I suck at sharpening knives!!

Boats said:

I use the WickedEdge sharpening system. Caveat: It is a little spendy. But you get a BETTER than factory edge, especially when you go all the way to 1000 grit stones. The end result is truly a mirror finished razor edge.

If you would like to try mine out fire me a PM. Im in HoCo.

www.wickededgeusa.com

I have used the Spyderco Sharpmaker and Lansky systems in the past. Wicked Edge beats the hell out of them.

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I couldn't stop at 1000 grit. I'm down to 3.5 micron and I'm considering the 1/0.5 micron strops or some of the diamond spray

I suck at sharpening knives too! I am working on it though and use a Chefs Choice 1520 for the kitchen stuff.......cause it's taking me years to work on my knife sharping skills.

Tried stones.... I sucked

Lansky made it easier and I was pleased with the sharp edges. I feel I get a better edge longevity with a convex edge. Convex edges seem to clean up easier with a steel too.

Really considering a belt sharpener and a strop.

Nice to know I am not alone.

For $5 you can send your Spyderco back to Spyderco and in about two weeks you'll have it back sharp as new. I know Benchmade offers this same service. You won't get the satisfaction of knowing you can sharpen a blade really well, but it will be sharp.

cpc1027 said:

I couldn't stop at 1000 grit. I'm down to 3.5 micron and I'm considering the 1/0.5 micron strops or some of the diamond spray

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I finish my finest display/show-off polished edges after working up to 3K stones/tape with green chrome oxide paste(around .5micron) on balsa then paste leaded leather, and buffed/cleaned with clean leather, insanely sharp, the fine polish glides through material, but it just skates over hard material like zip-ties without "biting in". I get better performance and longer life with a ton less work only going up to 400-600(depending on steel), producing a micro-bevel with only a couple strokes on the final stone a couple degrees steeper. To finish I form and thin the edge burr with compound loaded leather on a belt grinder. It leaves a satin finish and slightly brighter micro-edge that bites into material well, slips through easy, and comes back several times by re-stropping only.

I have always been pretty good at sharpening a knife with a stone. It takes only a little practice and a decent bench stone. The Norton India Stone, 8' x 2" x 1", coarse/fine combination has always been a favorite.

Wash the stone frequently with soapy water and one of these green scrubbie pads to clean the metal you have removed from the knife edge from the stone to keep its abrasive properties. I use the stone towel dry after cleaning it and get very good results. (A hunting guide once asked me to teach him how to sharpen a knife.) When you are finished with the stone, put it in the dishwasher to really clean its pores out.

But, if you just can't use a stone at all, the very best reasonably priced sharpener is one of these: http://www.worksharptools.com/sharpeners-12/work-sharp-knife-and-tool-sharpener.html .

This does something no stone or wheel can -- it produces an arch sharpened edge. I use it on all my hunting knives and have even started using it on kitchen knives.

The only trick they don't cover in the instructions is that you will soon notice that the abrasive belt travels into the blade on one side of the guide, and comes off of the blade on the other side. The right way to use this is to start on the side where the abrasive belt comes off of the blade with the first stroke, and then make the second stroke on the side where the abrasive belt travels into the the blade.

The reason is that when coming off the blade, the belt leaves a small, turned-over burr. The pass where the blade goes into the blade removes this burr.

This gadget is so easy it is almost like cheating. And, there is very little skill required.

I got mine from Cabelas for $69.95 on special, and it usually wasn't hard to find enough other stuff to get up to $100 for free shipping. Amazon also has it for the same price, and if you have Prime shipping is free. So far, the 220 grit has sharpened every knife I have to better than factory. And, it will even sharpen serrated edges, although I know I will eventually have to use a diamond rod after more than a few sharpenings with one of these.

Another vote for the Ken Onion Worksharp. I use it on everything that needs an edge. Kitchen knives, pocket knives, lawnmower blades, shovels. I even put a razor edge on a rapier, but it took a while.

