How To I'm new and would like to ask a few ?'s

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Letsgetnicksharp

Joined
Jun 10, 2018
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Now I'm sure you guys get A LOT bof newbie people asking things 24\7. And at one time, I'm more than likely probably could have looked at any kind of techniques to sharpen blades or to learn how to things of that nature. But first let me introduce myself, my name is Nick nice to meet you I am a machinist a welder and a water well pump installer driller and an electrician on top of it. But at the moment I'm not I suffered a hit to the head which is about 1300 lb and suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage so I'm on workers comp and I just lost my family so I'm trying to find a hobby and one of these Hobbies is knives. So should I start sharpening my blades with a whetstone the one from Dollar Tree and then move up to a Dimond home block which is got a grit of I believe 200 300 400 and 600 or should I just stick with the diamond hone block? One of my blades is a frost Cutlery Tac assault. And the other one I don't know what the other one is has no name or anything on it and then I had a really really nice Spyderco but somebody stole that from me because you know thieves just suck. Sorry for the long post, I'm not always 100% anymore. But any tips or tricks would help. I don't have much to do, I sit in a hotel room by myself I'm waiting for my settlements to come in so I can get off workers comp and go back to work so I'm trying to keep myself busy with my guitar playing and my knife sharpening and started to collect knives but if I seem like my words don't make very much sense I do apologize in advance I retained my intelligence but I have a hard time articulating what I want said and how to type it out. Thank you for understanding and I hope to hear from you guys soon:-)
 
Letsgetnicksharp said:
Now I'm sure you guys get A LOT bof newbie people asking things 24\7. And at one time, I'm more than likely probably could have looked at any kind of techniques to sharpen blades or to learn how to things of that nature. But first let me introduce myself, my name is Nick nice to meet you I am a machinist a welder and a water well pump installer driller and an electrician on top of it. But at the moment I'm not I suffered a hit to the head which is about 1300 lb and suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage so I'm on workers comp and I just lost my family so I'm trying to find a hobby and one of these Hobbies is knives. So should I start sharpening my blades with a whetstone the one from Dollar Tree and then move up to a Dimond home block which is got a grit of I believe 200 300 400 and 600 or should I just stick with the diamond hone block? One of my blades is a frost Cutlery Tac assault. And the other one I don't know what the other one is has no name or anything on it and then I had a really really nice Spyderco but somebody stole that from me because you know thieves just suck. Sorry for the long post, I'm not always 100% anymore. But any tips or tricks would help. I don't have much to do, I sit in a hotel room by myself I'm waiting for my settlements to come in so I can get off workers comp and go back to work so I'm trying to keep myself busy with my guitar playing and my knife sharpening and started to collect knives but if I seem like my words don't make very much sense I do apologize in advance I retained my intelligence but I have a hard time articulating what I want said and how to type it out. Thank you for understanding and I hope to hear from you guys soon:)
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Welcome!
You should ask your sharpening questions in this linked sub-forum. A lot of top notch knife sharpeners live there!:thumbsup:
https://bladeforums.com/forums/maintenance-tinkering-embellishment.794/
Good luck! See you around!
 
Hi Nick...

Let's get you started. The two knives you mentioned, the Frost and the "no-name", would be good for practicing your freehand technique, such as developing a feel for how much pressure to use and learning to hold a steady angle. You can learn and practice those things using a Dollar General or hardware store stone. I would recommend starting there... AFTER you go to the Maintenance, Tinkering, and Embellishment subforum and read all you can find on freehand sharpening. There are some very experienced freehanders on BF and they're happy to share their knowledge, techniques, and opinions.

Welcome to BF. Enjoy the ride... and best wishes with getting everything sorted out and getting your life back.
 
Welcome!

I might start off with the Dollar Tree stone, and, if I find I can sharpen using it and like doing that, move up to a higher priced diamond stone. Free hand sharpening on stones may not "work" for you and you find a ceramic rod does...no need spending a fortune until you know.

Norton combination India oils stones are great, and not too expensive...maybe those are a nice "middle ground" for you.
 
marcinek said:
Welcome!

I might start off with the Dollar Tree stone, and, if I find I can sharpen using it and like doing that, move up to a higher priced diamond stone. Free hand sharpening on stones may not "work" for you and you find a ceramic rod does...no need spending a fortune until you know.

