- Joined
- Sep 2, 2012
- Messages
- 20
what should i do? should i sharpen only the dull part of the whole blade? i have a spyderco sharp maker that i use
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How do i sharpen a blade if part of it is dull and part of it is sharp?
- Thread starter billybobjoe
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2005
- Messages
- 1,592
Sharpen the whole thing but pay special attention to the part that is particularly dull. A bit of sharpie on the edge will help you see where you are removing metal an if you have fully apexed the edge.
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2012
- Messages
- 20
oh ok cool thanks
In reverse order:
If the dull part is VERY dull, the sharpmaker might not be able to make it sharp again in a reasonable amount of time. It's hard to quantify where that line is. If you spend 20+ minutes, with good technique on the sharpmaker and it's still dull, I'd say you need something more abrasive.
Beyond that, how do you work a blade that is more dull in some spots than others? I think this is a GREAT topic because I had many misguided notions about sharpening for many, many years. For example, one of the things I thought was, "You have to stroke the entire edge exactly the same way on each stone or else your edge will be wrong." I don't know where I got such an idea and it's patently wrong.
When your edge has portions that are more dull, you spend MORE time on that part of the edge. I *do* think it's important to blend entire edge together so that you don't end up grinding one part of the edge SO MUCH that it changes the geometry of the edge or creates some sort of "step" in the edge. So I usually do a number of blending strokes (the whole edge or at least a large portion of it) after each round of concentrated grinding on the very dull portions. I.E.: Grind dull parts a lot. Then stroke the entire edge several times to try to smooth out any transitional areas.
One of the beautiful things about the way I've seen water stones used (presumably from a Japanese approach to sharpening) is how the sharpener can concentrate on portions of the edge that are more dull, or shaped wrong, and end up with an edge that is consistently sharp *and* consistently shaped. I feel I've learned a lot from this approach and use it with diamond bench stones.
Good luck!
Brian.
If the dull part is VERY dull, the sharpmaker might not be able to make it sharp again in a reasonable amount of time. It's hard to quantify where that line is. If you spend 20+ minutes, with good technique on the sharpmaker and it's still dull, I'd say you need something more abrasive.
Beyond that, how do you work a blade that is more dull in some spots than others? I think this is a GREAT topic because I had many misguided notions about sharpening for many, many years. For example, one of the things I thought was, "You have to stroke the entire edge exactly the same way on each stone or else your edge will be wrong." I don't know where I got such an idea and it's patently wrong.
When your edge has portions that are more dull, you spend MORE time on that part of the edge. I *do* think it's important to blend entire edge together so that you don't end up grinding one part of the edge SO MUCH that it changes the geometry of the edge or creates some sort of "step" in the edge. So I usually do a number of blending strokes (the whole edge or at least a large portion of it) after each round of concentrated grinding on the very dull portions. I.E.: Grind dull parts a lot. Then stroke the entire edge several times to try to smooth out any transitional areas.
One of the beautiful things about the way I've seen water stones used (presumably from a Japanese approach to sharpening) is how the sharpener can concentrate on portions of the edge that are more dull, or shaped wrong, and end up with an edge that is consistently sharp *and* consistently shaped. I feel I've learned a lot from this approach and use it with diamond bench stones.
Good luck!
Brian.