New guy here. Best sharpener?

B

brojr

Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
5
Hello, I am new to the site, I have a few knives I would like to sharpen. I have been using a course stone and then a fine Arkansas stone with oil. Is there a better way? or faster way? Thanks everyone.
 
There are about as many ways to sharpen as there are leaves on a tree. For speed and cost nothing beats a 1x30 belt sander with a 220 or higher belt. this is used to set the edge and some use finer grits and even leather belts to finish with. I use the belt sander for garden tools and to remove damage and reset the edge angle before going to stones on my better knives. As far as stones go I prefer the modern ceramic japanese waterstones. The only brand I've used is shapton and they are excellent, the Shapton Pro 1000 grit cuts as fast as my coarse diamond stones and leaves a fine razor sharp edge. I've heard great things about the Bester 500 grit ceramic, supposedly it wears less than the shapton 1000 (very slow wearing, I've done dozens of knives with it with barely any flattening required) and cuts faster than dmt's coarsest diamond stones.

There are numerous sharpening systems out there, the two most popular ones here are the Spyderco Sharpmaker and Edge pro Apex. Both excellent but sort of at different ends of the spectrum. The sharpmaker is an inexpensive and simple system designed to keep knives sharp, it can be used to reprofile the edge or remove damage but it takes a very long time. The apex is an extremely flexible top to bottom system using an angle guide with the stone mounted to a sliding rod. The idea is similar to a lansky but implemented far far better. The apex comes with different stones depending on what package you want, the coarse one cuts very fast and the fine leaves a mirror polish. It's a bit of a hassle to set up compared to a couple benchstones but you'll be rewarded by a perfectly ground and polished bevel.
 
if you are looking for something that is fast there are the cardboard wheels but you have to learn how to use them first. it took me about a week. i have a short video a forum member posted for me on youtube and a few that i can send you in an email. if you want to know more send me an email. here is the link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plMbnQMQJMg the video shows how fast it is to work up a burr first. to remove the burr and polish the edge takes about half the time but i dont have a video showing that yet.
 
My personal preference is a course DMT diamond bench stone, followed by a course alumina ceramic stone(which is a rather medium grit, sa they go), then I go to a fine alumina ceramic stone(which is realler very fine). The alumina ceramic stoners are made by Spyderco. After I'm done on the stones, I move on to the strop. Freehand sharpening is the only way to go in my opinion. It is very quick, doesn't require alot of equipment,and is easy to do in the field, or away from home. Once you become proficent at it. Also, freehand sharpening is becoming a thing of the past, and should be preserved as the forgotten art form that it is. Enough of that though, I'v been on that soap-box many times on this forum. These are just my opinions though, everyone has their own preferences, and thats okay. If you need some help with your technique, you've come to the right place. There's alot of great advice floating around here, all you have to do is ask. If there's anything I can do, feel free to ask, I'm always glad to help.
 
brojr said:
Hello, I am new to the site, I have a few knives I would like to sharpen. I have been using a course stone and then a fine Arkansas stone with oil. Is there a better way? or faster way? Thanks everyone.
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If you don't want to make a hobby of sharpening your knives, get the Spyderco Sharpmaker and you will have a convenient, easy, simple, effective way to sharpen and maintain your knives. If you want to make this a hobby, hang around this forum and keep asking questions. Be forewarned, it will cost you time and money, but it's fun. :D
 
+1 on DMT hones they cut fast no matter the steel.
 
So it seems like you are already skilld in free hand sharpening so you are not a novice and do not need Sharpmaker to start sharpening. You may follow up your procedure with green rouge on leather to make you knife whittling hair sharp. And I think DMT diamonds will be faster then anything else (and cleaner).

Thanks, Vassili.
 
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