A potentially strange question

C

crowley213

Joined
Jun 15, 2020
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53
All,

as of what I already (think to) understand:
- start learning to sharpen a knife freehand on a stone is best done with some cheaper knives as you will most likely produce scratches on the knife blade and maybe some other “accidents”
- on the other side the learning process can be frustrating when using cheap knives with low quality steel as you can barely get them really sharp

So my questions, as a rookie in here:
- what steel, or maybe even knife brand, would you recommend for such cheap knives to learn sharpening?
- what knife / blade form(s) would you recommend in the very beginning?

Again, maybe this may sound strange to you, but I was thinking about and decided to ask, nothing to loose in here. Better a “sarcastic” answer to my question than trouble with my “boss” at home for screwing up her knives!

Herbert
 
You can get a tin can really sharp.
Use any old knife from antique shops, Ebay, wherever you find them. Kitchen knives work well for learning.
Be advised that well-worn blades (and some others) will be too thick to be easily sharpened.
 
I'd suggest finding an old hickory or other carbon steel cheapie.

But honestly, it is not the mountain people make it out to be.


What knives do you have.

Straight edges (sheeps foot, warncliff) are great for beginning because you don't have to worry about angling the tip up.
 
For SS a Swiss Army is good practice. You can work your way up in size.
I also used a Beaver Creek.

Older 'traditional' folders do well for carbon blades. I got a couple of Imperials and a Hammer to goof around with.
Some of my hand mades are 1095 and I practice on the smaller blades.

I'd say work with thinner blades/edges first. Thicker blades you really have to pay attention!
Not ready for scandi grinds yet!

I'm like you, just starting to figure sharpening out.
If all else fails, I have a belt sander!
 
Look at Chicago Cutlery they have pretty nice kitchen knives and they aren't to badly priced and are made from decent knife steel.
 
My standard answer to this is a Victorinox Fibrox kitchen knife. The paring knives are rather inexpensive. All of the knives in that collection are super high value. They are thin, cut well, and have decent steel that is easy to sharpen and relatively easy to deburr. I just sharpened two of them for a friend in fact. They are good knives and good learning tools for sharpening.

If you want to bargain hunt, you can try thrift stores or your local Goodwill or equivalent. I've found numerous bargains this way. I picked up a 5" Calphalon Santoku for $1 (or $2?) a few months ago. It takes a great edge and is easy to sharpen. A screaming bargain at that price.

The flip side of this is that you might buy a knife with poor quality steel that is hard to deburr or is very soft, etc. Which is why I originally recommended the Victorinox kitchen knives.

Good luck to you.

Brian.
 
+1 to the recommendation of Victorinox kitchen knives. :thumbsup: They'll respond to most any sharpening media used, from natural stones up through AlOx, SiC & diamond. And their thin factory grinds are a big bonus as well. The Vic paring knives are great training aids for learning to sharpen and will richly reward a good effort. I absolutely love using them, after doing my own thinning and sharpening on these knives.

With realistic expectations, even the inexpensive cutlery brands sold at Walmart, etc., can be relatively easy. Most can take a very fine edge. Wear-resistance or edge-holding aren't necessarily a priority while learning to simply form a keen, sharp edge. With those steels, some extra de-burring attention is usually needed. But de-burring is a big part of fully learning about sharpening. Trying to avoid steels with burring issues is just missing out on a big part of the sharpening picture. Learn how to handle de-burring on those knives, and that's three-quarters of the battle.

A larger kitchen knife with a simple edge profile can be a good learning aid for freehanding on bench stones. I like a santoku-style blade (5" - 8") for this. It has a simple, sweeping arc of an edge profile that's conducive to good technique (sweeping arc sharpening passes) on 8" or larger stones.
 
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I didn't even think about recommending the Victorinox knives, and I use them in my kitchen.
 
When I am trying new sharpening techniques I generally will use an Opinel Carbon or a Morakniv. I prefer these because they have better geometry than some the super cheap imports, and yet they still maintain a really low price. Further, on some of the super cheap knives I've purchased to experiment on sharpening, some were so bad I would almost swear they outright forgot to heat treat it...both the Opinels and Moraknivs have good HTs, and yet being a little on the softer side it's easier and faster to experiment with these.
 
I second Opinels - heck I’ve seen them for sale in grocery stores, they offer stainless and carbon steels, and they are very affordable. Plus you’ll have a very lightweight handy folder once you’ve honed your sharpening skills.
 
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I recently taught a coworker using a buck canoe which I believe is a 375. It was on sale for 7.00. It is either 420j or 420hc. It has taken an edge very well and deburs easily. If you mess it up too much you can always send it in for the spa treatment, although it would probably be cheaper to buy new.
 
I would advise starting with a carbon steel, opinel carbon steel knives are perfect they are cheap and easy to sharpen with a thin geometry and aren't overly prone to stubborn burs.
 
All,

Thank you very much for your feedback. I will check now in Amazon which of the recommended knives I can get here in Mexico and from there I will go.

Herbert
 
learn to move with the belly of the blade or you will end up with a weird looking ice pick
don't ask me how I know that........:rolleyes::eek:
 
Start with a sharp knife, if it stays sharp you are doing it right. Dull knives can be frustrating to sharpen.
 
Go with whatever knife you prefer to carry. It is going to be marred in use anyway and whatever scratches you put on it will soon be covered by scratches from use. If the first 10 sharpening attempts are less than perfect don't worry about it. You can make it better on the next 10. If you want to know how to sharpen you have to use the knife to see how well you are doing, so go with an EDC that you like.

n2s
 
not2sharp not2sharp ‘s advice is sound.

I learned on a Buck 110 I carried everyday when it was worn out Buck put a new blade on it for $10. So you don’t really have to worry about messing it up.
 
Opinel and Morakniv are great recommendations as mentioned before to start out with. Hell, they’re great knives for everyday!

Couple of words of advice I’d tell my younger self when I started many many moons ago..... take your time, light pressure, and for god sakes!....... walk away if you get really frustrated and try again with a cooler head.
You will make mistakes.
Remain persistent and don’t give up.

We’ve all been there at some point trying to learn how to sharpen free hand.

Later down the road it’ll have a calming effect and you’ll enjoy changing edge angles and touching up any blade you can get your hands on.
 
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