How to sharpen a handmade knife?

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BryceKanonKnives

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Oct 14, 2014
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15
Hello I am semi new to knife making and on the blade of the knife I keep it a little thick so that it doesn't warp during heat treat. I was wondering how to sharpen the knife easily since the edge is thick. I have a lansky sharpener but it's not good for creating the "initial sharpen". What do I use to sharpen? I can't find anything on the Internet and I would appreciate any help! Thanks
 
How thick?

You may have to grind some more after heat treat... get it down to at least .020 before putting on the secondary bevel. I take mine to .010-.015 and set the secondary bevel with a coarse SiC stone.
 
jobasha11 said:
How thick?

You may have to grind some more after heat treat... get it down to at least .020 before putting on the secondary bevel. I take mine to .010-.015 and set the secondary bevel with a coarse SiC stone.
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I'm not exactly sure how thick but less than 1mm I believe
 
BryceKanonKnives said:
I'm not exactly sure how thick but less than 1mm I believe
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Do you have a set of calipers? You can get a cheap $15 digital one from most hardware stores. They come in very handy.

A penny is .050 so go to down to a bit less than half a penny thickness.
 
jobasha11 said:
Do you have a set of calipers? You can get a cheap $15 digital one from most hardware stores. They come in very handy.

A penny is .050 so go to down to a bit less than half a penny thickness.
Click to expand...

I have a pair of calipers but i'm tempering my knife right now so i cant check. So i should just bring the primary bevel to about .015in then work on the secondary bevel with my lansky?
 
I would get the primary bevel (and any other grind) where you want it, then grind the edge with your finest grit belt. Then go over it with the Lansky.
 
BryceKanonKnives said:
Hello I am semi new to knife making and on the blade of the knife I keep it a little thick so that it doesn't warp during heat treat. I was wondering how to sharpen the knife easily since the edge is thick. I have a lansky sharpener but it's not good for creating the "initial sharpen". What do I use to sharpen? I can't find anything on the Internet and I would appreciate any help! Thanks
Click to expand...

What sort of edge and edge curvature it is? On the straight ordinary V shaped and hollow ground edges i prefer to use whetstones,up to 8000 grid,on the curved edges and all that have convex edge,i used sand paper of grids 120-up to 5000 supported by soft base...
 
BryceKanonKnives said:
I have a pair of calipers but i'm tempering my knife right now so i cant check. So i should just bring the primary bevel to about .015in then work on the secondary bevel with my lansky?
Click to expand...

Yes, your lansky should work fine, but I prefer a stone for bevel setting. A belt sander can easily overheat the very edge.
 
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