Becker KNife Sharpening Experts

gmoneyluv

gmoneyluv

Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
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Ok, had an interesting day. Started sharpening some Beckers on a series of Norton waterstones. After more time than I would care to admit, I was still having a hard time getting a hair-shaving edge. At this point I decided to try a Norton India stone and within less than twenty strokes, I was easily able to a hair-shaving edge after some easy stropping. So what the heck is going on??? I used to use my dad's India stone to sharpen my pocket knife for my paper route over 30 years ago - had no problem getting a shaving edge even back then.
 
I'm not much of a free hander, but I learned on the sharpmaker, then the KME, now the wicked edge. Did you try marking the cutting edge with a sharpie to make sure you are hitting the cutting bevel with the water stones???? What are the grits on your watersides vs. the other stone that worked?
 
gmoneyluv said:
Ok, had an interesting day. Started sharpening some Beckers on a series of Norton waterstones. After more time than I would care to admit, I was still having a hard time getting a hair-shaving edge. At this point I decided to try a Norton India stone and within less than twenty strokes, I was easily able to a hair-shaving edge after some easy stropping. So what the heck is going on??? I used to use my dad's India stone to sharpen my pocket knife for my paper route over 30 years ago - had no problem getting a shaving edge even back then.
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It could be the angle you were holding the blade at during sharpening, it could be the grit. It is hard to say without knowing the grit of the stones. It could be the water stone was loaded already and had no abrasiveness. It could be the waterstone simply isn't as abrasive (irrespective of grit) than the india stone.
 
Hard to say without watching your technique Gus. Nothing wrong with the India stones at all though. In fact they've been tested against everything out there and will give you an edge that will out cut and out last just about anything. Ethan and Jerry Fisk are a couple of guys that use India stones.
 
Possibly drastic grit differences?

Probably unrelated but I have had similar issues when I use certain stones for harder steels, the water stones I have are only effective on carbon. For the harder stuff I have to switch to DMT.
 
20 strokes is for touching up reasonably sharp knives. I usually work longer on my Beckers and they get very sharp. Much sharper than factory edge and they hold the edge well too. Freehand sharpening takes practice as you develop the muscle memory for the right edge. I had to work on a couple of my knives as they chipped when struck some stones. Dont be afraid to work it. :D
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll hit the water stones again and see what I can do. My technique is pretty good and the grit on the water stones is 220, 1000, 4000, 8000. Must be missing something.

India stone was a no brainer. Got a burr up in now time - just surprised that I was able to get an shaving edge so fast.
 
I use just 3 stones....#500, #1000 and #3000. I am kind of lazy...LOL! Dont worry, you'll get there. :thumbup:

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I finished by stropping them. There was a time when I would not stop until it's all perfect mirror but these days I'm happy with just razor sharp working edge.

Cheers!
 
Worksharp! Beautiful convex edges every time. After your initial sharpening with the coarse and medium belts, most maintenance takes very few pases on the medium and stropping belts. Fast efficient work.
 
bullosa said:
20 strokes is for touching up reasonably sharp knives. I usually work longer on my Beckers and they get very sharp. Much sharper than factory edge and they hold the edge well too. Freehand sharpening takes practice as you develop the muscle memory for the right edge. I had to work on a couple of my knives as they chipped when struck some stones. Dont be afraid to work it. :D
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May I ask what type of stone/oils you use on your Becker - and what grit they were? My first Becker (BK16) should arrive tomorrow!
 
strangegeek said:
May I ask what type of stone/oils you use on your Becker - and what grit they were? My first Becker (BK16) should arrive tomorrow!
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I used a Norton Combination India Stone with a coarse and fine side. The water stones are also Norton with 220, 1000, 4000, 8000 grits.

Congrats on the 16. Post pics!
 
And a vid of legendary Jerry Fisk using an India stone.

[video=youtube;DzBSjQFWyhM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzBSjQFWyhM[/video]
 
So I gotta ask....are your water stones flat? Mine concave pretty quickly and I've found that one of those flattening stones (looks like cinder block almost) gets them back flat in no time, renews the stone surface and really makes them work a lot better.
 
granitestateofmind said:
So I gotta ask....are your water stones flat? Mine concave pretty quickly and I've found that one of those flattening stones (looks like cinder block almost) gets them back flat in no time, renews the stone surface and really makes them work a lot better.
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Yep, they are flat. Spent some more time with them yesterday and got some good results.
 
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