Comments: The Razor Edge Book of Sharpening

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knifenerd

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Dec 27, 2000
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I just received this book yesterday. Bought it from the Razor Edge website (www.razoredgesystems.com).

This book has more straight-forward info on edge theory and sharpening than I have ever seen in one place. It's well illustrated and well written.

I'm going to take my time going through it and hopefully I'll be much more "edge-u-cated" when I'm done.

This book belongs in the library of every true knifeknut.
 
Agreed. Knowing that you must achieve a "burr" on both sides, full length, was the key to my learning to sharpen, and I learned it from this book. No matter what technique/equipment you use, this book can be a great help... recommended especially for beginners.
 
I think I have every book published on knife sharpening. This is the one I would recommend to anyone desiring only one book on knife sharpening for their library. I even used his method to bevel a small hand ax. It would shave arm hairs. He is primarily a service that sharpens knives for the butcher trade. His fine synthetic stone is excellent. It is the one I usually use to finish my sharpening with. Gives a decent polish, is over 6 years old and still shows no wearing out. His coarse stones are too soft and even though they remove metal quickly, they wear out within a few sharpenings. His sharpener is not among the best. It is cumbersome to apply to a blade and the shoulders that ride on the stone wear out, causing a different bevel on each side. In summary: a poor sharpening system, an excellent basic text on sharpening, and a manufacturer of very good stones.
 
Great book; I heartily recommend the videos as well.

There are a few things I disagree with, although I can't recall them exactly. My hazy memory says he likes a fine edge no matter what, but it's easily proveable that coarser edges work better for slicing. I don't think he emphasizes thin edges for performance as much as I like to; on the other hand, his "relief" is very extreme, and thins out the blade a whole lot regardless of the final edge angle.

In any case, great book.
 
I took that book out numerous times from my local library, and I learned the following things:

1) Oil? Who the heck needs to mess with that, wll, mess? Not I! Dry stones and a different way of caring for them is what I do on almost any stone now.

2) Relief is as important as an edge. Grind in good relief, and making an edge is easy and fast to do.

3) Double beveling is awesome


I have the Razor's Edge Pro kit, and I have observed the following:

1) The stones are great. My coarse stone lasted more than a few sharpenings. Yeah, it is "soft" but it works wonders. The fine stone puts a great edge on 440-C and ATS-34. You don't get super polished edges, but you do get great edges.

2) A folding smooth steel is the one thing Sal Glesser forgot to invent in the '70s along with the Sharpmaker. Thankfully, John Juranich did it for him! Man does that thing work like a charm. **Hint for you sharpmaker fans: Unscrew the screws int he folding steel and place the rods in the fishhook grooves of the sharpmaker stones and steel away. This tip cane from Sal himself.

3) I found the clamps took a while to get used to, but once you have a good understanding of them, you're good to go. ***I don't think they were intended for tools where you want really thick edges***

You are to grind in relief without the clamp on, and if you have good relief, grinding in an edge works real fast. yeah, the tool wears out too. Too bad John doesn't invent replaceable screw on bars for the clamp, but that is o.k. The clamps still work great, and wear little as long as you grind in good relief. You can order new clamps too, or maybe find them locally.

Another great sharpening book is the one by Leonard Lee, prez and founder of Lee Valley tools. He has pics from an electron microscope of stones and edges to back up his claims! Pretty cool.

Anyone out there still using oil? I think John Juranich told me to tell you to stick it in your crankcase! HAHAHA!

2)
 
I think the book is a must read for a novice sharpener. I learned to sharpen using the book and a Lansky. The book is by no means comprehensive, but provides the basics. I bought one of Juranitch's sharpening kits later. I think the stones work well, but the guides aren't great. I also bought one of his posters picturing him shaving with an ax. I put it up in my bedroom, like it a lot.
 
Great book, though I never used the guides I had and eventually sold them, I think. Been meaning to get one of those steels though...
 
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