Beginner seeking advice on a sharpening kit

[josh yu]

For a comparable price to the $14 combo, you can go on knifecenter.com and search "strop" - you will find a variety of products available, including a strop from "Flexcut" of comparable price as well as a variety of stropping compounds. There are also more expensive strop options that are larger or glued to wooden backing, etc.

i was more so trying to understand what you meant by "finished strop". so at the $15 price range, you'd recommend the "Flexcut 8" x 2" Leather Knife Strop w/ Polishing Compound" from knifecenter over that thing i linked from amazon? thanks for the explanation

 

[bobshoy]

That is pretty deep for a first set up!
I have a Norton 1000x 8000 water stone that I use for my straight razor, but I haven't tried sharpening any of my knives on it yet.
I also splurged for an incredibly awesome strop for the razor too!

Well, I lie. I did actually have a stone 10 years ago to sharpen the one or two knives I had. Was a 400/1200 no brander that would look like a banana after sharpening two knives.

My 400 naniwa is just very barely starting to get a little bow on it after sharpening over two dozen knives.

 

[danbot]

Well, I lie. I did actually have a stone 10 years ago to sharpen the one or two knives I had. Was a 400/1200 no brander that would look like a banana after sharpening two knives.

My 400 naniwa is just very barely starting to get a little bow on it after sharpening over two dozen knives.

That's cool. What do you have to true your water stones?
One reason I like the Norton India stone is because it's one of the least expensive high quality stones that doesn't dish out too quickly At all.

 

[bobshoy]

I haven't trued them yet at all. The 400 I have to put the stone upside down on the bench top and get right down to eye ball it and can just see it. When it comes time to do it I'll just use a big bathroom tile with a sheet of sand paper on it.

I feel flattening them after every single use is a bit over the top like I see on a lot of sharpening videos. The amount of material taken off the stone is crazy.

The thing I don't like about the stones is some blade shapes are very hard to sharpen.

 

[HeavyHanded]

Hello. Thank you in advance for your opinions. I have got myself a few knives (pocket folders - Benchmade, Pro-Tech, Spyderco) and want to learn how to sharpen them myself. There are tons of options out there - its overwhelming to be honest. Ive been watching youtube tutorials on using a stone block and would like to try this method first. I also want to try the leather thing (strop?) as well.

Is there a beginner set of stones out there? What grit is commonly used (there are all kinds).

Should add Im not looking to spend a fortune on this. Is $50 reasonable for a starter kit?

Thank you all very much.

The sharpening block I make would be a good fit - link through my signature below. It functions as a stone and strop in one unit. The site has E-copy of the user guide and a handful of video demos.

After that I'd recommend a Norton Crystalon, India, or just a hardware store combination stone, some mineral oil, and some copy paper. And some old knives to practice on as has already been recommended.

You can wipe the oil and stone residue from the stone onto a sheet of paper, wrap it around the coarse side of your stone, and you have a strop ready to go. This also stands in for a fine hone and as a whole is a great minimalist set-up.

Basically any kit you put together should have three surfaces - coarse, medium, and fine. You might not use the fine as often, but the coarse and medium will see plenty of use.

 

[cbwx34]

I’ll 2nd HeavyHanded's Washboard setup... great to learn on, and even if you move on to other stones, the Washboard strop setup is a great way to finish a blade. (Much better investment than the sharpmaker IMO).

 

[Ace Rimmer]

One thing that I have done to improve my free hand sharpening was to buy a cheap, lighted jeweler's loupe for inspecting the edge during sharpening. It lets me see what I'm actually doing on the edge and whether that little rolled spot or nick is actually sharpened out....

I agree, a small magnifier is a great aid to evaluating your edge, checking for burrs, etc. I use a small B&L doublet that is only seven power. Anything in the seven to ten range should be adequate for the task. Watching for how the light reflects off the edge as you turn the knife under a nearby lamp or window can reveal a lot about how your sharpening, honing, and polishing are progressing.

 

[Password is Taco]

The sharpening block I make would be a good fit - link through my signature below. It functions as a stone and strop in one unit. The site has E-copy of the user guide and a handful of video demos.

After that I'd recommend a Norton Crystalon, India, or just a hardware store combination stone, some mineral oil, and some copy paper. And some old knives to practice on as has already been recommended.

You can wipe the oil and stone residue from the stone onto a sheet of paper, wrap it around the coarse side of your stone, and you have a strop ready to go. This also stands in for a fine hone and as a whole is a great minimalist set-up.

Basically any kit you put together should have three surfaces - coarse, medium, and fine. You might not use the fine as often, but the coarse and medium will see plenty of use.

I sent you an email that I found on your website.

 

[maximus83]

For beginners, please consider NOT using free hand stones on your valuable folders like Benchmade and Spyderco. You will scratch the hell out of them, ruin the bevels, and regret for quite a while. A cheap guided system like Lansky plus some patience is the way to go.

This is good advice for beginners, and I wish I had realized this when I first got into sharpening my nicer knives. Here's what I would do if I were just starting now:

1. Like you said: get some kind of guided or semi-guided inexpensive sharpening system for your nice knives, so you don't hack them up while you're learning to freehand. I suggest a Spyderco Sharpmaker for this role, and I still use mine at times even as I've learned more about freehand.
2. Get a few cheapo beater knives to practice. You can buy an entire set of "stainless" kitchen knives for under $30, same for cheap folders and fixed blades. Or get used knives at a garage sale. Practice your freehand on those.