Knife Shapening System

N

nelson_teixeira

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Sep 18, 2009
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What is the best system (under 50dls) for sharpening knives??
I want to get my knives shaving sharp, and i already have the Furi Ozitech Knife Sharpener and the Smith's Pocket Pal Knife Sharpener (i haven't been able to get my knives shaving sharp with them).

I found this one... Bark River Knife Sharpening Kit for 40dls, is it any goo??
Here's the link:
http://www.the-knife-connection.com/br-sharpkit.html

Thanks
 
The sharpeners you have, have most likely caused more damage to your edge than actual sharpening. A sharpmaker is a good choice for keeping you blades touched-up but I have a feeling you need more than a touch-up.

This would probably be the better option plus there are more stone and angle options that would allow you to re-establish you bevel http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=DMTADELUXE it also takes away the problem of learning the curve of every edge.
 
That Bark River kit is probably nice, but it's just a double sided strop and compound. If you have a very sharp knife that goes a little dull (won't quite shave hair, but still cuts a few), it will probably return it to shaving sharpness.

Anything beyond that and it's not going to work.

Are you interested in freehand sharpening, or do you want a "system" ?

Brian.
 
The SharpMaker has always worked well for me.

One note in regards to Knifenut's comment, there is another stone set that you can buy, I don't know exactly what grit it is, but I think it's some sort of steel sharpener material. It will allow you to sharpen slightly more damaged blades. I personally have never used it, so I can't say if it works or not, but thought it might be something Knifenut wasn't aware of. I do agree that there are other systems that would work better, but if the OP can only afford one then I think the SharpMaker would work perfectly. Just my $0.02.......
 
Well i am new to knife sharpening, and yes the systems i have probably did more wrong than right, i took a look at the DMT Deluxe Aligner Diamond Sharpener Clamp And Hone Kit and it looks nice. I saw some videos on youtube of the DMT Deluxe and it seems realy easy to use, but does it realy get the knives shaving sharp??
Since i am new to this a system would probably be better right??
With the systems i have i just can't seem to get my sog seal pup elite shaving sharp, it's sharp, just not shaving sharp.
Thanks for the help
 
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I would definitely recommend a Spyderco SharpMaker then, as it has been able to make pretty much all my blades shaving sharp easily. It's pretty idiot proof (not calling you an idiot), and comes with plenty of easy to understand instructions.
 
Yes but the sharpmaker looks "harder" to work than the DMT Deluxe Aligner Diamond Sharpener Clamp And Hone Kit from the vids i saw on youtube.

Thanks
 
DMT or Lansky are both great and easy to use. I have a Lansky but I'd rather have picked up a DMT. There are a few tutorials and examples of what can be done floating around. And yes, DMTs and Lanskys do get knives shaving sharp and more.
 
nelson_teixeira said:
Yes but the sharpmaker looks "harder" to work than the DMT Deluxe Aligner Diamond Sharpener Clamp And Hone Kit from the vids i saw on youtube.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Not exactly sure what you mean by "harder". If you mean it takes more work to get a blade sharp, then that may be the case, but it still puts an outstanding edge on the blade. If you mean that it's more complicated, I don't really think so. You put the stones in the proper edge slot for what you want to do, and draw the knife across each side for a certain number of times (usually around 40). That's pretty much it.....

If you can explain what you mean by harder then I might understand better.....
 
The only problem with the sharpmaker for the OP is that it won't remove a lot of metal fast, so if he needs to reprofile that Seal Pup to 30 or 40 degrees (the only options on the SM), there might be a LOT of work to do. Those SOG knives are pretty thick.

I'm not saying the SM is a bad system. I'm saying that it's most coarse stone it ships with (gray medium) is actually extremely fine and will take a lot of time to reprofile a blade.

Unfortunately, I don't have a feel for how much work that SOG knife needs, so it's hard for me to recommend based on that. A Lansky or DMT system has much coarser stones that will reprofile a blade faster than a SM. That is unless you buy the diamond stones for the SM, but they cost more than the entire SM by itself, which blows your budget.

So I have two answers for you.

1. If you don't want to invest time in becoming a freehand sharpener, buy a Lansky or a DMT system. You'll get really good results if you pay attention and put some work into it.
2. If you really do have interest in becoming good at sharpening, get some bench stones. In my opinion, one very coarse stone, like a coarse or medium silicon carbide stone works for the grunt work. Then you need one rather fine stone, like a Spyderco medium (gray) ceramic. Supplement that with a cheap strop and you'll be making hair shaving edges on any knife you sharpen. ...with a bit (a lot) of practice.

Like most things in life, there's not a magic answer. Just my thoughts.

Brian.
 
bgentry said:
The only problem with the sharpmaker for the OP is that it won't remove a lot of metal fast, so if he needs to reprofile that Seal Pup to 30 or 40 degrees (the only options on the SM), there might be a LOT of work to do. Those SOG knives are pretty thick.

I'm not saying the SM is a bad system. I'm saying that it's most coarse stone it ships with (gray medium) is actually extremely fine and will take a lot of time to reprofile a blade.

Unfortunately, I don't have a feel for how much work that SOG knife needs, so it's hard for me to recommend based on that. A Lansky or DMT system has much coarser stones that will reprofile a blade faster than a SM. That is unless you buy the diamond stones for the SM, but they cost more than the entire SM by itself, which blows your budget.

So I have two answers for you.

1. If you don't want to invest time in becoming a freehand sharpener, buy a Lansky or a DMT system. You'll get really good results if you pay attention and put some work into it.
2. If you really do have interest in becoming good at sharpening, get some bench stones. In my opinion, one very coarse stone, like a coarse or medium silicon carbide stone works for the grunt work. Then you need one rather fine stone, like a Spyderco medium (gray) ceramic. Supplement that with a cheap strop and you'll be making hair shaving edges on any knife you sharpen. ...with a bit (a lot) of practice.

Like most things in life, there's not a magic answer. Just my thoughts.

Brian.
Click to expand...

100% agree, and thanks for clearing up what he was saying, my brain isn't functioning properly tonight. :D

I agree that it can take a long time with the SM, as I am currently running into that putting an edge back on my RAT RC3. Usually the Seal Pup doesn't need that much work, but because of the thickness and toughness of the steel it would be a PITA to work on.

I would also like to add a little something to your info on freehand work. While it does take a little practice to get good at (and can be frustrating at times) it's a skill well worth learning. There are times when (in my opinion) the best edge can only be obtained via freehand work. So if you really want a simple setup right now that's your choice, but at some point in the future I would highly recommend trying to learn freehand, it really pays off in the long run.

But that's just my thoughts on it.....
 
Thank you very much for all the input on the subject, i am probably going to go with the DMT, it just looked better to me and you say it's a good option too. My budget is of under 50dls because i'm also going to buy a RC-6 and a Izula :D

Again thanks for your time and opinions.
 
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