How do you sharpen your knife?

[Artful]

Stone{s} then Ceramic Sticks then Steel I can go sharper but seldom see the need as I don't shave with my knives I use a Razor when I feel like shaving.

[str8shot426]

Porter cable 3x24 belt sander.

[skeettx]

Since mine are already stone sharp I use the Case ceramic moon stick for freshening
Mike

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Case-XX-1970...IAAOSwYHxWHDXY

[sthwestvictoria]

This is an intersting read about what makes up a knife edge with various types of blade steels and methods - stones, strops, machines, steels, seen under an electron microscope:
https://12361-presscdn-0-73-pagely.n...nifeshexps.pdf

Does anyone use the paper wheel sharpening kits for a bench grinder?
http://www.cuttingedgeknives.com.au/...ge=1&pID=18595
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaVp...ature=youtu.be

[TXGunNut]

Learned to sharpen a knife on Arkansas stones but use a different method these days. If the knife has been used hard I'll start out with a diamond stone with a bit of water, then move onto a ceramic rod crock stick and then if I want to really impress the tourists I'll strop it on the back of a heavy old leather pants belt but that I've sweated thru many times. Scary sharp after a 20-30 strops on that old belt. My favorite hunting and kitchen knives these days start out as kits from Track of the Wolf. I use Russell Green River blades and TOW brass rivets to hold any of a variety of hardwoods or other materials. Attaching and shaping the handles personalizes the knife, a few I give away. There are probably better steels out there but I really like the way these Green River blades take and hold an edge. I like to take them hunting when it's my turn to cook, I'll put one in a sheath when I'm just hunting. The rest of the year they are proudly displayed (and used) in my kitchen. These old knives look like something my great-grandparents might have used, as a result I have a nice set of Cold Steel kitchen knives that see little use. The Green River blade is not stainless so it gains a nice patina over the years. They need to be hand washed & dried but so does much of my best cookware. It's worth it.

[Tim357]

Pendzon what the blade is like. Initial sharpening on a bench stone, thereafter on a Spyderco sharpmaker. Kitchen knives get either a steel or a ceramic steel for touch ups. I really like the Spyderco.

[Doggonekid]

My favorite is also a Lanski. The kit I have has 5 stones, a clamp to hold the knife blade and a clamp to hold the knife clamp to the table. The angle is the key for me. I will depend on what kind of knife your are sharpening. This kit helps you keep the same angle on the blade as you graduate to a finer and finer stone until you can shave a bald spot on your arm.

[TXGunNut]

Angle is the key, any stroke on a stone, ceramic stick, steel or strop at a different angle is a wasted stroke or will actually hurt the edge. All my knives are sharpened at the same angle so with some knives it takes awhile to get with the program, lol.

[bikerbeans]

I hand my skinning knife and a Natty Light to my best friend and he works his magic on it with an old Lanski set.

BB

[Echo]

I have a diamond hone for smoothing up my edges.

[EMC45]

If it's dull from work or abuse it gets a few laps on the Diamond block or diamond stick. After that it is on to the Ark stone. I have a few different "grits" of natural stone that will put a very fine edge on a pocket or kitchen knife. I also hone my straight razors on my Ark stones and they do just fine. I have "dressed" (lapped) all my stones with a diamond block though for uniformity. I also "broke" all the sharp edges on them so they are softer. My criteria for a carry/pocket/work knife is if it will pop hair hair off the arm. Not necessarily plow hair off in rolls, but if it will pop hairs when applied to the arm it is good then. I also drag the edge across my thumbnail to check for snags, drags or burrs. If so, then it gets a few more passes on the Ark fine stone and then it is ready.

[Treetop]

I'm another one of those who stink at sharpening knives using stones, so over the years I have tried almost every knife sharpening "crutch" that's come on the scene.

I have now settled on two different systems:

1) Edge Pro for smaller blades (4" or less)

2) Ken Onion Work Sharp for the longer kitchen knives.

These two systems finally give me the edge that I have always desired...

[Jeff82]

The best sharpener I've found is the one made by Spyderco.

[snuffy]

73 posts, nobody has mentioned the Wicked Edge sharpening system. It's like a lansky or Gatco in that it holds the blade firmly in a clamp while the diamond hones are held at the same angle while being sharpened. While it is not inexpensive, it is also not cheaply made. The basic kit has 3 double sided hones the are 100, 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 grit. I opted for the leather hones that use a diamond paste to produce a finer smoother edge like for a straight razor. They are 3.5 and 5Mu.

The angles are adjustable from 15 to 30 degrees. Pick your angle according to the job the knife will be doing. A little checking on line will give guidelines on the best blade angle to use. A lot depends on the steel, how hard it is will dictate how sharp it can be made, a very hard blade used under a lot of pressure will chip easily.

https://www.wickededgeusa.com/

[dragon813gt]

73 posts, nobody has mentioned the Wicked Edge sharpening system.

