I suck at sharpening knives!!

inkd · Nov 28, 2016

Norton said:
I just use Burrbenders. He has a trailer and sets up at various places like Homestead Gardens.

Theres also a guy that sets up at the Baltimore Farmers market on Sunday.

Time for me to send my kitchen knives up there to Burrbenders. Those guys are great!!

Norton · Nov 28, 2016

inkd said:
Time for me to send my kitchen knives up there to Burrbenders. Those guys are great!!

I need him to do a touch up on our Global kitchen knives and then a complete repair on my Fiskar hatchet that i mutilated

campns · Nov 28, 2016

There is a guy that goes to farmers market in Tacoma park and others that sharpens anything while you wait. I'll look up his Facebook page and post it. He is out of Damascus

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campns · Nov 28, 2016

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009949502741

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Tracker · Dec 6, 2016

I just use a chefs steel and it keeps a nice working edge on my knives. If you can slice a soft tomato paper thin it's sharp enough

ponypeddler87 · Dec 14, 2016

Tracker said:
I just use a chefs steel and it keeps a nice working edge on my knives. If you can slice a soft tomato paper thin it's sharp enough

I feel like sharp enough is like eh it's good enough. Like it could be better but I don't want to put the effort in. When you can cut a tomato with just the knife it's sharp enough. https://youtu.be/GTHD2J2za6Y

alucard0822 · Dec 14, 2016

Tracker said:
I just use a chefs steel and it keeps a nice working edge on my knives. If you can slice a soft tomato paper thin it's sharp enough

Steeling and stropping work well to straighten a damaged edge, thin and shape the burr after sharpening, but they don't sharpen alone. The tougher the steel, the less likely the edge is to chip, and the more times it will come back with a steel or strop. You eventually have to sharpen to remove damage and reform the edge, but most people sharpen way too much and steel/strop way too little, being they don't take metal off like sharpening does, an expensive knife will last a lot longer.

ponypeddler87 said:
Thats a big jump going from 3k to 50-60k (.5 micron = 50-60k). Does it take a long time to strop it?

Depending on method and steel. That particular ZT561 is in Elmax, wonderful steel, incredibly tough, takes a mirror edge, strops back repeatedly, and sharpens easily. I can jump straight to .5 micron CrOx paste after my finest 3k waterstone. Balsa hits the angle flat, and is faster than leather. I switch to the same paste on softer leather to finish it, then buff it with clean leather. the softer the backing for compound/paste the finer it acts, and the longer it takes. Really fine .5 micron Crox compund will polish as fast on glass or aluminum than 3 micron paste on leather, so instead of keeping a lot of pastes, when polishing by hand I just use the same compound on different backings. Now most of the time I cheat, use green honing compound (.5micron Crox) on leather with my belt sander, the equivalent of an hour of stropping by hand is done in a minute or two. My favorite edge is 400-600 grit Sic for good bite, then shape the burr and smooth the edge on the leather sander belt with compound. I can hand sharpen and machine strop a big S30V blade in 10-15 minutes with this method, compared to an hour to do a mirror polished edge by hand.

outrider58 · Dec 14, 2016

alucard0822 said:
Steeling and stropping work well to straighten a damaged edge, thin and shape the burr after sharpening, but they don't sharpen alone. The tougher the steel, the less likely the edge is to chip, and the more times it will come back with a steel or strop. You eventually have to sharpen to remove damage and reform the edge, but most people sharpen way too much and steel/strop way too little, being they don't take metal off like sharpening does, an expensive knife will last a lot longer.

My 'everyday' knives(Wustofs) mainly get steeled as needed. The ones most used will get sharpened maybe once a year. Some, I have never had to sharpen(the ones my wife is forbidden to touch). The problem with steeling is, most people don't know how to do it properly. :sad20:

Mr. Ed · Dec 14, 2016

ponypeddler87 said:
I feel like sharp enough is like eh it's good enough. Like it could be better but I don't want to put the effort in. When you can cut a tomato with just the knife it's sharp enough. https://youtu.be/GTHD2J2za6Y

WOW! Now THAT'S sharp! :party29:

Minuteman · Dec 18, 2016

A good friend of mine is something of a knife expert, he knows more than anyone else I know.

Today at one of our gun club lunch events, he shows me this Falkniven Knives DC4 sharpener, and says it can just about do it all.

I just purchased one, its about $20 :

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/fallkniven-diamond-ceramic-whetstone?referer=3ZXZ6R

Specs

Fallkniven
Diamond stone (25 micron)
Ceramic stone is made from synthetic sapphires
Does not require lubrication
Wash with warm water
Dimensions: 4 x 1.2 x 0.3 in (10.2 x 3 x 0.8 cm)
Weight: 2.3 oz (65 g)
Included

Leather pouch included.

ponypeddler87 · Dec 23, 2016

alucard0822 said:
Steeling and stropping work well to straighten a damaged edge, thin and shape the burr after sharpening, but they don't sharpen alone. The tougher the steel, the less likely the edge is to chip, and the more times it will come back with a steel or strop. You eventually have to sharpen to remove damage and reform the edge, but most people sharpen way too much and steel/strop way too little, being they don't take metal off like sharpening does, an expensive knife will last a lot longer.

