beginners sharpening stones

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ojohnny400

Joined
Sep 13, 2006
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Iam just getting started and was wondering what would be some good sharpening setups to start out with..... Can I use a leather belt for a strop or do I need a real strop? Thanks
 
Speaking as someone who owns diamond stones, waterstones, Arkansas stones, silicone carbide stones, and who recently tried his hand at sandpaper sharpening, I have to say go with the silicone carbide sandpaper method. IMHO it involves the least amount of money and has a very short learning curve. If you don't like the results (unlikely) or just want to try other methods, by mastering the sandpaper you'll be producing some very good edges for very little money in the meantime.

You could use a belt for your strop but sand it down till the nap is very short and tight, or buy some leather from the local craft store and do the same. The leather should be fairly stiff.
 
HeavyHanded said:
Speaking as someone who owns diamond stones, waterstones, Arkansas stones, silicone carbide stones, and who recently tried his hand at sandpaper sharpening, I have to say go with the silicone carbide sandpaper method. IMHO it involves the least amount of money and has a very short learning curve. If you don't like the results (unlikely) or just want to try other methods, by mastering the sandpaper you'll be producing some very good edges for very little money in the meantime.

You could use a belt for your strop but sand it down till the nap is very short and tight, or buy some leather from the local craft store and do the same. The leather should be fairly stiff.
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How do you use the silicone carbide sandpaper? Ive never heard of it:)
 
I believe he's referring to the standard 3M wet/dry sandpaper. You put that on top of a mousepad and sharpen with an edge trailing motion.
 
I've used sandpaper, Japanese waterstones, a Spyderco Sharpmaker, and diamond stones. So far, I highly prefer DMT Continuous diamond stones. Cuts fast and works well on these new super steels that take forever to sharpen.

I follow up all my sharpening with stropping. I'm sure a leather belt would work, or you could make your own. I used leather from Handamerica and glued it to a block of wood. I sanded the leather with 600 grit sandpaper and applied the compound afterwards.
 
Here's an excellent thread on how to build a strop (Thanks to zyhano :thumbup:):
Photos - demo: how to build you own strop

I also like the 'sandpaper' method. I use the wet/dry sandpaper on a leather strop block (instead of a mouse pad). I particularly like this method because it's essentially identical to stropping, just using coarser grits. In my case, since I'm using it on my existing strop block, the technique is exactly the same. Very easy to 'train' your hands to one technique, from start to finish.

My 'strop block' is simply a piece of red oak that I picked up at Home Depot, 2-1/2" wide x 1/2" thick, and about 5-1/2" long (length is entirely a preference issue). I used double-sided carpet tape to stick some leather to the oak (smooth side up). You can also use something like spray adhesive or contact cement. I sanded the leather with some medium grit sandpaper (like 220 or so), which gives the leather a nice, velvety 'nap'. When used with compound (green is what I use), the nap of the leather aids in holding the compound. When used bare (no compound), the nap of the leather really helps to make the strop 'pull' on the edge as you strop.

For use with sandpaper, I'd recommend using a separate block for that. This'll ensure that you're not getting your regular strops too dirty with the sandpaper sharpening process.

Sandpaper is best used in a progression of grits. Start with something low, like 220/320, maybe even 400, depending on how much metal you need to remove from your blade. Then, progress in steps beyond that. The progression would go something like 220, 320, 400, 600, etc. If you really want to polish your edge, you could go on to 800, 1200, 1500, 2000 and higher (the 1000/2000 grit will really begin to reveal a high shine).

Edit:
By the way, the sandpaper method is great for both rebevelling and light maintenance. I've done many light touch-ups on my blades using just the 1000/2000 grit. The edge-trailing motion used with this method is an especially easy way to sharpen & maintain the pointy tips, too (such as the tip of a clip blade on a traditional folder).
 
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If you don't want to convex your edge and want to use sandpaper, attach it to a piece of glass. I use binder clips to keep the paper from moving.
 
I would say it depends on what type of blade steel you will be sharpening. Because you could easily go with a Norton combination Fine India/Coarse in conjunction with a Hard Arkansas for your basic steels like 440, 420HC, 1095 carbon, Sandvik 12C27M, etc.

For your "super" steels, you may find you need or want something in diamond like the DMT continuous or interrupted diamond "stones".

