Knife Noob With an Izula Inbound - Questions!

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Feisty

Joined
Jul 7, 2010
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Once my Izula (hopefully) arrives in a short few hours, I will be slicing and dicing all manner of various and sundry items in and around my household, and from what I have read about the Izula this should not be a problem out of the box.

However, I do have a few questions. As someone with literally NO other knives(I am more of a gun guy), I also have no tools with which to sharpen my aforementioned blade.

I have read about a couple of sharpening setups that sound pretty nice, but most of them cost nearly as much as I paid for the Izula, and with only one knife on hand, I feel like I would be better served with a cheaper alternative.

After lurking here I came to the assumption that freehand sharpening is a good skill to learn.

That being said, what is the cheapest sharpening stone/tool/whatever that will get my knife (at least) shaving sharp? It would be awesome if I could whittle hairs with my Izula, but that may be a bit ambitious for now.

Also, with this being my EDC knife, what would be the best edge for it?
I have heard a lot about convexed(?) edges, but it seems like it might take a lot of tools to convex an edge, tools that I do not have.
Would the edge the Izula comes with be decent enough for everyday usage?
And my last question, does a convexed edge offer any benefits as far as durability or sharpness over a "regular" edge?

To add one last thing, it doesn't really matter to me if it is time consuming to sharpen my knife freehand, as I rather enjoy the maintenance of the few tools that I do have.
 
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from a gun guy to another gun guy - skip a range trip or two and spend that $50 worth of ammo you just saved and buy yourself a spyderco sharpmaker.

if you have the time and patience you can sharpen your izula with a $12 stone from home depot (i've tried it before - it takes lots of practice and patience but it works). for a fail-safe backup, the sharpmaker with 15 min while watching tv will get any esee knife shaving sharp.
 
I also suggest using the sharpmaker. You can get amazing results in little time. I coached a new user from brand new to use to hair whittling sharp in 1 weeks time. Here are some of the results you can expect to get on the izula with the sharpmaker with very little effort. Might I add I just received the Izula on monday, gave it a great workout with cardboard and put another hair whittling edge back on it.


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Leftover
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Minor scuffing of the finish.
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Back to hair whittling again (Done on the sharpmaker with the Ultra Fine stones)
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Also forgot to mention that the overall system isn't too expensive. Around 50$ for the sharpmaker, another 30$ for the Ultra Fine rods. So 80$ total. That is only the price of around 200 rounds of 45 ACP 230grain FMJ range ammo.

The thing is, this system will work on all your knives/sharp tools. Well worth the investment if you ask me. :thumbup:
 
JV3 said:
...if you have the time and patience you can sharpen your izula with a $12 stone from home depot (i've tried it before - it takes lots of practice and patience but it works).
Click to expand...

I think for now (since I just dropped a decent amount of coin on the Izula and a Remington 870 :D) I am at least going to attempt to learn on a stone. I have plenty of time, but unfortunately not much more money. My wife doesn't seem to appreciate new toys...erm, tools near as much as I do.

And krazichinaman, your post of your Izula feasting on a metric ton of cardboard and then becoming hair-whittling sharp blew my mind. I had no idea you could actually whittle a hair with a knife!

So, once I try my hand at a stone, if it doesn't work out for me I will have to stop being so stubborn and just by a darn sharpmaker, because man those things seem awesome. The only problem for me is justifying the purchase, being a poor college student and all.

It wouldn't be as big of a deal if I had more knives to sharpen, but I really only have my Izula. (Well, for now at least! :D)
 
Welcome Feisty, you can do so much more with Knives that just whittle hair... ;) 1095 is excellent blade steel for fixed blades. You can check small arkansas pocket stones. I got mine for $8 shipped. Dan's pocket arkansas whetstone or similar. It does wonderful job, albeit being small.
 
thejamppa said:
Welcome Feisty, you can do so much more with Knives that just whittle hair... ;) 1095 is excellent blade steel for fixed blades. You can check small arkansas pocket stones. I got mine for $8 shipped. Dan's pocket arkansas whetstone or similar. It does wonderful job, albeit being small.
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Thanks for the welcome and the heads-up thejamppa! Those small stones sound right about my price range, and one of those small pocket stones could slip right into my bag/pocket if I needed to sharpen whilst out and about.