Actually the tougher the steel the more prone to chipping or micro chipping it is. My S110V steel is extremely tough but it micro chips. S30V is a good middle of the road steel. Elmax, ZDP189, N680, N690 are also some other good steels that are tough but not to tough for micro chipping.

Melnic · Dec 23, 2016

you lose cutting ability when there is a dent/divot in the blade edge. If you don't inspect for that, you may be sharping the blade but still have a dent in the edge. I run my fingernail lightly along the blade to look for that. I may have to go and use a coarse file w/ my lansky system to work that out if its a bad one. Only razor sharp edge I really care about is for my deer field dressing. For my daily use knife, I don't have as sharp of an angle so the edge does not dent as easily.

I just purchased one, its about $20 :

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/fallkni...referer=3ZXZ6R

Minuteman, this link takes me to a page where I have to sign in from facebook, do you have another link that takes us directly to the product?

alucard0822 · Dec 23, 2016

ponypeddler87 said:
Actually the tougher the steel the more prone to chipping or micro chipping it is. My S110V steel is extremely tough but it micro chips. S30V is a good middle of the road steel. Elmax, ZDP189, N680, N690 are also some other good steels that are tough but not to tough for micro chipping.

Toughness, as defined "the maximum ammount of energy that a material can absorb without fracturing, not hardness/strength/wear resistance . S110V is extremely wear resistant due to the carbides, and can be stable at high hardness, but isn't that tough, S30V is much tougher. My knives in S35VN, H1 and Elmax just don't chip, and I can bring them back a ton of times with a steel or strop. They are nowhere near as wear resistant as my S110V or ZDP189 blades, and on paper those should hold an edge for far longer, but the micro cracks and chips from cutting tough materials basically breaks small pieces off of the edge instead of bending it, or abrasion dulling it, so in use they hold an edge forever if you baby them, but if you don't they need to be sharpened often, where tougher steels that better resist edge damage can just be straightened mechanically, without removing metal with abrasives. Don't have a 3V blade, but would love to try one out, I'm tough on my EDCs, and generally favor toughness over hardness/wear resistance, so I think I would be a fan.

Rich1911 · Dec 23, 2016

Melnic said:
you lose cutting ability when there is a dent/divot in the blade edge. If you don't inspect for that, you may be sharping the blade but still have a dent in the edge. I run my fingernail lightly along the blade to look for that. I may have to go and use a coarse file w/ my lansky system to work that out if its a bad one. Only razor sharp edge I really care about is for my deer field dressing. For my daily use knife, I don't have as sharp of an angle so the edge does not dent as easily.

Minuteman, this link takes me to a page where I have to sign in from facebook, do you have another link that takes us directly to the product?

Google is your friend:

https://www.amazon.com/Fallkniven-Diamond-Ceramic-Whetstone-Sharpening/dp/B003BUV226

rambling_one · Dec 23, 2016

Norton said:
I just use Burrbenders. He has a trailer and sets up at various places like Homestead Gardens.

I took two of my folders to Burrbenders the other Saturday. $5 per and they're plenty sharp for me. Plus...Jimmy's a heck of a nice guy!

:thumbsup:

MattTheGunslinger · Dec 31, 2016

For the last year and a half after starting this thread, I've just made do with sharpening my knives on a stone, getting mediocre results. My mom just surprised me with a special edition Work Sharp she got from Cabelas! This thing is amazing! It got my old Buck 112 literally shaving sharp! It only to a few swipes. I can't wait to get to work on all my other neglected knives. My wife just handed me a hand full of kitchen knives too. I know what I'll be doing all day.

rbird7282 · Dec 31, 2016

johnnyb2 said:
This has been a good read. For years I attempted to use a stone and just could not get it. Then I use to use a friends crock sticks with good success, the Spyderco is what I think he had ( he has since died :-( hahaha, but when I went to buy one, I forgot about it and bought the Lansky system. It worked great on my first few knives, but if the edge is curved, well, forget it for me. I could NOT get it to work on curved blades. Then the plastic holder where the long metal rod fits into, well, most cracked on me. I know, I should have just glued them, but, I was afraid to use that on my good Henkel kitchen knives. So, this time, I bought a Japanese wet stone so, a dual edge 200/1000 I think, and it worked for the Henkel, but man, that damn German steel took hours and hours to get it razor sharp..whew....had to start and stop a few times. Now, the damn stone needs to be flattened, and don't feel or have, the $25 at the moment, to buy a flattener!! And the reviews I read on the cheaper, $20-25 flatteners isn't very good. So, when I get the funds, I am going to get the Ken Onion Edition sharpener and just be done with it, Maybe later, a higher quality Japanese water stone. But the K.O should take care of everything. Working with a stone can be fun, but you have to hold that edge perfectly at a certain angle, and be CONSISTANT throughout...otherwise, just a effort in futility,.......for me!! :-)

FYI, you don't need to buy a stone flattener, just put a sheet of wet/dry sandpaper on a scrap of granite or thick plate glass and rub the stone in it. Piece of cake. That's how I flatten all of my Japanese water stones.

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I suck at sharpening knives!!

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