new guy here, bunch of questions

tonydahose · Oct 28, 2005

moderator please move if i posted in the wrong forum...thanks

hello all. my name is tony. i found a link to your site about getting knives razor sharp(good read) with stropping. i checked the faq above and while very technical i couldn't find answers to a few questions. so here they are.

1) i currently have blade master sharpening kit(3 stones black,red and green handle) should i keep this or is it crap. if i should keep it, is there a way to clean the stones? i also have what i think is an Arkansas wet stone(i bought it years ago to sharpen my chisels) both the rough and fine side have a little grove in the middle from sharpening the chisels. is this useless now for sharpening knives because of the grove? or is there a way to dress the stones and make them uniformly flat again? if both of these are useless what sharpening kit should i get at a reasonable price? i also have a 4" triangular stone for the small serrations. nothing for the big ones.

2) the knives i use right now is a spyderco endura with half the blade serrated. i use this at work(i'm a fireman) and it gets a fair amount of abuse. the other one is my daily walk around knife which i just got and its a spyderco kopa. what degrees should i use to sharpen them? do they get sharper than the original factory edge with stropping?

3) the knives that i really want to get razor sharp are my kitchen knives. the are henkels international. they don't say what type of steel they are (just no stain) on them. most are made in spain, the cleaver in germany. what would be the best way to sharpen these? angle? stone and then strop? or the metal rod?

i appreciate any and all answers. by looking at this site it looks like their is alot of knowledge on here, if you could pass any along to me i'd appreciate it.

on another note what do you guys think of the spyderco product? i was turned on to them when i was a police officer. i have had mine now for 6+ years and love it.

Jeff Clark · Oct 28, 2005

Clean your stones with an old tooth brush, sink scouring cleanser and hot water. If your sharpener has flat surfaces on the stones it won't work for serrated knives so another system would be nice. In general you will be better off with longer hones. It may seem expensive, but I suggest you find a Spyderco Sharpmaker. You can save money getting it on the internet. This sets up about 10 inch triangular rods in a V configuration. You sharpen by holding your blade vertical and stroking the edge down the rods. The triangular rods can be rotated to allow stroking the flats or the edges of the rods (great for serrations). This setup will handle your kitchen knives well. You don't really need a strop or a steel for practical purposes. A Sharpmaker will handle sharpening and regular edge maintenance conveniently.

You may want something coarse to do initial edge thinning work before the sharpmaker if your kitchen knives get extremely dull. Go to a wood worker's store to look for a wide selection of bench hones. The best choice is around a 220 grit water stone if you can find one at a reasonable price. Get a long hone for this purpose, at least 8-inches. Even a 1000 grit cuts pretty fast if it is a water stone. Primarily sharpen kitchen knives at 15 degrees per side (30 degrees bevel-to-bevel, it would be labeled 30-degrees on a Sharpmaker).

I doubt you will increase the sharpness of a Spyderco by simple stropping. They do a pretty good job at the factory. Be careful if you strop to match the angle of the blade bevel and don't use too much pressure--you might dull the edge that way. A woodworkers store would have strops.

wwells20 · Oct 28, 2005

tonydahose, welcome! (good advice....), listen to Jeff Clark, he knows what he's talking about.

MGF · Oct 29, 2005

From one pretty much newbie here to another, I can tell you the Sharpmaker is 45 bucks or so well spent. Simple, very efffective, portable, comes with a great instructional video ... best sharpening purchase I've ever made.

How you liking that Kopa? I've got the model with cocobola scales and love it. :thumbup:

tonydahose · Oct 29, 2005

the spyderco sharpening system was the one i was thinking of getting...question for you will it sharpen the larger serrations of the knives?

tonydahose · Oct 29, 2005

forgot to say thx first for the replies. question on the strops. i have been looking at the ones on ebay. do i need a new one or can i get a used one? horsehide, cow hide or pig? from the one big thread i think somebody just used an old belt so i gathered it really doesnt matter its just the technique and the compound

fulloflead · Oct 29, 2005

Do like Jeff Clark says and get the Sharpmaker and something coarse for when you have to remove a lot of material. The Sharpmaker is good if, and only if, you're close to sharp. If you have to remove any kind of metal, you'll be there for days with the Sharpmaker. Get the video that comes with it. There's NOTHING better than the Sharpmaker for serrations!

I used to recommend a strop form Knifecenter that they had for $20. I've had it for years, but I don't see it on their site anymore and the cheapest one I see there is about $41.

I've also made strops from 2.5" strips of leather from a place called Crazy Crow. You're right, though, it's not terribly important. Just don't get one mounted to a board; they're better if they flex.

Stropping will make an almost-shaving-sharp knife shave - usually. Stropping will maintain an edge much longer between sharpenings when you do it frequently. It will make a factory edge a little sharper but won't do anything to a utility edge. It will only have a noticible effect on edges that are around shaving sharp.

For kitchen knives you need a steel (a smooth one) which does something different than a strop does. It doesn't polish and refine an edge like a strop does, but rather, it stands an edge back up that has started to roll one way or the other from striking a cutting surface like a cutting board. Never use a glass, metal, stone or any other hard cutting board, by the way. Wood is good, but plastic is best because it's more sanitary.

I must object to the concept of getting kitchen knves "razor sharp"! I did that once. ONCE! It scared the living poo out of my girlfriend who is a person just this side of clumsy. At first, I kinda laughed at her, but then I got to thinking about it and felt guilty about putting her delicate fingers at risk like that. It doesn't take much to lose the tip of a finger while cutting carrots or to bump into one sitting on the cutting board with the heel of your hand. I switched to "utility sharp" (discussed in the Sharpmaker video) and haven't looked back. There's not enough difference in kitchen performance to matter much, but I feel the safety difference is significant. But that's just my opinion.

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tonydahose · Oct 31, 2005

fulloflead said:
For kitchen knives you need a steel (a smooth one) which does something different than a strop does.

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i have a steel it is also a henkels but it has very thin lines running up and down the length of the shaft. do i need a different one?

fulloflead · Oct 31, 2005

tonydahose said:
i have a steel it is also a henkels but it has very thin lines running up and down the length of the shaft. do i need a different one?

Yeah, you need a different one. Those ridges tear at the edge of the knife and make it rough, worsening the situation and causing the knife to wear and dull prematurely. I don't even know why they make them.

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