I recommend using a few junk knives to practice on until you get the hang of it first and then get off to the races and then....


(gimme a break - it's the closest I could find)

alucard0822 said:

I finish my finest display/show-off polished edges after working up to 3K stones/tape with green chrome oxide paste(around .5micron) on balsa then paste leaded leather, and buffed/cleaned with clean leather, insanely sharp, the fine polish glides through material, but it just skates over hard material like zip-ties without "biting in". I get better performance and longer life with a ton less work only going up to 400-600(depending on steel), producing a micro-bevel with only a couple strokes on the final stone a couple degrees steeper. To finish I form and thin the edge burr with compound loaded leather on a belt grinder. It leaves a satin finish and slightly brighter micro-edge that bites into material well, slips through easy, and comes back several times by re-stropping only.

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Excellent points, and I have a similar process for my knives. The ones with the mirror edges are generally for showing off and relegated to slicing and light duty. Anything that I anticipate cutting tasks or harder use gets a lower grit finish for more teeth (and just plain less work since I'll probably be sharpening it more often).

It's interesting that you finish with a belt sander. I would have thought that a micro-bevel was too delicate a task for a belt grinder. Do you have some sort of jig, or do you use the grinder free-hand?

Sharpening with stones isn't hard, but it takes the right touch and patience. It's all about consistency. Depending on the blade, holding it at about half a thumb's width angle off the stone is about right. Sometimes this angle needs to be increased or decreased but keeping your thumb in the same spot on the back of the blade and just barely touching the stone works pretty well as a guide.

If you don't know what angle you should be using, match the factory angle. Put some sharpie on the edge and give it a few passes and you can easily see if you are holding steep, shallow, or just right based on where the sharpie has worn off.

Strokes should be smooth and steady and in one direction, not in circles. Grind perpendicular to the blade or at up to a 45 degree angle. I like a bit of an angle. Use pressure when pulling back and just let it lightly ride over the stone when moving forward. Do several passes up and down the blade, flip, repeat. As the grind gets more uniform you will hear and feel the difference on the stone.

Towards the end, you will barely feel any grind at all. At that point, just run a steel over it to take any rolled edges off. To make the edge last longer, you can create a small secondary grind at a steeper angle but I usualy don't bother unless it's a chopping tool.

To check the sharpness, very gently drag the edge across the back of a fingernail. It it's sharp, you will immediately feel it bite in, almost like a tiny little saw. Or test on a page from a phone book (which isn't good for the edge but satisfying).

cpc1027 said:

Excellent points, and I have a similar process for my knives. The ones with the mirror edges are generally for showing off and relegated to slicing and light duty. Anything that I anticipate cutting tasks or harder use gets a lower grit finish for more teeth (and just plain less work since I'll probably be sharpening it more often).

It's interesting that you finish with a belt sander. I would have thought that a micro-bevel was too delicate a task for a belt grinder. Do you have some sort of jig, or do you use the grinder free-hand?

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For most EDC blades I sharpen on a surprisingly well made Edge pro knockoff with silicon carbide and Aluminum oxide stones from Congress tools. I can match or modify an angle, flatten a convex "belt sander" edge, repair edge damage, or just sharpen. I use a sharpie mark on the edge, then take a couple strokes to make sure I am hitting the angle flat, then decide weither to change it, or match it. I use SiC stones on a dull or damaged edge, to reprofile, or sharpen to a coarse toothy edge, they cut fast and clean like diamond, but much less expensive. If I am going for a finer polished edge I move from SiC to ceramic stones or polishing tapes, and finish strop on compound loaded balsa then softer/less aggressive leather. I like a microbevel edge, it cleans the burr, gives a uniform definitive edge, and grinds past any grit scratches youmay have missed. Finish with a couple strokes a couple degrees steeper on the finest stone/tape used. You can resharpen a slightly dulled knife without edge damage in seconds with a couple strokes to match the microbevel angle without having to regrind the full relief bevel.

