52100 Sharpening 101 Instruction Needed

KBA

KBA

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Apr 27, 2014
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So I have spent some time researching steels but sharpening those steels is a whole new chapter. I have never done it but want to learn. I have decided to practice on my old kitchen knifes before attempting to sharpen a new purchase. In short, how would you sharpen a 52100 hunter style knife? Ive read some on DMT, stones, etc, but honestly it's all over my head in the terms/lingo used. The 3/32 52100 hunter has 3 1/2 blade, a rc between 58-60 w/ a double temper cycle (if that matters). Any links on how, or what to use (on how to sharpen in general) would be great. Also any book suggestions. Below is a pic if that helps any.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=436496&d=1399049710
 
Same way you sharpen any other knife to put it shortly. Do a quick search or even go back a few pages reading through our threads, there is a wealth of information already out there. Only major difference between steels for the most part is how long you have to sharpen them for, for more resistant steels it may take a longer ammount of time and thus more repetition till your done. Sometimes depending on what your using it may be advisable to swap to a different set of stones, such as if your sharpening S110V and your trying to do so on arkansas it may be a good idea to swap to diamonds.

Here is an example of a thread I posted in which I told someone some advice and gave them some links to help them out. There is a lot of threads like this.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...on-how-to-sharpen-pls?p=13485896#post13485896

Don't worry about the lingo too much it's something that is hard to grasp at first but after awhile you go "ahh I get it now". I think Jdavis one of the people who I linked in that thread has a video on Burr's which probably help with the lingo. And "Apex" is basically 2 points coming together perfectly to put it simply, it's what you want for a very sharp edge so imagine a sharp corner like you see when you use to draw lines together in geometry compared to a curved line. The sharp one will cut better. Same thing again when it comes to angles for bevels imagine geometry again the acute angles will slide through and object easier than an obtuse one.
 
Very nice knife! 52100 responds well to traditional means, i.e. natural stones, black/white/green compound. It doesn't need diamond or CBN paste to get there.

Others have provided links to tips & tricks, give it a try. If you never sharpen before, get some cheap knives to practice but not so cheap that the steel cannot be 'apexed' properly. Maybe some tramontina or victorinox kitchen knives.
 
Thanks for the help. I'll look into all the suggestions.
 
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