Mike
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Here's an excellent thread on how to build a strop (Thanks to zyhano :thumbup:):
Photos - demo: how to build you own strop

I also like the 'sandpaper' method. I use the wet/dry sandpaper on a leather strop block (instead of a mouse pad). I particularly like this method because it's essentially identical to stropping, just using coarser grits. In my case, since I'm using it on my existing strop block, the technique is exactly the same. Very easy to 'train' your hands to one technique, from start to finish.

My 'strop block' is simply a piece of red oak that I picked up at Home Depot, 2-1/2" wide x 1/2" thick, and about 5-1/2" long (length is entirely a preference issue). I used double-sided carpet tape to stick some leather to the oak (smooth side up). You can also use something like spray adhesive or contact cement. I sanded the leather with some medium grit sandpaper (like 220 or so), which gives the leather a nice, velvety 'nap'. When used with compound (green is what I use), the nap of the leather aids in holding the compound. When used bare (no compound), the nap of the leather really helps to make the strop 'pull' on the edge as you strop.

For use with sandpaper, I'd recommend using a separate block for that. This'll ensure that you're not getting your regular strops too dirty with the sandpaper sharpening process.

Sandpaper is best used in a progression of grits. Start with something low, like 220/320, maybe even 400, depending on how much metal you need to remove from your blade. Then, progress in steps beyond that. The progression would go something like 220, 320, 400, 600, etc. If you really want to polish your edge, you could go on to 800, 1200, 1500, 2000 and higher (the 1000/2000 grit will really begin to reveal a high shine).
Click to expand...


That's about it. I use a length of 2x4 (seven inches I think- can hold standard 9 inch paper) with a piece of leather cut to fit, laid over the top. The short ends have a slot cut in them to accept the ends of the paper and I hold the ends in place with small wedges. All my strops are mounted to their own 1x2.5" boards. When its time to strop, I just put them right on top of the sanding block and the friction holds them in place. I've only been doing it like this for a few weeks if even - did it just to satisfy my curiosity. Have been hand sharpening with bench stones of all flavors for many years and am plain impressed with how easy and fast it is to get extremely good results. Started out w/ a mousepad, but felt that was a bit too convexed for me. Using some fairly hard leather yields an edge only slightly more convexed than what I get from a stone. For comparison, 320 grit will be toothy, but still clear-cut arm hair, 1500 grit paper produces a finer edge edge than an EF DMT (IMO) and 2000 grit stropped on green compound will be sharp enough to shave your face (produced a finer scratch pattern than 5 micron lapping film). I may never go back to bench stones.
 
A year ago I was lucky enough to get a Lansky stone sharpening set for Christmas. I have probably sharpened around 25 knives so far and have had good results. There are a few threads around here on lansky sharpeners that have some great advice on how to use them.

I highly recommend it, not too expensive and yet good stones; great for a beginner.
 
The sharpening gear you get will depend on what you want from your edge. If you want hair shaving (arm hair, a standard "test" of sharpness) edges with the simplest possible setup, it's hard to beat a Norton Coarse/Fine combination stone. For that extra little bit of sharpness, you can follow the Fine India with a strop. Coming straight from the Fine India, plain leather won't do much to the edge. You'll need some honing compound of some type. Chromium Oxide is the standard. It comes in several forms, is normally dark green, and can be applied to everything from hand leather strops to wooden strops to power leather honing belts.

If you want crazy sharp, mirror polished edges, you'll need more stones, lots of practice, and at least one strop, possibly more. There's nothing wrong w/ starting simple and moving forward. The sandpaper idea will work fine, though in the long run stones are cheaper. $20 will buy a lot of sandpaper, but a $25 Norton stone will last a lifetime for most knife users.
 
HeavyHanded said:
That's about it. I use a length of 2x4 (seven inches I think- can hold standard 9 inch paper) with a piece of leather cut to fit, laid over the top. The short ends have a slot cut in them to accept the ends of the paper and I hold the ends in place with small wedges. All my strops are mounted to their own 1x2.5" boards. When its time to strop, I just put them right on top of the sanding block and the friction holds them in place. I've only been doing it like this for a few weeks if even - did it just to satisfy my curiosity. Have been hand sharpening with bench stones of all flavors for many years and am plain impressed with how easy and fast it is to get extremely good results. Started out w/ a mousepad, but felt that was a bit too convexed for me. Using some fairly hard leather yields an edge only slightly more convexed than what I get from a stone. For comparison, 320 grit will be toothy, but still clear-cut arm hair, 1500 grit paper produces a finer edge edge than an EF DMT (IMO) and 2000 grit stropped on green compound will be sharp enough to shave your face (produced a finer scratch pattern than 5 micron lapping film). I may never go back to bench stones.
Click to expand...

