My sharpening skills suck

donkey12

donkey12

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Thread says it all. I recently acquired an older buck 119 with I believe 425M steel. The edge was a mess, sharp at the tip but resharpened and dull everywhere else. I used a lansky guided system with regular stones and got a decent profile back but not really sharp. Then moved to a diamond stone of medium and fine. Also tried a norton combination oil stone. I can get it sharp enough to cut paper but it's a bit jagged. When I pull out a factory knife with a fresh edge it cuts cleanly. I'm thinking my angle is off or not being kept steady. The lansky was used at 25 degrees. Is there a better system out there? I want to try the spyderco sharpmaker.
 
There's a plethora of sharpening systems out there, most will require a learning curve.

This part of the forum will provide a lot of information, I suggest checking the threads there

Maintenance tinkering section

G2

edited to say I see a moderator has relocated your thread into the Maintenance section now ;)
 
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Patience, and maybe a more acute angle. Did you achieve a burr? I freehand sharpen using an angle guide (an ancient Buck Honemaster) when re-profiling an edge. I start with a coarse DMT until there's a burr, then move on to the medium (I rarely use extra fine except for woodworking tools).
 
I used to use croc sticks, different kinds of Sharpeners, but for me I have found I like a flat stone best. I can control the angle better and it keeps the bevel flat intead of an unintentional convex edge. I have spent ALOT of time working on my sharpening skills and honestly still struggle with some blades, I feel like some of them get a stubborn burr that will not break off clean and they never seem to get really sharp no matter how much I work them. Most I can easily get sharp enough that you feel it grabbing the hairs on your arm, but there is that occasional one that always seems to be a struggle :rolleyes: in my experience Bucks will usually take a screaming sharp edge fairly quickly
 
Buck steel is tricky.

I highly suggest you practice on some cheap knives. Because if you're not careful, you'll jack a blade up. So if you jack a blade up. Do it on some $8 Wal-Mart knife. Get a feel to what's going on.

It's not your system. I learned on a Lansky and if you can learn to lay an edge with one. Everything else is much easier.
 
Start with thin kitchen knives. They provide almost instant gratification.

Learn to hold your angle repeatedly and keep at it. It is how we all learned.

Take a green stick and slice the bark off. That is the same motion you use on a stone. Picture the bark peeling off the stone.
 
IMHO the rod systems are better for finishing and maintaining than establishing bevels.
I really think most of the time it's simply not enough grinding on the bench stone has been done to pull a nice burr up all the way down the length of the edge. Not so much a angle problem. Once ya do pull a full length burr on each side, finish on the fine side of the India with some steeper angles and light strokes, then a finisher like a set of crock sticks or the sharpmaker to put the final edge on. Also to maintain that edge dam-near forever before needing to go back to the stone.
If you want to get a perfect bevel the worksharp pro does a great job. Even with that rig, I still always maintain and touch up on the sticks.
I also occasionally like to use my home made Edge pro-ish rig. Usually though just free hand followed by crock stick= as sharp or sharper than almost any factory new knife you will come across.
 
I just “re-discovered” the 12” crock stick. I use the Lansky on a Buck 118 440c at first and it was ok but not great. Finished with the crock stick and what a difference.
 
Well guess I will go find my old croc stick too. Forgot I had it. Watching other videos I see some techniques that are better than mine.
 
I have a 119 I use as a kitchen knife and just sharpened it yesterday. I use a Work Sharp Precision Adjust and I sharpened it at 20 degrees went 800 grit to ceramic it passed the arm hair shaving test no problem. That said you may not be at the correct angle perhaps marking the edge with a sharpie to be sure you are removing steel on the edge and if you remove the sharpie mark you are at the correct angle and if so just start gritty 300 to 400 then a medium say 800 to 1000 finish up with ceramic ir strop and that should shave. One other thing and you may know all this is to keep sharpening until you get a good burr rolled up. That is a recipe I've used for years and it has always kept my knives sharp. It helps I also believe after using the knife a few times I just hit it a few strokes on the ceramic or strop and then they stay sharp.
Best of luck on your sharpening and if you know this stuff already just consider it the ramblings of an old man. :D
 
No I appreciate any and all input. I have considered getting one of those work sharps. I do enjoy a stone though too.
 
It takes patience, perseverance and a desire to conquer. But mostly it takes a lot of practice sharpening with the method you go with. Once you get to the level where you have a screaming sharp edge that will cut you just looking at it, you will then enjoy it and think it’s easy as pulling your socks on.

I grew up sharpening knives first by hand whet stones then with a belt sander then I tried a Lansky precision setup and it was good for resetting or changing the edge angle but it seemed slow and time consuming for regular maintenance so I just use it occasionally for setting the edge angle only. After the angle is set then I just use a hand sharpener for regular edge maintenance.

You will also learn that different types of steels will behave differently and will take a little bit different technique. A few I’ve run across about drove me crazy but eventually I learned what I needed to do to get it sharp. If you like challenges you should do well.
 
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