knife sharpening

[yammerschooner]

I use the Dunn Sharpening System on my 8 inch grinder. Every knife in my house is sharp enough to shave with, without even any pull on the hair as they cut. My fillet and skinning knives are as sharp, probably sharper, than when they were new.

Normally the abrasive end is not needed unless there is a chink in the metal. I often just polish on a new edge. It requires almost no skill to end up with a fantastic blade.

http://www.dunnknives.com/services/sharpening.php

I cannot speak highly enough about this system. It sounds similar to the cardboard wheels fourarmed speaks of in the prior post.

http://www.dunnknives.com/services/sharpening.php

[fourarmed]

Yammerschooner, that is the identical setup I have. My son in law gave me the wheels for Christmas one year, and they laid around in the package. The next year he gave me the buffer, and I almost couldn't find the wheels. Fortunately, they did turn up, and as you say, it is dangerous to handle any of my knives now.

[onondaga]

If you are having just OK results with the Lansky, you are the problem.There are plenty of YouTube videos on the Lansky. Watch them all. I have a side job sharpening surgical instruments and very experienced in getting an edge eye surgery sharp. The Lansky will establish a precise bevel on the edge and stone or diamond to an incredible edge with progressive abrasive grits to extra fine Hard Arkansas. Good sharpening takes patience and desire. If you don't have that for your own edges, pay somebody that does. The Lansky is as good as sharpening jigs get. There are more expensive kits but none of them will outperform the Lansky used with patience and skill . Easy to use tools give wavy edges and don't hold a bevel.

[pmeisel]

I like to use a diamond stick on dull blades, and a crock-stick or a stone on sharp ones....

[Lloyd Smale]

Like i said i have a lansky at camp and have used it alot. I had one before they had diamond stones. the biggest complaint i have with them is there much slower then the diamond one i have now and the stones tend to wear out fast.

If you are having just OK results with the Lansky, you are the problem.There are plenty of YouTube videos on the Lansky. Watch them all. I have a side job sharpening surgical instruments and very experienced in getting an edge eye surgery sharp. The Lansky will establish a precise bevel on the edge and stone or diamond to an incredible edge with progressive abrasive grits to extra fine Hard Arkansas. Good sharpening takes patience and desire. If you don't have that for your own edges, pay somebody that does. The Lansky is as good as sharpening jigs get. There are more expensive kits but none of them will outperform the Lansky used with patience and skill . Easy to use tools give wavy edges and don't hold a bevel.

[kym]

On a budget and here in Australia where some of the fancy systems are hard to get, I rely on the Scary Sharp method.

This works by using wet and dry paper, neoprene rubber sheet (foam computer mouse pad), a strop made from leather scraps with grinding compound and a steel to keep the edge straight.

The Scary Sharp method is particularly good for convex edged blades when using the neoprene under the wet and dry paper or for flat chisels using a piece of glass under the wet and dry. My Frost carbon steel blades do well with this method.

Shaving edge for $5 of wet and dry paper.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scary_sharp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQCkK...eature=related

It always drives me to distraction to be cooking at a friends house or holiday house and the knives a too blunt to cut. Remember even if there is no stone or steel available you can sharpen on the un-glazed underside of a coffee mug - a good trick when caught out! you can even then strop on rough cardboard to impress the family.

[StrawHat]

...On a budget and here in Australia where some of the fancy systems are hard to get, ...

Can't help with the budget but these guys had a good system. I use it in my shop for some knives.

[QUOTE=kym;970436]

...I rely on the Scary Sharp method...

It is a good system if you maintain a consistant angle. I use it for plane irons and chisels.

[Just1Mor]

I just learned how to sharpen almost anything to a raizor edge. I before would also dull things out, but the trick is when you get down to the hard ark stone pass blade side forward a few times like normal to get out the scatches from the rougher stone and then sharped backwards. The angle should be the same but when the knife is slid backwards on the stone you are honing and not chipping away metal like you do going forward. Youtube is a great teacher.

[Frank46]

Being the head sharpener at my house takes on new meaning come the holidays. Some years back bought 4 stones. India, soft and hard arkansas and the black arkansas. Depending on what the wife is cutting and how bad the edge is I'll start with the norton india stone and get a rough edge and get rid of the nicks. Then progress from there. But recently have a 3/4x6" norton india stone that I've been using for her butcher knives. These are a mix of chicago cutlery and old hickory knives. That's where the 3/4x6" stone comes in handy. Just a few good swipes and she's good to go. I wouldn't say razor sharp but close to it. Frank

[EdZ KG6UTS]

A lot of what you use for sharpening depends on the steel in the knife/ tool. I grew up sharpening plane irons and chisels, all carbon steel, with different grades of Arkansas stones. Those went from soft Wa****a to hard white to hard black then some times leather. The same worked for carbon steel knives but changed with the varied types of stainless. Those seem to work using the diamond to shape then ceramic or, as mentioned by others, machine abrasive. I think the old Buck Folding Hunter, 'Biker Buck', was the hardest to get honed to an initial sharp lasting edge. If that edge was mantained it was a good knife. Abuse it and it was back to square 1. It seemed a tough or 'gummy' steel not a hard steel and responed best to machine abrasives though I did lots for friends by hand. I like Japanese water stones for plane irons etc. also.

EdZ KG6UTS

[EdZ KG6UTS]

But recently have a 3/4x6" norton india stone that I've been using for her butcher knives. These are a mix of chicago cutlery and old hickory knives.

Those really work on an India or Wa****a!!! I pick up old used "Old Hickory" knives at swapmeets or garage sales that look like rusty **** but clean up and take a good edge. Check out this guy who still makes 'file' knives. I bought one as a utility and patch knife.

http://www.anzaknives.com/

EdZ KG6UTS

[Uncle R.]

