Let's Talk About Sharpening Our Survive! Knives

Can you buy small patches of leather? With out getting a mass amount? That's been the reason I was putting it off. The places I've found on line want you to buy half a cow, and I would feel pretty dumb cutting off 8 inches to make a strop
 
Texas_toothpick said:
Can you buy small patches of leather? With out getting a mass amount? That's been the reason I was putting it off. The places I've found on line want you to buy half a cow, and I would feel pretty dumb cutting off 8 inches to make a strop
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When i wanted to make the leatehr belt-loops to go with my extensions, I started out at St.Vinny's and GoodWill, buying every decent leather belt I came across, alternatively you can get small 6"x12" or 12"x12" hides from knifekits.com which gives you about the same amount of leather for the same price as a decent belt from Goodwill, though the belt is longer if you need that.

I'll be honest, I don't do much stropping of my outdoor knives.
Like calc, I mostly use the little DMT plates, have some of those duofolds (double-sided, butterfly-folding diamond hones) en route to me now. Ranging from the 220 XC (black) down to the XF (1200 grit) or XXF (8000 girt, 3 micron) covers pretty-much all my needs.
I tried my hand with some of the stropping compounds but found that, except for my straight-razor, I am happier with the edge the DMTs put on so quickly, and the DMT's are easy to clean, no need to re-apply grit...
That said, after stripping a coated blade or want to polish the bevel of a bare blade, some type of strop is great :thumbup: It's neat to watch as the polished finish develops.
 
Good to know chiral. I'll really have to check into the DMT also I need to email you about danglers. My moneys been tied up on the crapper for a min so I been broke. (Septic pump went out, so I meant that literally).
 
Texas_toothpick said:
These are good threads. Love some of the ideas that cone up. But if I stole my wife's brush for that she'd beat me to death with the finished product.
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Oh, I know what you mean.

I used to have a Fallkniven F1, their sheaths are really functional but their retention isn't great. But I found that if I wrapped a rubber band around the sheath and pressed down the stopper, it worked really well. My wife wasn't too happy when I used one of her hair ties. But I may or may not have grabbed quite a few to have on hand after I found that out...

chiral.grolim said:
When i wanted to make the leatehr belt-loops to go with my extensions, I started out at St.Vinny's and GoodWill, buying every decent leather belt I came across, alternatively you can get small 6"x12" or 12"x12" hides from knifekits.com which gives you about the same amount of leather for the same price as a decent belt from Goodwill, though the belt is longer if you need that.
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Hey chiral, haven't seen you in a while.

But yes, I'd second this. Leather belts are great because you can experiment with the rough and smooth sides, and there's plenty of material available. You can start with this, get a feel for it, and move on from there.

chiral.grolim said:
I'll be honest, I don't do much stropping of my outdoor knives.
Like calc, I mostly use the little DMT plates, have some of those duofolds (double-sided, butterfly-folding diamond hones) en route to me now. Ranging from the 220 XC (black) down to the XF (1200 grit) or XXF (8000 girt, 3 micron) covers pretty-much all my needs.
I tried my hand with some of the stropping compounds but found that, except for my straight-razor, I am happier with the edge the DMTs put on so quickly, and the DMT's are easy to clean, no need to re-apply grit...
That said, after stripping a coated blade or want to polish the bevel of a bare blade, some type of strop is great :thumbup: It's neat to watch as the polished finish develops.
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Agreed on all counts. I haven't tried the EEF DMT, but that's typically where my Spyderco rods take over.
 
Ok guys. I do this as a side job and can tell you DMT is the only way to go. If you're gonna spend the money steer clear of the diafolds for anything more than field sharpening. When I first started I had the 6x2" 3-stone set ranging from coarse to extra fine (blue, red, and green) in a nice wooden box. (Still have that set if anyone wants to buy it, used it for a little while but still tons of life left). That set worked great for me for anything from my folders up to my GSO 5. Then one day I realized that I wanted bigger for doing stuff like a machete or Junglas by hand so I stepped up to the DMT duo sharp 10x4" stones with a base plate and I have 4 grits from XC-XF and that covers everything and anything I'd want to do. I put different edges on everything depending on what my customer is going to be doing with that particular knife. A hunting knife gets a 600 grit edge with a little strop work, this will shave your leg but also shred through hide like it's nobody's business and last for a long time as long as you're not riding bone. A nice bushcraft scandi gets a mirror polished edge because the smooth polish helps reduce drag in carving tasks, but that polished edge isn't something you want for gutting deer and breaking down boxes at work because it doesn't have the same "bite".. I could go on but you get what I'm saying.


