Any body actually still sharpen their EDC knives in "Oldschool" way?

I

Iyonk

Joined
Jan 29, 2010
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538
i dont have any fancy sharpening system... just some waterstones and some soft grit sandpapers... with some green compound for stroping...

anybody actually still touch up or field sharpen their knives with the bottom of some ceramic mug, some flat metals for steeling, car window glasses,cardboard, or any othet thing you could improvised daily?


i dont have any fancy steel, just some SAK steel, 420HC or some 8cr13Mov...

when my blade got dull and i need quick shapening when i'm not home, i just give it some pass on the bottom of ceramic mug and its very sharp again... hair popping sharp and would do the job until i gave it some proper shapening again with some paper before stropping....


anybody still do the same or these oldschool touch up sharpening gonna get rare? or are youu insist only sharpen your knive with proper shapening system?


just curious guys... thanks alot for your inputs...
 
I still attempt to sharpen "old school" (stone, sandpaper, mug) because I lack the financial means of acquiring anything more "modern". However, I can only get things "paper cuttin sharp". Care to enlighten me on your mug sharpening technique?
 
Iyonk said:
i dont have any fancy sharpening system... just some waterstones and some soft grit sandpapers... with some green compound for stroping...

anybody actually still touch up or field sharpen their knives with the bottom of some ceramic mug, some flat metals for steeling, car window glasses,cardboard, or any othet thing you could improvised daily?


i dont have any fancy steel, just some SAK steel, 420HC or some 8cr13Mov...

when my blade got dull and i need quick shapening when i'm not home, i just give it some pass on the bottom of ceramic mug and its very sharp again... hair popping sharp and would do the job until i gave it some proper shapening again with some paper before stropping....


anybody still do the same or these oldschool touch up sharpening gonna get rare? or are youu insist only sharpen your knive with proper shapening system?


just curious guys... thanks alot for your inputs...
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Genius.

I completely forgot about that technique, my grandfather taught me it when I was just a kid. So, incredibly awesome that you just brought that up!:thumbup: Thanks.

Right now I use a ceramic rod, whet stone and my trusty puck for the garden tools.
 
Zombie Zeke said:
Genius.

I completely forgot about that technique, my grandfather taught me it when I was just a kid. So, incredibly awesome that you just brought that up!:thumbup: Thanks.

Right now I use a ceramic rod, whet stone and my trusty puck for the garden tools.
Click to expand...

Oops never mind.
 
I was over at my daughters house and dicovered you couldn't cut butter with her good knives. She had no stones and mine were an hour away. I used a coffee cup she had in the sink. About a month later she said she tried it and couldn't figure out how to do it. I told her to bring them with her the next time and I would help her out.

I've tried lawn mower blades as steels, rocks as stones, etc. just for the heck of it. I used a regular flat stone that purchased at a shoot for about 20 years. I bought Smith's Diamond kit a few weeks ago just to see what all the fuss was about.
 
All mine is freehand with stones or ceramic sticks.

Just can't get used to some of these gadgets! :)
 
I have the gadgets, but use my tried and true Norton India stone followed by a small Arkansas for softer steel or a ceramic rod for harder stuff. Always good and fast results, hair popping sharp that lasts.
 
I just use sandpaper and strops. Works great for me and I can get everything hair popping sharp easy enough. I only have trouble with recurves and dont own any for that reason:)
 
I sure do. I have diamond stones, diamond steels, and ceramic "steels"...rods on handles. I gave up the gadgets...formerly used a Lansky.

It is freehand from here on out...takes a lot of practice.
 
I prefer freehand sharpening also.I have some of the newer systems,but have'nt taking a liking to them.I like diamond benchstones,ceramic sticks,and strops.
 
Agreed to all of the above :thumbup: I use waterstones, oilstones, Arkansas stones, ceramic mugs, I've had them all for years...even a piece of natural stone I picked up along the Connecticut River. Some work better than others on carbon or stainless. Brown paper bag works for stropping because it has silicone in the paper mix.

