Knife Sharpening?

pibbxtra19

pibbxtra19

Joined
Jul 13, 2012
Messages
133
Hey guys, New to sharpening my own pocket knives, i never really wanted to mess with it and screw up the blade. Now i want to give it a try and sharpen my own knifes. Any suggestions on sharpeners to get your blade razor sharp?
 
Here you will find years worth of techniques, tools, ideas, and tricks:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/794-Maintenance-Tinkering-amp-Embellishment

It's all about patience and practice. You need both to have good results. Most folks find sharpening sort of therapeutic, and I would agree. Practice on some old kitchen knives, when you get your technique down, you can then move onto the nice knives. Io'd recommend a Sharpmaker, they work really well and don't cost a lot for the amount of tools they can sharpen.
 
I spent years with stones and honing bars trying to accomplish just that (a razor sharp edge). NEVER could get it right. My entire world was changed when I learned the simple technique of convex edge sharpening with nothing but an old mouse pad and a variety of ever-finer grits of wet/dry sandpapers. I understand that it is NOT the right edge for everything, but for my general everyday pocket knives and woodland fixed blades ... it was the one thing that allowed me to get a knife to scary sharp (e.g... shave the hair effortlessly off of my arm). I'm no pro, that's for sure ... but my knives are certainly the sharpest they've ever been.

Here's a good place to begin learning if you're unfamiliar and interested:

http://brkca.com/convex.htm

Good luck!
 
The thing to do is go to Smoky Mountain Guns and get yourself one of those bag of Frost knives. Then get a little oil and a good stone and try to go from there. You could also get a Spyderco Sharpmaker and that would be the easiest solution. Pocket knives are a lot easier to sharpen than larger blades, but whether the angles change from 20 degrees to a sharper angle, I have no clue. Maybe someone else would know.
 
i like the sharpmaker. its really easy to use and does keep you knives really sharp for practical EDC use.
 
The thing about the Sharpmaker is that you get 20º and 30º and that's it. If you have an S30V or other super steel blades that takes a more acute edge, you just can't get them. A 20º sharpening edge is fine for a 440A, 440C, or AUS8 knife blade; however, an S30V blade might be happier with a 17º or even 15º edge, and the Sharpmaker just won't deliver those edges. And since the rods aren't round, you can't even drill a block of wood with new angles.

Sal Glesser should sell plastic sleeves with 20º and 30º on one side and 15º and 20º on the other. Then users could just flip them. We're rapidly moving into a new era of blade steels and Spyderco should take the Sharpmaker into that era and not stick everyone with a 20º angle. (I don't even use the 30º, though I'm sure many do.)
 
For beginners like us, a sharpmaker, or DMT Diafold or what I use most of the time is 1000 grit sandpaper on a mouse pad and followed up with a strop. The key is to maintain that edge and not to let it get too dull. The sandpaper and strop do a good job at that.
 
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