Another Sharpening Thread

Rick Marchand said:
Nice unit..... er.... I mean, nice one, unit.

My wife is puzzled how I could spend a whole day sharpening blades then go to dinner at my inlaw's and take an hour sharpening their kitchen knives. I just love to do it. I keep a kit in my car... lol.


Rick
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er...uh...thanks

I carry a tool box around loaded with sharpening/profiling gear;)

If you ever go through with a "how I sharpen" how-to, I wish you the best of luck. Producing such a resource is truly a difficult process.

The videos you present represent the 2 extremes quite well.

The first seems to be for entertainment only and shows a process that results from a lifetime of practice (and perhaps apprenticing)...and is presented with no hopes of even partially educating the viewer on how to accomplish the results (wise idea IMO).

The second is sort of a "how to" but simplifies the process which is perhaps necessary for the novice. I sort of tripped over this line from the video:
a lot of these new...uhh... factory made knives are putting the correct angle on their knives
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Perhaps true in some cases, it is not a rule I would teach;)

Sharpening can be a form of functional art (I think)...it is sculpting a piece of metal (usually), and when it is done exceptionally well, it will evoke feelings to the right observer. I liked the first video best:p
 
Rick Marchand said:
There is no difference to them. They treat the whole face of the bevel as one. They don't separate the primary from the secondary bevel like we do. Past the Shinogi (see pic), it is one plane leading to a zero degree edge... like a scandi, only convex. If they only sharpened the edge it would change the geometry of the blade little by little.

parts.gif
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To be honest that is the way I sharpen my scandi edges. Most, many er... the ones I have all came with a small microbevel. So I polish the bevel some, or alot if removing a chip, then at the last add the microbevel.

I understand what you are saying about nihonto togishi, but ask one and he is likely to tell you the cutting edge is established early in the process and not later refined with finest stones.
 
ikuyadas said:
Thanks for correcting words.
I think he took much more times for keeping proper surface of his whetstones than sharpening,
but it doesn't always means a strictly flat surface, that's what I inspired.

And I cannot be sure that he showed us a "blade polishing" process.
l feel he is "totally finishing or re-conditioning" the blade that include some delicate grindings,
and his work with large whetstone looks like "foundation" process what he calls.

Maybe final cosmetic/polishing process is such like this from 5:30 to 8:00.
I agree with some criticisms to cosmetic-biased expensive sharpening services,
but introduced scenes of sharpening were very informative for me.
[youtube]55BlqOj-hqo[/youtube]
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I did misunderstand what you said. There are so many semantic hidey-holes with this business of sharpening. Some want to say, finish stone, polish stone, hone, etc.

To me it is all under the broad umbrella of sharpening. Even flattening my stones I am actually sharpening them. Not because I am exposing fresh abrasive, but because it creates a plane-
you may be interested in this book if you have not already read it. It's good: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Japanese-Sword-Polishing/dp/4770024940
 
What kind of stones do you currently use?
 
I rough in the bevels with a 250-300gt stone then move up,600gt, 1000gt, 4000gt, 8000gt. Then I go to paper, sometimes up to 60,000gt if the mood strikes.
 
Just wanted to post it from Blade Magazine...
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and my fuzzy sharpening...
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and its result:)
[youtube]BzYo4rezILo[/youtube]
 
unit said:
Doesn't everyone?

May be I am crazy, but I find sharpening to be very relaxing and enjoyable.
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I don't. Sharpening is more of a chore to me. I find using a sharp knife to be relaxing and enjoyable though. Cutting up meat and veggies for dinner is about the best way to unwind after work IMO.
 
ikuyadas said:
and my fuzzy sharpening...


...and its result:)
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Nicely done, my friend. That looks scarey sharp!!

BTW... the blade is not bad looking either... the maker must be a Canadian.:p:thumbup:
 
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I like sharpening. Avid hand tool users, straight razor shaver and woods bum, generally steel edge obcessed. I have to do it; may as well love it. Now if there was a non-ginsu-no-need-to-sharpen-always-stays-sharp tool? I reckon I'd get some
 
Rick Marchand said:
My wife is puzzled how I could spend a whole day sharpening blades then go to dinner at my inlaw's and take an hour sharpening their kitchen knives. I just love to do it. I keep a kit in my car... lol.Rick
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Hmm, when I go to my in-laws, they hand me drink, I drinks the drink, they hand me 'nother drinks, I drinks that too, another gets passed my way, gulp, wifey says 'look KGD's glass is empty', soon 'recterfied'. We've obviously reached a civilized understanding on how we engage in extra-familiar visitations. I'm really not sure how they would take my reaching for their kitchen knives and trying to sharpen then. My poor wife wouldn't know if I had a murderous or suicidal intent. Drinks da drinks. Safest thing to do.

BTW - Rick knows his sharp, but I sometimes wonder about our perverse respect of it. Utility edge or scary sharp? Stropping elbow repetitive syndrome necessary? There is a certain perverseness about trying to live up to the reputation of sharp professed on the internet. Heck, I know sharp is better then dull, but I think we chronically worried about whether it is sharp enough is a silly thing too.

I seriously had this whole insecurity complex about it, until I started going to knife shows and meet-ups and learning what people think of as sharp. My edges don't get as good as Ricks and I know that, but they aren't all that far behind what most people (knife-nuts are people, others are sheeple) are actually using. Part of me still wants to have that scary sharp edge Rick put on my S-tool when I just had it, but then again the edge I got is total workable and if I can carve a bowdrill kit with it I'm happy.
 
As a woodworker ( I'm a cabinetmaker) and knife enthusiast , my favorite thing to do besides working with sharp tools is...sharpening them ! Most of my sharpening dollar has went to different stones, diamond rods, and steels but I do tend to stay away from sharpening gimmicks. A good benchstone can just about sharpen anything. Great post Rick; thanks for the links :)
 
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