- Joined
- Jan 23, 2008
- Messages
- 23
I wanted to introduce myself and ask a few questions. My name is David Polan and I have been shaving with, restoring, sharpening, and selling straight razors for a long time now (I go by the same name at straightrazorplace.com) and decided that I really wanted to learn the art of hand sharpening knives. I purchased a Spyderco Native with CPMS30V steel from Walmart and also a cheap Smith & Wesson Homeland Security folder with 440 steel to practice my blade angles and honing strokes. The Spyderco was very sharp out of the box and the S&W was pretty dull, so I decided to try to sharpen the S&W with some of my Spyderco bench stones (Medium and Fine); I am not going to attempt to sharpen the Spyderco until it gets dull from use as I am really enjoying it right now.
I really think that my experience honing hundreds of straight razors helped me because getting the knife sharp via hand honing was not nearly as difficult as I thought that it would be. First I colored the bevel with a permanent marker and then I honed the razor on my medium grit Spyderco stone at the angle that matched the factory angle (the permanent marker went away completely). I attempted to hold this angle constant in both directions by using my thumb as a guide for the height of the spine going away from me and my index finger to maintain the height when the razor was coming toward me. After spending a few minutes on the medium the knife felt much sharper and would easily slice through paper. I then moved on to the fine Spyderco bench stone and further polished the bevel with more light passes. Now the knife can easily cut newspaper, shave arm hair, and sticks in my thumbnail when I hold my thumb vertical and the knife 30 degrees from the nail so I assume that the knife is at least moderately sharp; it is definitely a lot sharper that it was before and cuts very comparably to the Spyderco. This early small success has encouraged me to learn as much about the art as I possibly can.
My main question is what DVDs, books, and articles would those with extensive experience in hand honing knives recommend that I study to learn the fundamentals of the art? Are there any sources of information that are considered "must see or must read?" I am very eager to learn and practice, but would like a little direction as to what are the best sources of information because I am not sure what is good information and what is bad information on the internet. I know that there are several great sharpening systems like the Spyderco Sharpmaker and the EdgePro Apex that make getting a great edge very easy, but I am really interested and willing to put the work into learning to do it by hand. Thank you in advance for any help. If anyone has any questions about sharpening and/or shaving with straight razors then I would be happy to answer them and/or direct you to a source of information on the subject.
David
I really think that my experience honing hundreds of straight razors helped me because getting the knife sharp via hand honing was not nearly as difficult as I thought that it would be. First I colored the bevel with a permanent marker and then I honed the razor on my medium grit Spyderco stone at the angle that matched the factory angle (the permanent marker went away completely). I attempted to hold this angle constant in both directions by using my thumb as a guide for the height of the spine going away from me and my index finger to maintain the height when the razor was coming toward me. After spending a few minutes on the medium the knife felt much sharper and would easily slice through paper. I then moved on to the fine Spyderco bench stone and further polished the bevel with more light passes. Now the knife can easily cut newspaper, shave arm hair, and sticks in my thumbnail when I hold my thumb vertical and the knife 30 degrees from the nail so I assume that the knife is at least moderately sharp; it is definitely a lot sharper that it was before and cuts very comparably to the Spyderco. This early small success has encouraged me to learn as much about the art as I possibly can.
My main question is what DVDs, books, and articles would those with extensive experience in hand honing knives recommend that I study to learn the fundamentals of the art? Are there any sources of information that are considered "must see or must read?" I am very eager to learn and practice, but would like a little direction as to what are the best sources of information because I am not sure what is good information and what is bad information on the internet. I know that there are several great sharpening systems like the Spyderco Sharpmaker and the EdgePro Apex that make getting a great edge very easy, but I am really interested and willing to put the work into learning to do it by hand. Thank you in advance for any help. If anyone has any questions about sharpening and/or shaving with straight razors then I would be happy to answer them and/or direct you to a source of information on the subject.
David
He goes over the theory & mechanics of the edge, the types of bevels, care & selection of waterstones, etc etc. Honestly, the disc would be worthwhile even if it didn't show any sharpening at all! Although the title would be misleading...
The bulk of the material is geared towards double bevel, or "western" style knives. The key is his method of finding the angle- it's not his invention but I like the way he presents it. Once you have that figured out, a 50/50 grind isn't all that different to shapen than a differentially ground one (eg 90/10, 80/20, etc). There are a few differences when you sharpen a single bevel and he does describe that, too.