Epiphanies.

[Guy McVer]

I sharpened two of my Victorinox knives today and that struck me like you said , they get sooo sharp quickly

Victorinox steel is, for me, a beginner, my favorite steel to sharpen. It's just so EASY to make it just, really really sharp.

Thats what I love about SAK steel; it sooo easy to get shaving sharp. It holds an edge good enough to get through the day in spite of what the steel snobs think

I taught my daughter the coffee mug trick, so when her SAK gets a little dull, she strops it on the Botton of the coffee mug. Her little SAK is always sharp. Her favorite mug is a souvenir mug from our family trip to Oregon and Crater Lake. Its a pretty big mug with a wider than normal unglazed ring on the bottom that makes a great sharpener.

One thing about Victorinox steel is that it seems to perform better with a slightly rough edge than with a smooth polished edge. And is it just me or does it also look more shiny with a coarser edge?

If you have a Spyderco Sharpmaker, a few passes on the brown stones do a great job on SAK blades. There doesn't really seem to be any need to use the fine white rods.

 

[jackknife]

One thing about Victorinox steel is that it seems to perform better with a slightly rough edge than with a smooth polished edge. And is it just me or does it also look more shiny with a coarser edge?

If you have a Spyderco Sharpmaker, a few passes on the brown stones do a great job on SAK blades. There doesn't really seem to be any need to use the fine white rods.

You're totally right on that! Its been many years since I did anything but a medium edge at most. I don't know what grit the coffee mugs are, or the IKEA soup bowls, but it puts a nice 'grabby' edge on. That edge stands up to cutting material like cardboard or rope much better. I have a small EzeLap diamond hone in my wallet, the model L I think, with most of the plastic handle cut off. Its a medium grit, and I just make a f ew passes on it if I'm really out someplace and need a touch up. If I'm at home, its the coffee mug. No fine/polished edge here.

 

[K.Coper]

I agree. A little 'rougher' edge holds better. I use a DMT blue coarse diamond hone sometimes. Gives a nice rough working edge that lasts. J jackknife I think any generic coffee mug or IKEA soup bowl is probably even coarser than a 'coarse' hone like the DMT blue. Perhaps comparable to those old carborundum stones?

 

[jackknife]

I agree. A little 'rougher' edge holds better. I use a DMT blue coarse diamond hone sometimes. Gives a nice rough working edge that lasts. J jackknife I think any generic coffee mug or IKEA soup bowl is probably even coarser than a 'coarse' hone like the DMT blue. Perhaps comparable to those old carborundum stones?

Quite possibly. I have my old Boy Scout carborundum stone that I found in a box in the attic. I used stout of curiosity and sharpened a few knives. It put a great very toothy edge on the blade that bit right through some hemp rope and cardboard. I still will use the carborundum stone now and then out of nostalgia, and the knife cuts great with that edge. Sometimes the old stuff still works great.

 

[K.Coper]

Sometimes the old stuff still works great.

Exactly. Sometimes things are just made too complex for what they really are. Like knife sharpening. There's a whole market created around this idea that knife sharpening is somehow very hard to do without at least eight fancy Japanese Waterstones in different grit sizes or similar expensive stuff. The truth is that with some basic knowledge and a single cheap pocket stone, a coffee mug or some sanding paper, it can be done quite effectively by anyone.

 

[jackknife]

Exactly. Sometimes things are just made too complex for what they really are. Like knife sharpening. There's a whole market created around this idea that knife sharpening is somehow very hard to do without at least eight fancy Japanese Waterstones in different grit sizes or similar expensive stuff. The truth is that with some basic knowledge and a single cheap pocket stone, a coffee mug or some sanding paper, it can be done quite effectively by anyone.

I love the old saying that all those fancy fishing lures in the sports stores have very little to do with catching fish. They are for catching the wallets of the fishermen.

I think all the fancy sharpening gizmos are the same. Very little to do with sharpening a blade, but good for getting the money out of your wallet and into the wallets of the makers of the gizmos. All the gobblely gook about angles and secondary angles mean nothing. Did some Roman legionnaire bother with what degree of angle or secondary bevel with his Gladdius? Did the Vikings sailing open boat to raid the coast of England bother with gizmos and exact angle? Did the mountain men with their skinning knives wintering over in the Rocky Mountains processing pelts worry about if it was 25 degrees or 30?

Never over think it.

 

[YaArArYa]

J jackknife

totally K.I.S.S right?

i use my Spyderco double stuff stone for my small blades and its all i need for them.

 

[jackknife]

J jackknife

totally K.I.S.S right?

Totally.

 

[K.Coper]

I use my Spyderco double stuff stone for my small blades and its all i need for them.

Yes. I've never used one but many people claim it's a great stone. My main sharpening device for my SAK's is the Fallkniven DC4.

 

[Lee D]

Unless I really bugger the blade up, all I use is the fine side of my double stuff to tune my SAKs up. It doesn’t take much more than a few passes and they’re beyond what most folks would consider sharp.

 

[sodak]

I agree. A little 'rougher' edge holds better. I use a DMT blue coarse diamond hone sometimes. Gives a nice rough working edge that lasts. J jackknife I think any generic coffee mug or IKEA soup bowl is probably even coarser than a 'coarse' hone like the DMT blue. Perhaps comparable to those old carborundum stones?

The blue? Wow. I thought the red was course. I usually sharpen my kitchen knives on the green DMT. I'm going to try this and see how it goes.

 

[jackknife]

The blue? Wow. I thought the red was course. I usually sharpen my kitchen knives on the green DMT. I'm going to try this and see how it goes.

