How do you sharpen

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Anthraxx

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Sep 27, 2014
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Hey guys I'm new to this knife world and I was just wondering how do you keep your knives sharp? I have a zt566 that use to be able to shave the hair off my arm. Of corse it has become dull after use from cutting cardboard, food, ect...

I bought a lansky diamond rod sharpener that gives it a nice sharp edge but it still not where I would like it to be.

So my question is how do you sharpen to where it shaves the hair off my arm?

Thank you!
 
Check out youtube. There's a ton of videos on how to sharpen. I'm not real fond of the "dummy-proof" sharpeners though. Just use bench stones and practice on cheap steel. Spyderco's doublestuff pocket stone is great for touching up a blade in the field.
 
There are tons of YT videos on sharpening your knife. One fellow that I used to watch is Jdavis882.
There are MANY others by other folks that you can pick from, using various sharpening methods and tools.
I would think that the Lansky would be sufficient, but I have not used one. You may need a finer grit. One "cheap" way would be to go to your auto-parts store, pick up some 2,000 or 3,000 grit wet-n-dry sandpaper and use it on a standard mouse-pad.
Please let us know whether that will do the trick.
 
Oh! 3M makes this nifty Trizact "sandpaper" that's also great for honing. It's 3-6k grit embedded in a foam-like material. Effectively sharpening and stropping the blade at the same time.
 
Sandpaper on a flat glass or marble surface. Works great except re curves are tough. Spyderco triangle rods for serrations.
 
If your diamond rods are new, they may need wearing in. That can take a little while, & they won't give a perfect edge in the meantime.
 
I did the sandpaper thing but the paper wears quick and I never got a very good system going. If you want shaving sharp you need finer grit. I would recommend a spyderco sharpmaker or if you really wanna jump in the pool a work sharp. Both will get you to popping hair, she sharpmaker for cheaper and the work sharp very quickly.
 
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Tormek T7 and various Paper Wheels mostly, but sometimes a Wicked Edge, a Sharpmaker, and a few Diafolds.
 
Have you looked at the spyderco sharpmaker? Its very easy to use and very fast.
 
Anthraxx said:
Hey guys I'm new to this knife world and I was just wondering how do you keep your knives sharp? I have a zt566 that use to be able to shave the hair off my arm. Of corse it has become dull after use from cutting cardboard, food, ect...

I bought a lansky diamond rod sharpener that gives it a nice sharp edge but it still not where I would like it to be.

So my question is how do you sharpen to where it shaves the hair off my arm?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

I used to freehand until I was about 35yo. Various stones, nothing special. As I got older started looking at various sharpening setups looking to see if I could do just a bit better. Tried a few from Smith's, Norton and Lansky. I liked the Lanksy and it was pretty much doing the job for what I needed just fine. Mostly Skinning, fillet and Kitchen knives and I could shave hair with all of the them just fine.

I stumbled on the Edge Pro site somehow one day and took an interest and started comparing it to the WE system, Tormek and Sharpmaker. Something drawed me to the Edge Pro but to be honest I can't remember what it was. So I bought the Edge Pro Apex system and have not looked back or had any regrets. Once I got the drill stop collar and the spring off the Chef Knives to go website it made using the thing just seem like it just about could not be improved upon for my needs. But over time I did start looking into the balsa and leather strops from the CKTG website and have since been getting some pretty nice edges on my knives.

I think the trick to most of this is to do your research first, buy the system that you can afford that you think is going to do what YOU need it to do. I can shave hair off my arms with just about any system I have ever used. Shaving the hair off your arm is not a very good method of detecting the sharpness of a blade nowadays as most systems out there will get you there if used properly.

Heck my grandfather could flip a ceramic coffee cup upside down and put an edge on his knife that will shave hair. ;)

From what I have seen on this forum, most of the sharpening systems mentioned here do a superb job if used correctly and with a little bit of common sense and passion.

When I bought the Edge Pro, I went into the kitchen drawer and rounded up every piece of crap kitchen knife we had and spent a few days reviewing videos and researching how best to use the thing and tried to pick up as many tips and tricks to using it as I could. Took me about 15 knives before things really started to sink in and I realized I was onto something with it. Took a little bit longer for me to figure out that every knife I own did not "NEED" to have a polished edge and I was just getting carried away going through 6K tapes on kitchen knives and such. Fun to do, just not necessary.

Now that I am older, I have come to realize just about anyone can put a good edge on a knife with correct use of whatever system they use. The trick to it all is knowing when sharp is "sharp enough".
 
if you are into stones then try a pair of arkies, soft followed by hard and finish it with the apache strata, a fairly new ex fine natural stone from natural stones.
 
I thought sharpening was basic knowledge until I decided to watch some youtubes (though it's hard to discriminate bad from good if you don't have any idea to begin with), I bought books and a DVD, and reading through threads here and asking questions.

I started with arkansas stones before with hit and miss results. Then I bought a chef electric knife sharpener. got ugly edges. Bought a ceramic rods that stick at an angle in some wood. Not really satisfied. Got some nice pocket knives; bought and built a full set of Lansky system. Was happy for a while until I realize the angle near the tip ends up being shallower and harder to control. That's what got me on my learning journey.

Being a little OCD, (when I said I built a full set of Lansky, I mean I got the whole range of stones from super coarse to super super fine plus the serrated stones also) I only have one more delivery I'm waiting on for diamond flat files but I have 7 DMT Diamond stones in their 8" x 3" size ranging from Extra Extra Coarse, Extra coarse, Coarse, Fine, Extra Fine, Extra Medium Fine, and Extra Extra Fine plus the serrated tools also. I know that one could probably make do with 3 grits but I justify it by saying it will allow me to work faster overall. But this is just my style. When I bought golf clubs, I bought a set complete with the 1 and 2 irons.

But as Murray Carter says, it's not the equipment, it's the technique. And as far as techniques go, I'm still learning myself so I'm not qualified to give you advice other than to read the stickies and some of the members here have links of how to's in their signature lines. I would also recommend two of the books I read: The Razor Edge Book of Sharpening by John Juranitch and the DVD by Murray Carter.
 
I used to sharpen free hand and got pretty good. Now I use a Wicked Edge. Great solution but it is expensive. The edge refinement and repeatability are both terrific with a WE.
 
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