I also have the 1x30 belt sander, it is capable of putting a good convex edge on knives, it is more resistant to damage being thicker behind the edge, at a minor expense to slicing some materials that a thinner flat bevel works better for. I form/repair/sharpen with 240-800 Trizact belts, they cut quick and run cool with just enough flex for a shallow convex edge, hone and smooth with 15micron/1k grit SiC belts that leave a smooth clean "frosted" finish. Stropping with leather on the sander is what really saves time and gets good results. You can thin and form a burr while polishing an edge in a fraction of the time compared to doing it by hand. To touch up a good edge that has lost it's aggressive "razor" sharpness, I can just restrop on leather, and it's good as new in seconds without removing metal. I don't use a jig, just sight along the belt and blade to match the angle, watch the edge to see the belt is hitting it across the width, sometimes using the same sharpie trick I use with the EP by hand.

For most knives I use a combination of the two methods. I sharpen on the EP, then strop with leather on the sander. After an EDC blade dulls or gets minor damage I use the SiC belt on the sander to touch it up, the slight flex hits the relief angle and flexes around to hit the microbevel. If it's still a clean damage free slightly dulled edge I can use the leather only. When the bevel gets rounded, the blade gets deeper damage, or the edge gets uneven I'll resharpen by hand on the EP Jig. I sharpen edged tools, axes, and large fixed blade knives on the belt alone, some small fine blades like my Swiss army knives only get sharpened on the EP with it's better control.

DanGuy48 said:

For years I have used Sharpmaker from Spyderco (http://www.amazon.com/Spyderco-Tri-Angle-Sharpmaker/dp/B004HIZKHE) and regular fine crock sticks for touch up. I can shave arm hair with my knives or hold a single sheet of news print dangling from my hand and shave slivers off the side of the page. The main thing is don't let the edge go so dull in the first place. Crock sticks are great for maintaining a keen edge, but if the edge is really dull, you'll be sitting there working that blade for a LONG time before you get an edge on it.

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I also have good luck with the Spyderco Sharpmaker - and I am a klutz at sharpening. I got the fine rods in addition to the 2 sets it came with, and it works well. One caveat; that system is not good for putting an edge on a knife with no bevel at all (e.g., a bayonet that has never been sharpened). Also - for hard metals (Cruwear, ZDP-189) you will probably need a diamond or Cubic Boron Nitride set of rods. But even the basic kit plus 2 extra sets of rods is less than a lot of other systems. Recommended.

Sling1 said:

I suck at sharpening knives too! I am working on it though and use a Chefs Choice 1520 for the kitchen stuff.......cause it's taking me years to work on my knife sharping skills.

Tried stones.... I sucked

Lansky made it easier and I was pleased with the sharp edges. I feel I get a better edge longevity with a convex edge. Convex edges seem to clean up easier with a steel too.

Really considering a belt sharpener and a strop.

Nice to know I am not alone.

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I like Chefs choice for kitchen knives and my pocket knife. It does do a good job. Ive gotten a razor edge with patience and light honing. But it takes PATIENCE!!!!!! lol which I dont have much of any more lol So for now the chefs choice is my go to sharpener

I always laugh at folks taking there EDC or any knife other then a razor up to 6k or microns or whatever haha. ever try to cut rope with a straight razor? it sucks. gimme a buff/stropped 120 grit edge any day, and by day i mean week cause itll still be cutting by then and i cut alot of stuff.

Sam Salvati said:

I always laugh at folks taking there EDC or any knife other then a razor up to 6k or microns or whatever haha. ever try to cut rope with a straight razor? it sucks. gimme a buff/stropped 120 grit edge any day, and by day i mean week cause itll still be cutting by then and i cut alot of stuff.

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You don't need all those gizmos. I'm on vacation right now a few thousand miles west, but I'll be back in two weeks. Give me a PM and 30 minutes of your time, and I'll have you sharpening on a stone or coffee mug bottom before you know it. I'm in the Gaithersburg area of monkey county, and we can meet up for coffee and I'll show you how to sharpen.

