I really need some guidance

M

mugsie

Joined
Mar 10, 2011
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I need some help. I am relatively new to sharpening, although I have sharpened knives before, albeit with a stone. Anyway, I picked up a Kershaw Piston, great knife and it's my EDC. That being said, I also picked up a Lansky system and am trying to sharpen this puppy to hair shaving levels. No matter what I try, putting magic marker on the edge, I cannot seem to find the proper angle it was originally ground to, the original factory grind. Should I just pick an angle and re-edge the blade to a known angle? It's sharp, it's been stropped, yet it still doesn't shave hair unless I really bear down on it.

Can you guys give me some advice?

Thanks....
 
Start over and set a new edge, go thinner too.

A factory edge is not a good guideline anyways.
 
What angle hole are you putting the guide rod in? It took me forever to learn that the degree of the hole is to the FRONT of the clamp without a blade in. Move the rod from hole to hole until the stone lays flat or almost flat on the bevel. Then generate a burr and remove it with lessening pressure. Does that help?

Ahh! Ninjad! What knifenut said.
 
Yeah, I too have to agree with what knifenut said. I used to have trouble sharpening v edges , but I've decided that I really like convex edges. (For me) They're easier to sharpen, slice like none other, it's a fairly strong edge (IMO), and it's easy to convert a flat grind to a convex grind. But since you've already got the sharpening system, I'd go with knifenut's advice. I hope you'll be able to decide what to do. :D
 
The Lansky gives four angles...if the factory angle does not match any of them you will have to reprofile the edge to one of the four available choices.
I reprofile every knife I buy right out of the box with my Lansky system...doesn't matter how sharp it is...
 
Great advice guys, thanks. Gives me something to do on this cold day.
Thanks again....
 
Well today I tried rebeveling my kershaw piston. I initially used the lansky set to 17 degrees. Worked for a while on it, and when I was finished I was still disappointed. It sliced through paper, but not like before. So, I tried setting the next higher angle, 22 degrees I think? When I finished with that one it push cut through paper really well, but I really had to press to get it to shave hair. Also, no matter how hard I tried, I was always unable to raise a burr no matter the angle nor the stone grit.

So, I have a sharp knife, but am still chasing the holy grail of hair popp'n goodness. What do I need to do to make this quest a reality?

Thanks....
 
Bonzodog, I tried the sharpie, I did manage to erase all the black from the blade, which tells me I was at the proper angle, yet no stone raised a burr! It's sharp, but somehow I think I can do a lot better.
 
Not raising a burr was my trouble in getting a really sharp edge.Raised a burr on one side then flipped the blade over,same again.Finally a quick strop.Hope this helps.
 
I'm a little burned, and bummed out right about now. I'll try it again later tonight. The way I'm going, I'm going to end up with a very sharp toothpick!
 
Not yet, but I got so frustrated I put it all aside for a while. I'll try it tomorrow, Monday, and see what I can do. As far as the Lansky system goes, yes I'm happy with it. I need more practice as far as pressure etc goes, but it does yield a great edge even if I haven't raised a burr yet. I am confident it will do everything I want it to once I have more practice. I would not hesitate to recommend one at all.
 
Thanks guys. Tried again for more than an hour and while it's amazingly sharp, still no burr! Try as I might, I wasn't able to raise a burr. The sharpie showed perfect alignment, but no burr. I'm beginning to think the burr is as rare as a unicorn!

Just watched the video. I was sharpening in one direction only, I'll try it by going both ways until I feel the burr, then try a single direction. I might end up with a toothpick, but I'm determined to find the elusive burr.

....and the beat goes on.....
 
Last edited:
mugsie said:
Thanks guys. Tried again for more than an hour and while it's amazingly sharp, still no burr! Try as I might, I wasn't able to raise a burr. The sharpie showed perfect alignment, but no burr. I'm beginning to think the burr is as rare as a unicorn!
Click to expand...

LOL, but let me ask you this, are happy with the result since its amazingly sharp? I am not a knife sharpening expert but if its as sharp as you describe, can it get any sharper? is there a benefit to getting the burr first? It seems like you got the same end result minus the burr.
Curious to see what some of the others would say...
 
EURIKA!!! I have found the amazingly elusive not often seen burr.
Poured myself a tall bourbon, got out one of my china made Kershaws, and huffed and puffed and pushed and pulled and back and forth and.... What's that? Could it be! Wait, my fingernail is catching on something, is it? YES! It's a burr!

So, with the china made knife, I can raise a burr, progressively finer and finer stones, stripped and it shaves hair!

Took the Kershaw Piston, determined I would get the same results, and did the same thing. I guess because the steel is harder it just took longer, but there it was, the ubiquitous burr. Same thing, finer and finer stones and after stropping it easily shaves hair from my arm. Now I have two very large bald spots on my arm where I shaved all the hair. It is scary sharp right about now.

I didn't have to make it that sharp, but it was just something I needed to prove to myself. It feels good having bare arms.

Thanks for all you advice and suggestions. Watching the video really helped. Thanks again all.
 
I discovered what I had been doing wrong all along - it was the lack of bourbon! Poured a tall one and the burr appeared! Did two others afterwards and they both shave hair with no effort. It was worth the effort and I really learned a lot in the process too.

Thanks again for the suggestions.
 
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