Those of you that use post knives could you school me on what type of knife I should be getting to do clean skinning. And how do you keep your post knife sharp.

Thanks.

For me post knives have too small a handle and don't fit my hand comfortably. Beav, I would try a Caribou 5" full skinner. Steel is pretty good but still easy enough to sharpen. After getting an edge a ceramic and Dicke smooth steel is all I use for touch ups and can clean skin several beaver before needing to re-sharpen.

What beaver peeler said :

Ron Post shows how to sharpen his flesher.
https://youtu.be/8HcMrxD-Yt8?si=Sj-4RB5h4NghW9qu

Agree with Beaverpeeler I use a Lee’ s knife exclusively the best and just barely touch the blade with a steel now and then but I’m no expert

Seldom I'm looking for information on keeping a regular knife sharp that I might be using for clean skinning.

For some reason in my 75 years of trapping I have never learned how to sharpen a knife or do a decent job of it. But I have figured out how to keep my knecker sharp.

Beav, I’ll admit to having had my share of struggles in that regard as well. I use a Dunn abrasive wheel for sharpening. About 4-5 passes on each side and then it’s just realigning the edge with a ceramic followed by a few licks on FDicke hard/smooth steel. When I found that less aggressive smooth steel it really helped. Especially with some of the better knives out there.

I sharpen on a Lansky sharpener. I've got one that resides at my house and another that travels with me. I've had both since I was a teenager (I only bought one, the other one mysteriously appeared and I've never figured out where it came from, to this day). I've had to replace a few stones that I've worn out, and a couple knives I've worn out sharpening, but still using the same setup. There may be better out there, but it's what I'm used to. It can take a long time to cut the angle on a hard blade the first time, but resharpening just takes a couple minutes and I like them sharp enough to shave with. I will use a steel to touch up as I'm skinning, and I use a different knife to do the head on beaver so I don't dull my good one on the bone.

I've got an old Buck that has been in the family that I use on the majority of the beaver, it has a wide, curved blade with a swept up, rounded tip, and is what I have used for many years, hard steel that holds an edge well. I've got an old Olsen beaver knife here that was my grandfathers, I sharpened it up a while back and was planning on trying it on a couple beaver for nostalgia since it was my grandpa's knife but I've not used it yet.

Post round beaver skinner

My recommendation is get a hold of Gulo AKA Jack on here for a skinning knife and use a F. Dick steel as mentioned above to help keep a sharp edge on it , I'd touch it up whenever you feel it's not as sharp as you want it .

A gentle touch with the knife on a steel will help keep the burr straight so you're knife is sharp !

For a fleshing knife it's tough to beat one that Lee Steinmeyer makes they're top shelf all the way and he's a great fella to boot !

I've got a few post knives in this pile. All knives are razor sharp
I use a ceramic rod to touch them up and turn the burr

That's a very nice collection Turtle, you're missing my favorite design though.



The two vertical knives on the left.

All I use is a small razor knife and at time a basic utility knife. Simple, but very effective.

ADC , that's a beautiful collection. What make are those two?

Beav, I use a post knife for skinning beaver and I keep it sharp with ceramic sharpener. Block of wood with ceramic rods standing up In holes drilled at angles. I think lansky makes one. To sharpen my flesher I take the rod out of the block.

My sharpener is similar to this.

I have a smooth diamond rod I used and really liked for realigning the blade but have been using this ceramic one lately. Works great

There is no markings on either of them so I'm not sure. One belonged to my dad and likely grandpa before that (maybe both of them). My eldest sister had the other one, when I caught her digging in her flower bed with it because the handle was cracked, I confiscated it and had a new handle made for it. They are good steel and hold an edge forever. Fairly thin blades. Dad and grandpa used to butcher for other folks on their farms back in the mid-early 1900's. There are several of their knives in my collection.