Lost my touch with the benchstone :/

K

KennyB

Joined
Jan 19, 2010
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I picked up some old kitchen knives from the thrift store today and I sat down to sharpen them. Put a really nice edge on , nice and uniform bevel width, a great tip and one very flat plane from the grinding. Then as I set about "honing" the edge it just never seemed to get really sharp. I remember it use to take quite a while to get the right combination between light pressure, and not rolling or over-grinding the apex but it just seemed like I kept rolling the edge over despite the fact that I was keeping the angle very consistent.

I'm really not sure what's going on here. I decided to just finish up the edge on my DMT credit card sharpener instead and it's nice and hair shaving. I don't really think it's so much a problem with my tools, but I don't know what I'm doing differently--if anything I'd say I'm grinding my bevels in better than I ever have.

*smacks forehead*

Forgot to mention I'm using a Norton 1000 grit waterstone.
 
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There are days when I can just feel the 'mojo' isn't in my hands. Sometimes it just goes away for a little bit, and I just don't feel it. I think it's more mental distractions getting in my way. I've noticed I'm usually at my best, when I've been spending a lot of time thinking about the process, for any number of reasons. Might be pondering a question asked here on the forum, which often gets the sharpening marbles rolling around in my brain, and I'll just pick up a knife or a hone, or both, and just start fiddling with them. I've often picked up a hone and just rubbed it with my fingers, kind of like a worry stone and, in some indistinct moment, something just starts to 'click' in my mind, and I'll pick up a blade and start sharpening away. And just like that, it's 'back'.

At any rate, I've just accepted that there will be days when I'm off my game, and that's OK. I have started to realize it always comes back, sooner or later. I think the hands never lose it (like riding a bike; the muscle memory will always be there), but sometimes the brain gets in the way. And that always seems to be a temporary inconvenience, so I don't fight it anymore. Just let it run it's course. :)


David
 
Yeah, but this is seeming like more of a one-time thing, it's happened the last few times I tried the benchstone. Just figured I didn't have enough patience with it the last couple of times, but this time I feel like it should have came out sharp with the extra attention I was paying to it.
 
happened to me kinda recently, went a few weeks where I could not get an edge without stropping on diamond treated leather for a extended period. Things got better eventually. Of course I still strop when I want the highest level of sharpness, but I am getting smooth edges at coarser grits again.
 
KennyB said:
Yeah, but this is seeming like more of a one-time thing, it's happened the last few times I tried the benchstone. Just figured I didn't have enough patience with it the last couple of times, but this time I feel like it should have came out sharp with the extra attention I was paying to it.
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That Norton waterstone is (IMHO) not a good choice for softer steels like a cheap kitchen knife, they're made for far tougher/harder steels. Try sharpening it on the bottom of a mixing bowl or coffee cup and you'll probably get better results.
 
HeavyHanded said:
That Norton waterstone is (IMHO) not a good choice for softer steels like a cheap kitchen knife, they're made for far tougher/harder steels. Try sharpening it on the bottom of a mixing bowl or coffee cup and you'll probably get better results.
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I suppose this could be it because the last few knives I've tried on it were only kitchen knives, I've just been touching up my EDCs regularly. But it did come out really well off of the DMT... I suppose the wearing/slurry effect of the waterstone and the softer steel is just leading to it the apex being rolled over and over again. It's like I have to go to a lighter-than-a-feather touch on the Norton with these, meanwhile the DMT sharpens them just the same as my other knives.
 
KennyB said:
I suppose this could be it because the last few knives I've tried on it were only kitchen knives, I've just been touching up my EDCs regularly. But it did come out really well off of the DMT... I suppose the wearing/slurry effect of the waterstone and the softer steel is just leading to it the apex being rolled over and over again. It's like I have to go to a lighter-than-a-feather touch on the Norton with these, meanwhile the DMT sharpens them just the same as my other knives.
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What I've found is that my King stones and Nortons do not behave the same with all steels - there seems to be a range of steels/harness ratings they each prefer. For my softer cheaper kitchen knives I keep it simple and get better results - I stick with a combination bench stone, butcher's steel, black compound on newspaper. Recently did my utility knife on a coffee cup stropped with plain newspaper. It turned out very nice. Soft Chinese stainless does not smile on additional effort or higher performing abrasives - an $8 S. American machete has better heat treat and steel than most of the cheaper kitchen knives.
 
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