Fustrated and confused

Sharpening is as much a personal issue as what knife to choose. For me, and I imagine most people, deciding which sharpening tools to use was a matter of trying different ones and then deciding what worked best FOR ME.

Ask twenty people on the internet what the best sharpeners or sharpening method is and you will likely get twenty different, and strongly held, opinions.

Good luck in your quest.
 
@ knifenut1013 .....Most of my other knives are s30v and vg10, how would the indias work on these steels? The india stones are cheap enough that I could probally swing, the DMT, Spyderco UF and one of the combo stones for high carbon steels. If the india stones would work as well on the other steels I mentioned what would be the point of the other two hones.
 
I like the Spyderco Sharpmaker system for quick sharpening. It is easy to setup and very consistent. It is small and light enough to easily pack and all you need is a level rock or log or ground in order to use it.

For real serious low bevel edge angle stuff I like the Edgepro system. It offers you any bevel angle you chose. Here is #1 of 4 lessons on Youtube about how to use the Edgepro. It is worth watching. The Edgepro is not a big clunky system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRm6ZrVaFp0&feature=relmfu

I was taught that the key is too keep very consistent angles while using the various grades of stones. Practice on the kitchen knives first. The cook will love you for it!

In a bind do like you say and just freehand it on any reasonably hard flat stone. The unglazed bottom of a ceramic mug or cup makes a great sharpening surface, just be careful.
 
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As long as the bevels themselves are good (good symmetry and a reasonably acute angle), a large blade can easily be maintained with just a couple of pocketable diamond hones. My first choice for field sharpeners would likely be the Coarse & Fine DMT 'credit card' hones. It's true that diamond is much more aggressive on simple steels like 1095. So, use that aggressiveness to your advantage. A Fine DMT (maybe even the EF) will work fast on 1095, and can leave a great edge with nice 'bite'. Keep pressure light; it's good for the edge, the hone's service life, and also minimizes fatigue. And obviously, diamond hones can handle any other steel you throw at them. And there's nothing easier or more portable to carry. A small bottle of dish soap, and a microfiber towel can supplement your 'kit', for cleaning up the hones after each use. Soap & water, rubbed on with a fingertip, will do a nice job scrubbing the swarf away. Wipe it dry with the microfiber towel (which also works great for picking up swarf, if used dry).

When you're still at home, take the time to get the bevels in good shape. Use whichever bench stones or 'systems' you like for that. If that's taken care of ahead of time, maintenance and even some fairly significant repairs can be done in the field with the C/F diamond combo.

I'd avoid relying solely on the Sharpmaker for field upkeep. If your big blade gets damaged (dents/chips), it'll be a bear to repair it with that alone. On the other hand, taking along one of your SM's rods for fine-tuning edges (freehand, for burr cleanup & such) isn't a bad idea, if you wish. But, that could also be done with an EF diamond hone at a very light touch.
 
23f said:
@ knifenut1013 .....Most of my other knives are s30v and vg10, how would the indias work on these steels? The india stones are cheap enough that I could probally swing, the DMT, Spyderco UF and one of the combo stones for high carbon steels. If the india stones would work as well on the other steels I mentioned what would be the point of the other two hones.
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For high wear steels the silicon carbide stone would be better. For the basic carbons the India would be better. As it is now, IMO, you are trying to mix too many abrasives.
 
so Norton Crystalon coarse and fine for the high wear steels and a combo coarse fine india for the 1095? Sound about right?
I understand the less I carry the better I'll be and for the 1095 the combo stone sounds right.
But if I wanted something more for at home will the SiC stones give me a nice finished edge, being that I plan to build a strop also?
 
Done, taking knifenuts advice and getting a combo india for the 1095 etc... and the SiC for the others. Maybe some wet/dry sands paper if needed and making a freaking strop to play with. Later on if I decide I want to repro a blade or really mess something up I might get a DMT coarse/fine dia sharp.

THanks all
 
They are good stones, not top of the line, but good. They have been a standard for a long time. The "fine" side of each stone is around 300 grit though often seems to finish the edge to a bit finer of a level.

The sandpaper is a good idea for taking the edge a bit further and will help you to gauge just how refined of a edge you need. it will also give you time to gain a little advanced knowledge in sharpening that will help you better understand what stones would best suit YOU.
 
