
Now, the problem is...a few days ago I found my shot was bounced back, I didn't miss the shot, I saw the fish was torn right behind the gills..so I decided to shot the same fish one more time...then, I only made the other cut..shit man, I'm afraid my spear tips wasn't sharp anymore..
So, do you have any suggestion for sharpening the tip? How?

I've viewed some people sharpening the tip with rotary machine (grinding machine), but I think that's impossible for me to buy that thing only for sharpening spearshaft's tip. Any suggestion?

 

[NoFair]

Sandpaper for use with metal (coarse is fine, it doesn't have to be very sharp) or a coarse wet stone. Both should be cheap and easy to find. A metal file would also work well.

 

[mariusshobo]

I use coarse wet stone.

 

[spoone123]

I used a file for quick shaping, if you want a nice looking tip I use a really fine wet-stone for polish

 

[Mr. X]

Depends. I have various options these days as I need to sharpen tools. For fixing a blunt tip or edge, I usually use a cheap, old, secondhand American-made WEN bench wet grinding wheel - the stone is only about 2" wide & 2" diameter & slow but it is great for establishing/re-establishing a sharp edge or point and will not effect the temper of the steel. It is rated about 240 grit but the finish is much smoother than than grit suggests.

The cheapest option is probably wet & dry paper glued to some flat, smooth wood/MDF. 600 grit is good for general sharpening and when it wears it can be used as 1200 grit! (See Ben Orford on youtube ) but for repairs you will likely want to start on something coarser, otherwise it will take forever.

A simple flat cigar carborundum stone (e.g. from Hilti), these are usually much less coarse than round cigar stones. About £1 inc. VAT. Use with oil.

Next up, a regular combination oilstone from a reputable brand, say, Draper or Faithfull - don't buy the cheapest no-name brands (I have several of them), they are often too coarse and/or soft. About £7 in the UK inc. 20% VAT. Use a little thin mineral oil/WD40/baby oil. They work surprising well.

For stainless steel, Japanese waterstones cut faster but, surprisingly are messier than oilstones. You can get a decent combi waterstone for just under £10 on ebay these days if you shop around - the no-name brands work fine for these. I would suggest a course side (e.g. around 200-600 grit) and a somewhat finer side (e.g. around 800-1200 grit). There is quite a good one on Amazon that I have (among others), which is 480/1000 and is quite hard, so it stays quite flat. [For maintaining already sharp edges, 1000/6000 is usually recommended - although I tend to use 2000/5000 currently.] You don't need fine grit waterstones, just strop with metal polish or compound on flat leather if you want a shiny finish (which makes for a better, longer-lasting edge/point).

 

[dito haryo prasetyo]

Thanks for the replies everyone, especially for you Mr. X, what you've explained is more than what I need .
Couple weeks ago I decided to use coarse waterstone, because it was easy to find and much cheaper than using grinding wheel.
And surprisingly it worked very well..hohoho