can ruin my blade by sharpening?

[Ors]

I've been considering attempting to sharpen my EKI knives, but I'm afraid I'll screw it up and ruin them. I have a 204, and saw Don's suggestion about learning free hand, and the red marker idea, but is it possible to ruin a blade when one is inexperienced in sharpening? By the way, why do we strop? And will an old belt work for stropping?
Thanks

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Ors, SMT

"In the end, there can be only one"

"Paranoia is just reality on a finer scale"

 

[Brett]

First, read the <a href="http://www.bladeforums.com/features/faqsharp.shtml">sharpening FAQ</a>. It's chock full of useful advice.

To answer your question more directly, yes, you can ruin your knife, but only if you don't exercise common sense. First, you might want to practice on a cheap knife before tacking your favorites. Second, assuming your knife is at least somewhat sharp to begin with, be sure to use the fine grit stone/rod for sharpening. That makes it really hard to remove so much steel that you do any damage. The more likely "bad" result, especially if you're sharpening free-hand, is that you'll make the knife less sharp than when you started. You can always fix that by sending it in for a proper sharpening, and there's no real harm done.

I think the 204 is all you need to use for sharpening. Freehand is kind of fun, but it's difficult to do well, and it's not clear to me that learning freehand makes you any better with the 204.

The marker trick works well! I use it with my 204 all the time.

-Brett


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brett@rahul.net
www.rahul.net/brett

 

[SALTY]

Stropping cam be used for "sharpening" a blade, as in touching up a slightly off kean situation. But generally, stropping is for burr removal, polishing and aligning the fine edge. Be careful not to use too much pressure, especially towards the end of your stroke near the tip. Also, it is still important to keep the angle consistent and correct for your grind, unlike what you may have seen barbers doing in old cowboy movies.

Yes, an old belt can be used. It can even be charged with abrasive paste. A small section of an old belt can be glued to a board. I have, when pressed, used cardboard, the thigh part of Carhardt Coveralls (while wearing them), a piece of canvas ... you get the idea. IMO, stropping is an underutilized and underrated portion of the sharpening process.

[This message has been edited by Nimrod (edited 01-20-2001).]

 

[David T]

My knives never get so dull that I need to "Sharpen" it. I normally strop it on the backing of a note pad to put that keen edge back. This is normally recommended after sharpening to remove the bur, but works great for me to put the razor edge back.