knife sharpening

[chaos]

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.

I respectfully DISAGREE. I dress out and clean upwards fo 15 to 20 wild swine every year, in addition to all the deer my kids take. Aint no stinless junk can stand up to it. None that I've found anyhow

[StrawHat]

I respectfully DISAGREE. I dress out and clean upwards fo 15 to 20 wild swine every year, in addition to all the deer my kids take. Aint no stinless junk can stand up to it. None that I've found anyhow

Sorry it doesn't work out for you. In the course of a week I probably sharpen 100-200 knives. I find the stainless hold up better, the carbon steel come back more frequently.

My personal knives are a mix of stainless and carbon. For me it is all in the handle, if they don't feel comfortable in my hand, I pass them along.

[EMC45]

If I can add to this again I will say that I have a Schrade (US Made) "Sharp Finger", and it ran out of steam fast! OTOH I have a couple SS that wouldn't quit. These were use for dressing hogs that were encrusted with mud. I have a Carl Shleiper carbon folder and that thing is SHARP! It is also a fine hard steel. I was "slicking" up a kitchen knife over the weekend and went to put it down and crossed my hands by accident.....Left pinky got a nice deep cut! Bled out nicely..I just checked the knife for sharp by rolling some hair off my arm with it. It was shaving sharp with just a couple strokes on a diamond "stick" that retracts into the handle. I got it with a Gerber knife I bought years back. Works well for dressing them up.

[mister gizmo]

FWIW, I just posted my almost NIB Gatco Diamond 3-Hone kit in the For Sale section.

My own stoning needs are for revolver action work and similar and I've got plenty of India and Norton abrasives for that.

gizmo.

[twotoescharlie]

mountain man stones??

TTC

[Ron B.]

ilcop22; Bro, I'm with you!
A Walfart $7.99 quick pick is one of the absolute best sharpening jigs I've used. But, buy two. Your wife will want one.

In sharpening anything, I find consistency of angle is the key; whether hand done, or mechanical. I guess I've got a hidden talent; learned how to hand sharp years ago. My grandfather was a commercial fisherman; loved sharp knives, and didn't have much patience for those who didn't know how to handle, or sharpen them. I still remember; he came equipped with two fist.

Oh, this little device is so easy, my Pretty can do it.
Just works; nuff said. Just be patient the first time you sharpen your knife with it; count to 30 strokes, or so.
And, do your operation on a cutting board, across the 90 degree angle of the pocket of a kitchen counter, to keep from cutting your counter top.

Ron

[WildmanJack]

Here's one for ya boys. I do a little leather work and try to use a "Head Knife" sometimes called a round knife or a Squaw knife for cutting long straight cuts or intricate cuts in fairly thick leather. The knife is really old, made by Osborne so I know it's good steel. I have used stones, diamonds, ceramic, wet sand paper, and everything else I can think of, but I can't get a really sharp edge on it. I want it to cut thru leather like a hot knife thru butter..( That's what they say it's supposed to do!) I just don't know how to put a good edge on it. I swear, I could pick up a piece of razor sharp obsidian and before I got a good hold on it, it wouldn't cut bread!! Any suggestions???

Jack

[Lloyd Smale]

Jack it sounds like we have the same sharpening skills. I can take a razor sharp knife and put it to a wet stone and make it a butter knife in about 2 minutes.

[Smoke-um if you got-um]

I've probably got 50 different sharpening systems around here. Everything from stones to ceramic sticks. The Lansky stones do a good job but wear out quickly. I currently use a DMT diamond system that will take down a thick blade pretty fast and put a proper angle on it. This system is VERY durable. It has a long guide rod and a wide mouth guide that will do just about any size/length knife. I use this at home to do kitchen and hunting knives at my leisure and with proper care will put a razor edge on them with only a few strokes on the sharpening steel afterwards. In the field or when butchering I have found that a relatively new sharpener works very well, it is called a FURI diamond finger sharpener. It will not put a razor edge on a knife but will keep a very serviceable edge on it while you are working. It is VERY EASY TO USE and folds to the size of a small wallet. To clean just use hot water and shake it off. They are inexpensive and can be found by googling FURI on the Internet. There are quite a few brands/types that will put a fair edge on a knife but only a very few that will put a razor edge on one. In all honesty a razor edge only lasts for a couple of cuts, if that, with most knives. Someone who can put a razor edge on a knife with free hand stones is a true artisan and they are few and far between.

[MtGun44]

Lansky works great for me, bu I can do nearly as well free handed. Arguing about whether
"stainless steel" is good or bad is like arguing whether "powder" is good or bad. There are
MORE different alloys of SS, than there are powder types, plus two HUGELY different broad
classes of SS.

Poor grade SS can be pure **** for a knife, but the proper alloy with the proper heat treat
can be incredibly good and does not lose an edge due to corrosion as quickly as carbon
steel.

I find that the tiny diamonds are gone pretty quickly from the few expensive diamond
sharpeners that I have used, so I will not buy them. I have to bring my Lansky with me
whenever we go to relatives for Thanksgiving or Christmas because my wife absolutly
will not put up with dull knives after 30+ years of good quality kitchen knives that are
always kept extremely sharp. Used to do it freestyle, now use the Lansky for more
consistent angles, shorter sharpening times.

Bill

[Heavy lead]

I've got a Lansky, and it works fine, however I find it slow and somewhat cumbersome.
I spent $120 on two 14.5" diamond bench stones as a gift to myself a few months ago, took a couple of older hard, never could get a good edge on them knives and learned the technique. I now can sharpen pretty well, it's all about being consistant I suppose, these stones are awesome, almost got no hair left on my arms anymore from testing the blades out.

[pmeisel]

An ex-butcher friend gave me a brief lesson on the diamond stick and ceramic stick. Helped my edges a lot, they were already ok but they are better now....

[redriverhunter]

i have had good luck with the razor edge sys. after some pratice with it i quite using it and now i just use a two sided stone one side course and the other mediem grit
http://www.razoredgesystems.com/