Newbie needs sharpening advice

fsatsil

fsatsil

Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Messages
839
First id just like to say thanks to all the great people in the forums for all the wonderful and informative posts, I have learned alot browsing the forums this past year.. I got into knives about a year ago when i wanted to get a decent knife to replace the crappy Gerber Fast Draw(peice of crap) I had been using for years. I ended up with a Kershaw Skyline and I was hooked i now have about 6 other knives mostly Kershaw. Anyways Ill get to my question now.

I am pretty new to free-hand sharpening with a benchstone. I picked up a few inexpensive stones to get me started. I have the following.
Smiths DCS4 diamond combo stone (325/750grit)
Smith Tri-6 3 stone system (coarse, soft ark, hard ark)
Norton alum oxide combo coarse/fine

Ive been able to get my knives very sharp, but I cant seem to get that mirror polished edge that ive seen in pictures on this forum. If my knife needs just a quick touch up ill just give it a few swipes on the hard Arkansas stone. But for the more dull blades I start with the fine diamond followed by the soft and then hard Arkansas stones. I finish it off with a few strokes on a homemade leather strop. Do I need a finer stone then the hard Ark.? If so whats a good inexpensive choice? One more question. Ive heard that Arkansas stones are not a good choice for some of the newer stainless steels, would this be true for the Sandvik 14c28 that most of my Knives are made of? Thanks
Frank
 
the Arkansas will work on the Sandvik, I used a translucent on S30V the other day, just takes a lot of strokes. You don't have any tungsten or vanadium carbide, so there won't be an issue. You need a finer stone for a mirror finish, what's your budget?
 
Id like to keep it under $50 if possible. Maybe a translucent or black arkansas stone? Has anyone tried the Falkniven dc4/dc3 stones ? How fine is the ceramic side??
 
I have a DC4, the ceramic side is not smooth, has saw marks. It still refines the edge from the diamond side. You can get a 8x2 translucent Arkansas 2nd from Sierra Trading Post for under $50. (then they will send you coupons for 20% off + free shipping, or 30% off, so maybe order something else first and get those email offers to save more)
 
Try some leather strops and different grades of compound. They are about $10 each on the Net, already mounted on wood, and I think that will give you the extra polish and edge you are looking for. The blade should be plenty sharp before stropping. Don't use tons of pressure and make sure the back of the blade is leading, much like stropping a razor except don't use a free swinging strap.
 
It sounds like you have a goodly number of quality knives, and want quality edges on them.

You're going to eventually spend several hundred dollars on stones and other sharpening equipment.

Why not just save up a couple of hundred bucks right now and get an EDGE-PRO APEX. It will keep all of your blades shaving sharp with very little effort.

www.edgepropinc.com
 
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I think Ziggy's idea is the one to try. The strop should give you what you want. Most are happy w/ sharp edges. DM
 
Thanks for all the advice. I just made myself a homemade strop out of some leather I got from a local shoe shop and I picked up some green compund from the local hardware store. I gave my Kershaw Leek a couple of stokes on the strop and it definitly made a differance in the sharpness, but it looks like it would take quitea while to get a mirror shine on the edge. I think maybe a finer stone inbetween the hard Ark and the strop may help cut this time down. What do you guys think?? Has anyone tried these extra fine ceramic stones that DMT makes??
http://www.agrussell.com/dmt-mini-whetstone-sharpener/p/DMThhhA4EE/
http://www.agrussell.com/dmt-diamond-card/p/DMThhhD3F/

Would something like that be a good choice or am i better off with a black or translucent ark. stone? thanks again.
 
fsatsil said:
Thanks for all the advice. I just made myself a homemade strop out of some leather I got from a local shoe shop and I picked up some green compund from the local hardware store. I gave my Kershaw Leek a couple of stokes on the strop and it definitly made a differance in the sharpness, but it looks like it would take quitea while to get a mirror shine on the edge. I think maybe a finer stone inbetween the hard Ark and the strop may help cut this time down. What do you guys think?? Has anyone tried these extra fine ceramic stones that DMT makes??
http://www.agrussell.com/dmt-mini-whetstone-sharpener/p/DMThhhA4EE/
http://www.agrussell.com/dmt-diamond-card/p/DMThhhD3F/

Would something like that be a good choice or am i better off with a black or translucent ark. stone? thanks again.
Click to expand...
strop with black compound, then green
 
the A4EE is a 3 micron diamond stone, not the ceramic, that seems to be an error on the site.
 
Thanks for all the info guys. I was wondering if anyone has a chart or something that shows the grits of different stones? It gets a bit confusing with the way differant types of stones are marked. For example

diamond- 300(coarse), 600(fine), 1200(xfine)
waterstones- 1000(fine), 4000(xfine), 8000(polishing)
India stones- coarse, medium, fine
Arkansas- washita, soft, hard, black, translucent
Ceramic- fine, xfine, ultrafine

How do all the numbers and names compare to each other?? Should i stick to one kind of stone or can I mix and match??
 
fsat, Your black hard Arkansas is fine enough to go from it to the strop. Mine will shave my face after this. Just work the burrs off w/ light strokes on the black stone then strop lightly. Good luck. DM
 
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