I give up I cant sharpen $#!* 2nd update page 5

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okbow68

Joined
Mar 17, 2011
Messages
185
I give I cant sharpen anything. Not with a whetstone, diamond stone, Lanskey, convex with mouse pad and sand paper. I am a knife dullard. I just spent three hours on an old spydeco trying the covex sharpening thing. I used the magic marker on the edge and everything went from 600 grit to 2000 and it still wont cut newspaper. I tried to sharpen another knife on my lansky system all the way down to the find diamon hone and its still rougher than a cob. Forget about free handing on a arkansas stone or a diamond stone still dull. :mad::mad::mad: What the heck this is driving me crazy. I never have been able to sharpen anything, I have tried for years and years. My dad can get a knife shaving sharp in a couple of minutes free hand. :mad::mad::mad:
 
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Keep watching and listening to those that know. Knives Ship Free has some tutorials, some videos on YouTube are good, but not all.
If you are having difficulty, stop after 15-20 minutes. You need to figure out what's wrong about the angle, grit, or pressure. Fustration has never helped to sharpen a knife.
Don't give up, just keep learning.
 
Take a second to learn the science of what you are doing might help. That is what helped me.

Without seeing where you are, try using lighter strokes towards the end of your sharpening routine, look at some murray carter videos on youtube.

Read up on micro beveling. Since I think you are either not creating a burr, or not removing it. With a microbevel you have a better chance of at least seeing quicker success. Raise your angle and keep them even and LIGHT strokes. Wipe your gear off every couple strokes with a cloth, get the metal particles off your sharpening surface so they cut better/quicker...

You will get there with what you have, or you can start spending hard earned money for powered equipment or fancy setups that quicken the learning curve, for those implements. You cant learn how to do things freehand with powered equipment or vise-style stuff, you can only learn their little quirks. Freehand is the most satisfying, and an actual skill-set. I do think using a belt grinder PROPERLY requires skill, though less than freehand whetstone or stone/diamond style. Old-school is tried and true, and wont heat up your blade, or leave it FACE UP in a vise on your counter, I wouldnt want to make a false step in a room where a WEPS had a knife clamped...

JC
 
Well you are right free hand would be the most satisfying for me, been trying to get that for years. I dont know what the deal is I did use lighter strokes towards the end of the sharpening sequence.
 
I was the same way a few months ago. I seriously thought I was unable in any sense to sharpen a knife. So I experimented around and bought this and that, nothing worked till I got a sharpmaker. Even that took a little time for me to be patient and make sure i was swiping the blade the same way each time. but once i figured that out, it all kinda fell together. I might not be able to get my knives as sharp as some of these guys, but I can shave with them. So I feel like I have accomplished something. More importantly after I had the confidence that I actually could do it, I started experimenting with other sharpening materials and I can get my knife sharp on about anything now.

If you have not tried a spyderco sharpmaker, I would give it a shot if i were you.
 
trapper78 said:
I was the same way a few months ago. I seriously thought I was unable in any sense to sharpen a knife. So I experimented around and bought this and that, nothing worked till I got a sharpmaker. Even that took a little time for me to be patient and make sure i was swiping the blade the same way each time. but once i figured that out, it all kinda fell together. I might not be able to get my knives as sharp as some of these guys, but I can shave with them. So I feel like I have accomplished something. More importantly after I had the confidence that I actually could do it, I started experimenting with other sharpening materials and I can get my knife sharp on about anything now.

If you have not tried a spyderco sharpmaker, I would give it a shot if i were you.
Click to expand...
+1 to this. I learned freehand on stones as a wee lad, but the Sharpmaker is wonderful, and is the best system for really sharpening serrations, out of all I have tried.
 
I feel your pain. I found the best combo for me for a dull knife was to use a warthog sharpener first, then a sharpmaker to tune it up. Since getting a really dull knife sharp on a sharpmaker can take a frustratingly long time.
http://www.v-sharp.com/
(I also tried the paper wheel method but for some reason I totally suck at it - others can make magic happen in seconds)
 
I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I was having a lot of trouble getting a knife hair-popping sharp earlier today. I used a stone, two grits of diamond hone, and a few levels of strop, and nearly got a mirror polished edge, but it just wouldn't do anything to my forearm hair.

