$20 disposal store knife w/ some pics

yeah I've heard DMT is good, and would you use similari grits of sandpaper as you would the stones
just figure the stones will last a long time
but then it depends how often you sharpen your knife i guess
 
Ive seen inexpensive stones , the type with a different grit either side for about $5 at crazy clarkes ,or stores like that that have a fishing or camping department. they last a good while , and work decently for the money. Most houses have one of these in them , you may already own one and not know it !

For an under 20$ first knife , I probly wouldve gone for a number 8 or 9 opinel , but thats just me...
 
hmm maybe, I'll go check, probably have one for chisels
I was just reading about those type of stones, double sided. Seem very good value
 
JCK, that's not a bad knife for $20. Good value.

Sharpening is a skill that takes time to learn, and you will ruin a blade or two when "freehand" sharpening, all part of the learning process. Practice on some cheap old blades, like kitchen knives that you can buy by the handful at charity stores or op shops.
The Eze Lap diamond sharpeners are very good quality and will last for years. If you get the three different grades should cost you somewhere around the $50-60 mark. I recommend eBay for some good prices. I saw some recently on eBay (Australia) for $13.50 with free postage.
Above all, have a look around Bladeforums for sharpening advice, there are world class experts here that are only too happy to give you good advice on sharpening techniques and equipment.
 
yeah kitchen knives are a good idea, the ones i have however have about half of the blade taken up with some really shallow serrations
and the other half is just metal, square eddge like the top edge of the blade, so no edge
But thats a good idea, never thought of that

maybe a bit OT but what do you think is a better skill to start with, freehand sharpening or using a setup like syperco sharpmaker?
 
I just checked eze laps Australian site , superfine & fine are $16.90 & medium is 24.90.

However shipping & GST is 15$
 
If you can invest the money, the Sharpmaker will not only give you a great sharpener, but it will give you alot of knowledge about sharpening that will translate later to hand sharpening if you choose to go that way later on.

By the way, nice score for your first knife.

Cheers,

Doug
 
I bought a DMT Aligner - great if like me you have no confidence in your ability to hold a constant angle. It cost $46 with 4 grades of diamond stones and it works very well. Since using that I have started to think that I probably could do a reasonable job of freehand sharpening and in fact I have freehanded a tiny knife and a huge knife that would be hard to sharpen with the clamp. I have learnt a huge amount about sharpening over the last couple of months and now have a couple of my cheap knives sharp enough to split or even whittle hair. I suggest choosing whatever sharpening method you like and give it a go, as suggested start with cheaper knives. I can't imagine anyone regretting learning how to sharpen a knife, it is a VERY important skill for anyone that likes using knives - much pleasure can be gained from using a sharp knife rather than a blunt one.

As for the cheap knife - most of my favourite knives cost less than $30. You don't need to spend a fortune to get a good knife!
I have & like:
Opinel folding knives - I have 4 and each cost less than $15
Mora fixed blade knives - I have 2 and each cost less than $15
Ontario RAT-1 - great knife, I paid $26

The knives listed are probably my sharpest ones and they are great to use - cheap is fine as long as the knives are good despite being cheap. Poor quality is a different thing altogether.
 
Yeah, I was thinking about the rat one, and the ka bar dozier, but they wern't at my local store, and i didn't want to get them online, rather do that when I do a bulk order
 
It's just a cheap S&W, but Congrats on your first knife! Now what you need to do is save up a lot of cash and buy a knife from one of these top knife companies:

Benchmade
Chris Reeve Knives
Emerson
Spyderco
Strider
Zero Tolerance
 
yeahm I'm looking for, as I'm sure most people know due to my many threads on the subject, a benchmade mini rukus plain satin edge.

Also thinking of getting a bark river bravo 1 before that though, as it will get through customs fine, so i need to find a local seller for the first noe though.
 
I've seen worse first knives.

I really like that thumbstud though..... Cant stand the stepped ones.

Tostig
 
BWAHAHAHAHAHHA

i'm sorry, i just had to laugh.

glad to see you've decided to put a walk-in-the-daisies through Australian Customs regulations on hold.

wise choice young padawan, very wise choice.

as for the knife: looks fine to me. i've heard some S&W knives cop a bad rap, but you seem to have picked one of the winners in their lineup. decent steel, nice design, legal to own in Australia, it certainly ticks a whole bunch of boxes.

for a piddling $20, you just cannot go too far wrong.

have fun with it mate! take care of it and i'm sure it will serve you very well and leave some ca$h leftover for 18th birthday celebrations.

edit: for sharpeners, i rekon just get some decent benchstones from a hardware store and make yourself a finishing strop (just some leather glued over a piece of 2"x4" wood backing is fine, you can either buy stropping compound (jewellers rouge) or just wipe the oil and ground up blade gunk from your stones onto the srop (this is my method, works fine)) or order some swish diamond/ceramic stones from the US. freehand sharpening really isn't that hard, just takes a bit of practice (and you can fit a decent stone and a strop in your kit bag and use it anywhere). i'll echo the sentiment never to buy anything from King Of Knives chain stores in Oz.
 
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The handle has a really "Kershaw Leek" kind of shape to it, which is appealing.

But, having "homeland security" and "china" together on the blade is just all kinds of wrong.

Still, can't beat the price for a beater if it'll take it.
 
Nice first blade IMO. I like the overall look of it. And welcome to the wonderful world of sharp, pointy objects!
 
sambo. said:
BWAHAHAHAHAHHA

i'm sorry, i just had to laugh.

glad to see you've decided to put a walk-in-the-daisies through Australian Customs regulations on hold.

wise choice young padawan, very wise choice.

as for the knife: looks fine to me. i've heard some S&W knives cop a bad rap, but you seem to have picked one of the winners in their lineup. decent steel, nice design, legal to own in Australia, it certainly ticks a whole bunch of boxes.

for a piddling $20, you just cannot go too far wrong.

have fun with it mate! take care of it and i'm sure it will serve you very well and leave some ca$h leftover for 18th birthday celebrations.

edit: for sharpeners, i rekon just get some decent benchstones from a hardware store and make yourself a finishing strop (just some leather glued over a piece of 2"x4" wood backing is fine, you can either buy stropping compound (jewellers rouge) or just wipe the oil and ground up blade gunk from your stones onto the srop (this is my method, works fine)) or order some swish diamond/ceramic stones from the US. freehand sharpening really isn't that hard, just takes a bit of practice (and you can fit a decent stone and a strop in your kit bag and use it anywhere). i'll echo the sentiment never to buy anything from King Of Knives chain stores in Oz.
Click to expand...

Yeah, thought you would, a bit ironic i know, but I actually found out NZ customs would let me get the one I want through, as long is can only be opened by 2 hands. So I could arrange that, not sure though.

And I had a look at king of knives, yeah, king of thieves allright!

And I've saved up whatever cash I have left from my 18th, so I have about 160, just enough for a BRKT Bravo 1, a fixed blade I believe will last me a lifetime

@tostig - what do you mean by stepped thumbstuds, is it like the thumbstud on this knife:
2wmnxxf.jpg


whats bad about them, are they unergonomic coz they sort of taper towards the end?

Oh and for the sharpening issue I'm thinking I'm gonna go with some EZY Laps from bunnings, like bigbadboom suggested, and when I get more money, maybe I'll buy a sharpmaker.
 
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