Very cost prohibitive. $300 to $750 is not something most people will buy. The reviews are all good and it does put a wicked edge on a blade. But that's a lot of money for a sharpener.

[rking22]

I've used stones and then stropping for a final edge for the past 45+ years. Something about the process is relaxing to me. I do like the ceramic stick for a quick touchup and use a steel for the kitchen knives. Only good steel allowed in my house, mostly carbon steels like 1095 and D2 but ATS34 and the like are good steels too. Now that stuff (ATS34) is what taught me to love the ceramic/diamond
Where I work I can reset an edge on a large flat stone from a machine grinder, without that I would have to look into something more aggressive.
I am going to a straight razor so now I will probably learn "sharp" at a whole nuther level!

[MaryB]

Here is a handy hint for hand sharpening on a stone. Mark your blade with black magic marker along the bevel. You can see it come off and judge your angle that way.

[snuffy]

Here is a handy hint for hand sharpening on a stone. Mark your blade with black magic marker along the bevel. You can see it come off and judge your angle that way.

Mary, that's exactly how I find out what angle a knife has been sharpened to if I haven't sharpened it before. I also take a long look at the edge with a 20X magnifier to see if there's any deep nicks that may have to be addressed.

If some klutz has tried to hand sharpen on some sort of stone, then the edge will have a rounded or convex profile. Sorry guys and gals, unless you're a robot, you can't hand hold a knife to an exact angle while honing on a stone. It will rock to produce a rounded angle. A guide is the only way to establish and hold a blade angle.

Originally Posted by snuffy

73 posts, nobody has mentioned the Wicked Edge sharpening system.--


Very cost prohibitive. $300 to $750 is not something most people will buy. The reviews are all good and it does put a wicked edge on a blade. But that's a lot of money for a sharpener.
Dragon81, yes but, if you spent a lot of money on a knife, you want it to last. Proper sharpening with the wicked edge system removes very little of the blade metal. If on the other hand a person shops for knives at the bargain isle at wally world, then get one of those drag through sharpeners. They DO work, but they take a lot of the blade off to make an edge, because the gnarled edge is so fragile, you have to continually repeat the process. You will in short order have a narrow toothpick for a blade. That's okay, by that time the rest of the knife is ready to fall apart anyway.

One reason the wicked edge sharpening system is so costly is they use only Monocrystalline diamonds on their hones. Much more expensive than the polycrystalline diamonds that you see on the cheap hones like come with the Gatco and lansky diamond sharpeners. They look like polka dots, the interrupted surface helps to trap filings from the blades.

The monocrystalline diamonds are formed to the grit size specified then adhered to a nickle backing plate that is extremely flat. AND thick enough that it will NOT bend from pressure. Polycrystalline diamonds are fractured to be smaller IE ground down to size and screened to a grit size. They are weak by nature of having been broken. The hones made that way just don't last very long.

The Gatco sharpener system that I used to use, at first had carborundum stones. They quickly became plugged up even though I used the supplied honing oil. Their grit size also became smaller through use. So I bit the boolit, sprung for the diamond hones. Much better, but they started to loose their effectiveness quickly. I replaced them once, then recently went with the wicked edge system.

[Blackwater]

I've accumulated a variety of stones and stuff over the years. When I get a new knife and want to set the angle of the edge, I use my Lansky with all 5 stones. Need to get the fine and extra fine diamond stones for it for some of the knives I've got.

Otherwise, with regular bench stones, one tip I have found helps me, and that might help some here, is to lock my arm and wrist into the right "L" shape to get the angle desired on the edge, and then to swing it using the shoulder as the hinge point, and using upper body rotation to maintain the right angle consistently. Sure has helped me. Take the wrist out of it and you'll wind up getting a much more consistent angle on your edge, and won't round the bevel due to the variations in using your wrist too much. Works with all grits of stones, too, and I just use that technique to get a real razor edge. Anybody else got tips? I've worked all my life it seems, toward getting better at sharpening, and this is what I've found helps me the most, but I'm sure somebody here has a better technique, and I'd appreciate hearing it.

Some folks just seem to have a knack for sharpening, and the rest of us have to work at it.

[JSnover]

If some klutz has tried to hand sharpen on some sort of stone, then the edge will have a rounded or convex profile. Sorry guys and gals, unless you're a robot, you can't hand hold a knife to an exact angle while honing on a stone. It will rock to produce a rounded angle. A guide is the only way to establish and hold a blade angle.

And yet, some of us manage…
I bought a Case folder 35 years ago, carry it virtually every day, used it for various jobs on four continents and have never used anything but a stone. It is not hard to put a sharp edge on a knife. Do it right and don't abuse it, you won't have to sharpen it very often.