Thread: Best knife sharpening system?

Originally Posted by suthy

Sorry this has probably been asked before but what does everyone use to sharpen the good quality steels which are known to be harder to sharpen?

I'm thinking of getting a decent set of water stones (600-8000 grit) but I'm open to other quicker/cheaper options if there's something better out there.

Thanks in advance.

For the very hard steels get a good quality diamond stone for course grits, they cut faster than natural stone. Finish on natural stone if needed.

I use a dmt fine/extra fine then 6k water stone then strop.
The dmt fine is pretty aggressive and will do about everything you need short of reprofiling.

For my hunting/butchery knives I only take it to the xtra fine then strop. This will get it shaving sharp while still having a little tooth to it.

800 is pretty coarse, most will want to go finer. Dont be scared of sharpening on a stone either, heaps of info on the web and it really isnt hard. Once you learn you will never have a dull kniglfe again.

Final note, especially true with the super steels but it's much easier to keep a knife sharp than make a knife sharp again. Good maintenance of an edge will make life way easier. Strop and compound are the way to go.

I started off with the standard double sided oil stone, really f*&king course and f*&king course. Does the job for most, but I quite enjoy doing a few nice kitchen knives as well. So need to go quite a bit finer.

Bought a Lansky, which was all good on smaller straighter knives but on a large kitchen knife or curved hunting they didn't really work that well.

I enjoy the whole process, so went with the Japanese whet stones. Only need two double sided stones, 600/1000 and a finishing maybe 3000/6000. Probably cost ya $200 if that.

For most, 1000 grit will be good enough to finish on. All depends on what you want to spend and how much you enjoy doing it.

Hey guys, thanks for all the feedback. I ended up going down the Japanese whet stone road and so far I'm quite impressed, much better than my old Norton.

One last thing - everyone keeps mentioning strops and compound. What does everyone use and where do you get it from?

Originally Posted by suthy

Hey guys, thanks for all the feedback. I ended up going down the Japanese whet stone road and so far I'm quite impressed, much better than my old Norton.

One last thing - everyone keeps mentioning strops and compound. What does everyone use and where do you get it from?

Make you own strop. Glue a 30-50mm wide strip of leather 300-500mm long to a strip of 10-12mm ply. Make the ply longer than the strop so you can shape a handle on the end. An old leather belt will work fine. I mount mine with the flesh side up so that the leather holds the compound better.
For compound I use PFERD SFP800 Grinding Compound (800 grit) which is available from PPS in Auckland. A pot will last a couple of life times. It is available in other grit sizes and I have them as well but after trials now only use the 800.

Originally Posted by suthy

Hey guys, thanks for all the feedback. I ended up going down the Japanese whet stone road and so far I'm quite impressed, much better than my old Norton.

One last thing - everyone keeps mentioning strops and compound. What does everyone use and where do you get it from?

So what stones did you buy?

Has anyone used one of these cheap $20 sharpeners? Or am I better off just going for a lansky?

That looks better than a Lansky to me.

@hotbarrels I got one of these. Probably would have preferred a 400/1000 but the 240 side has been v good for putting new edges on a couple of knives.

Have been experimenting with stropping with autosol as a compound but it seems to be a little fine and only really polishes, doesn't have enough cut...Will update if I get some coarser compound.

@Howa270 Where do you get that from for $20??

Originally Posted by suthy

@hotbarrels I got one of these. Probably would have preferred a 400/1000 but the 240 side has been v good for putting new edges on a couple of knives.

Have been experimenting with stropping with autosol as a compound but it seems to be a little fine and only really polishes, doesn't have enough cut...Will update if I get some coarser compound.

One of these?? Me thinks you forgot a link?
One tip with water stones, after soaking, keep them wet during sharpening with a spray bottle of Simply Green. Keeps the stone clean and cutting faster.

@hotbarrels Lol my bad. One of these

@suthy They're just on trade me. Will order one and see how it goes.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/1911027889