Anyway, I stopped by my parent's and showed the knife to my dad, and he immediately tried the same thing on his forearm, and promptly had a 1"x2" bald patch on his arm. It turns out, I haven't tested a knife on my own hair in about 5 years, and my hair has gotten even finer than it was in the meantime(I have very fine hair.) The knife was better than I was trying for, it was my testing protocol which was flawed.
 
okbow68 said:
I used the magic marker on the edge and everything went from 600 grit to 2000 and it still wont cut newspaper.
Click to expand...

I think you were wasting your time going to finer grits - you should have a shaving sharp edge on the 600 before you go on to refine the edge.

Here's something that worked for me not all that long ago when I didn't know how to sharpen:
I bought a DMT Aligner.
I set up the knife in the clamp and started grinding on it with the course hone and kept going until I could feel a burr across the entire length on the other side, then I switched sides and ground away until I could feel a burr along the entire edge on the other side.
Then I lightened up the pressure and alternated back & forth between both sides until I had gotten rid of the burr.
At this point the knife could shave hair easy enough.
Then I switched to the fine stone and without using much pressure I spent some time on each side until I had a pretty nice and smooth looking edge.
Then I switched to the extra fine hone and polished some more.
Then I switched to the extra extra fine hone and polished more still.
Then I stropped the blade to get rid of any trace of a burr and I tested the blade - boy was it sharp!
 
Second the DMT setup. I have the magnaguide with the diafolds, C, F, EF, EEF and it works like a dream. I have alot of issues with the sharpmaker still but I'm still trying to get the hang of it. With the DMT I can make anything sharp with some time and patience. With the fine stone I can shave easily, after that it just the extra 1% and polish. I've also learned how to freehand enough with the diafold to have a workable shaving edge. It really helped with the muscle memory. If I'm not just sharpening for the heck of it and need to get an edge quick it's no problem.
 
try a paper wheel system, you can get a litteral razor edge in just minuets instead of hours.
 
I have been having issues with a whetstone as well. I just picked one up a few days ago and ended up dulling my knife. Yesterday when I tried, it got a little better, but not nearly as sharp as I'd like.

For those of you who know what the hell you are doing, do you lay the whetstone on a flat surface while sharpening or do you just hold it in your hand? Also, what is the best way of figuring out if I am holding the blade at the correct angle, just using the marker on the bevel? How much pressure is necessary?
 
You might want to try the Lansky Croc sticks, It's cheap $ 12.00 to 13.00 dollars and impossible not to get a edge. You can certainly get better systems but thought for the money, the Croc sticks are a good place to start and you will atleast be able to use your knives.
 
you can always send your knifes out for sharpening, there are quite a few here which will do it for you. Note you can get a sharp edge on any knife but if the quality of the blade isnt good, it may not keep that edge for very long so if you go this route, I'd just send in the more expensive knifes/knifes made out of better metal. That being said I put razor edges on every kitchen knife i have and even though the edges dont last that long on the cheaper knifes, it takes a swipe or two across my slotted wheel (which takes litterally 10 seconds or less) and its got its hair wittling edge back.
 
I was in the same boat for many years...after nearly 60 years of mediocre edges, along came the Wicked Edge Precision Sharpener. I am so happy now as my knife collection is really razor sharp for the first time ever. It is pricey but it works every time. It costs about the same as a couple of my knives. A small price to pay from my perspective!
I can't imagine my knives being any sharper! I am a happy camper!

Cheers
Leo
 
okbow68 said:
I give I cant sharpen anything. Not with a whetstone, diamond stone, Lanskey, convex with mouse pad and sand paper. I am a knife dullard. I just spent three hours on an old spydeco trying the covex sharpening thing. I used the magic marker on the edge and everything went from 600 grit to 2000 and it still wont cut newspaper. I tried to sharpen another knife on my lansky system all the way down to the find diamon hone and its still rougher than a cob. Forget about free handing on a arkansas stone or a diamond stone still dull. :mad::mad::mad: What the heck this is driving me crazy. I never have been able to sharpen anything, I have tried for years and years. My dad can get a knife shaving sharp in a couple of minutes free hand. :mad::mad::mad:
Click to expand...

Any chance your in the greater Harrisburg, PA area?
 
Thanks guys. I guess I will step back to a courser grit and try it again. You are correct about not getting a well defined burr. Keep'em coming guys.
 
This is the right place to be. I like you could not get a decent edge. My problem was I was creating a burr, which is not bad, but didnt know it. The burr would fold over either by using it or sharpening it.These guys set me straight. I have some cheapo diamond plates and ceramic sticks. i can quickly get all my knives sharp. the hair just floats off myself. Arm, leg, chest , and belly have bald strips on them.
 
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