Sam Salvati said:

I always laugh at folks taking there EDC or any knife other then a razor up to 6k or microns or whatever haha. ever try to cut rope with a straight razor? it sucks. gimme a buff/stropped 120 grit edge any day, and by day i mean week cause itll still be cutting by then and i cut alot of stuff.

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I agree that a polished edge is not the the best choice for serious cutting use. However, I have some knives that are more functional-aesthetic than serious tool and I like the look of a polished edge on those. For the daily activities of opening letters, packages, and cutting string, a polished edge with a low grit micro-bevel works just fine.

CurlyDave said:

I have always been pretty good at sharpening a knife with a stone. It takes only a little practice and a decent bench stone. The Norton India Stone, 8' x 2" x 1", coarse/fine combination has always been a favorite.

Wash the stone frequently with soapy water and one of these green scrubbie pads to clean the metal you have removed from the knife edge from the stone to keep its abrasive properties. I use the stone towel dry after cleaning it and get very good results. (A hunting guide once asked me to teach him how to sharpen a knife.) When you are finished with the stone, put it in the dishwasher to really clean its pores out.

But, if you just can't use a stone at all, the very best reasonably priced sharpener is one of these: http://www.worksharptools.com/sharpeners-12/work-sharp-knife-and-tool-sharpener.html .

This does something no stone or wheel can -- it produces an arch sharpened edge. I use it on all my hunting knives and have even started using it on kitchen knives.

The only trick they don't cover in the instructions is that you will soon notice that the abrasive belt travels into the blade on one side of the guide, and comes off of the blade on the other side. The right way to use this is to start on the side where the abrasive belt comes off of the blade with the first stroke, and then make the second stroke on the side where the abrasive belt travels into the the blade.

The reason is that when coming off the blade, the belt leaves a small, turned-over burr. The pass where the blade goes into the blade removes this burr.

This gadget is so easy it is almost like cheating. And, there is very little skill required.

I got mine from Cabelas for $69.95 on special, and it usually wasn't hard to find enough other stuff to get up to $100 for free shipping. Amazon also has it for the same price, and if you have Prime shipping is free. So far, the 220 grit has sharpened every knife I have to better than factory. And, it will even sharpen serrated edges, although I know I will eventually have to use a diamond rod after more than a few sharpenings with one of these.

Click to expand...

The worksharp can be a pretty solid tool for getting knives "sharp enough", and excels at sharpening big things, where clamp systems just take too much time. I use it on stuff like axes, garden trimmers, and kitchen knives. It isn't great at getting things super-duper-absurd sharp though. Also, anyone free-handing on a stone is putting a convex edge on the knife. Unless you're a robot, each stroke will be a little off compared to prior strokes, with some shallower some steeper...especially if you've worn a bit of a hole in the middle of the stone.

One word of caution with the worksharp is you've got to be careful with the tip. It's extremely each to round the tip of your knife over if you just pull the knife through the thing without thought. As the tip moves across the belt, the belt will warp and turn to follow the knife. To prevent this, don't bring the tip any more than about 1/3 of the way across the belt and use very light pressure on the belt.

It also won't get the edge near the handle very well if you keep the guide on, so you may need to remove the guide to get that part of the blade. Angling the tip up or down can make up for this a little, but it's still more difficult to sharpen the entire length of the blade than it is on a clamp system or freehand.

One thing to mention is your angle and type of edge should take in to account both the characteristics of the blade steel you've got and the tasks you hope to perform with it. For instance, my CPM-M4 contego will take an extremely shallow angle very well at 62-64 hrc without getting chippy. At something around 15 degrees/side, it's very stable for most cutting tasks and cuts very well. Something with a softer steel or with a very high carbide fraction that isn't as stable may need a steeper angle for day to day stuff.

