Best Sharpening Method

E

Elwin

Joined
Jan 4, 2002
Messages
183
Do you guys and gals prefer sharpening free hand, or using a device of some kind? I started out free hand, then got a sharpmaker, then built a vertical mount for a DMT coarse stone, so I could reprofile slightly thinner than the sharpmaker. Just a few minutes ago, I sharpened my BM42 free hand w/ a coarse/fine combo norton india stone. It took about five minutes and I could have done it anywhere. The 204 and the DMT mount require a table or workbench of some sort. I dont believe I can get my knives as sharp using free hand stones as I can w/ the sharpmaker, but the finish on the BM42 is pretty course because I stopped w/ the fine india. Anyway, lets here what you think. I may have come full circle and only keep the 204 for serrated blades and recurves.
 
Elwin, don't forget to use the Sharpmaker for touching up lightly used blades, before the edges get so battered and dull that they need anything more than that.

It's always good to know how to sharpen by hand, though, if only to learn more about what's involved in the process, and what makes a knife sharp.

I just got the A.G.Russell Field Sharpener, sort of a 'sharpmaker lite' but it has diamond rods and coarse rather than the Sharpmaker's coarse and fine.

It's also very compact, pocket-size, and I think it will make a good backpack item. The rods are much shorter than the Sharpmaker's and can be used to buff edges by hand very nicely.

I liked it so much I sent away for two more for my brother and brother-in-law. :D
 
For a year and a half, I decided to spend a lot of time studying sharpening. I got the Sharpmaker, a Razor's Edge professional kit, used my grinder, made a strop, and read lots of books.

Best method? It actually depends. I use my grinder to sharpen log kitchen blades, or the knives I make. I use the sharpmaker on serrations, touching up blades, or on odd things like scissors, food processor blades, and other things. I sharpen the knvies at a group home my girlfriend works at, and I take my Razor's Edge kit to freehand sharpen with, and my Sharpmaker for touching up blades and doing the scissors and food processor blades there.

So, for me, it depends. I still have a lot to learn. I want to get better at free-handing, and using my grinder. Teh only way I'll do that is practice, practice, practice, and bugging other makers I know!
 
With some practice, and a good grinder, you can get nasty edge, close to perfect.
Take a 150 for the coarses edge, 240 for moderate, 320 for a fine edge, do the entire edge in one stroke - this is important as than your edge bevel is flat and one single angle. You can lift it a bit near the tip as razor sharpness isn't as important there. You will notice a burr on one side if you sharpened the other side last.

Then head for the buffer, make sure the stiched coton wheel spinns very fast, add some polishing compount (I prefer to use the white stuff, but i suspect the green mirrorpolishing compount works good too), and very lightly buff the edge.

if you hold it under a microscope, the 150 grit edge will look wavy, the 240 edge looks very fine wavy and the 320 edge will look almost flat, but under high magnification wavy as well.

Result: very sharp edge, grabby as hell, makes papercuts that hurt like hell but you only notice those after the blood stains on you desk start showing :D .

I think it's a good compromise between a polished push-cut edge and a coarse pull cut edge. It does both pretty good, plus you get to set the edge bevel thin, the way I like it, yet keep the tip strong.

For other stuff, and touching up when I am not at home, I use a Lansky if edge is deteriorated bad, and a spyderco profile.

Greetz and take care all !

Bart
 
Good stuff from Bart & Crayola. I largely agree with them. Saved me lots of typing!

My current approach, which of course changes as I learn from practice and from others:

Spydie 204 for serrations, other weird stuff (scissors), will try again on my convex Sebbies when they dull. I'm not nearly as good w/ 204 as I am w/ Lansky, mostly because of practice on Lansky. There is more potential here.

Lansky w/ diamonds for all folders up to 4", including recurves.

Bench grinder, hard fiberboard wheels (one abrasive, the other rouge) for anything 5" up to 22" (machete). Can get a shaving edge on a machete w/ mild convexivity and 30+ degrees for strength.

Homemade soft backed 2"x4" with sandpaper (220 & 300 & 400 gr) for true convex edges (fallkniven, and a big 12" ABS Bowie w/ true convex full grind).

Three strops for various things... refining edges, knocking off stubborn small wire edges:
1. Hand American Blademaster (cadillac)
2. cheapie $9, a 1"x4" w/ green rouge, Knives Plus, Amarillo
3. back side of a cereal box (nappy, non-inked side) for a quick "off the jeans" strop job after Lansky...works great for knocking off a resistant burr, amazingly.

