I own 1 knife. How do I sharpen it?

P

PG5

Joined
Jan 25, 2018
Messages
5
Ok, So I actually have two knives. A Kershaw Oso Sweet (8cr13mov) and a Benchmade Bugout (s30v). I don't care about the Kershaw, but I figure it'll make a good practice Knife.

I've never sharpened a knife and the freehanded systems seem scary. I don't want to mess up my blade. Some of the guided systems seem interesting but they cost more than the knife I want to keep sharp.

The Benchmade Bugout is my EDC. I use it every day at work to open boxes, bags, and cut nylon straps.

At this point, I'm thinking when my EDC needs sharpening, I'll just buy another knife and send the old one back to get sharpened. ;) What would you do?
 
There is a *LOT* of searchable information on here for the sharpening. The lansky system is ok if you don't have a whole lot of knives. You can do sandpaper and mousepads, etc. Do some searching, there are a *huge* number of posts on the subject.
 
Oh, I know... I've been reading for about a week. Honestly, I'd been considering the Lansky Guided Kit. But I have 1 knife I want to maintain. Is it worth the investment in a sharpening system?
 
Last edited:
Get the Sharpmaker, you will be out about 70 dollars. It is easy to use and comes with an instructional video as well. I don’t like sending my knives in for the lifesharp service. Some folks like it since their knives do come back sharp. I don’t care for it because you don’t know what angle your knife will have when it come back since they don’t use a guided sharpener. Plus I think they take off too much steel. When I sent my Stryker in for a repair, they sharpened it even though I didn’t send it in for a sharpening. It came back with one 20 degree angle and the other one wouldn’t even touch my Sharpmaker rods in the 30 degree slots.
 
Thanks! I was kinda leaning toward the Lansky or the Work Sharp Guided Sharpener. The Spyderco looks so alien to me, but everyone seems to be recommending it. I think I'll pick one up and give it a try. Thanks for the suggestions!
 
The Lansky basic system is relatively inexpensive. You wouldn't need anything more than that. It's a guided system that eliminates human error. There's a ton of video's on just about every sharpening system out there. Go watch some and go from there.
I can't believe you don't own any kitchen knives :rolleyes:, they need sharpening too.
 
Dmt guided sharpener. It is decently priced but I have a feeling that if you joined this forum you will have more knives to maintain.

AKFC_3x_72dpi_RT.jpg
 
Alot love the sharpmaker ... I have nothing bad to say about it ... I just never caught on to it to get the edges I wanted ..

some options ... AG Russell makes a Ceramic rod (round rods) that fit into pre drilled holes that is the same method but to me more forgiving with the round rods ... a company called Idahone makes a very similar sharpener but comes with one corser set of rods and a finer set of rods and two options for angles ...

then for a bit more the Work sharp guided sharpener is pretty easy learning curve and you can buy the upgrade package and have 4 diamond plates and a leather strop plate ... and it has a ceramic hone with it all guided and gives you options of 17 degrees or 20 degrees.

just some option that dont cost as much as some others.
 
It depends if you are going to get more knife's and if they are going to be of better quality I would go with the KME system and you will have more stone choice's available to you.If you are not going to buy many more knives and they won't be using hard to sharpen steels then a Lansky is alright but I really never liked mine that much at all.

PG5 said:
Oh, I know... I've been reading for about a week. Honestly, I'd been considering the Lansky Guided Kit. But I have 1 knife I want to maintain. Is it worth the investment in a sharpening system?
Click to expand...
 
Another vote for the Sharpmaker. Bought my first one a 203 when they came out in the 80's. It was pretty limited compared to the 204 which I
also have for about 4 years now. I don't really care for the diamond stones,the scratch pattern they leave on the bevel looks bad.
Also the Sharpmaker will handle scissors,nail clippers, serrated edges.
No mess with water or oil,they clean up easy when needed.
 
If you want to go relatively cheap get a stone 600-800 and if you want a polished edge something Like 10k. You can tape sandpaper to the stone for lower grits. Or hold sandpaper with one hand and sharpen with the other though I wouldn't recommend that to start with.
 
another vote for the sharpmaker, even though i never owned or tested one. I sharpened lots of knives and multitool knife blades and other blades, so i know what sharpening is about. (so i also know that sharpening does not need to cost much!)

The basic Sharpmaker set costs like 120EUR at my location, and even half of that would be too much for my liking, since I'd want and need the optional Sharpmaker accessories like additional rods (SUPER FINE, EXTRA FINE, a.o.) too.

Kudos to Lansky, they were the first to bring the guided rod principle to wide public attention. Maybe someone else practiced the same principle before, but the kudos go to Lansky anyway. There are tens or hundreds of other makers or distributors who copied the principle, and they all tried to improve upon the Lansky implementation. I certainly enjoy the guided rod principle! I paid like 20US$ for mine and supplemented it with extra stones and stuff from the Aliexpress or craft stores. Altogether still less expensive than the full Sharpmaker set and also more versatile.

If money didn't play a role, i'd buy the Sharpmaker in addition to my working sharpening system.
 
JJ_Colt45 said:
Alot love the sharpmaker ... I have nothing bad to say about it ... I just never caught on to it to get the edges I wanted ..

some options ... AG Russell makes a Ceramic rod (round rods) that fit into pre drilled holes that is the same method but to me more forgiving with the round rods ... a company called Idahone makes a very similar sharpener but comes with one corser set of rods and a finer set of rods and two options for angles ...

then for a bit more the Work sharp guided sharpener is pretty easy learning curve and you can buy the upgrade package and have 4 diamond plates and a leather strop plate ... and it has a ceramic hone with it all guided and gives you options of 17 degrees or 20 degrees.

just some option that dont cost as much as some others.
Click to expand...

Did you try putting a mirror in front of you while using it to make sure the blade is being held straight. I’m only asking because that is what I have to do.
 
I got good results except the tip ... for some reason no matter what I tried markers on the edge to make sure I was holding the angle consistant ... tried the mirror trick I just was not getting the tip sharp ... I thought maybe it was the cheaper knife I was praticing on first so I got one of my good knives and had the same issue so I went back to waterstones...

I had only gotten the Sharpmaker to pack on hunting trips or camping to have a lightweight option over one small field stone ...

but I tried the round ceramic rod sharpers that have precut holes at the angles you want and I had great luck with those for touch ups ...

and I got my nephew the Work Sharp guided sharpener and I used it to see how it worked and was surprised it is a decent little setup ...

I still use water stone or oil stones for my sharpening but found the round rods were a nice option for packing on trips and not needing water or oil to use.
 
Hi. I am one who started with the SM and just love it. I have now graduated to other ones but the SM is fairly easy to learn and as said above comes with instructions.
You cannot go wrong with the SM.
Regards
Tar :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top