Frustrated with free handing

Just watched Carl's videos. It's amazing how he goes from butter knife dull to shaving sharp using average, everyday items. I learned quite a bit from those videos, and I'm going to have my sons watch them as a primer on the correct way to sharpen a knife. It's better explained than I could ever do.

John
 
Great videos you guys. Thanks for the info Carl. Just a quick question though, do you find the leather is enough to take off the burr? I always seem to have the most difficulty removing the burr, especially on some of the thinner bladed knives. I've heard everything from raise the back just a few degrees and give it a couple of strokes, to raising it until the edge is at 45 degrees and doing the same.

Gary,

I love my Spyderco Double Stuff as well . I wish they made the ultrafine in that size. I also use the case of mine for a strop. I've left one side plain, while the other had some green compound rubbed in. It's not the best, but it will work in a pinch.
 
StuntDouble said:
Great videos you guys. Thanks for the info Carl. Just a quick question though, do you find the leather is enough to take off the burr? I always seem to have the most difficulty removing the burr, especially on some of the thinner bladed knives. I've heard everything from raise the back just a few degrees and give it a couple of strokes, to raising it until the edge is at 45 degrees and doing the same.

.
Click to expand...

Sometimes out in the woods or off someplace when I touch up my blade, I don't have a strop around. I may be wearing a nylon web belt, or something. In that case, I take the freshly sharpened knife, and draw it through wood. A fence post, tree trunk, wood stair edge. I'll put the edge of the blade on the wood at 90 degrees, like I'm going to saw right down through it, and draw the edge along the wood as if slicing into it. This will break off any burr, leaving you with a sharp knife. Burrs can be a mutha to get rid of, especially on some stainless steel knives where the steel acts like it's a bit 'gummy', and the burr goes back and forth. Try the slicing into wood de-buring move and see if it works for you.

I'm happy to be of any help to you guys.

Carl.
 
Thanks for the info Carl. I've read about that technique, but never thought to try it. I had a particularly stubborn burr on the pen blade of my Peanut, and it took me forever to get rid of it. I'll have to try the wood trick next time.
 
StuntDouble said:
(...)
I love my Spyderco Double Stuff as well . I wish they made the ultrafine in that size. I also use the case of mine for a strop. I've left one side plain, while the other had some green compound rubbed in. It's not the best, but it will work in a pinch.
Click to expand...

Several members here, including myself, have sometimes 'accidentally' made a Spyderco Fine into a UF (or finer) by lapping/flattening on a diamond hone. I did this to one of my two DoubleStuff hones, using a C/F DMT Duo-Sharp 8" hone. Submerge the diamond hone in water, to keep the swarf/slurry flushed away, and go about it lightly to protect the diamond. Takes a good while (2+ hours, most likely), but it works. My refinished DoubleStuff is almost glassy-smooth, and it makes a great polishing hone. I actually use it more often than my 'regular' DoubleStuff. :)
 
Obsessed,

I might have to give that a shot. Do you think the finish would wear off of the hone over time, or should it last indefinitely due to the hardness of the ceramic?
 
StuntDouble said:
Obsessed,

I might have to give that a shot. Do you think the finish would wear off of the hone over time, or should it last indefinitely due to the hardness of the ceramic?
Click to expand...

The ceramic is SO VERY HARD, it'll quite literally last forever, if only sharpening steel blades on them. I'm pretty sure even Sal Glesser himself has been quoted as saying ceramic hones will be excavated by archeologists many thousands of years from now, in pristine condition. :D

Ceramic hones can appear to wear out, if they become too-heavily loaded with metal swarf. That essentially brings their effectiveness to a grinding halt (pun not intended, but it works ;)). So long as they're kept clean, they'll keep working for decades at least.


David
 
David,

I do remember Sal mentioning the white hones don't really wear because they're closed cell. The gray ones are open, so they tend to wear faster. I can attest to that, after wearing down the corners of my Sharpmaker stones after many, many sharpenings.

I almost forgot to ask, did you use the continuous DMT Duo hone?
 
I have those "AHAH" moments where I can create edges from heaven.
And a month later im wanting to flush a certain stone down the toilet because it wont give me the edge I expected.

I also have great success with DMT diamonds, ceramics, and strops, but jap water stones give me fits.
 
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StuntDouble said:
David,

I do remember Sal mentioning the white hones don't really wear because they're closed cell. The gray ones are open, so they tend to wear faster. I can attest to that, after wearing down the corners of my Sharpmaker stones after many, many sharpenings.

I almost forgot to ask, did you use the continuous DMT Duo hone?
Click to expand...

I used the interrupted-surface 'Duo-Sharp' hone (C/F), on the Coarse side. The 'Dia-Sharp' line is continuous-surface.


David
 
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jackknife said:
Sometimes out in the woods or off someplace when I touch up my blade, I don't have a strop around. I may be wearing a nylon web belt, or something. In that case, I take the freshly sharpened knife, and draw it through wood. A fence post, tree trunk, wood stair edge. I'll put the edge of the blade on the wood at 90 degrees, like I'm going to saw right down through it, and draw the edge along the wood as if slicing into it. This will break off any burr, leaving you with a sharp knife. Burrs can be a mutha to get rid of, especially on some stainless steel knives where the steel acts like it's a bit 'gummy', and the burr goes back and forth. Try the slicing into wood de-buring move and see if it works for you.

I'm happy to be of any help to you guys.

Carl.
Click to expand...

I didn't know anybody else did that. :thumbup:
 
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