Knife sharpening

[Bonsai Nut]

Was going to post this on the pocket knife thread, but decided not to divert it further.

What do you knife nuts use to sharpen your blades? I have some wet stones and guides that I use with my woodworking tools, but I'm curious what works for other people. I am confident in my skills to get blades "sharp" but I know there is a difference between sharp and "omg slice a hair off a gnat" sharp.

 

[abqjoe]

I've found the WickedEdge system to be the absolute best!

 

[Don Blackmond]

I use a Tormek Supergrind 2000 because its versatile enough to sharpen things other than knives.

 

[berobinson82]

I've found the WickedEdge system to be the absolute best!

Once he started rubbing that stone against the blade my whole body started tingling and my teeth hurt and my eyes started twitching. Jesus, that was the worst sound ever. Fingernails on a chalkboard times my mother in law discussing parenting. *cringe*

 

[abqjoe]

What I like about the WickedEdge is that it allow's you to set the degree of angle precisely on each side of the blade. If you use an angle cube you can dial each side in dead on 100%!

 

[M. Frary]

I use a chefs steel and to finish I use my leather guitar strap.
Like a barber sharpens his razirs. Was taught by my great grandfather. Also the top edge of a car window works great in a pinch.

 

[watchndsky]

I use a chefs steel and to finish I use my leather guitar strap.
Like a barber sharpens his razirs. Was taught by my great grandfather. Also the top edge of a car window works great in a pinch.

whats that about the edge of a window? sounds neat.

ive tried to sharpen before and ultimately decided to just buy new ones. my kershaws seem to last pretty well. maybe i just get cheap knifes or something idk.

 

[Atrox]

Another skill that hasn't been passed from father, or grandfather, down as it once was, hence the proliferation of "sharpening systems". I am 70 and in hunting camp, for several generations now I have sharpen most of the knives. Well, I also hunt with a wood stocked, blued steel non "magnum" rifle and carry carbon steels knives.

 

[fredman]

Nah sharpening systems are to fiddly. I have a bunch of them. Don't even know why I bought them, as I keep going back to the basic way. A water stone to sharpen and leather belt to finish. Back in the day when I made them, I used a bench buff for that final touch. That gives the ultimate sharp edge.

 

[justBonsai]

I've found the WickedEdge system to be the absolute best!

Also expensive. Not really necessary unless you are a knife enthusiast with lots of disposable income.

Nothing is wrong with a good whet stone and strop. Even the older Arkansas or shaving stones will work. The absolute budget freehand sharpening set up that would be viable even for wear resistant steels would be a $10-15 norton silicon carbide stone (black/grey not brown), some 600-1k grit silicon carbide sandpaper (can be found at auto stores or hardware), and a strop that you can make from an old belt or salvaged leather. For finer edges you can even use newspaper over a piece of glass. For strop compound jewlers rouge can be easily found--or just look for aluminum oxide or chromium oxide strop blocks (green or white blocks made from abrasive embedded in wax). If you're not confident in freehand sharpening edges there are a lot of different "fixed" sharpening systems like the wicked edge at varying costs. Look up edgepro, KME sharpener, DMT aligner, and lanksy.

I was really into knives and the whole "I need to whittle hair" deal several years ago and have a decent amount of money invested in waterstones. I use a set of shapton glass stones and a nubatama bamboo water stone. Looking back I didn't need to spend so much money to sharpen my knives, but I was a bit obsessed at a point.

 

[fredman]

Knife sharpening is much like bonsai to me.. I like to sit down, take my time and make it a relaxing session....

 

[abqjoe]

Also expensive. Not really necessary unless you are a knife enthusiast with lots of disposable income.

Nothing is wrong with a good whet stone and strop. Even the older Arkansas or shaving stones will work. The absolute budget freehand sharpening set up that would be viable even for wear resistant steels would be a $10-15 norton silicon carbide stone (black/grey not brown), some 600-1k grit silicon carbide sandpaper (can be found at auto stores or hardware), and a strop that you can make from an old belt or salvaged leather. For finer edges you can even use newspaper over a piece of glass. For strop compound jewlers rouge can be easily found--or just look for aluminum oxide or chromium oxide strop blocks (green or white blocks made from abrasive embedded in wax). If you're not confident in freehand sharpening edges there are a lot of different "fixed" sharpening systems like the wicked edge at varying costs. Look up edgepro, KME sharpener, DMT aligner, and lanksy.

I was really into knives and the whole "I need to whittle hair" deal several years ago and have a decent amount of money invested in waterstones. I use a set of shapton glass stones and a nubatama bamboo water stone. Looking back I didn't need to spend so much money to sharpen my knives, but I was a bit obsessed at a point.

I own a Wicked Edge because most of the knives in my collection are 3k and up. That being said, I need absolute perfection in the edges that go on my knives.

 

[justBonsai]

I own a Wicked Edge because most of the knives in my collection are 3k and up. That being said, I need absolute perfection in the edges that go on my knives.

Yeah that's understandable. It feels terrible when you scratch the face of a nice new expensive knife.

 

[FrankP999]

I have the EdgePro system. Has an attachment for scissors. Expensive. Haven't used the scissor thingy but on knives it's great. Razor sharp. I use it for my grafting knife. Takes a while working thru the finer and finer stones but you can put a mirror finish on the edge fairly easily. www.Edgeproinc.com

You can go crazy with many different types and grits of stones. $$$$ I use 3 or 4 generally 250 grit then 1000, 3000, 5000. If you want a mirror finish on your edge, use 10000 or higher.

Consistency in holding the angle is the key to a sharp edge. Some people can achieve that consistency by hand. I'm not one of them thus the EdgePro for me.

 

[M. Frary]

You can use the side of your boot for a strop in the field. Comes in handy when taking apart a deer.

 

[Ironbeaver]

If whetstones are out of your price range, you can also use fine grit wet dry sandpaper with a glass backer. I still have my buffing wheel set up to power strop the edge to razor sharpness.

 

[jomawa]

What do you knife nuts use to sharpen your blades?

Not a knife nut, but am a hunter. Stone to sharpen edge (get it "sharp"), then I use a (four sided) double leather belt stropping system for the fine honing. When I shot my five point bull elk, a work buddy was more than willing to to show me how to skin it enough where it fell (broadside uphill shot in the neck with .308 put the elk completely upside down on his back with antlers in the dirt and butt downhill, easy-peasy) to use the hide as the blanket while we boned it out completely, but I digress. When in the field and after dulling his knife, my buddy used a "Gerber ceramic pocket sharpener", ( I have three of them now) . With the knife simply wiped of blood and fat, after a few swipes through the sharpener the blade was back totally cutting again. I have no doubt many feel these sharpeners are enough/adequate to keep their knives sharp without ever using a stone or strop. Stone or strop would not have handled the fat and blood to rehone that blade. My hunting knife? Buck 11o folder. Looking online for the exact verbage for the sharpener, I see they now have a "Gerber diamond pocket sharpener". Curious how it compares with ceramic, so if anyone has done the side by side test (in fat and blood conditions), do please inform me whether I can benefit from retiring the ceramic and go diamond. Plastic containing the two courseness rods is basic yet well designed to sharpen fast yet and have precious fingers safe.

 

[Dave E]

i use the lansky system on my knives and then strop them until theey have a mirror edge and are scary sharp.

my chisels i just use a simple 2 sided sharpening stone followed by stroping.

here is one of my chisels