Yes I use search functions ect. I am just going to start with that. So you know I am pretty new to knives and related stuff. In everyones opinion what is a good steel that holds a edge well with out being to hard to sharpen. i dont have the best stuff for sharpening and really want to get some good stones. I am thinking around a $50-60 knife but I am not sure the thresh hold where the good steel starts. A folder would be best as I want to carry it and use it. On sharpening how much does it matter what stroke you use? I seemed to have the best success more often then not with the back and forth motion sharpening the whole time. On that are sections better or should I try to cover the whole knife. I have seen versions a lot. What do you guys like to use to flatten out a stone? I have been using a course smith 4" diamond plate. I used a file originally cause when I took it out of the package it was a roller coaster it was so bad. It is a 8" smith's aluminum oxide. I seem to like stones much better then diamond plates. They have a much better feel to me. Also if a knife is really dull at what point does counting stokes matter to perfectly match the other side?
Hi,
How sharp can you get your knives? In under 5 minutes?
I would suggest not buying any more stuff for the moment
you've got more than enough
Instead I would suggest you spend a bit of time fine tuning your equipment and skill.
Think about what the hardest work your knife should do (say cutting dry hardwoods)
Then spend 5 minutes doing that, use knife to make wood shavings for 5 minutes straight, you'll quickly learn where the the hot-spots/sharp corners are on the handle that you need to sand down and round out.
It doesn't much matter what kind of stroke you use to raise a burr (shaping),
scrubbing strokes are the fastest kind
But for removing the burr and setting the final sharpness,
the best are edge leading alternating strokes...
which you can't do on strops or some soft waterstones....
you don't always have to use the simplest/best option
Seriously, anything above $5 , even most things at $1 have steel that is good enough to slice a mile of cardboard and still be sharp enough to slice paper,
if sharpened well.
Money doesn't equal performance, even $500 knives come with uncomfortable handles, overly thick blades (to call it a prybar is a compliment), and "bad" quality steel -- the weirdest things can sell
Most important thing is a comfortable handle (ergonomics),
second most important is a adequately thin blade (geometry)
the third most important thing your sharpening skill
Everything after that is extras, and most of this you wont appreciate until you spend time cutting wtuff with your own two hands, so start with the stuff you already own.
If all you're doing is breaking down a box or two every half hour (less than 1min of cutting),
well a $1 knife will do just fine,
It doesn't even need to have a lock.
you don't even have to smooth the sharp edges on the handle,
or even sharpen the thing.
You don't want to flatten your smith's stone using a diamond plate, its a waste of diamonds.
stone maintenance, flattening and condition, either use another coarser stone, or a ceramic tile (or glass) and "sand" (loose grit abrasive grain), more details on that resurface the stone,
deglaze the hard way which is just a
a 20 second lapping/rubb to scratch a new surface
The only reason to count strokes is to remain even, a sharpening (raising a burr) shouldn't take more than 300 strokes, if it does you're regrinding.
Look at this, ~$7 sharpening stone
12 dps edge can still shaves/whittles beard hair after 1000 slices of hardwood (
yes a 1000 slices of hardwood )
25dps
dulls faster than 20dps even if those are
microbevel angles
Try stuff and ask specific questions and try stuff and try stuff