On the go, bush wilds sharpening... I have DMT diafold in coarse/fine. Should do most any knife to a very funcitonal working sharpness. No it won't hone your edge to a mirror polish but its going to be functional and can acheive a shaing sharp finish. all for about $30-40 and fits in a pocket light and easy...

This is a good SHTF sharpening system to store in a BOB, will work anywhere any time on any knife. Portable and light and easy so you have it when you need it and its not broken, or left behind because it was too heavy. Survival gear only helps you survive if you actually have it with you.
 
imho, a shtf situation is inherently different from hunting, camping, etc

while every knife i use regularly is honed to hair popping levels, this is utterly and completely pointless in a SHTF scenario.

All you need is a knife that will cut. A small 300 grid diamond stone will do that just fine, and weigh almost nothing. More importantly, it takes up almost no space.
 
I'll toss in my 2cents. The Norton SiC and India combo stones are great. Basically for long or short term maintenance you need three stages, coarse for fixing and changing edge angles etc, medium for refining the edge down and touch-ups, and a fine for a hair popping edge. For edu you can usually stop at the medium. The combo stones cover the "coarse" and "medium", throw in a strop and you've got your "fine". I recently put together a small kit for field sharpening that was intended to cover everything from small blades to a machete. It consists of a 4x1.75" silicon carbide stone, a very small bottle of oil, and a small black of black and white compound from Sears. The entire box is 6" long,3" across, .75" deep. For smaller blades I set the stone down and move the knife, for larger items I hold the stone and use it like a sharpening puck. To strop I can smear the compound on some smooth bark or I have a few small pieces of fiber gasket material - very tough but much thinner than leather. Unless I'm pulling out my waterstones, I use silicon carbide on everything now.
 
THanks guys this really helped me in making a decision for home and SHTF. Including what I mentioned above, depending on how high I go with sand paper later on I may throw in a Translucent Ark stone (for at home).

Thanks again Sands
 
I figured I'd hijack this thread since it's basically related to my newbie question as to what kind of sharpening stones(devices) I should purchase? I just purchased Cold Steel Recon 1 (AUS 8A steel) and a Mora Bushcraft Force (12C27 steel.) I plan to also purchase a kabar becker bk2 or the marine fighting knife. I don't mind if I need one set that is smaller for a B.O.B and another set for home use (not looking for anything big though for home, just a possibly larger stone if necessary.)

The only thing I'm familiar with using from scouts growing up is the stone shown in the picture (I'm assuming that's an Arkansas whetstone?) I seem to be ok with it when working with our cheapo kitchen knives (although to be honest both sides the dark and lighter gray seem to not be much different in grit.. I'm assuming the brown is a bit more coarse?) What do you think the coarseness of the sides of the stone shown?

From reading a bit, it seems like maybe I should try the DMT stones (red and blue)? Drawback to these stones is they are agressive... which I suppose is ok if I'm careful. DMT has a lot of choices - was thinking something from this page http://www.dmtsharp.com/sharpeners/pocket-models/diamond-whetstone/

However, I'm sort of comfortable with that small whetstone in the pic, maybe I should just pick up a new non-diamond whetstone - if so what do you recommend as make/brand/style?

I know, a ton of info out there, and everyone has different opinions.

Note.. the more bushcraft force came quite a bit duller than the recon 1. I plan to sharpen that one when I figure out what to get. I'll practice a while first on the kitchen knives.

Thanks for any advice.

My current stone:

stone.jpg
 
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rickcr said:
I figured I'd hijack this thread since it's basically related to my newbie question as to what kind of sharpening stones(devices) I should purchase? I just purchased Cold Steel Recon 1 (AUS 8A steel) and a Mora Bushcraft Force (12C27 steel.) I plan to also purchase a kabar becker bk2 or the marine fighting knife. I don't mind if I need one set that is smaller for a B.O.B and another set for home use (not looking for anything big though for home, just a possibly larger stone if necessary.)

The only thing I'm familiar with using from scouts growing up is the stone shown in the picture (I'm assuming that's an Arkansas whetstone?) I seem to be ok with it when working with our cheapo kitchen knives (although to be honest both sides the dark and lighter gray seem to not be much different in grit.. I'm assuming the brown is a bit more coarse?) What do you think the coarseness of the sides of the stone shown?

