Anyone else love knives but hate sharpening?

Jim, I understand what your meaning.
I really enjoy sharpening. I take most of my carry knives and kitchen cutlery to 350-400 grit. This requires different technique to get it to shave. But the edge cuts great and lasts a long time. DM
 
I sharpen the knives of others at work and they love it. I do it when I'm bored, kinda like how some whittle. Getting rid of knives just because they get dull is rather idiotic in my book. I just sharpened a $3 pocket knife that has crap steel in it. I do this because I can't stand a dull knife or knives with chips.

I learned to sharpen knives with a crappy Pakistani fixed blade and a mediocre whetstone. Now I use a single ceramic rod in my hand, a lansky double sided diamond, a double side leather strop made from an old belt.

Try the worksharp, I've used one at a store once and got decent results. But I found the guides on the belt to be useless. Still thinking of getting one for my machetes though.
 
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My blades are mostly thinned out on a belt sander first, so its easy to touch it up.Regrinding on stones is boring ...used to do it before,now its just belt sander and spyderco ceramics!
 
Years ago I had this knife branded G96, might've been a cheap brand, can't remember what I paid. It was special as it was the length and style of a Buck 112 but it had utility tools like screwdriver/bottle opener,saw, scissors, can opener and suck like an SAK. I loved it, had a nice sheath.
I loaned it to an Uncle and instead of unfolding the screwdrive on it he had to use the knife tip and broke off a quarter of an inch. I could've killed him. Anyway i spent a solid 2 hours on a rough whetstone putting a tip back on and then sharpened.
I don't know what happened to that knife, never seen anything like it since. Basically Buck 110 style sized like a 112 and equipped like a SAK.
 
Sharpening knives is just another job, and like any other chore around the house, it has to be done regularly. I can't say that I love it or hate it. I DO love the results I get from it though. That makes my life a lot easier afterwards.

HwangJino said "Loving knives but hating sharpening is like loving cars but hating the work." That struck a chord in me, as I love everything about motorcycles... cruising, long distance touring, racing, even polishing... but I'll be DAMNED if I'll get my hands all greasy working on the things! That's why God created mechanics, right? I know 'how' to repair an engine. I've taken 'em apart and put them back together, both top and bottom end. But I don't enjoy it. So when I need an oil change or new spark plugs, off it goes to the shop. Probably the same feeling you get sending your knives out to be sharpened.

While stone work can be a drudge that needs to be done, I confess to enjoying stropping and steeling. The instant gratification that they bring is a true joy!


Stitchawl
 
I've been sharpening knives for 63 years, as long as I've been carrying them. My grandmother showed me how to sharpen using an old wheel she had brought from the farm. She thought that if I was going to carry them, I ought to know how to sharpen them. I find it relaxing, thoughtful (helps me focus my thinking), and satisfying.
 
The trick is the same angle every time.
Try to keep the blade the same exact angle each time. Picture the knife angle you want (28-30 degrees) in your head and practice keeping that same angle. It is easier to sharped clip point blades and bowie style knifes tip first. I don't have any pictures handy, so I hope you understand what I am saying.. If you need to for practice, sharpen one side at a time until you achieve a constant "bevel", then sharpen both sides of the blade at the same time (one side, then the other, one side, then the other...) It really helps me to clamp the stone into a vise and use both hands to steady the knife and blade.
This is how I sharpen my modified tanto point blades to get the bevel, then work from three strokes on each side twice, then two, then one....
It takes lots of patience.
I also have a smith sharpening jig, but tend not to use it as often as free hand. A diamond stone helps. I would invest in as large a DMT diamond stone as you can buy. It will be all you need for 20+ years of sharpening. Hope this helps. Buy one of these, you will get a perfect edge every time. It creates a perfect bevel each time. I have one myself.
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dalefuller said:
I've been sharpening knives for 63 years, as long as I've been carrying them. My grandmother showed me how to sharpen using an old wheel she had brought from the farm. She thought that if I was going to carry them, I ought to know how to sharpen them. I find it relaxing, thoughtful (helps me focus my thinking), and satisfying.
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Your grandma sounds awesome. Mine forbids me to sharpen her kitchen knives, because she bleeds to easily. I've even had to dull some for her
 
Some knives I own are a pleasure to sharpen and some are nightmares it's all dependent on geometry and steel, I can put a hair popping screaming sharp edge freehand on my spyderco ambitious but I can't get an edge close to that on my Emerson mini roadhouse.
I like sharpening when it goes well and hate it when it doesn't.
 
AntCaps said:
Some knives I own are a pleasure to sharpen and some are nightmares it's all dependent on geometry and steel, I can put a hair popping screaming sharp edge freehand on my spyderco ambitious but I can't get an edge close to that on my Emerson mini roadhouse.
I like sharpening when it goes well and hate it when it doesn't.
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Same here. I particularly hate sharpening ZDP-189. No matter what I do I cannot get it as sharp as my S30V knives.
 
Firestrike said:
Diamonds are your friends.
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I am starting to realize this, any good recommendations for a complete system?

I love both but sharpening def has a steep learning curve and takes some time. As a newbie I started with a Sharpmaker which worked pretty good for maintenance but not coarse enough. My family had dull kitchen knives where the edge was almost completely gone, practiced on those. Then I bought a DMT extra coarse and Norton 1000/8000 grit waterstone. Still learning but I am able to put a shaving edge on most knives now, I attempted a mirror edge and was semi successful (80%). Love the extra coarse DMT stone, eats metal for breakfast. Just now I fixed a chipped tip in under 5 minutes.
 
I don't care for it either. It's just part of it I love to shoot guns too but hate to clean them
 
I am sharpening challenged as well. Just get a belt sander and a set of paper wheels and you will be good to go.
 
I did until I bought a belt grinder, now I love it because I can get a shaper edge than any factory edge I've ever had in less than 10 min.
 
David Martin said:
Jim, I understand what your meaning.
I really enjoy sharpening. I take most of my carry knives and kitchen cutlery to 350-400 grit. This requires different technique to get it to shave. But the edge cuts great and lasts a long time. DM
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Yeah, I can very sharp edges very fast, but it's just maintained to me. :)
 
One of my favorite things to do is to review a stone I've never tried and sharpen a few knives with it. I tend to look at knives as the things that are there to hold the edge I put on them. I enjoy seeing an edge emerge and get refined and created to meet the requirements of it's intended task.

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Ken
 
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