My favorite is a Lansky with diamond hones that the wife bought me for Christmas many years ago. The diamonds are great - they work on tough "rubbery" stainless blades better than anything I've tried. You can feel the coarse diamond hone bite into the blade with every stroke - kinda like filing mild steel with a brand-new sharp Nicholson file. The coarse diamond hone makes short work of reshaping an abused edge and resetting the edge angle. After shaping I run a few strokes with the mid-grade hones then go directly to the fine diamond to put on the last touches. Those diamonds work well and cut quickly but they just will not give me a shaving edge although it's very close. Two or three strokes of each side on a hard arkansas and then a bit of stropping will finish the edge nicely. That's my system - gives a shaving sharp edge with a very uniform angle that stands up well.
And I agree with the other posters about blade material - some of SWMBO's kitchen knives simply will not take a good edge. I swear those blades must be made of zinc. The Chicago Cutlery blades sharpen up pretty well though.
<
Uncle R.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Every morning -- well mostly -- I get out the smooth ceramic stick with a wood handle and put about a minutes time into my daily carry ... that is a gerber S30V " Armor Crewman " . It is always razor sharp unless I have to chop up some really heavy stuff during the day.
Have been doing this for many years since I tried an old 6" ceramic electric insulator I pulled from a real 2x8 floor joist that was in an 100 year house. I actual had a bunch but gave most away.

[Ivantherussian03]

As you can see there are alot of opinions about how to sharpen knife steel. Your going have to pick a method and work with it, and work your way up the learnin curve. If your still unhappy with the results your getting you will need to rethink the quality knife steel your putting an edge on, and figure out to cope with that, or buy better knife steel. Cheap steel dont sharpen well; it is just a fact. My knives are just ok.

I personally dont use very expensive knife steel. I buy the kind of knives I can live with. Hence I plan on sharpening them frequently, but in retrospect it forced me to learn how to sharpen a knife.

The other reason I dont use expensive knives is that one time my hunting partner, who never has his own gear, borrowed my schrade and lost it for me while we cut up a moose.

I use the lansky system at home to sharpen, a diamond stone when I am in hurry, or a stone.

anyway....just my two cents

[redneckdan]

lloyd, I use the lansky kit with standard stones. I find that their hone oil is junk though. You are right that the stones do seem to wear. I didn't know they offered diamond kits. I sharpen most everything at the 20* angle and only use the 3 finest grits for touch ups. the two coarsest grits only come out for a new knife to set the edge angle. i find that stroping with leather after the 1000 grit is what gets it scary sharp. some of Jen cheaper knives are a bear to sharpen but our buck knives, my kabar and CRKT knives all take a great edge without too much headache.

After many years of sharpening tools and bits by hand on grinders and stones can i get a passable edge on a bench stone. Even then it is not as good as what I get from the lanskey setup.

[softpoint]

I use the sandpaper over rubber pad, to 2000 grit and then leather strop with compound, black, then green. If I want an edge to really be scary, I go to a white compound, and then sometimes to Mother's steel billet polish. Although that kind of edge is not needed for an everyday use knife, I like to hone my blades to this level some times, just for fun. The edge looks like a mirror, and you can split a single hair several times if you are steady enough. This type of sharpening produces a convex edge, and in my opinion, is a superior way to get a really sharp blade. Bark River knives are made with a convex edge, and some others.
Fun, just like casting boolits!

[Ekalb2000]

I thought I was the only one to use sandpaper.
400grit up to 1500grit. Then strop.
I need a better stop though. Knivesshipfree.com has some nice ones.

[chaos]

If you are having just OK results with the Lansky, you are the problem.There are plenty of YouTube videos on the Lansky. Watch them all. I have a side job sharpening surgical instruments and very experienced in getting an edge eye surgery sharp. The Lansky will establish a precise bevel on the edge and stone or diamond to an incredible edge with progressive abrasive grits to extra fine Hard Arkansas. Good sharpening takes patience and desire. If you don't have that for your own edges, pay somebody that does. The Lansky is as good as sharpening jigs get. There are more expensive kits but none of them will outperform the Lansky used with patience and skill . Easy to use tools give wavy edges and don't hold a bevel.

I agree. I can make any of my knives sharp enough to shave my face with a Lansky. I too could never sharpen a knife. A friend had a Lansky and showed me how to use it. Now buddies want me to sharpen theirs.

On a side note. I ONLY use good carbon steel blades. Soligen steel or the type like Moore Maker has in their blades. Stainless is pure **** in my book for sharpening or holding an edge. None of that garbage in my house.

I skin out and put up a BUNCH of HOGS every year. I've worn out 3 sets of the standard stones and went with the diamond this last time. They hold up much better.

[StrawHat]

I see where some members are considering buying strops to use. If you have any left over leather from a project just glue a piece to a chunk of 2x3 or 2x4. Dress the leather with whatever you prefer and you have a good solid strop. I prefer a solid strop instead of a slack strop.

As far as stainless blades, they can be sharpened quite nicely and hold an edge well. It just takes a bit more time and a little more care.

[Von Gruff]

I use a stone as like some I have been using them for years for chisels, plane blades and my knives. I use a different technique for the knives in that I sit the stone at an angle of 18 degrees for the major angle as it is so much easier to keep the knife vertical then use the same vertical hold with the crock sticks at 20 degrees for a final hone and they give a VERY nice finish to my knives. If I clamp the stone on the corner of the table I can stand comfortable to stone both sides of the knife.



This showss the 2 degree difference in the angle between the stone and the crock sticks.



I have a 3 1/2 in ceramic steel for field touch up if needed.



Von Gruff.