I cannot sharpen to save my life, help

[Kershaws]

I use a 3 inch diamond stone, and a 9 inch ceramic rod to touch up blades, I can get the beginning part of the knife (below) razor, hair-poppin sharp, but gradually as you get to the tip, the knife cannot cut paper, this is easily explained in the picture below, green being the sharpest, red, worst. What can I do to get an even sharp edge throughout the blade, this is very frustrating.

[/URL][/IMG]

 

[Kershaws]

I've only had my BK14 for around 6 days and i've already took off enough metal to account for a decades worth of hard use.

 

[AntDog]

Hold a consistent angle and sharpen the entire blade the same. If you're getting it sharp near the handle, sharpen the rest of the blade the same way.

 

[marcinek]

I've only had my BK14 for around 6 days and i've already took off enough metal to account for a decades worth of hard use.

First thing you need to do is step away from diamond stone.

Then we ask the potentially offensive questions. Are you tuning the knife as you near the tip? Are you keeping your angle consistent near the tip?

 

[AntDog]

I've only had my BK14 for around 6 days and i've already took off enough metal to account for a decades worth of hard use.

Don't do that! You are wasting years of use! It does not have to be razor blade sharp to be functional!!!!! I would suggest a guided sharpening system of some kind. Before you screw up your blades. The Sharpmaker world great. Almost zero learning curve.

 

[Kershaws]

I turn my wrist as I push down the stone trying to maintain a constant angle but somehow it still does not work, I guess I will have to spend some money on a good sharpening system, and a new BK14, i've screwed this one up too much

 

[cross1178]

I stink at freehand sharpening. I bought a sharpmaker and it's pretty much idiot proof. It works absolutely great and worth the $50. The ultra fine rods aren't necessary IMO, and it will do everything you need with the stones provided.

 

[marcinek]

I stink at freehand sharpening. I bought a sharpmaker and it's pretty much idiot proof. It works absolutely great and worth the $50. The ultra fine rods aren't necessary IMO, and it will do everything you need with the stones provided.

Agreed. It works great out of the box, after a quick read of the instructions.

 

[frank64]

It took me many hours of practice to learn to sharpen free hand. I went to a local second hand store and picked up a couple of old kitchen knives to practice on. Took some time but I did get the hang of it. I have the sharp maker now also and it works good very good. Just keep practicing.

 

[moraldilemma666]

Practice practice practice... I all seriousness though maybe make a video of yourself and postin a link so we can see what you are doing and help you learn. I currently use a norton crystalon combo stone and then strop with black then green and get razor sharp blades easily shaves hair and with attention could almost be valued tree topping.

 

[HeavyHanded]

I use a 3 inch diamond stone, and a 9 inch ceramic rod to touch up blades, I can get the beginning part of the knife (below) razor, hair-poppin sharp, but gradually as you get to the tip, the knife cannot cut paper, this is easily explained in the picture below, green being the sharpest, red, worst. What can I do to get an even sharp edge throughout the blade, this is very frustrating.

[/URL][/IMG]

You have to elevate the handle to hit the curved portion (the belly) at the same angle as the flat stretch of the edge. If you're getting the heel good, all you need is a bit of a point in the right direction, pretty far from being hopeless! I would second the advice to use a less aggressive stone, or at least use some soapy water or a few drops of mineral oil to tame the diamonds a bit. A light touch is absolutely essential for a good result and will extend the life of your diamond plate considerably.

Here are some pics of a belly being moved with consistent contact on the stone. Also, use a Sharpie to see where you're making contact. I can be tricky to maintain good angle control around the curve, a shorter length pass and breaking the edge into smaller sections is a good idea. And STOP learning on your BK14 and switch to a cheap kitchen knife until you have a better grasp, should you ruin that knife it will haunt your memory (and you'll wind up shelling out for a replacement just to start over).

 

[mrdabble]

+1 for the sharpmaker. I spent a bunch of money on an Edge Pro and while I got mirror edges I didn't get the cutting quality I desired from my current skill level, the sharpmaker is easy and will give you a hair popping edge very easily...especially with a Becker! And it's decently portable.

 

[Ankerson]

I stink at freehand sharpening. I bought a sharpmaker and it's pretty much idiot proof. It works absolutely great and worth the $50. The ultra fine rods aren't necessary IMO, and it will do everything you need with the stones provided.

Yes, good place to start and for the most part a must have even for more experienced people. :thumbup:

 

[bgentry]

HH's pictures are good and illustrate one of the secrets of sharpening. Ken Schwartz has an amazing video that discusses this in more detail and because it's video, you get to see the process in action.

[video=youtube_share;JFhUXgYS0Os]http://youtu.be/JFhUXgYS0Os[/video]

This same thing Ken illustrates obviously applies to using bench stones. If you put sharpie on the edge of your blade, then do some strokes, and look at where the sharpie has been ground off, you'll see where the stone is touching your blade. I'm guessing that you will find sharpie left on the very edge in the curve of your blade and that you are grinding further up the blade than you probably should be.

Using two hands, one on the handle, and one touching the blade *right* at the edge is very helpful with this process, as it lets you control the blade more easily and sense whether or not you are keeping the bevel flat on the stone or not.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

Brian.

 

[sir_mike]

I just picked up a dmt aligner kit with hopes that it will keep my blades sharp and have the ability to repair damaged or very dull blades back to where they need to be by taking the angle guess work out of the equation! They are only about $45-50 or so.

 

[droptrd]

practice a lot. it took me years to get free hand sharpening down. As others have suggested, get a guided system. the sharpmaker is great for touch ups, but if you have any chips the sharpmaker is a dud. Any kind of reprofiling or repairs, forget it.

 

[zito]

take a white eraser ( the high quality kind ) and rub off the deposits on your diamond stone. The eraser removes almost all debris, my trick is what made diamond stones work for me. USE WATER......on the diamond stone while sharpening then wipe dry and use the eraser. GOOD LUCK

 

[Kershaws]

take a white eraser ( the high quality kind ) and rub off the deposits on your diamond stone. The eraser removes almost all debris, my trick is what made diamond stones work for me. USE WATER......on the diamond stone while sharpening then wipe dry and use the eraser. GOOD LUCK

Wow, I did exactly what you said, and it's like I have a brand new diamond stone! I had no idea my stone was that dirty, thank you for the tip that helped alot

 

[The Aflac Duck]

Do you have a picture of the knife? You just might not be putting enough time into the tip to let a burr form. The straight edge is the easiest to sharpen since it gets the most contact with the stone, versus the tip and belly see a smaller area of contact, thus removing less material.

Try doing small, light, circular motions on the areas that need sharpening until you feel a burr form on each side. Once you have your angles set, you can use your ceramic rods to remove the burr followed by some stropping to get a nicely aligned, sharp edge.

Dont worry, I have the same problem with my paper wheels. The straight edge of my knife forms a burr much faster than the tip/belly, so I always have to spend an extra few minutes on just the tip to get a fully sharp edge. Just don't keep sharpening the spots that are already sharp or you will be removing unnecessary steel.

 

[Kershaws]

Do you have a picture of the knife? You just might not be putting enough time into the tip to let a burr form. The straight edge is the easiest to sharpen since it gets the most contact with the stone, versus the tip and belly see a smaller area of contact, thus removing less material.

Here is a picture of the edge, one of the entire edge, one of the tip, and one at the very back

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]