Hi, I'm pretty new to knives. As a new hobby farmer about 6 months ago we butchered our first pig, using a $30 3 knife field kit from Walmart sucked... bad... Watching a couple youtubes and seeing folks cut through hide/meat like nothing got me looking around. So before next time I ordered a couple of, gasp, $30 per 420hc knives (buck and kershaw). These were MUCH better but did need to be sharpened frequently but would go straight back to work. Seeing this big of improvement got me into reading and looking at all kinds of knives on the interwebs, before I knew I was buying 3x S30V, 2x D2, 1x Blue Hitachi #2 knives, and 2x 1095 custom blades. Well this was all good and fine until it came time to sharpen blades... Practicing on the 420hc and 1095 blades a couple runs through a pull through cheap sharpener and few stropes they were shaving sharp. Then trying same procedure on Kershaw s30v and Benchmade D2 and nothing, kept trying and couldn't seem to improve them. Butchering another hog just a couple of days ago I sharpened up my $25 custom 1095 blade (from a maker here on BF) and $20 Dexter sani-safe and flew through the hog, no need for touch ups the entire way through.
When I read about sharpening blade methods my eyes start to glaze over like back in high school, is it really that difficult? That and I'm not a very patient person, so working a blade for 30 minutes to get it sharp isn't going to work for me.
So now I'm questioning what I need, or even want, S30V and D2 and other slightly more premium improved steels? Sure their edge retention is better, but if I can get through an entire pig and then bring the blade back in 30 seconds, do I need more? And I can live with smearing a little oil on a blade...
Just curious if other folks have experience finding their personal point of diminishing returns. For me, I think it may be 1095 or other tool steels...
-Chad
Chad, you're asking reasonable questions.
First, as farming as your new hobby, you might consider sharpening of tools to be a part of, or an extension of, that hobby. Mower blades, axes, chain saws, chisels and sometimes even screwdriver tips all need to be touched up to stay in good working order. There are two kinds of sharpening. The first is overly complicated sharpening as sport/hobby that is favored by some on the internet. The goal of sport sharpening is get a knife sharp enough to split atoms and it's silly complicated. The second is straight-forward, simple functional sharpening. The goal of functional sharpening is to get the tool sharp enough to work with a minimum of fuss. It does take a bit of practice but really, it isn't rocket science and most idiots like me can get there. If I can, you can.
Second, let me simplify the issue of steels for you. There are 3 basic types of steel: steels with lots of carbides, steels with fine carbides and junk to be avoided. Carbides are bits of hardness inside of steel. Think rocks. Carbides vary in size. The analogy is sand vs gravel. Steels with lots of large carbides are like concrete made with gravel. S30V and D2 are carbide rich. 420HC and 1095 have fine carbides. Here's the difference. Carbide rich blades have a rough edge (like concrete) and excel at tasks where you need to cut fibrous materials like meat, rope and cardboard. They resist being worn down (like concrete) and tend to keep cutting, even as they dull (and get round). Fine carbide steels can be sharpened to a finer edge and do well for things like wood carving. They are more easily sharpened. Oh... you noticed that junk steel is junk. It is. Avoid it.
Third, a simplified idea of sharpening mediums... There are things that are harder than carbides like diamond and silicone carbide. And there are some things that are not, often used in cruder, old style stones. If you use simple stones, expect to find big difference in the ease of sharpening between carbide rich steels (S30V, D2, 440C) and fine carbide steels (1095, 420HC, 12C27). With diamond stones or silicone carbide stones, this difference is much less, but still noticeable. My recommendation is use diamond or silicone carbide stones and be done with it.
Fourth, a simplified review of sharpeners. Pull through sharpeners are (almost always) to be avoided. Angled rod systems like the Sharpmaker havev the reputation for being easy to use and very useful for quick touch ups, but harder and slower if you need to repair a damaged edge. Guided rod systems like the Lansky are good for repairing damaged edges but a pain in the neck for touch ups because of the set up hassle. Bench stones and pocket stones are effective but require the most skill to use. My recommendation is to get a Lansky system for learning how to sharpen (more on this in a minute) and use this for major sharpening and repair and then back this up with either a Sharpmaker or diamond pocket stone for quick touch ups. Once I learned how to raise a burr with the Lansky, I've been able to transition much faster to pocket and bench stones.
Lastly... Here's a simplified approach to sharpening... Shoot for a 20 degree per side angle. It's a middle of the road between hard use and fine cutting. Stick with medium grit stones. Don't bother to go finer unless/until you have a specific cutting job that demands it (and you likely won't). Don't bother with stropping (unless it makes you happy). Now, here is the secret to sharpening....
Learn to feel for a burr by running you thumb across the edge. YouTube will guide you. Perhaps Carl (Jacknife) will post his good video on this. If you can feel a burr, you can sharpen. If you can't, you can't.
Sharpen one side of the blade until you can feel a burr along the entire length. Then do the same on the other side. Then lightly work both edges till you can no longer feel the burr. This will leave a new clean edge. This is easier to learn (for me) with a guided rod system like a Lansky.
Summarizing... Decide what kind of steel you like. Carbide rich will hold an edge longer but will take longer to sharpen. Get a sharpener with harder grit (diamond like DMT or silicon carbide like Norton Cystolon). Get Lansky guided rod system with diamond stones and learn to raise a burr and to remove it (honing). Stick to 20 DPS for now and with medium stones. Consider getting a Sharpmaker or diamond pocket or bench stones for quick touch ups.
Hope this helps.