Norton combination India oils stones are great, and not too expensive...maybe those are a nice "middle ground" for you.
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I do have a dollar tree workbench whetstone! :D and I bought a four sided diamond hone block, I've gotten really good with the whetstone I'm just really new at hone blocks and whether to pull the blade across or push at an angle. I'll keep reading, and thanks for making me feel welcome. You guys are
 
I've tried guided systems but I find it easiest to free hand. My wife got me a 400/800 diamond hone and I've sharpened literally everything with it, even the machetes and hatchet! So much easier if you get the technique down.
I have the same dollar store stones I started with 1 got spares. Now they still have a use. If you need to remove a lot of material for a reproduce or just a chipped edge, why not let the cheap stone do the bulk of removal. That will save wear and tear on your good stones so they will last a lot longer. Those are also good for sharpening yard tools if you have a need for that.
As far as buying more knives, read up here as much as you can. We will help you get the good stuff and spend your money if you take the advice given. Welcome to your new home of obsession :eek:
 
Welcome, if you are serious about sharpening I have a 6in Arkansas stone I'll send you for free. I'll even pay the shipping.

It's not a fancy or expensive Japanese stone but it is way better than the dollar tree stone.

Hope you recover quickly and get back on your feet.


Chris
 
Hello Nick! Welcome to the zoo at BFs. ———-I suggest you get a pump bottle of, Simple Green Soap..squirt any old stones you have heavily and wipe the grit that floats out with newspaper or old T-shirt.———————————————— Once the float appears clean, then start sharpening just using a squirt of the soap as a lube,, you’ll be surprised at how much faster you can a keen edge on your knives.... stay safe & have fun!!:thumbsup:
 
I mostly freehand my sharpening. My most used hones are the Norton Combination Bench Stone (8" w/two grits) and the Fine/coarse or fine/extra fine DMT DuoSharp diamond bench plates (large size). The Norton is inexpensive and use it primarily for non-super steels. The DMTs are a little expensive. I recommend the DMT's highly. Watch the sharpening video on the Dozier knife web site. They are using a DMT. Push or pull... just be consistent with your sharpening angles. If you buy a Diamond plate/hone, be gentle in terms of pressure applied while sharpening. You just ruin them if you push too hard thinking the sharpening will go quicker.
 
What he said!^^^^ those Norton combo stones are fine for most home sharpeners!!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: I recommend them as a basic stone for beginners and many are fine just using those.. Use the simple Green soap...
 
Hi Nick and welcome to Blade Forums. I don’t really have any sharpening advice for you because my sharpening skills suck. I think I may be too many impatient. Anyway, as a result I learned to strop. If I can strop anyone can strop!

Good luck and make sure to soak in the knowledge of the great Knife Knuts around this place!
 
Hackenslash said:
Hi Nick and welcome to Blade Forums. I don’t really have any sharpening advice for you because my sharpening skills suck. I think I may be too many impatient. Anyway, as a result I learned to strop. If I can strop anyone can strop!

Good luck and make sure to soak in the knowledge of the great Knife Knuts around this place!
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Hack! Look at hand sharpening as being a meditation.. I know it sounds goofy, but slow down and focus on each pass on the stone..
 
Hey Nick,
I don't have any recommendation for you, you already got some good pointers from i what i see. just a welcome to the forum and i hope you'll get better and back to work soon.
 
Hello Nick, a lot of good pointers here. You may also want to consider getting a Sharpmaker later on. It can be used to sharpen knives freehand as well as guided. The Sharpmaker has guided slots for 30 and 40 degree angles and has a slot on the end of the case meant for sharpening scissors but I have had good results using it for knives. It will cost you around 70 dollars, you get two medium and two fine grit ceramic rods, but diamond and ultra fine rods can be purchased separately.
I pray the Good Lord blesses you with a speedy and full recovery soon.
 
Just my experience here : when I made the jump to Ken Onion's WorkSharp, my sharpening world broadened and enlightened significantly (after years of free-handening on various stones...). Guess i'm just the mechanical guy...
 
Here’s the best advice I can give. Use the right stone/hone for the steel you have.

Most freehand sharpeners including myself early on tend to oversharpen. Why remove more metal when all is needed is steeling or stropping is all that’s needed to restore an edge.

If you have remove metal it should never be s chore. If you use the appropriate medium it should never require extreme effort. Even reprofiling a blade, if you use a coarse enough stone should never require more than an even downward pressure. If you think you’re not pushing hard enough you’re probably still using too much pressure and the wrong stone.

Sharpening a knife properly takes time so if you’re in a rush you’ll tend to push harder to remove more material faster. This is where the right tools come in handy. I have at the least about a dozen stone of different grits and mediums.

Remember the keener/thinner the blade the less durable the edge or more prone to damage it’ll be.

Instead of waiting till a blade is butterknife dull, strop it to restore when all it takes is a few swipes on the leather to shaving sharp. Which brings me to another point, hair whittling sharp is great for splitting hairs but most durable working edges will shave adequately drag on a nail and shut free hanging printer paper. An edge like that in hard use can last much longer as a serviceable blade than one that whittles hair.