Another possibility is a Fallkniven DC3/4. Does anyone have any experience with either of those?
 
i learned to sharpen knives loong before the Spyderco sharpmaker was invented.

soooo i have no complaints about sharpening on a small stone, or a DMT diamond sharpener, an inexpensive Smith's diamond sharpener from megamart, or the edge of my truck's window.

but a sharpmaker would be faster and simpler.
 
fixer said:
i learned to sharpen knives loong before the Spyderco sharpmaker was invented.

soooo i have no complaints about sharpening on a small stone, or a DMT diamond sharpener, an inexpensive Smith's diamond sharpener from megamart, or the edge of my truck's window.

but a sharpmaker would be faster and simpler.
Click to expand...

One of the things I am really looking forward to is trying out all of the weird methods of sharpening, like the bottom of the coffee mug trick or the rolled down car window.

I hope the mailman brings me a package today, so I can start learning how to sharpen!

And besides, fast and simple is overrated. :cool:
 
For touch ups, I find just a plain jane ceramic rod can get my Izula back to shaving. But you will eventually need to upgrade.
 
sharpmaker is nice - seems well liked everywhere...for me, it's no different than freehanding as you have to hold the knife at same vertical angle every time

(I actually use freehanding and have for decades)

the lansky system is totally foolproof, and they sell 'em at academy and places like that....and a bit cheaper. (I'm always hunting more ammo money! :) )
 
The cheapest would be to get a piece of sand paper and flip your mouse pad upside down. I have a sharpmaker but sharpen my Izula free hand with sand paper on a strop.
 
Thanks for all of the replies everyone!

Well, I checked the mail about an hour ago and guess what? There was an Izula in there!:D

After slicing up the bottom half of the invoice that came with it, and shaving a rather stupid looking bald spot onto my arm, I would have to say that the Izula is everything I hoped it would be!

Pics should be coming soon. A bare naked Izula isn't so exciting, so I will wait until my paracord comes in tomorrow and once it is wrapped, pictures shall be had.

As far as a sharpener goes, I ran across this at Wally World, and it appeared to be decent.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Smith-s-4-Diamond-Combo-Sharpener/11047873

It is a two-sided diamond stone with a coarse side and a fine side. I would order something better off of the internets, but I don't feel like waiting another week for it to come in! :yawn:

Thoughts?
 
Shotgun said:
The cheapest would be to get a piece of sand paper and flip your mouse pad upside down.
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Yes, that's how I do it, too. 1095 likes to be sharpened with sandpaper. Plus, you get the benefit of ending up with a convex edge.
 
Feisty - the smith is fine for "get 'er done quick", but you'll almost never use the coarse side. Check and see if they have a fine/medium or fine/xtra fine diamond, or go to Lowe's/Home Despot/Menards and get one there.
A medium diamond with fix just about any damage you can do to the edge and a fine stone (once broken in) will bring your Izula back up to shaving sharp in no time from regular use.
I personally use a fine/x-fine diamond for 80% of my sharpening needs and an even finer grit for most of the rest. (every so often, I need to rebuild an edge that I've chipped on a machete or other chopper, so I use a fine file before the diamonds)
 
Glad you finally got it! Its a fun little knife isn't it? Hopefully you get to carry it! I live in a city that won't allow carry of a fixed blade any length =*(.

Make sure you post pics once you get it wrapped up.
 
Thanks for the pointers Cisco Kid and 1066vik. It looks like a little experimenting may be in order for me to find what works best for my sharpening needs, but when you have a knife as cool as an Izula you look for any excuse you can find to spend time tinkering with it! :D

krazichinaman said:
Glad you finally got it! Its a fun little knife isn't it? Hopefully you get to carry it! I live in a city that won't allow carry of a fixed blade any length =*(.

Make sure you post pics once you get it wrapped up.
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I think Christmas came in July for me this year, I have been grinning all day because of my new little Izula! I plan on carrying it with me everywhere I go, since my state laws allow me to do so. The laws on campus mirror exactly the state laws, so basically anything under 4" that isn't a dagger or an automatic knife.

Missouri law describes a legal knife as "...any ordinary pocketknife with no blade more than four inches in length." I believe the Izula meets these criteria as it has a less than 3" blade, and it is the knife ordinarily in my pocket. Thus, ordinary pocket knife. :p

And I should have wrapped pics up soon, as long as you guys promise not to laugh at me about it if I do a poor job. I am new at this, ya know. :o
 
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