Beginner sharpening device?

That device is a ripoff. You can get the smaller type, with carbide and ceramic V-slots, for about 4 bucks at any local department store. Those are certainly easy to use, but only grant an obtuse, albeit working, edge. You will certainly not be able to sharpen the knife to the same level of sharpness as when you received it from the factory.

I first would recommend doing some research on your own; there are a bunch of articles about sharpening out there. I especially reccomend doing a search for the "mousepad method" which allows you to produce convex edges with sandpaper.

For a cheap device that allows for easy touch-ups I would recommend the "Lansky Turnbox" sharpener. They have these at Amazon, free ship with $25 purchase, do a search for them. Rod guided sharpening systems to look at in your price range include the DMT Aligner, Gatco, and Lansky sharpening kits.
 
Look around for a good price on the Spyderco Sharpmaker. It's not real expensive, it's a good longterm investment, and it will help you learn what sharpening is about. The instructions that come with it are a revelation for beginners, and even experts will continue to use the Sharpmaker for basic maintenance of their knives -- and scissors, potato peelers, nailclippers. :)
 
:thumbup::thumbup:
Esav Benyamin said:
Look around for a good price on the Spyderco Sharpmaker. It's not real expensive, it's a good longterm investment, and it will help you learn what sharpening is about. The instructions that come with it are a revelation for beginners, and even experts will continue to use the Sharpmaker for basic maintenance of their knives -- and scissors, potato peelers, nailclippers. :)
Click to expand...

Esav has given you the best advice you'll get. Since you have two CE knives already, the Sharpmaker will help you restore the serrated part of the blade as well as the PE portion. And you can add on U/F rods for a polished finish and diamond rods if you need to resharpen something very tough or very dull.
 
The Sharpmaker is very good to learn on, but try to learn to freehand on a bench or pocket stone. After you practice it enough to where you are good at it, sharpening won't seem like a chore and will be relaxing.

Sharpening on a stone the old fashioned way is becoming a dying art with all of the new gadgets on market. You won't be restrained by a mechanical device and you will learn to put an edge on anything that crosses your path.

Try sharpening an axe on the sharpmaker, it can be done but you will probably just use the rod by itself anyway.

It also hardly costs you anything to start with, a $5-$10 stone can give you good results. Here are some tips for freehanding in a nutshell, you can find many threads on this topic if you do a google search.

1. practice
2. be patient
3. learn to understand the angles needed to produce a sharp edge
4. learn to hold those angles consistently
5. practice
 
BJE said:
The Sharpmaker is very good to learn on, but try to learn to freehand on a bench or pocket stone. After you practice it enough to where you are good at it, sharpening won't seem like a chore and will be relaxing.

Sharpening on a stone the old fashioned way is becoming a dying art with all of the new gadgets on market. You won't be restrained by a mechanical device and you will learn to put an edge on anything that crosses your path.

. . .

1. practice
2. be patient
3. learn to understand the angles needed to produce a sharp edge
4. learn to hold those angles consistently
5. practice
Click to expand...
Agree; really some excellent advice there. Not that there's anything wrong with the Sharpmaker, or some other sharpening systems/jigs/devices ... just that learning to sharpen freehand means you're really learning the underlying principles of producing a good edge. Once you've mastered that, you can literally sharpen a knife on a flat rock, the bottom of a dinner plate, with a file, etc. After that you can refine your sharpening to use whatever "advanced" tools or systems suit you best, and be able to use them to full advantage.

Happy Honing!
 
knifenut1013 said:
try this http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=DMTDMGEF
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:thumbup: :thumbup: This DMT Aligner is probably the most underrated sharpening device made today. Frankly, it deserves better PR. You can purchase it without stones for under $20 and use it with ordinary sandpaper. It can be set for several different angles, is robust enough to last for years (although it really doesn't feel like it! :o ) and when used with wet-dry sandpaper starting with 180 and working down to 2000, will produce fantastic edges. Just be sure that when using it in this fashion you are keeping the guides OFF THE PAPER!

Or... for another $20 get the Aligner clamp and the diamond stones. This makes an excellent system and keeps you inside your budget. It will sharpen large or small blades of any steel, do so quickly and properly, (and easily) and will leave you with an excellent edge! :thumbup:

Stitchawl
 
BJE said:
The Sharpmaker is very good to learn on, but try to learn to freehand on a bench or pocket stone. After you practice it enough to where you are good at it, sharpening won't seem like a chore and will be relaxing.

Sharpening on a stone the old fashioned way is becoming a dying art with all of the new gadgets on market. You won't be restrained by a mechanical device and you will learn to put an edge on anything that crosses your path.

