ANOTHER sharpening thread for beginners who need help...

H

hettingerjm

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Jul 4, 2012
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I have spent the last 4 hours googling this on every site from bladeforums to....

And I am still confused but think I am beginning to see my answer. I am looking for the cheapest and best sharpening system for reprofiling AND getting edges razor sharp in a professional manner and fast. Is this the best solution and do I NEED anything else? (I've read countless stickies but am still unsure of the best route)

The absolute cheapest lansky kit with an extra course diamond stone purely for reprofiling my long abused blades?

And then a spyderco sharp maker to easily and quickly put an awesome edge on my knives that have good edge angles in the range of the sharp maker.

I don't have hours to spend sharpening... I have 3 jobs, a wife who works nights, baby on the way and a obsession with knives, guns, flashlights, emergency preparedness, etc.

So would buying those 3 things be a good relatively inexpensive solution? I don't have the 250+ to spend on the other better systems I've seen.
 
That's what I'm worried about... I heard the sharp maker is the BESt but only if your knives are already at a perfect angle and not too sharp. Which is where I think the lansky could help.
 
I just started out and have great results with the DMT Alinger.

You can get the Extra Course and Extra Extra Fine stones (in addition to the ones that come with the kit) on Amazon for under $75.

I have a SharpMaker and found that mounting it to something solid, using two hands and going slow helped.
 
lansky kit with an extra course diamond stone: I have this and it's ok, not the easiest to use, but as with most things a little practice gets you there.

I mainly use Fallkniven DC3 and 4, the Spyderco Double or mouse pad/leather with wet/dry paper and go freehand.
 
email me at ginrickie1@juno.com and I will send you a picture of my knife sharpner that I made. I have been useing it you 15 + yers nd I would not trde it for the world. if I cant shave my arm then it is not good enough.
 
tincansurvival said:
Check out this thread posted over on the Becker Forums about hate KME Sharpener. As soon as I get the funds I'm gonna pick one up.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/971376-KME-and-BKT-s-A-sharpening-tutorial
Click to expand...

This looks awesome... So it's basically like a lansky style but more solid and you have options to all of the DMX duo stones. and not too expensive. Is there any knife angles this doesn't work on?


my problem with all the videos that yall gave me to help with the sharpmaker... Is even the author of the videos say if your knives are too dull it won't work well, or if the edge is greater than 40 degrees. My knife preference is big bulky heavy duty knives and I'm pretty sure they all come from the factory needing a reprofile if I use the sharpmaker. (I.E. just bought a ZT 0550.)

It looks like the KME will replace the need for me buying two systems...
 
I did just read one critical review that said KmE doesn't work as well on less wide knives as there's trouble hitting the edge with the stone.
 
aquaman67 said:
I just started out and have great results with the DMT Alinger.

You can get the Extra Course and Extra Extra Fine stones (in addition to the ones that come with the kit) on Amazon for under $75.

I have a SharpMaker and found that mounting it to something solid, using two hands and going slow helped.
Click to expand...

Since you have the DMT stones and the sharpmaker what is your recommendation?

What would you think about using the sharpmaker and then buying the DMT coarse,extra coarse diamond stones and using them aligned with the sharpmaker to reprofile anything that needs it?
 
hettingerjm said:
Since you have the DMT stones and the sharpmaker what is your recommendation?

What would you think about using the sharpmaker and then buying the DMT coarse,extra coarse diamond stones and using them aligned with the sharpmaker to reprofile anything that needs it?
Click to expand...

Funny you should ask. In part one from the video I posted they show how to use sandpaper with a SharpMaker. I've never done this but here's the video.

[video=youtube;IK4K0Ox347k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK4K0Ox347k[/video]

I think this would be the way to go if you use the SharpMaker to re-profile.

I used the DMT Aligner to put an edge on an Oyster knife. Oyster knives aren't supposed to be sharp. But it was the only thing I could find to practice on. I got it hair shaving sharp in no time.
 
My set is:

Cheap stones from Daisho : 320 & 400 grit.
Sandpaper: 800, 1000 & 1500 grit
Cardboard + MAAS polish.

All in all: about 30$ max.

Here's the result:

Not the best here, but I'm satisfied.
www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthre...ot-using-paper-wheels?p=10671001#post10671001
Getting a workable sharp for daily use won't be that expensive.
Lately, I got Taidea diamond folding sharpener for about 25$. It's expected to remove steel fast for reprofiling, then go to sandpaper straight (it has 360 & 600 grit).

One last thing: getting the edge to where you want it might be long in the beginning. Once it is set, touching up should take only few minutes, unless the edge is abused a lot (cutting plenty of cardboards). This applies to common steel AUS 8 / 440C / 8Cr13MoV.
Harder steel might last longer but again, initial forming also might take longer (depends on how the factory edge comes).

With skill and patience, you can freehand sharpen on many mundane objects. Checkout Murray Carter sharpening on a brick video. His method is maximizing your time with good enough result for daily use. He doesn't aim for mirror polished hair whittling sharp, but workable sharp.
 
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If cost and speed is a big factor, then I suggest a double sided Norton SiC stone. You may not be able to get a mirror finished, hair whittling edges and bevels at first but with a few minutes practice you'll get an edge that will cut what you need to cut. In the long run, you'll learn how to freehand better and you'll probably get better tools.
 
I'm a sharpening hobbyist. I spend WAY too much time reading about it, writing about, watching videos, and doing it. I like it. There's something wonderful about reshaping and refining edges.

So I can't believe I'm about to say this. <deep breath>

For someone that has little time, does NOT want to become a hobbyist, and doesn't want to mess with many different stones, systems, etc., doesn't a powered system make sense? Something cheap that's supposed to produce great results? Something that has a guide that you can use if you want to?

What about the worksharp? Looks like sharpening supplies (I hope they are a BF preferred vendor) has them for $69 including the 80, 200, and 6000 grit belts. I should get one for myself!

I believe there's at least one long-ish thread here on BF about the worksharp. ...and here's JDavis' first impressions video on it.

Brian.
 
IF you are not picky about how it looks but just want to be able to quickly get a shaving sharp edge the Harbor Freight 1x30 belt sander costs about $40. A nice supply of finer grit belts and a leather belt will run you another $40-50. It works very well HOWEVER, the finished product does not look very pretty. My field knives and beaters get the belt sander because they are already rough and get hard use. That being said, the knives I actually care about (my Randall or ZT's) never go near it. I'd rather spend and hour or more on them with my Lansky Diamond set than risk damaging the blade.
 
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