The "sandpaper" method is something I might try... This is a silly question, but do you pull the blade as opposed to cutting into it like a stone? Ive got a benchmade in 154cm that is hard for me to get a good edge on.
 
Sandpaper over glass or commonly known as the "scary sharp method" is highly effective and proven method for knife and tool sharpening. With grits as high as 3000 and micro films available down to 0.5 micron it remains the cheapest way to get the best of edges.

Its not a bad way but it has its drawbacks like repeat cost and limited life of paper. Sometimes even the start-up cost can exceed a basic water stone set.

Sandpaper over a mousepad is for Convex sharpening, unless you have convex blades you need not worry of this method for the time being.

My suggestion, water stones-like a 1k/6k king, diamonds-DMT 6x2 C/F or ezlap and a ceramic rod, or if your worried about buying a stone sandpaper is still a good option.
 
ojohnny400 said:
The "sandpaper" method is something I might try... This is a silly question, but do you pull the blade as opposed to cutting into it like a stone? Ive got a benchmade in 154cm that is hard for me to get a good edge on.
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If it's glued to glass I believe you can push or draw. I draw, using the exact same motion used for stropping. There are plenty of videos out there that cover stropping and some that deal specifically with sandpaper. Whatever you go with, bring plenty of patience, a cheap/disposable knife or two, and a Sharpie for telling where you're grinding on the edge.

HH
 
HeavyHanded said:
If it's glued to glass I believe you can push or draw. I draw, using the exact same motion used for stropping. There are plenty of videos out there that cover stropping and some that deal specifically with sandpaper. Whatever you go with, bring plenty of patience, a cheap/disposable knife or two, and a Sharpie for telling where you're grinding on the edge.

HH
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Thanks, I think Iam going to try the sandpaper method and maybe try some DMT stones
 
ojohnny400 said:
The "sandpaper" method is something I might try... This is a silly question, but do you pull the blade as opposed to cutting into it like a stone? Ive got a benchmade in 154cm that is hard for me to get a good edge on.
Click to expand...

When used with a soft backing, it's generally best to 'pull' the blade (as in stropping, with the edge following the spine). Used with a hard backing (such as glass or wood), either direction works. You still need to be careful not to exert too much pressure, and to to keep the angle low, so as to avoid cutting the paper. If the paper is simply laid atop your backing, instead of glued down, sometimes the paper will tend to curl up at the edges, making it possible to cut it when using a push (edge leading) stroke.

It was mentioned earlier that the sandpaper used over a soft backing is for convex blades. This method will convex an edge, to greater or lesser degree, based on how soft the backing is. But, it's not limited only to blades that already are convex. A firmer backing, such as stiff/hard leather (or a thinner leather on hard backing), will lessen the convexing of the edge.

So, point being, don't rule out this method based only on whether your existing blades are already convexed or not. I've sharpened at least 10 or 15 blades using this method, and none of them were convex before I started. This method is especially quick & handy for smaller blades, like traditional folders, where the convexing of the edge is relatively insignificant, compared to the original 'factory' edge.

Cost of materials was also mentioned. The nice thing about sandpaper is, it's very handy for a LOT of things. If you spend a little money on sandpaper getting started, and decide that it's not your favorite method for sharpening knives, it's not like you can't still use the sandpaper. The wet/dry paper is also VERY effective for cleaning up & polishing your knives (blades/bolsters/springs/etc.). Especially so in the higher grits, above 400 or so. The coarse grits (320 & lower) will likely get used up quicker, if you remove a lot of metal from your blades. But, I'm finding that at 400 grit and above, the paper lasts a good while longer. And the fine grit (above 1000) actually seems to yield a higher polish after it's been used a while, similar to the advantages seen on diamond hones after they're 'broken in'.

The big plus about this method is, it's VERY easy to learn, with little money invested from the start, on material that won't go to waste if you decide you don't want to sharpen your knives with it. Very little downside, with lots of upside potential, for someone who's looking for an easy method to get started in sharpening.

I'm not knocking using stones or other methods. Of the other methods mentioned in this thread (waterstones, DMT, Lansky), I still use, on occasion, the Lansky and DMT hones (haven't tried the waterstones). They all have their place.
 
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