Need sharpening advice.

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Papp71

Joined
Jun 30, 2010
Messages
104
I've recently become highly interested in quality knives and have purchased a few Esee's, an Emerson Commander, and a couple Spyderco's.

My problem is I know very little about maintaining the edge on my blades. i currently have a basic lansky set up, but I just cant achieve the sharpness I am looking for. I will be taking an 8 month vacation to the sandbox soon, and I need a good kit to keep my blades sharp, and it also needs to be fairly compact.

And I would love to learn more about different blade materials, grinds, angles, and sharpening techniques, and anything else you awesome people here on blade forums think I should know. Thanks in advance.

Semper Fi,
Ken.
 
The Lansky CAN get things sharp, though I don't know very much about it. You could start reading all the sharpening topics that are a couple pages long, and you will pick up a lot.

Knifenut1013 has some good posts on sharpening, raising a burr, strops, etc. that you can search for, or he has links to them in his sig.

After you have read more, you will be able to ask more specific questions that will get better answers.
 
I'm sure everything that I'm looking for has already been covered, But to be honest I just don't have the time to read through everything to find what I'm looking for.
I guess basically I just need some tips and techniques, and some recommended tools.
 
The Lansky is great for smaller blades, less great for larger ones. Do you have the full set(Up to extra-fine-yellow holder white stone)?

The DMT aligner is a little more compact than the Lansky, but the Lansky is good enough. If you can get a smaller box and fit only the clamp, the hones and one rod, it's better.

With the Lansky, make your first sharpening session a full reprofile. Use the coarsest stone and, for as long as it takes, grind away at the bevel until the angle is completely changed to your liking. Once you raise a burr on both sides it should be good enough.

Raise, and remove, the burr at each grit. Even at the lowest grit, aim to remove the burr with very light strokes. Every time you move up a grit, work at the edge until the scratches from the previous grit are completely gone. Again, finish with minute pressure to remove burrs. At the highest grit you should have a great edge.
 
I don't want to recommend new stuff when it's not necessary, but I found the DMT Aligner to be a nice upgrade to the Lansky. It works faster and is more portable.
 
wongKI said:
I don't want to recommend new stuff when it's not necessary, but I found the DMT Aligner to be a nice upgrade to the Lansky. It works faster and is more portable.
Click to expand...

Have you found out yet if the angle measurement settings on the DMT are per side or inclusive?
 
Stay safe and sharp on your trip and thank you.

DMT diafolds are probably your best bet, they work fast and are very effective, also light, compact, and require minimal maintenance. You can go for the aligner clamp but it will probably be easier to just freehand it. Don't worry, freehand is easier than you think.

If you would like over the phone lessons send me a email.
 
knifenut1013 said:
Stay safe and sharp on your trip and thank you.

DMT diafolds are probably your best bet, they work fast and are very effective, also light, compact, and require minimal maintenance. You can go for the aligner clamp but it will probably be easier to just freehand it. Don't worry, freehand is easier than you think.

If you would like over the phone lessons send me a email.
Click to expand...

Thank you.

I actually have a diafold, coarse and fine, but I have only played around with it and didn't get any good results. Maybe you could explain your preferred method?
 
Diamonds are unlike any other stone and require break-in time, proper use of pressure, and a understanding of bevel formation and burr formation for proper use.

Reading some of the threads in my sig will help to understand some of the above.

The diafold you have now is good but I would add the EF/EEF (green and tan) for a more refined razor edge. Adding a XC or coarse norton bench stone wouldn't be a bad idea either.


Page 3 of "The first sharpening" explains my pressure point method.
 
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