Learn to sharpen

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gainfulfish

Joined
Jun 29, 2014
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I have several knives but I really don't know how to sharpen them. Is there a good book on this subject ? Does anyone have any suggestions for learning to sharpen knives ?

Also, should I learn to do it free hand or is one of the sharpening systems a better route to go and if so which one?

Any and all advice is appreciated.

I edited this post a bit and I would really like to thank the people who took time to reply to my original.
 
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There are a million and one good books and even more videos on youtube. Practice and understanding what your goals are at each step are key.

I include a pretty generic manual with the sharpening block I make that should be helpful, covers a decent range of material. Some of it is specific to the block but the bulk of it is applicable to all freehand sharpening.

http://www.washboardsharpening.com/user-guide.html
 
Leonard Lee's The Complete Guide to Sharpening is a good place to start as far as literature goes. As far as actually sharpening, I would recommend starting small - maybe an Arkansas stone, a leather belt, and something inexpensive with steel soft enough to where you can easily reprofile, sharpen, and touch up to your heart's content so you can get a feel for different techniques and muscle memory. Only after that should you invest in something higher end. Once you've gotten freehanding down, you can tackle just about any sharpening system since you understand the necessary concepts and mechanics.

I personally use a DMT C (usually only during reprofiling), F, EF, a Spyderco UF, and a CrO loaded strop (although very infrequently). Once I've gotten the edge reprofiled to what I'd like it to be, upkeep on the microbevel with the UF rod is really all I need to do until I really need to reprofile again.

Now, of course this grit progression might be altered for the steel or intended use, but in general, these cover everything I need since I no longer have to rely on a guided sharpening system. Your experience might be different, but my recommendation remains the same: learn to freehand first to establish a solid foundation to build from.
 
I like Murray's stuff. Also check out some of the videos by JDavis882. He has some beginner and proof of concept videos that show some good basic info as well as other info.

Here is the proof of concept video and skips the opening and gets to the meat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNJt6ToQNMo#t=89

I'm not recommending you start and stop with a Smith two grit diamond paddle, but it gets the idea that getting a sharp edge is more about understanding what you need to do on the edge. Everything else beyond getting a good initial edge is refinement. How far you need to refine or how far you want to refine is up to you. You can have sharp, working knives for little money, a bit of time, and some basic understanding. You can also have space/time splitting light sabers that gleam to shame the sun. Where you go from basic sharpening is up to you.

But I'll pass along some simple wisdom that was passed to me. If you don't have a sharp, cutting edge coming off your coarsest grit say a 100 or higher (beast level grits for purely reshaping not included) before you step up to your next grit then all you are doing is refining a dull edge. I have forgotten that and failed to test my edge as I went and ended up with a mirror finished blunt blade after many hours and grit levels on a number of stones and had to go back to the beginning and do it right. I've also had someone (a long time professional polisher) send me a polished knife that they were so focused on celebrating and championing the polished edge that they too focused so much on the polish that they failed to keep up with the sharp part. It was very pretty, but very dull and failed miserably for me as a cutting tool.

Learn about the burr, creating the apex (and what it is), and how everything after creating the initial edge is refinement. Learn the difference between sharpening and honing/stropping. Stropping can be simple and really bring out an edge. Done wrong it can also dull the edge you just made. It's not calculus though. It's just knowing why you are doing something and developing a feel for it. You do that by doing and learning as much or more from your mistakes as you do from your successes.

If you don't learn that and apply it then all the pricey sharpening stuff in the world won't make you produce consistently sharp knives or edges angled and sharpened to their intended use. Once you have those things down you can sharpen to a usable degree on just about anything. It may be a low grit edge, but with a little improv stropping if can be very useful.

Regardless of what you use, the basics are the same. All the various tools and methods are about finding your personal working system and the finer art of edge refinement.
 
As stated earlier a knife should be sharp after your coarsest stone. Going up in grits doesn't make it sharper it just refines the edge. What I mean by this is when you are sharpening the blade you make it sharp by making a burr free apexed edge which for arguments sake for this example is done as your coarsest stone. This coarse stone produces a toothy or coarse edge which acts like micro serrations, when you refine that edge by moving up to finer stones it's not getting sharper but you are polishing the edge. What this does is remove more of those micro serrations which make it better for push cutting situations, where as that toothy edge which act like saw teeth work better for slicing applications. That's the basic gist of it.

