Exciting sharpening topic :D !

chief dignitary

chief dignitary

Joined
Jun 22, 2000
Messages
322
I have finally dulled the unstoppable Al Mar SERE 2000, and I need it to be frighteningly sharp again. I'm thinking I might go all out on this one, with the japanese water stones and the stropping and whatnot. I know I need a few things to get this done, and I have a few "beater knives" to practice on. (CS Imperial Tai Pan(rofl)). Anyway, I need you fine folks to lend your .02$ as to what your ultimate sharpening kit would be. I'll be needing a beefy reprofiler for my benchmade butter-knife, and something to make arm hairs flee in terror at the sight of the SERE. I also have a few partially serrated
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knives that need attention, and I sure wouldn't mind turning that rusty old machete into a razor. I am aware of the benefits of leaving the edge a little rough with the micro-serrations, but I discount that out of hand in favor of the mirror finish push cutting fiend edge. He he... oh yeah if anyone feels inclined to let me in on good prices at 1SKS, ect..., feel free, as I am a lazy man.
Thanks in advance for your time and your advice.
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[This message has been edited by chief dignitary (edited 10-28-2000).]
 
Yawn (stretching arms and arching back trying hard to wake up)....

Sharpening is a skill. It takes practice. But all you really need is medium grit ceramic (generally dark colored) and a fine grit ceramic (always white) stones. A strop can be made out of any piece of thick split leather. I sharpen free hand, but you might prefer to use an angle guide system like the Spydie Sharpmaker.

Use the same angle as the primary bevel already on the knife and stroke into the edge on each side until you have raised a slight wire edge (felt on the opposite side). Flip the knife over and grind the other side to remove the wire edge. Once your have achieved a grippy edge (I test with the back of my fingernail, the steeper the angle that the edge will grip indicates a thinner, sharper blade) using the coarser stone, switch to the finer stone. Maintain the same sharpening angle and repeat the process described above. Finally, strop by dragging the blade away from the edge on a piece of leather coated with stopping paste (rouge, green chromium oxide, etc). The polish is optional, not required. Use an even shallower angle for stropping than you used for honing. All you are trying to do is polish and align the microserrations.

The two most important points are to maintain a consistant sharpening angle, and to make sure that the edge is consistant from back to front. Any nicks, dings, flat, or dull spots will show as points of light (candling) when held up under a strong light source.

Using a black felt tip marker to color the edge before honing will allow you to quickly see if your angle is correct, and that you have ground the bevel all the way out to the edge.

Practice makes perfect.
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There is a lot of info available for you in the BFC FAQs section. Read Joe Talmadges article on sharpening. Then search the general forum archives 1, 2, and 3 for the words sharpening, and strop. Happy reading. Once you have a good idea about what you are trying to accomplish, only practice and discipline will produce a good push cutting edge. It took me several months of practice as a beginning wood carver to produce an adequate edge that would last.

If you can cut off the lower part of a free hanging gift wrap ribbon by passing the knife through the ribbon without moving it, you have succeeded, grasshopper.

Paracelsus, compulsive stropper
 
Oh, for reprofiling the BM, you might want to get a Norton coarse, fine combination crystalon/india stone. They are available at any hardware store for little money. Faster still would be a medium or fine grit diamond stone for a little more money at Woodcraft.com.. I don't think a full on Barber's strop is necessary or economical. My main strop came free as scrap from a boot repair shop.

I used to use several grades of Japanese water stones in my carving shop and on my daily carry and field knives. Water stones require a lot of maintenance to keep them flat. They do work very well, but are messy and expensive. Ceramics are used dry and produce just as good an edge when grades through ultrafine are used followed by stropping with polish.

My ultimate push cutting sharpening kit consists of a regrinding stone (coarse) and a three grades of finer ceramic stones and one small piece of split leather coated with green chromium oxide polish. I also have a set of fine ceramic 'files' by Sypderco. The triangular shape or teardrop shape works very well on the inside curves of serrations, although I try to avoid serrated knives as a matter of principle and functionality.

Maintaining edges by frequent stropping will dramatically reduce the need for re-honing on stones. I rarely need to use anything other than fine and ultrafine stones on my knives, followed by stropping.

Parasharp

[This message has been edited by Paracelsus (edited 10-28-2000).]
 
Sharpmaker is the best for serrations! If you want to sharpen freehand, I have some advice. I asked earlier what the ultimate freehand kit would be, and this is what I got from that.

DMT X-coarse or Coarse stone (Big one): For reprofiling and grinding in relief. Set of medium, fine and ultra fine ceramic stones from spyderco. Strop and a steel (I recommend the folding steel from Razor's Edge Systems.) I have the Sharpmaker 203 and the Razor's Edge Professional kit and these do me very well, but I'd like to get the ceramic stones and the diamond x-coarse stone for doing everyone else's blades that I do. I'll also be buying a double sided diafold (DMT 2 sided folding hone) for the field. If you do a search for my post (it was something about the ultimate freehand kit) you should come up with the results.
Happy Shopping!!!

------------------
"Come What May..."
 
My favorites in order of preference:
1. Delta 1x21 inch tabletop belt sander with
fine grit sandpaper filled with jewler's rouge. I think the paper is about 320 grit.
This reprofiles the blade and hones the
edge for that "toothy" edge that I like.
2. EdgePro Professional - the Cadillac
of knife sharpeners.
3. Razor Edge jig with various Japanese
waterstones to about 8000 grit, though
only for straight blades.
4. Yawn.. Sharpmaker, though only
when necessary for curved blades, serrations,
or when portability is needed.
 
The Sharpmaker has always gotten the job done for me. In fact I just picked up a second one to have at work. One thing that has helped me with the sharpmaker is the diamond sleeves that slip over the stones. I heard they were no longer available. This is an unbeatable combination for me!

------------------
Art Sigmon
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
Php. 4:13
 
Everyone has a right to their opinion, but I don't think Japanese water stones are a problem to maintain. I bought mine from Ben Dale at Edge-Pro, and they send you silica sand (or the new stuff, I don't know what it is) and you just straighten the stone on a cinder block. Obviously, the longer you wait, the worse it gets. As for mess, I put a wash cloth under the unit to catch water (and some slag) as it drips off. I wipe the unit down after use, and put it away in the carrying case. It takes longer to re-oil, Nevr-Dull and Tuff-Cloth the knife. I think it is so easy that I gave away, and threw away, all my other sharpeners.--OKG
 
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