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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.
An old mouse pad and some 1200 grit wet and dry sandpaper. I kid you not- I’ve got all sorts of sharpeners / stones etc, but for modern stainless in particular the “hobo hone” really does the business.
Look depends on what you call sharp, if you want a “toothy” edge, good enough to chop hack through stuff then any old stone will do the trick, or a simple diamond embedded rod will also do the trick, light and handy, ut these methods will take a fair bit of metal off the blade and consequently will (eventually) shorten the lifespan of the knife, cheap and cheerful though.
Sandpaper and a mouse, or wrapped around a wood dowel will also work.
Ceramic rod are good for touch ups, but tend to be brittle, do not drop the buggers.
Scary sharp is good, will set your angle and allow for repeatability, use that to get it sharp and then strop to keep it useful until you need to redo the edge when you chop through some bone by mistake.
Use a tormek if you have lots of blades to sharpen and both power and money are no barrier.
Or if you want a polished edge then the best I have found is the wicked edge, I would go against anyone on an edge test with the wicked edge set up I have, will set you back a pretty penny, but will get you a better edge than anything else out there though.
Or you could pay someone if you can’t the bothered yourself.
+1 on the wicked edge.
Wasn't any good at sharpening a knife anyway.
Have tried a few sharpeners.
I wasnt consistent with any of them.
Wicked edge never fails. Perfect every time.
With the strops and paste you get a mirror finish.
Pricey but worth it. Especially if you're no good with traditional sharpening methods like me.
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Does the wicked edge come with strops and paste or does everyone use their own?
If you use your own what do you use?
https://youtu.be/k2YzzR660r8
I prefer to sharpen my knifes by hand, it’s a good thing to learn. Buy some cheap knifes from a charity shop and practice on them.
Or try making one of the holder types in the link above, the bigger the stone the less likely you will gouge the blade.
I had to buy my strops and paste separately as the system I bought only come with the diamond attachments.Quote:
Originally Posted by suthy
Not sure if any of the many packages they sell come with strops.
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Best knife sharpening system: as rarely as possible. Achieve by using a steel which straightens + work hardens the edge.Quote:
Originally Posted by suthy
Once you use a stone etc. you sacrifice steel. Use such only if/when your steel does not do the trick.
Feel free to disagree.
(The 1200 grit wet and dry is by the way great to get your carbon blade to a mirror shine, not just for the edge - something to do at the camp fire).
Wicked Edge and Scary Sharp are great if you are only doing a vee bevel edge. If your knife is truly convex ground, a sharpening jig will only be able to put a micro bevel on it.
I had one of the earlier versions of the Scary where you had to unclamp to flip the blade and it was a pain in the arse so I sold it.
Part of the reason for selling was that I also discovered the mousepad method, although adapted a little. This works excellent for convex grinds like the Bark Rivers. For a beginner, its a very simple and effective sharpening method.
However, I really wanted to learn to use stones to hand sharpen, and ended up buying some Japanese water stones which I now use 95% if the time. With a good strop and some 800 grit compound, you can get away with a 400/1000 combination stone for the majority of sharpening needs. My Chosera water stones (now called Naniwa Professional Stone) range from 400 to 8000 grit. It just take practice which builds your confidence, and with confidence you will get better edges.
I also have a tormek type machine which I use for the kitchen knives since they get abused by my wife and often need reprofiling to remove gapped edges as opposed to just honing the edge. Its fast and can remove a lot of material in a very short time. Way less tiresome than trying to reprofile by hand on good German steel.
I also have a linisher, and saw a video the other night where a knife maker showed how he sharpened his knives for sale on the linisher. I tried it on one of my knives and OMG is it a quick way to get a shaving sharp knife with a couple of strokes on the strop.
My son pulled his knife out to gut a stag and luckily did not chop his fingers off. Geoff makes a great machine. Still using the old model. Bought a brand new one 2 years ago but it still is in the box.Takes all the guess work out of the equation. Awesome Kiwi ingenuity.Yes it can get them bloody sharp.Quote:
Originally Posted by muzza
I brought a Lansky system before Christmas, for me it works fine. Knives are very sharp again and blade angles re - set. Not the best system out there but after watching a lot of you tube clips and some patience and practice the system works well.
Better suited to smaller knifes, large kitchen knives are more difficult to the size of the clamp and stones.
@viper I too use the lansky. Like you say it's great for smaller blades. Not great for large blades and hopeless on flexible blades like fillet or boning knives.
Scary Sharp looks pretty good.
Well being a clever bugger I just made a gismo on my lathe to sharpen my buck knife, did the job nicely and when in the bush I use the knife to shave with, really impressed the Swedish girl backpackers. ;)
Attachment 102321, The gismo.
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Very clever.
A steel works awesome on softer edges that have a tendency to roll. Typically doesn't do shit on harder modern steels as they don't tend to roll anywhere near as much. A strop and compound is a much more effective way of maintaining a hard steel edge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cordite
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by suthy
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?
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by suthy
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.
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So what stones did you buy?Quote:
Originally Posted by suthy
Attachment 102906
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??
One of these?? Me thinks you forgot a link?Quote:
Originally Posted by suthy
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
Attachment 103013
@suthy They're just on trade me. Will order one and see how it goes.
https://www.trademe.co.nz/1911027889