Try sharpening an axe on the sharpmaker, it can be done but you will probably just use the rod by itself anyway.

It also hardly costs you anything to start with, a $5-$10 stone can give you good results. Here are some tips for freehanding in a nutshell, you can find many threads on this topic if you do a google search.

1. practice
2. be patient
3. learn to understand the angles needed to produce a sharp edge
4. learn to hold those angles consistently
5. practice
Click to expand...


+1, great advice :thumbup:

Here's another reason to become proficient at free hand sharpening. My wife started a sewing project that she needed to finish in time for her business trip. Well as things went she still had more sewing to do and wasn't finished a couple of hours before her flight. She had a layover and wanted to do some sewing while she waited. Quick, she asked, what could she take through airport security that would allow her to cut some very strong thread? Knife knut to the rescue, I found this old key and within about 10 minutes on an extra course DMT hone it was sharp and then followed with a few minutes on a fine DMT it was literally shaving hair :D

DSC_4198sml.jpg


Not sure about edge retention but she said it worked perfectly for her needs :thumbup:
 
Great, now you're going to get all of us into finding random objects to sharpen....:D

Impressive work on that key, theonew!:eek:

Back to the original point, learning to sharpen freehand is a valuable skill. Its hard to pack a sharpening kit (generally) if you plan on spending a week hiking. There are occasions where taking the time to pull out a Lansky set (or similar) to resharpen is a hassle, like on the job or in an airport terminal to sharpen a key.;)

The learning curve on freehand sharpening is somewhat steep, but there is lots of help on hand here at BladeForums. Once you develop the proper technique, it's a snap to pull out stone and whip up a razor edge.

It becomes highly addictive however. Soon you will be so picky about your edge you will find yourself sharpening or polishing an edge that is still sharp, but not *quite* sharp enough.

I like to carry a set of DMT Dia Sharp pocket stones. In my wallet I carry an extra fine, and in my bag I carry a coarse. Usual quick touch ups I do with the extra fine, and I rarely have to pull out the coarse.

Those stones ran me $12 a piece at a local hunting shop.

You mentioned that you EDC partially serrated knives, and with the DMT stones, you cannot sharpen serrations. I put another vote to the Sharpmaker, because or of the simplicity and quality of it. It takes virtually no time to set-up, and produces a quality edge ( especially if you end up buying the extra rods with it as well, though they are not a necessity) with relatively low learning curve.

Either way you go, good luck on your sharpening endeavors, and soon enough you too will be able to fashion razor blades out of house keys
 
theonew said:
+1, great advice :thumbup:

Here's another reason to become proficient at free hand sharpening. My wife started a sewing project that she needed to finish in time for her business trip. Well as things went she still had more sewing to do and wasn't finished a couple of hours before her flight. She had a layover and wanted to do some sewing while she waited. Quick, she asked, what could she take through airport security that would allow her to cut some very strong thread? Knife knut to the rescue, I found this old key and within about 10 minutes on an extra course DMT hone it was sharp and then followed with a few minutes on a fine DMT it was literally shaving hair :D

DSC_4198sml.jpg


Not sure about edge retention but she said it worked perfectly for her needs :thumbup:
Click to expand...


Great, now I am going to have put my keys with my knives in my check in luggage.....:D
 
People keep giving you generic advice without reading your original post. Your primary problem is that you have blades with serrations. You can only sharpen these with something that will fit inside the serrations. The edges of the triangular rods on a Sharpmaker work for that purpose. You can forget about learning to sharpen freehand on flat hones, you can forget about using a system with quarter inch or larger diameter round rods, and you can forget about using anything like the first choice where you pull the blade through lengthwise. Your first choice is going to be the Spyderco unless you are willing to improvise.

The other thing you can try is to buy yourself some pieces of around 3/32 or 1/8 inch diameter piano wire (stiff steel rod). Select the rod so that it fits inside your serrations with room for some paper in between. You can get long pieces at some hardware stores and shorter pieces at hobby shops that sell RC planes etc. Also buy some very fine Wet-or-Dry sandpaper (100 to 1500 grit). Fold the sandpaper over the rod and use it like a file to polish the bevels of the serrations--sharpening the serrations. This can be clumsy. You can also try clamping the paper-wrapped rod in a vice such that the curved surface is exposed. Then you can hone on the surface of the paper. For the nonserrated portions of the blade you can lay the sandpaper on a flat surface and use stropping strokes. You may use a somewhat stiff backing material like a mouse pad if you like. I prefer something a bit harder like a pad of paper.
 
alright thanks guys looks like ill go with the spyderco sharpmaker
 
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