Green? They make a green???

No, all kidding aside, I have the blue and red, and I've never used anything higher grit than the red. I use the blue a lot and stop there on my kitchen knives. I find for me, I just like how a toothier edge slices by seeming to grab into the cut more. Heck, I still use my old carborundum stone just for yuks now and then. Makes a great edge for slicing tomatoes and meats.

 

[jackknife]

I recently tried to get back into carrying a stockman (a like-new vintage Old Timer 34OT), but for most tasks I find myself pulling out my Climber or Huntsman. I don't often need three knife blades, but I do need scissors a lot. Those awesome Vic scissors probably get used about twice as often as the blades. Can’t do that with a stockman.

My Opinel has been relegated to culinary duties at work (slicing bread and apples).

Thats part of what has been driving me. I tried carrying a stockman again, but I'd pull it out and go; Hey there's no screw driver, or I'd need scissors. I find myself needing tools as much a knife blade these days, If at least to pop open a cold one.

 

[Storm 8593]

I find myself needing tools as much a knife blade these days, If at least to pop open a cold one.

And this right here is why I cant go with a traditional knife/OHO flipper. Gotta be able to decapitate the bottles

 

[Hashishiin]

I love the old saying that all those fancy fishing lures in the sports stores have very little to do with catching fish. They are for catching the wallets of the fishermen.

I think all the fancy sharpening gizmos are the same. Very little to do with sharpening a blade, but good for getting the money out of your wallet and into the wallets of the makers of the gizmos. All the gobblely gook about angles and secondary angles mean nothing. Did some Roman legionnaire bother with what degree of angle or secondary bevel with his Gladdius? Did the Vikings sailing open boat to raid the coast of England bother with gizmos and exact angle? Did the mountain men with their skinning knives wintering over in the Rocky Mountains processing pelts worry about if it was 25 degrees or 30?

Never over think it.

It's like I learned from Hank Hill: The only things you need to catch a fish are a good old hand dug American worm, and a rock of crack Shouts out to those who remember the episode.

This is great advice, though. I was... EXTREMELY over-inundated with information as a beginning sharpener. Now I have a 300 dollar sharpener, that I find very intimidating to use, and I couldn't hit the apex on a simple RAT, when I ask why not, the answers were just too much to keep up with, as to why I can't sharpen a RAT on this thing.
"Because the grind is wonky, you need to do a whole reprofile!" It's a RAT 1 for crying out loud lol

So I've just been using the Sharpmaker, and on things like Inox, or "super-steels" that feel really easy to sharpen, like K390. People have told me this will thicken my knife and all this that, but I think until it FAILS me, until it fails to grind shoulders on a blade, I'll just keep using it until there's something wrong with it.

No more letting people tell me the eventual disaster that will occur if I don't do all this wild stuff with my edge, haha.

 

[BennyBlade]

As an electrician, I carry a farmer and a 4" folder. The folder cuts everything because it's on my pocket, deploys one handed, closes one handed. Much faster than dealing with the SAK that I keep on my belt, but the SAK has quite literally saved the day on more than one occasion. Tool left on the truck, tool you weren't expecting to need, and even just extra tools on your body that save you a few minutes time now and again... SAK is Worth is weight in gold while backpacking g, but I still carry a folder and larger fixed blade for overnight trips.

 

[Hashishiin]

As an electrician, I carry a farmer and a 4" folder. The folder cuts everything because it's on my pocket, deploys one handed, closes one handed. Much faster than dealing with the SAK that I keep on my belt, but the SAK has quite literally saved the day on more than one occasion. Tool left on the truck, tool you weren't expecting to need, and even just extra tools on your body that save you a few minutes time now and again... SAK is Worth is weight in gold while backpacking g, but I still carry a folder and larger fixed blade for overnight trips.

Probably the best combo. Your combo is very similar to mine, but usually Super Tinker or Explorer + Police 4, also 4", not counting extras in my bag (Opinel, Leatherman), that is all I have on my person lately, that's my "go-out, do anything" combo.

 

[allenC]

I'm coming around to Jackknife's way of thinking.
My knife collection has become more of a Swiss Army Knife and multitool collection.

I have held on to a few non-SAK folders:
One Buck Custom Shop 110.
Two Buck Custom Shop 112's.
One Buck 112 Slim Pro.
One Buck 715.
And one Spyderco Pacific Salt 2.

The Custom Shop Bucks are on display on a shelf and the 112 Slim stays in the desk drawer.

The 715 and the Pacific Salt actually get carried kinda often as they are great for when I need a one-hand folder.

 

[A.L.]

Funny. It takes literally 5 minutes to sharpen SAK factory edge to shaving polished edge with spyderco’s fancy wallet grabber ceramic flat stones. My fianceé was cutting roses some six months ago with my SAK and she didn’t quite grasp how sharp it was and had to get her thumb stitched.

 

[dmattaponi]

I agree…the SAK is without doubt my most usefulEDCknife to the point that it has been in my pocket daily for about 15yrs now to the exclusion of most everything else. As for the epiphany on changing attitudes and outlooks, I think recognizing one’s mortality (possibly infirmities) is a big part of the equation. I know it has been for me. We all recognize we are going to die someday, but when it starts looking you square in the face, we start to reevaluate what’s really important and useful…our lifestyle, etc. If you’re lucky that epiphany (I’d call it a wake-up call”) comes with age, but of course that’s not always the case. On a lighter note…did I mention the Rambler is better than the Classic …or that although the Swisschamp is the all time best SAK, nothing beats the Explorer in the pocket for the best balance of size/weight/daily use functionality