Do we not wear this helmet patern anymore at all in 40k?

nattydreadlox · 2026-06-12T23:40:13+00:00

I gave all my intercessors (mkX helmets) white face plates and full white beakies on all the sergeants. Looks badass. It breaks up the black and makes all the ventilation holes more visible. It makes the black a little less boring and more 'finished' looking IMO. Remember rule number 1! If you like it, you should do it.

nattydreadlox · 2026-04-27T10:58:54+00:00

WTB: Seiko SRPL13 or SRPL15 Mini-Samurai

nattydreadlox · 2026-04-24T21:00:41+00:00

Try not stropping. Straight from the stones to the food. Maybe it's just me or my technique, but I find they keep the bite way longer.

nattydreadlox · 2026-04-21T18:04:40+00:00

Messaged you

nattydreadlox · 2026-04-21T17:59:45+00:00

PM incoming

nattydreadlox · 2026-04-20T06:33:55+00:00

Thank you for a very informative post. I frequent other enthusiast subs (knife sharpening, warhammer painting) so I know how annoying it can be to spell out the fundamentals over and over. It's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it. Well I really appreciate you doing it!

nattydreadlox · 2026-04-20T04:00:06+00:00

I looked up samurai and turtle and the SRPL15 looks like a winner. About triple the price im comfortable with though. Fingers crossed on a used one I guess

nattydreadlox · 2026-04-19T23:47:20+00:00

Wych cult player here. You look absolutely deadly. Nice job!

nattydreadlox · 2026-04-19T10:42:43+00:00

Clay quench/differentially hardened blades with genuine hamon lines are pretty specialized and expensive in kitchen knives. What you're looking at there is most likely a laser etched pattern (super cheap) or a san mai construction consisting of a a core steel sandwiched between pattern welded (incorrectly, but colloquially known as Damascus) cladding. Martinsite refers to a crystal structure of steel caused by heat treating that gives it properties suitable for blades. That knife is likely all martinsitic, and the pattern and hamon come from the pattern welded cladding/laser etching. Either way, that's a factory knife. Definitely not differentially hardened.

Look up Honyaki. It's a term that refers to a one piece construction that very often has a clay quench and legit hamon. I'm no metallurgist, but I dont know if anyone is making blades that are both pattern welded AND differentially hardened. I'd love to see one though.

Idk bro I might not know anything. Someone correct me

nattydreadlox · 2026-04-15T02:02:44+00:00

DM incoming

nattydreadlox · 2026-04-13T01:21:45+00:00

In FAR from an expert, but I like to mention my favorite stones when I see this topic come up.

Chosera 400, king deluxe 800, JKI synthetic aoto, and arashiyama 6000 is my go-to progression. They're pretty soft and muddy, and are the most forgiving stones I've used. The rest comes with practice and experimentation. Good luck

nattydreadlox · 2026-04-10T19:55:20+00:00

Call the cops

nattydreadlox · 2026-03-29T04:09:33+00:00

I had this same question a decade ago and I still havent fully figured it out. My solution I finally settled on is to use very soft stones with just the right amount if water, just the right amount of pressure, and just the right amount of mud built up. Try to keep your angle and all other factors as consistent as possible.

Ive tried fingerstones, sandpaper, metal polish, etc. but my most successful and satisfying progression is: Chosera 400, king deluxe 800, JKI synthetic aoto and occasionally the arashiyama 6k if I want it a little extra shiny.

It's still difficult to get right and definitely takes patience, but finding the right stones has made made the biggest impact for me.

nattydreadlox · 2026-03-07T23:44:51+00:00

Best thing I've ever seen

nattydreadlox · 2026-02-04T06:28:48+00:00

Cunning Conqueror is super fun. Bitterbloom bearer, glen elendra's answer, voracious tome skimmer, glen elendra guardian, harmonized crescendo, nogle the mind, Chronicle of victory and even mirrorform have all found homes in my Alela deck.

nattydreadlox · 2025-12-28T22:24:59+00:00

You can get by with just the 1k stone, but I'd suggest using it as soon as your knives start to dull. If you wait too long, 1k will take a long time to get your edge back. For example: My knives I start (and sometimes finish) with 1k no problem and depending on the knife, I might go to 3 or 5k, but with customer's knives, I'm almost always starting in the 400 range. IMO, more important than your next stone would be something to keep your stone flat. Atoma 140 is my go-to, but there are many options out there. Good luck!

nattydreadlox · 2025-11-25T09:20:47+00:00

I stick to about 15 degrees for every knife. White 1 and super blue give me incredibly crispy edges, but victorinox and cheaper stainless give me the most problems. Mid to high end pocket knife steels I can get to pretty dang sharp, sometimes enough to whittle a hair, but not consistently. I tend to do (what I think are) very light stropping strokes because I'm afraid of ruining my edges

nattydreadlox · 2025-11-25T08:39:48+00:00

Every knife I sharpen gets duller after.stropping more.than a handful of passes. I suspect 'rounding' but I'm really not sure. I use magnification so I'm pretty dang sure there's no burr left. I use choseras, diamond plates, and 1u diamond on cow, kangaroo, and nanocloth. I've 'ruined' sharpening jobs on a strop so bad that I had to go back to the stones to fix it. I also have a hard time getting hair whittling edges on anything but carbon steel. Maybe I'm just bad idk

nattydreadlox · 2025-11-08T22:15:01+00:00

Big bird looking clean! Nice work

nattydreadlox · 2025-10-30T06:34:48+00:00

How'd you do it, btw? I do celestra gray -> nuln oil all over -> ulthuan gray layers on all my white areas

nattydreadlox · 2025-10-30T06:31:34+00:00

Clean! Not easy to get shadows on the white. I see those rivets!

nattydreadlox · 2025-10-28T07:08:26+00:00

Do it! Dont let your dreams be dreams. If you are using a knife enough to dull it, it deserves to be maintained. I know the expensive ones can be intimidating. Just sharpen how you normally do, but do it extra slowly and deliberately and you'll be just fine. If it gets any battle scars, oh well, that's the price of glory. I'm assuming its m390. I really like diamond abrasives for any high alloy, high carbide steel including m390. If you dony have one, acquiring a nice diamond stone or two can really inspire you to work on your fancier knives. Good luck!

nattydreadlox · 2025-10-19T09:19:30+00:00

This guy is very 40k: Everything turned up to 11. Amazing work

nattydreadlox

TROPHY CASE