What's better toothy or polished, neither. It depends on what you like and what your plan on doing with it. There is no wrong or right answer but changes in cutting characteristics for those of us who are OCD.

My advice pick up a basic norton stone if you don't already have a sharpening stone a basic silicon carbide (crystolon) or india with a coarse and fine side. A DMT Aligner clamp to cheat so you can easily reprofile blades when you screw up or learn to mimic the proper sharpening motion and learn consistency easier. Some type of polishing compound and experiment several methods of application and what feels right (I use a piece of paper wrapped tightly around a stone and spread the stuff on it and strop away). And possibly a dedicated sharpening knife or use your cheap kitchen knife (my recommendation buy a decent but cheap kitchen paring knife like Old Hickory or Opinel for example).

Could also go cheap and pick up a norton economy stone for around $6 (probably need to flatten though, which is a pain), cheap polishing compound at a home improvement store while you're getting the stone and just use and old knife to practice on and call it a day. Vast majority of this is on technique more than equipment anyway.

Strangely enough my primary stone is that norton economy stone (silicon carbide) and I prefer using the cheap $3 sears #2 polishing compound (I think it's comparable to green compound but don't quote me) for when I strop. My primary issue is I have to firmly wrap the paper around the stone then apply the compound at that compound is cheap and is designed for power tools I believe and is acts like a stupidly hard crayon and if I didn't wrap the paper tightly around the stone I will most likely rip the paper instead of being able to apply it. Though I could have bought a better compound for a few dollars more that purchase was based on pure convenience at the time, my recommendation spend the few extra dollars and save yourself a lot of headache for polishing compounds as their cheap and can last a lifetime. I do have a far superior compound but that is more for the polishing the edge in my experience as that sears #2 is more aggressive and can remove more metal to bring back an edge a lot more effectively. So I guess you could say my primary setup I prefer using as of right now cost $10 total, even though I have various other sharpening equipment. Just wanted to reinforce it that you don't need fancy equipment.

Big thing is to try to absorb as much information as possible and practice practice practice. Sharpening is half science and half art. Learn the reason why you are doing something and than find/create a technique to get that job done. Most likely how I sharpen a knife won't be the same way you sharpen a knife if we were going to free hand. Doesn't mean I am right and your wrong or vice versa but we all use slightly different techniques to get the job done. Some prefer to do a circular motion while sharpening, forward motion, backward motion, both forwards/backward, forwards/backward/circular if your feel like you want to live dangerously, etc. So find what works for you, try to perfect that technique, learn what you are doing, what to look for, how to create that sharp edge, and lastly have fun.

We have a lot of information already a quick forum search will provide you with a wealth of information, and we can help you with any specific questions (yeah I am feeling lazy today and don't feel like typing in this post anymore).
 
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Some reading and a whole lot of practice. Your going to screw up- a lot- at first so practice on cheapies. But its not THAT hard to becom competent. After all I can put an acceptable freehand edge on a blade.
 
And don't get overconfident, I did and screwed up a nice $20 blade :grumpy:, was one of my favorites and now I am ashamed to carry it. Practice on cheap stuff you don't care about or a dedicated sharpening knife as I said earlier. I said the kitchen paring knives as the simple blade shape makes life easy and they tend not to be stupidly thick so you don't have to remove obscene amounts of metal to sharpen them like some of our newer modern overbuilt folders, that and you can get good ones for cheap.
 
Read the stickies (the one by Magnanimous is superb), watch videos:www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/963298
And lots of practice. IMO, the two threads by Mag is great as foundation. HeavyHanded Washboard instruction is also terrific! After practicing more, you definitely will be back with more specific question/difficulty.;)

Welcome to the neverending journey!
 
lots of practice is the best way the books and videos can give you tips but nothing will teach better than doing it...here is a couple general tips...
1: dont use your wrist to sharpen..lock your wrist and pull or push with your elbow and arm
2: you have to remove metal to sharpen. use heavier pressure to start after all we are grinding it
3: a sharp edge is more important than a pretty edge. mirror edges are nice to look at but a sharp edge is what matters
4: sharpen the edge for the knifes use..a wood chopping blade does not have to be razor sharp.
 
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