Chef's Choice 120 motorized 3-wheel diamond system for kitchen knives.

~~~~~~~
Where to from here:
1. buy a belt grinder and learn to use slack belts for wicked convex final bevels and for reprofiling big blades for higher performance
2. buy a hard wool felt wheel from Brownell's and continue trying to emulate the wonderful polished convex Chris Reeve and Scott Cook edges.
 
Interesting you mentioned a Chef's Choice automatic sharpener, rdangerer. I have a Sharpmaker 204, but have been wondering if a Chef's Choice would save me time and effort, especially on kitchen knives. Do you recommend it? Anybody else using one? How's the edge?
 
Depends on location and on the knife...

1. In the field, everything is by hand. I've alternated between a EZ-lap diamond rod and one of those two-sided DMT pocket hones (X-coarse and coarse). The rod works great for a little fine-tuning, the DMT stone much better if the knife really needs a re-sharpening.

2. At home, anything 4" and under gets the lansky (using DMT hones) treatment. I only recently got the lansky because the DMT aligner will only take knives up to 1/8" thick, while the Lansky will handle them up to 1/4" or better. But the DMT hones and hone holder work much better and happen to fit the Lansky clamp just perfectly. I tried "Razor's edge" but did not like the single angle at all, not to mention its a pain in the ass to set those clamps.

3. On knives greater than 4" in length (anything up to 6" anyway) I might use the lansky/dmt combo and move the clamp for an initial edge profiling. After that I use a large bench stone (my latest a very expensive DMT two-sided stone). On very large knives like my machetes, I'll do it all by hand on the large stone at home, on the pocket stone in the field.
 
I was initially very happy w/ the sharpmaker. I have just grown frustrated at the realization that it rounds the tips. It will actually sharpen a pretty dull knife, as long as the knife was back beveled. My hands attract splinters like a magnet, so I try to keep a pretty sharp tip on my work knife. I guess it will just require more practice and experimenting.
 
I pefer sharpening free hand.IMO,it's the easiest way to keep points from being rounded.I just can't stand the rounded points.
 
Don't rely too heavily on mechanical means to sharpen a knife. You can take a knife to a grinder, but you can't take a grinder to a knife especially holds true while out in the field. Learn to manually sharpen your knives by whatever means are best for you. Practice makes perfect
 
Originally posted by Lurker
I have a Sharpmaker 204, but have been wondering if a Chef's Choice would save me time and effort, especially on kitchen knives. Do you recommend it?
Click to expand...

The Chef's Choice is a good product, for what it is. It is a motorized convenience item/appliance. The edge it provides is very fast ... what I'd call pretty good, but not great, and is appropriate for, kitchen knives, and that's about it, IMHO. How about that... a run-on sentence with 5 comma's. Compared with the deteriorated sharpness level of 99.7% of the population's kitchen knives, the Chef's Choice provides an excellent edge for kitchen use.

It will save you MUCH time over a 204, IMHO, especially if the knives are dull enough they won't respond to a couple passes on a steel.

I own the 120 model. They aren't cheap, I've forgotten now, but something like $80 to $120.

Pros:
1. fast, for initial rebeveling and for touchups
2. the stropping wheel is really great
3. uses diamonds, cuts fairly fast
4. motorized, requires nearly zero physical effort
5. angles are guided, nearly foolproof, especially if you already know how to achieve a burr along the whole edge and know how to strop off a burr
6. Initial beveling is done on coarse diamond. 2nd bevel at steeper angle with medium diamond. Final edge is created when you "strop" off the burr with final fine (diamond?) wheel. So you get a triple beveled edge, imitation convex, sorta.
7. Touching up an edge that won't "steel up" is quick... use 2nd wheel and stropping wheel.
8. Quite literally, no exaggeration: I can sharpen an 8" chef's knife (assume it's pretty dull) in two minutes, with near-zero physical effort. One or two passes in the coarse, one pass per side in medium, one pass in strop. Done. It is fun, and so it seems like 30 seconds, not 2 minutes. If the knife needs a touchup, one pass on medium wheel, one on strop, done. One minute. Smaller knives take a bit less time still.

(you can tell that, in the kitchen, I value a fast and good edge over a great edge that took me a bunch of time and effort to achieve. It is so easy that my kitchen knives always have at least a good edge.)

Cons:
1. somewhat expensive machine
2. edge is somewhat rough in quality I'd say. I wouldn't (and don't) run my folders or nice fixed blades through it. Knives come out with a moderately toothy edge, and are usually shaving sharp but do scrape skin in shaving to test. I.e., not polished, just good working edges. (toothy edge: is fine in kitchen, IMHO, although I can easily argue that for chopping veggies, a slightly convex polished edge for push cutting would be better. Point is, vegetables and meat are not challenging items to cut, at all, compared to outdoor tasks of chopping and cleaning game.)
3. Angles are fixed, not adjustable (minor issue at most to me, just trying to fine some "cons").
4. If you want polished edges, or convex edges, this machine won't do it (you could of course strop the edges after you finish with this machine, on a leather strop loaded w/ rouge).
 
I just use a steel. I don't know how to say it in English, but it's the kind that butcher's use. It has no lines on it, it's just smooth.
You kind off polish the edge and when you go over it with your tumb nail and you have done a good job, you wont feel you go over it.
It's just smooth!! and raizorsharp.
If you like to find out more about sharpening go to, Knivelinks, all sorts off and scroll to sharpening.
Good luck, and let me know if you found what you're looking for.
 
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