A word on stropping.. Don't use it as your only weapon in the arsenal. It's a good skill to have and understand but many guys don't learn to use stones properly so once their edge is damaged they A) ship them to a guy like me for a complete reprofile or B) are screwed when they realize they did more than their strop can fix and go out and buy a worksharp that can ruin their heat treat and mess up the tip of their knife. LOL just razzing you guys with the work sharps, I'm sure they work for some people but be careful. I exclusively use Flexxx strops. Paul has become a buddy of mine and his stuff is top notch. I use BRKT compound and find that I use the black compound more than anything else. The green is nice but it's too fine and I only use that and the white when I have something that NEEDS (according to customer) to show them their reflection in it.
 
ManOfSteel89 said:
Ok guys. I do this as a side job and can tell you DMT is the only way to go. If you're gonna spend the money steer clear of the diafolds for anything more than field sharpening. When I first started I had the 6x2" 3-stone set ranging from coarse to extra fine (blue, red, and green) in a nice wooden box. (Still have that set if anyone wants to buy it, used it for a little while but still tons of life left). That set worked great for me for anything from my folders up to my GSO 5. Then one day I realized that I wanted bigger for doing stuff like a machete or Junglas by hand so I stepped up to the DMT duo sharp 10x4" stones with a base plate and I have 4 grits from XC-XF and that covers everything and anything I'd want to do.
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I do agree that the larger benchstones make it much easier to keep a steady hand and work a larger area, and it's definitely more difficult to work with the smaller hones. But unless you're sharpening a chopper or large kitchen knife, you can make do with them. Those larger benchstones are pretty pricey, after all.
 
calc said:
I do agree that the larger benchstones make it much easier to keep a steady hand and work a larger area, and it's definitely more difficult to work with the smaller hones. But unless you're sharpening a chopper or large kitchen knife, you can make do with them. Those larger benchstones are pretty pricey, after all.
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That's why the 6x2" set is perfect for most people. Under $100 for 3 grits and a nice wooden box
 
ManOfSteel89 said:
That's why the 6x2" set is perfect for most people. Under $100 for 3 grits and a nice wooden box
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Yeah, the box sounds like it makes a big difference. I have to resort to clamping my Diafolds down, but it works OK. I just have to worry about blade wobble since it's just 2" wide, but a steady hand solves that. Really nice for the price if you can deal with that.
 
ncrockclimb said:
You were not long winded at all. I really appreciated your comprehensive response!
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Thanks. Words of advice:

If you're not good at sharpening and care about your expensive knives and won't send them to me..

1. Send them to me:)

2. Practice on cheap junk that you don't care about first. If you can get a cheap Chinese steel knife to shave you can get about anything sharp! Lol

3. Don't mess up nice stuff and then try to send it off, most guys will charge the hell out of you to fix a butcher job.

4. Try the sharpie trick.
 
The sharpie works well for me. I can't get my stuff that 'hair popping' sharp but it works great to get a good working edge. It takes lots of time on a stone to get good. So don't give up the first few trys. Each time will get easier it just consistency and repetition.
 
So I feel pretty confident sharpening O1, A2, 52100, etc. I can get my stuff hair popping sharp with a high level of consistency. How much more difficult is sharpening 3V?

For re profiling and non-strop sharpening, I have been using a KME system with diamond plates. IMHO, this is a really easy way to get your knives insanely sharp with relative ease. Just follow the directions...

Also, the Sharpie and practice on a cheap blade is are the most valuable tools for learning to sharpen.
 
I only use my sharp maker on my S! knives. (Like MoS said I don't wanna butcher the edge and send it to Guy to laugh about) with that said it usually takes 20 strokes or less each side on my fine stones. I don't let it get far before I touch it up cause it just means more work. But to me its pretty simple to maintain. Just keep up with it like any other steel.
 
The real reason I started sharpening is the fact that one day I might not have a sharpening system or an electric power tool to sharpen my tools. Sharpening by hand is an invaluable skill IMHO.
 
This is my favorite new thread!

1. Where does Ceramic fit in with stones and strops? In between? Is this more of a finishing step?


2. Who really pays attention to edge angles? Some people seem really happy free handing in the field, but then I hear other guys talking about the differences and benefits between 17 and 20 degrees per side!
 
I'm not sure about ceramics. Or the best angle but the sharpie trick will help you maintain the angle that's already on a blade.

And your right MoS it us invaluable cause out in the field you don't have electricity. Thats why I go, its as far from my work as I can get.
 
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