I don't use a sharpening "system" because I don't want to become dependent on it.
 
Coldwood said:
Agreed to all of the above :thumbup: I use waterstones, oilstones, Arkansas stones, ceramic mugs, I've had them all for years...even a piece of natural stone I picked up along the Connecticut River. Some work better than others on carbon or stainless. Brown paper bag works for stropping because it has silicone in the paper mix.

I don't use a sharpening "system" because I don't want to become dependent on it.
Click to expand...

i knew it works but i did not know how .thanks........brown costra nostra?
 
If all you want is an edge sharp enough to shave arm hair, it's 95% technique and 5% material. While today I sharpen my knives to hair whittling sharp, it's not because I need them to be, I simply like them that way. For the longest time I used a cheapo double sided coarse/fine hardware stone, and the knives got sharp enough for daily use. The bottom of ceramic mugs work too.
 
Used to use a ceramic mug + butcher's steel when I worked in restaurants and the owners were too cheap to get the knives sharpened. Worked like a charm.
 
BJE said:
I have the gadgets, but use my tried and true Norton India stone followed by a small Arkansas for softer steel or a ceramic rod for harder stuff. Always good and fast results, hair popping sharp that lasts.
Click to expand...
Ah..Yep same here with the norton stone. All freehand for me, gagets are to much $$s and everyone should learn the most basic skill in blade making or owning, using a stone. After my norton edge, I just take 2 swipes with an old hone steel made by sharade about 20-30 years ago. (looks like a 1/4 thick x7in.long chisel, to split bone on deer, and comes with sheath that also turns around as a holder) very cool tool, been using both for over 30 years, and I have not found anything I can't make hair popin sharp. And stuck with No stone? A 6 in. long x 2in wide 400 grit peice of wet sanding paper will put an edge back on just about anywhere you will be. Just roll one up and stick it in a small tube, or fold up and stick in wallet. Works wonders in a pinch. enjoy edgy :thumbup:

Oh all of the $$s and complex and a pain to set up, take to long gagets have been in the trash for years. Tryed em all as I sharpened blades for people for well over 3 decades. I don't need something thats not easy to carry with ya. As in if you can't put it in your pocket, or pack, or have to have a flat place to use something (as in *systems*) Don't waste your good $$s.
 
i use stones. my grandfather also taught me how to sharpen with a butcher steel really well...i use that technique frequently and i can get a blade extremely sharp that way too. i also use an old leather belt with some compoud to strop. im going to be getting some sort of system soon just to try.
 
For knives, I use fine stones with water, and medium first if the edge needs to be brought back, then fine.

~Chris
 
I can sharpen on a stone and get accetpatble results, just enough to slice paper. But I like using my belt sander... much faster and I can always get an ultimate mirror polished edge, enough to whittle any hair away.The way I see it, if SHTF, then I would probably not be carrying around a norton stone with me anyways, and would end up having to sharpen my knife on a rock found in a stream bed or something like that. My knives will stay sharp as long as I need them to until I get back from the wild.... but I always bring a strop with sand paper just in case. But I have never had a knife go so dull on me in the wild that I needed to resharpen, and always could wait to get home to power strop in for about 10 seconds and be back to air bleeding sharp....
 
I spent years using a clamp system (Lansky). I can get super sharp edges with fixed systems.

A while ago, I started convexing my edges by hand using sandpaper and soft backing, then finishing up on a strop.

Now that I learned that method, I can also for some reason get hair popping sharp straight from my medium diamond stone (I carry one of those combo smaller diamond stones with the two ceramic rods you put in the V slots. I just use the small sticks by hand when needed).

For some reason learning to free hand with the sandpaper and strop made me able to do it on a stone.

In a real pinch, if you have lost your stone, or rod or sand paper, you can actually strop on a piece of wood with wet sand, or crushed up rock in a pinch. It will give you a very toothy edge, and won't be the finest edge, but will get you by.
 
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