Lastly and I can't stress this enough, practice, practice, practice. Use your whole body to sharpen, it's much easier to maintain the angles when you lock your body rigid, pick your spot off the hone/stone, aim for it and usins your entire body push through off the stone. Another tendency people have is to prematurely lift the blade in anticipation of flipping the blade over and dragging the Apex of your edge across the stone because you didn't clear it before flipping over the blade.


So to sum it up for the TL;DR folks:

Sharpen less, use the right stones,
Strop more, sharpen less,
Decide if a serviceable blade is of more value than a scary sharp blade is, (if you have to have a scary sharp, hair whittlin' edge, get a multiblade slipjoint like a Stockman or a trapper).
Remember you can never practice too much, muscle memory is real.

I just wanted to ad, I've tried most methods out there including many of the sharpening jigs. I have the edgpro and I've used it a half a dozen times, don't get me wrong it's a great if not one of the greatest sharpening jigs on the market and I've used it for reprofiling several large camp knives. I'll never get rid of it but 9 outta 10 times I reach for the stones/hones. and even carry a thin, flat medium diamond hone in my wallet for emergencies.
 
I hope you get well soon.

You will find a ton of great advice on the forums here and in the sharpening sub-forum. You will also find a ton of videos on YouTube and elsewhere on how to sharpen a blade. It is definitely not one size fits all when it comes to sharpening.

I don't see much mention of a strop here but, unless you are repairing a damaged or severely worn blade, you don't need much else except a decent fine grit stone and a paddle strop w/ compound. They are inexpensive and easy to make if you don't want to buy one. Any suitable material with silicates will do the trick. My two cents.

I am an advocate of having a nice set of stones, strops, compounds, etc. but if you don't want to mess with all that...I might recommend the Benchmade Field Sharpener. It has angle guides, ceramic rods, diamond plates, a built-in strop and it comes with me on any outing where I intend to carry or use a knife.
 
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shinyedges said:
Welcome, if you are serious about sharpening I have a 6in Arkansas stone I'll send you for free. I'll even pay the shipping.

It's not a fancy or expensive Japanese stone but it is way better than the dollar tree stone.

Hope you recover quickly and get back on your feet.


Chris
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Wow you would really do that for me? This form and I quote this man I have only been here for a day and I already feel like I'm welcome into like a family. You guys are awesome and on a side note I am stopping my blade I looked up a little bit I don't know if I should use leather but I've also heard that you can use denim as well so if I can get some insight on it that'd be awesome and if I'm in the wrong for more subform I don't really know how to do forms very well cuz I've never really done one please let me know. And thank you for the warm welcome. I appreciate it! ! Message me and I'll send my address.
 
Letsgetnicksharp said:
Wow you would really do that for me? This form and I quote this man I have only been here for a day and I already feel like I'm welcome into like a family. You guys are awesome and on a side note I am stopping my blade I looked up a little bit I don't know if I should use leather but I've also heard that you can use denim as well so if I can get some insight on it that'd be awesome and if I'm in the wrong for more subform I don't really know how to do forms very well cuz I've never really done one please let me know. And thank you for the warm welcome. I appreciate it! ! Message me and I'll send my address.
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Nick,

I may have a piece of leather around too, if I can find a piece I'll load it with green compound and you can use it after the Arkansas stone.

In this order:

Use stone
Strop on green side of leather
Flip over leather and strop on bare leather.

I'll send you a visitor message in a bit.
 
Welcome to the forums Nick ... I hope you recover soon and fully ...

as far as suggestion some good ones have been made ... for the knives you mentioned you won't need to spend alot ... the Norton combo India stones are good options to learn and work well ...

shinyedges said:
Welcome, if you are serious about sharpening I have a 6in Arkansas stone I'll send you for free. I'll even pay the shipping.

It's not a fancy or expensive Japanese stone but it is way better than the dollar tree stone ... yaking Shineyedges

Hope you recover quickly and get back on your feet.


Chris
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A class act shinyedges shinyedges :thumbsup: ... and many more generous folks to answer questions and lend a hand ...

some will reccomend a Spyderco Sharpmaker as a simple guided triangle rod system ... as I have one I was planning on selling or gifting anyway ... I would happily follow shinyedges lead and send it to you so you can try both a stone and angle guided system to see what you like best ... it has a set of diamond rods that you won't need until you get a harder steel knife but you will have them iwhen or if you do get a harder steel blade in the future.

If you can go to my profile page and leave me a message with your email I will email you for your address to ship it to you.

JJ
 
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