If you've got abusive chores, like cutting zipties/wires, scraping, or chopping, then you may need to increase the angle a bit to give the edge more strength.

Convex edges and microbevels are two ways to kind've get the best of both worlds, but do slightly sacrifice cutting ability as they increase the angle of the cutting edge. The benefit to both is they're easy to touch-up and keep sharp. For a convex, just a moment or two back on a belt and you're gtg. For a microbevel, I'll make the main edge 15 degrees/side then bump up to 20 degrees and use long and even strokes for a couple passes to give a uniform finished edge. As mentioned earlier, microbevels will strengthen an edge and make it more stable without the presence of a ton of material behind the edge. For my cpm-s110v manix, the edge was fading quicker in my day to day tasks that I wanted...basically moving from a very sharp razor edge to a pretty sharp working edge where it would hang out forever without becoming dull. Tossing a microbevel on it changed things to where now it'll be a decent razor edge for much longer before settling to a sharp working edge. I'm fairly sure the incredible amount of carbides in it that give s110v its wear resistance made the steel slightly less stable than the cpm-m4, leading to wear from them ripping out at the cutting edge under rough cutting chores.

Also remember to frequently maintain your edges. Once an edge starts to roll/deform, more force from whatever you're cutting is applied to it...speeding edge degradation. If you steel/strop an edge pretty frequently, the edge will remain much sharper for much longer. Also, most edges can be brought back with steeling/stropping. Many people jump straight to grinding and reprofiling an edge, wasting material and blade life. Just straightening things out a bit frequently is more efficient and gives you a sharper blade to use day in and day out.

cpc1027 said:

I agree that a polished edge is not the the best choice for serious cutting use. However, I have some knives that are more functional-aesthetic than serious tool and I like the look of a polished edge on those. For the daily activities of opening letters, packages, and cutting string, a polished edge with a low grit micro-bevel works just fine.

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...not to mention it depends on what types of things you'll be cutting/how you'll be cutting and properties of the steel. The kitchen is somewhere you see lots of blade specialization that kind've work with this. For softer foods that you'll be doing more push-cuts with, you may opt for a very shallow angle that's highly polished. The polish will act to let the softer material glide by more effortlessly and will help mitigate corrosion with many acidic things in on the cutting board.

If you're cutting through things with harder skins, you may opt for a shallow angle with a rougher finish grind to bite into the material more on a draw stroke

If you're chopping, you'll likely use a more convex/steep edge with a rougher finish.

spyderco sharpmaker, easiest to use

Matt said:

I give up! I just can't do it. I have used stones, diamond sharpeners, ceramic, I just can't get it down. Granted, none of these have those fancy gizmos that set the angle for me. What or who do you guys recommend for hair popping sharp blades? I have a spyderco tenacious, kabar BK2, Buck 119, 112, and 110 that I can't get up to par. All of those knives came to me razor sharp and I want that back! Also looking into stropping. I hear this is a wonderful way to keep blades fine in between resharpening. Educate me, please!

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Spyderco Sharpmaker.

/thread.

How bout that , microbevel is millienl speak for secondary edge as it was known in the '80s .

But meanwhile back at the OP and similarily situated persons , I'll set out some parameters as I'm reading them :

Freehand isn't working. Usual gadgets that require a degree user steering give less than optimal results. The goal is reasonably sharp ( factory equiv or somewhat better) , but not going to knife geek extremes.

The answer is Lansky , or one of the knockoffs. They take out the human vriable , and do what they're supposed to do. Quickly and easily give you 95% of what an enthusiast could eventully do with freehand skill and/or exotic equipment.

Even if you have mad freehand skills , if you are starting with severely abused edge , or a new knife that doesn't have a suitable factory edge geometry , the Lansky can get things close , and then finish freehand.

SWO Daddy said:

Spyderco Sharpmaker.

/thread.

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This.

I was shaving my arm hair off and slicing through paper in minutes. I think mine came with a DVD or I found a step by step video on the web. Very simple process in my opinion.