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How do I learn to sharpen a knife well
- Thread starter rocktheflock
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 27, 1999
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- 6,117
The difficulty of honing a knife has been extremely exagerated. It is one of the basic skills for a cub scout (kids in 1st through 5th grades of elementary school). That is when I learned to do a reasonable job of sharpening. It is tougher to do a good job on a hard stainless steel tactical blade than an old carbon steel scout knife, but the principles are basic. Here is a little info off a cub scout website:
Knife Sharpening
A dull knife won't do its work. And what is more, it is dangerous. More fingers are cut by dull knives than by sharp knives. A sharp knife bites into the wood while a dull one tends to slip off. A camper should always carry a little sharpening stone in his pocket along with his knife. The knife and the stone are partners and where one is the other should be also.
Such stones are called whetstones or carborundum stones. One measuring 3/4 of an inch by 3 inches is large enough and is a handy size to carry. A whetstone using water is more practical in camp than one requiring oil, for water is always at hand, but there never seems to be any oil when it is needed. Whetstones are made to provide a grinding surface, and come in varying degrees of coarseness. Coarse stones are used for heavy tools, like axes; fine stones for knives or for finishing the edge.
Rules for sharpening a knife
1. Place the stones on a level surface.
2. Wet the stone with a little water or oil.
3. Place the blade of the knife flat on the stone, then raise the back edge about the width of the blade itself, keeping the cutting edge on the stone.
4. Draw the knife straight back toward you, or move it straight back and forth putting pressure on it only when you pull it toward you. This is always better than moving it in a circular fashion.
5. Turn the blade over and repeat on the other side an equal number of times.
6. Finish off on the sole of your shoe.
It will take half an hour to sharpen a dull knife, but once sharp, a minute a day will keep it in perfect shape.
Knife Sharpening
A dull knife won't do its work. And what is more, it is dangerous. More fingers are cut by dull knives than by sharp knives. A sharp knife bites into the wood while a dull one tends to slip off. A camper should always carry a little sharpening stone in his pocket along with his knife. The knife and the stone are partners and where one is the other should be also.
Such stones are called whetstones or carborundum stones. One measuring 3/4 of an inch by 3 inches is large enough and is a handy size to carry. A whetstone using water is more practical in camp than one requiring oil, for water is always at hand, but there never seems to be any oil when it is needed. Whetstones are made to provide a grinding surface, and come in varying degrees of coarseness. Coarse stones are used for heavy tools, like axes; fine stones for knives or for finishing the edge.
Rules for sharpening a knife
1. Place the stones on a level surface.
2. Wet the stone with a little water or oil.
3. Place the blade of the knife flat on the stone, then raise the back edge about the width of the blade itself, keeping the cutting edge on the stone.
4. Draw the knife straight back toward you, or move it straight back and forth putting pressure on it only when you pull it toward you. This is always better than moving it in a circular fashion.
5. Turn the blade over and repeat on the other side an equal number of times.
6. Finish off on the sole of your shoe.
It will take half an hour to sharpen a dull knife, but once sharp, a minute a day will keep it in perfect shape.
Jeff Clark said:
I remember sitting on my Grandfather's porch when I was a kid, getting lessons on an Arkansas stone that my Grandfather used spit on instead of oil. As we sharpened, he told stories in between giving me pointers. Great memories.
As you say, doing a reasonable job of sharpening is pretty easy to learn. Doing a great job takes practice, practice, and more practice. I'm still practicing and still having fun. Soon, my daughter will be learning and I'll be telling her stories in between the pointers.
Cougar Allen
Buccaneer (ret.)
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Thanks To All Of You Who Took The Time To Help Me; I Have Belonged To Other Forums But Buy Far This Is The Best On The Net! I Will Use Your Advice. I Will Get The Spyerco One Now And Buy Some Cheap Knives Like Jeff Said And Some Stones, What A Great Winter Hobby. I Have Only Been A Member For A Short Time, But Have Been Recieved Like And Old Friend. Also I Have Learned More In The Last 90 Days Than In The Last 9 Years, Thanks, And Gods Blessing On You All
Scotty
Scotty
another 2 cents
i still have and use, the round, white ceramic stick, V sharpener, i purchased 20+ years ago. it's limitations...not course enough to sharpen really dull knives
and only one angle.
next, i bought the sharpmaker, thinking it has a medium grit and diamond sleeves, it will get to the dull edges! and it does serrated edges too. well i still use it for my serrated stuff but the diamonds lasted only a short time. i replaced them with the short tri-angular, stone hook sharpeners (found in fishing stores), they wear out, but they're cheap and short.