From reading a bit, it seems like maybe I should try the DMT stones (red and blue)? Drawback to these stones is they are agressive... which I suppose is ok if I'm careful. DMT has a lot of choices - was thinking something from this page http://www.dmtsharp.com/sharpeners/pocket-models/diamond-whetstone/

However, I'm sort of comfortable with that small whetstone in the pic, maybe I should just pick up a new non-diamond whetstone - if so what do you recommend as make/brand/style?

I know, a ton of info out there, and everyone has different opinions.

Note.. the more bushcraft force came quite a bit duller than the recon 1. I plan to sharpen that one when I figure out what to get. I'll practice a while first on the kitchen knives.

Thanks for any advice.
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You cannot go wrong with a silicon carbide combination stone. They're inexpensive, even for a Norton. They grind virtually all cutlery steels very well and impart very consistent characteristics across a variety of steels. Follow with a strop of some sort and you've got a very good EDU edge. Depending on your skill level with stropping compounds and different backers, you can easily get a face shaving edge. Pretty much all I use these days is a combination Norton stone and three compounds - 220 SiC, black emery, and white AlumOx. I apply the compound to a hardwood board with a drop of oil, or directly to a piece of newspaper wrapped around the stone.
 
HeavyHanded said:
You cannot go wrong with a silicon carbide combination stone. They're inexpensive, even for a Norton. .... Pretty much all I use these days is a combination Norton stone and three compounds - 220 SiC, black emery, and white AlumOx. I apply the compound to a hardwood board with a drop of oil, or directly to a piece of newspaper wrapped around the stone.
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1) Can you give me a link to the actual Norton stone you're referring to? Seem to be a lot to choose from (just from a quick amazon search http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=tools&field-keywords=Norton stone )

2) when you say "with compounds - 220 SiC, black emery, and white AlumOx" I'm a newb and not sure what you're referring to exactly. Are these compounds I purchase and then you mention applying them to a board somehow? Do you have any pics are an online explanation of exactly what you're doing?

Thanks again for your time. I want to get this right.
 
A Norton Crystolon combo stone is what he's talking about. Crystolon is what Norton calls silicon carbide.

The compounds are used for stropping and come in different colors. Normally, black is the coarsest, white is in the middle and green is the finest. They normally come in bar form and can just be rubbed onto whatever your using to strop on (wood, leather, newspaper, etc.). Some of the compounds can be very dry and you might need a drop of oil to soften them up.
 
rickcr said:
1) Can you give me a link to the actual Norton stone you're referring to? Seem to be a lot to choose from (just from a quick amazon search http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=tools&field-keywords=Norton stone )

2) when you say "with compounds - 220 SiC, black emery, and white AlumOx" I'm a newb and not sure what you're referring to exactly. Are these compounds I purchase and then you mention applying them to a board somehow? Do you have any pics are an online explanation of exactly what you're doing?

Thanks again for your time. I want to get this right.
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To keep my kit simple I use the black and white polishing compounds available at Sears for about 2 bucks a bar. The abrasive is mixed with a waxy vehicle - they feel like a crayon. They can be lightly rubbed on anything from an old belt to newspaper, to a piece of wood etc and used with a stropping motion. Very little compound is needed usually, but when stropping on hardwood I sometimes use a bit more and make a thin "mud" with compound and mineral oil.

Additionally I use some 220 grit silicon carbide lapping compound. This stuff is most commonly used for automotive valve lapping, the stuff I use is for sharpening reel mowers. A few drops of mineral oil will help break up any clumping of the wax vehicle and helps keep the larger grit in an even slurry.

Green chromium oxide and Flexcut gold compound are other good examples but they tend to produce a very refined, less aggressive edge than you'll get with the larger abrasives.

The 8" Norton Crystalon stone (JB8) is the stone I use most, can be had many places for 20 bucks or so. I use mineral oil for a lube whenever possible, but it will work well dry or with some soapy water.
 
In the field, usually DMT Dia-fold or in an absolute emergency the diamond file on my Leatherman Juice KF4.
I hold the blade at the required angle and take the stones to it horizontally.
I started out with a wedge cut to 21degrees and put the knife flat onto it.
These days I just go by eye. The key thing is consistency of angles, throughout the grits.
 
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