I've gone back to old school sharpening

D

DrHenley

Joined
May 31, 2019
Messages
277
I'm done with all the fancy sharpening systems. At least for now.

I dragged out my fine carborundum, soft Arkansas, hard Arkansas, and Franz Swaty straight razor hone and put a fine edge on a D2 knife that I just could not get a good edge on before. I was shocked at how quickly I had a super refined edge. Oh and I used the stone wrapped in paper trick to strop it.

I'm using the straight razor hone (made in Austria) to apply a very minuscule micro bevel - barely visible to the naked eye. But it tames that toothy D2 edge and seems to make it more stable. Before, it would chip if you just looked at it the wrong way, LOL.
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I did the same thing for a short while. But time is valuable so outside of the kitchen touchups on a DMT I been back to my paper wheel. Different strokes I know. I can put a damn good edge on a stone but it doesn't exceed what I can get on a paper wheel so I figure why bother? Lol. Never had issues with d2 on dmts or water stones or paper wheels for that matter.
 
Nice !
I'm addicted to a sharpening jig :(
They tell me that with time and careful guidance and counseling I can be freed from this a insidious yoke. :rolleyes:
But I LIKE this alternate reality in which I find myself ! ! !

(then there is that voice just over my right shoulder that says : it's a crutch ! You can live without it ! I don't want to ! You MUST ! You shouldn't want to go on like this; it's unseemly and embarassing to those sharpeners who love you.
I can't live without it. I DON'T WANT TO LIVE WITHOUT IT.
Stop now before it is TOO LATE ! Trust me; you will thank me.)

It's like that with me.
Thanks for setting an example that the rest of us can look up to and aspire to.

(voice over left shoulder : if you get out the Edge Pro you have just enough time to do some sharpening before dinner )
o_O:(o_O
 
I think my problem is that with the guided system, when you put a 10° DPS bevel on it, it's 10° all the way to the edge. And after a while I gave up on putting a 10° DPS bevel on D2. But with using stones, you are slightly convexing it, so you may actually have 15° bevel at the edge. So before, I had to back off to a 15° bevel with a 20° microbevel to get a stable edge, and it wasn't as sharp as I wanted. Now, I have no idea what the actual angle is, but it is sharp and stable.
 
DrHenley said:
I think my problem is that with the guided system, when you put a 10° DPS bevel on it, it's 10° all the way to the edge. And after a while I gave up on putting a 10° DPS bevel on D2. But with using stones, you are slightly convexing it, so you may actually have 15° bevel at the edge. So before, I had to back off to a 15° bevel with a 20° microbevel to get a stable edge, and it wasn't as sharp as I wanted. Now, I have no idea what the actual angle is, but it is sharp and stable.
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All kidding aside I have read recently that people have had trouble with D2 when sharpened too shallowly. This spring I had trouble with another knife with another steel that performed well from the factory but when I reprofiled it it didn't hold up well. The Kershaw Strobe. I love this knife for it's design but the steel needs to be sharpened to what comes from the factory which is more obtuse than I am used to in higher hardness or alloy tool steel blades.
 
DrHenley said:
And another thing. Using the guided system did NOT feed my OCD, :D
In fact it made it worse. Using stones is therapeutic.
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See I'm the oposite some how. It drives me nuts not KNOWING that I am on the very edge for every stroke (once the main sharpening bevel is set). If I get ON THE EDGE with every stroke free hand I just end up making the angle steeper and steeper. I then want to throw my free hand stone over the neighbor's roof into the next block and chuck up my knife in something that keeps the angle the same for all my strokes. It's a "no brainer for me" in more ways than one :(.

I am impressed with people who can free hand sharpen to a high level of edge preformance.
I can sharpen drill bits and box knives free hand to where they do their job quite well. For the seriously sharp cutting tools I need with edges that impress me ( and scare me ) . . . I'm not there yet.
 
D DrHenley , glad you made the jump to free hand sharpening. I have all the stones you show. Cool beans. With free hand sharpening it is real easy to isolate a problem area on the blade and correct it. DM
 
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