next i bit the bullet and bought the edge-pro and in short order i mastered the edge. everything the previous guys raved about is true. i learned sharpening from cub scouts and can get a ok edge but if you want scary sharp, every time, in no time...edge-pro. cry once...buy the best.
just last week i added a new sharpener to my stable. the idahone, cs-4, V type ceramic. it has 2 fine rods (standard) and 2 COURSE rods, which are, in my opinion a positive breakthrough in sharpeners. now you can sharpen dull, dull blades in a short period of time w/out wearing out the expensive diamonds! i can carry it when traveling, to do the relatives blades, and at less than $35. it only took 20+ years to solve the ceramic in course grade issue...my hat is off to fred at idahone, conifer, colorado. 303 838-4635
call them, nice people!
the bottom line...unless you have a master flat stone sharpener side by side with you, watching your technique, while your watching his...save yourself the frustration, time and agony... what matters is the 'sharp'.
i still have and use, the round, white ceramic stick, V sharpener, i purchased 20+ years ago. it's limitations...not course enough to sharpen really dull knives
and only one angle.
next, i bought the sharpmaker, thinking it has a medium grit and diamond sleeves, it will get to the dull edges! and it does serrated edges too. well i still use it for my serrated stuff but the diamonds lasted only a short time. i replaced them with the short tri-angular, stone hook sharpeners (found in fishing stores), they wear out, but they're cheap and short.
next i bit the bullet and bought the edge-pro and in short order i mastered the edge. everything the previous guys raved about is true. i learned sharpening from cub scouts and can get a ok edge but if you want scary sharp, every time, in no time...edge-pro. cry once...buy the best.
just last week i added a new sharpener to my stable. the idahone, cs-4, V type ceramic. it has 2 fine rods (standard) and 2 COURSE rods, which are, in my opinion a positive breakthrough in sharpeners. now you can sharpen dull, dull blades in a short period of time w/out wearing out the expensive diamonds! i can carry it when traveling, to do the relatives blades, and at less than $35. it only took 20+ years to solve the ceramic in course grade issue...my hat is off to fred at idahone, conifer, colorado. 303 838-4635
call them, nice people!
the bottom line...unless you have a master flat stone sharpener side by side with you, watching your technique, while your watching his...save yourself the frustration, time and agony... what matters is the 'sharp'.
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2004
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- 1,670
IMO you've already done the smartest thing possible if you want to become really skilled at sharpening: asking on these forums. Good advice like that, and then practice, is what it takes. I would add that getting an inexpensive microscope, 30-40x, can help a lot because you can see what's happening to an edge.
Good advice like that, and then practice, is what it takes. I would add that getting an inexpensive microscope, 30-40x, can help a lot because you can see what's happening to an edge.Cheap and easy way to see how much contact you are making with your stone: take a marking pen(I use cheap kids water colors)and mark the edge of your blade. The ink shouldn't absorb and you get immediate visible feedback on blade to stone contact. remark the blade after every pass and before long you'll be making accurate edge passes every time. Taught my 9 year old nephew to sharpen free hand using this method. Also, get a cheap knife and practice, practice, practice.
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- Aug 6, 2003
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- 306
Adding a bit to T. Erdelyi's fine post and to the other Spyderco Sharpmaker boosters: adding the diamond triangles to a basic 204 kit really expands the capability of the system.
Depending on the materials you need to cut and the steels you're working with, a diamond-coarse edge on a good steel like S30V might be just the deal. Gives a "micro-serrated" grabby edge that can really saw through stuff.
Depending on the materials you need to cut and the steels you're working with, a diamond-coarse edge on a good steel like S30V might be just the deal. Gives a "micro-serrated" grabby edge that can really saw through stuff.
To start out, I would suggest a protractor a coarse DMT stone and the sharpmaker. The Sharpmaker will get you good results quick. And the DMT stone will let you reprofile in a resonable time frame. Just take a cheap knife with a decent steel (like an Opinel) and just cut in a new edge for the pure fun of it on the DMT and finish off with the Sharpmaker. Try different angles on the DMT, that should get you a feeling for the stone and diffenent angles relatively quickly. If you find that you want to experiement some more, you can buy different benchstones and learn how to freehand. But the above is also a very packable system that you can take on a trip with you. My Sharpmaker has travelled over 10000 mi in my suitcase for example.