Winter has arrived on-schedule here in our central-Ohio village. The timing is pure coincidence and yet it feels exactly right.
For the last week or so, with the exception of summoning the strength to attend The Game on Saturday, for health reasons I've been confined to quarters. I've managed my boredom by taking on a variety of simple, meditative tasks.
While watching football on Thanksgiving Day, for example, I pulled out my Frosts Morakniv Viking 640 for some relaxed stropping. I took my time coaxing the carbon-steel edge to satisfactory keenness. Next I broke out a flat file and squared the spine, giving it wickedly sharp 90°corners that'll bite reliably on a firesteel.The Mora 640 -- a wonderful little knife, by the way -- is equipped with a considerable self-guard (pictured in its original form here). That damned guard kept getting in my way, though, so about a year ago I began cutting it down. Bit by bit I shaved away the orange plastic with a utility blade, followed by filing and sanding (and then working with the altered handle) 'til I got it where I wanted it.
On Thursday I put the finishing touches on the mod, hitting the scuffed-up areas with a micro-torch to make them smooth again. I admired my work, stowed my tools and, on a whim, sat down at my computer to see what fellow blogger American Bushman was up to.
As it turns out, a day earlier he'd been doing his own maintenance and tuning -- on an orange-handled Mora 510, no less. Go figure.
Life has its coincidences.
