Newbie sharpening :)

L

letsgo

Joined
Mar 8, 2010
Messages
61
Hey guys!

So some of you know I just got my new Kershaw R.A.M 1910/ I am so pleased with it.

I want to know which would be best for a newbie sharpening his knife.

Which would be good? I want to spend the least that I can. This would be my first sharpening tools and first time sharpening a knife.

1) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846


2) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470939031&pf_rd_i=507846

Would you recommend just using one or two stones and which kind?

I do not want to spend about 50 on a sharpmaker. :p
 
I own a sharpmaker and a couple of waterstones.
When beginning sharpening, I know for a fact that the sharpmaker saved me a lot of frustration, not to mention that it kept me from ruining my knives.

I'd go with an easy foolproof solution first. if you like it, you can always move to stones later.
go with lansky, I hear good stuff about it.
 
I gotta go along with Knifenut on this one. I'd especially recommend
DMT DMGEF Diafold Magna-Guide Sharpening System by DMT (Diamond Machining Technology) found mid-way down the page, along with the first and third stone on the same page. It's very, very easy to use, teaches you the important aspects of sharpening a knife (so if you wish to go free-hand- later you'll have a firm grasp of the theory) and will put a hair splitting edge on just about any knife.

Stitchawl
 
If your knife is just slightly dull and you do not plan to let it get really dull the crock sticks work great. If you need to bring an edge back then you will need the DMT sharpeners.
 
I'm not good at sharpening; I can get a knife to cut paper fine and barely shave hair.

But in my opinion if you want cheap, buy a sharpening (whet) stone with a medium and fine side.
Also using a leather belt or magazine paper can help to get your knife sharp again if the edge is not damaged (to much). Other people use a steel for that.

This would also eliminate the headache in deciding which system to buy, which stones and how to operate them. And you can sharpen a lot more then knives with a stone.

I would also whatever sharpening tool you decide to buy, practice on a cheap knife first.
 
I am also new to sharpening (I need to ween myself off the help of friends)and have it narrowed down to the Diafold Magna-Guide Sharpening or DMT deluxe aligner, is there a real advantage to either? They both seem to use the same guide?

Also, I have BM 940, and just added the BM 707 and BM 950, is there a setting I should use, or should I just stick to the sharpie on the edge and find the appropriate angle?

Thanks Gus
 
stitchawl said:
I gotta go along with Knifenut on this one. I'd especially recommend
DMT DMGEF Diafold Magna-Guide Sharpening System by DMT (Diamond Machining Technology) found mid-way down the page, along with the first and third stone on the same page. It's very, very easy to use, teaches you the important aspects of sharpening a knife (so if you wish to go free-hand- later you'll have a firm grasp of the theory) and will put a hair splitting edge on just about any knife.

Stitchawl
Click to expand...

So http://www.amazon.com/DMT-FWFC-Doub...1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1268709200&sr=8-1

would be perfect for my kershaw 1910 (RAM) and my soon to get a spyderco native, delica or endura? If i do it wrong would I mess up the blade? I do not really know if my knife will get really dull as I just got it recently, so I hopefully will not let it go super super dull...

Is it worth the extra 5 dollars than the tri hone and extra 10 than the crox?
 
The smiths and crock sticks are cheap and will not bring very good results so truthfully I would forget about them.

Any sharpening tool can mess up a blade if you don't follow directions.
 
letsgo said:
So http://www.amazon.com/DMT-FWFC-Doub...1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1268709200&sr=8-1

would be perfect for my kershaw 1910 (RAM) and my soon to get a spyderco native, delica or endura? If i do it wrong would I mess up the blade? I do not really know if my knife will get really dull as I just got it recently, so I hopefully will not let it go super super dull...
Click to expand...

It would be 'just about' perfect. To really do it correctly you'll probably want the 'extra' fine too. Believe me, it's worth it to do it correctly the first time if you want satisfying results. And no, you will NOT mess up the blade. (Sorry, Knifenut, but I believe the DMT is virtually idiot-proof!) The system really IS that easy to use. RTFM and you'll be OK. Remember... very little pressure is needed. You don't GRIND down the edge, you sharpen it.

Is it worth the extra 5 dollars than the tri hone and extra 10 than the crox?
Click to expand...

The Tri-hone is very nice. And once you learn to sharpen well, that would work for you. Stones and free-hand sharpening worked fine for Grandpa. But there is a looooong learning curve compared with using a guided system. You will turn out a razorblade on your first try using the DMT guide system. You can do the same thing after a few months of practice with the Tri-hone. The croc sticks are 'nice' to have for 'touching up' an edge that's been used a few times. It's NOT something you really want to use to do the actual sharpening.

Stitchawl
 
gus68 said:
I am also new to sharpening (I need to ween myself off the help of friends)and have it narrowed down to the Diafold Magna-Guide Sharpening or DMT deluxe aligner, is there a real advantage to either? They both seem to use the same guide?

Also, I have BM 940, and just added the BM 707 and BM 950, is there a setting I should use, or should I just stick to the sharpie on the edge and find the appropriate angle?

Thanks Gus
Click to expand...

It's my understanding they're both the same.... the Magna-Guide was created to adopt the Diafolds to the Aligner.

http://www.dmtsharp.com/press/dmgef.htm

If you're new to sharpening, and the bevel is decent, matching the bevel (or as close as you can) is a good start. As your experience grows, you can alter it to suit your needs.

cbw
 
stitchawl said:
It would be 'just about' perfect. To really do it correctly you'll probably want the 'extra' fine too. Believe me, it's worth it to do it correctly the first time if you want satisfying results. And no, you will NOT mess up the blade. (Sorry, Knifenut, but I believe the DMT is virtually idiot-proof!) The system really IS that easy to use. RTFM and you'll be OK. Remember... very little pressure is needed. You don't GRIND down the edge, you sharpen it.



The Tri-hone is very nice. And once you learn to sharpen well, that would work for you. Stones and free-hand sharpening worked fine for Grandpa. But there is a looooong learning curve compared with using a guided system. You will turn out a razorblade on your first try using the DMT guide system. You can do the same thing after a few months of practice with the Tri-hone. The croc sticks are 'nice' to have for 'touching up' an edge that's been used a few times. It's NOT something you really want to use to do the actual sharpening.

Stitchawl
Click to expand...

It seems that the DMT and the tri hone use the same technique isnt it? Dont you put the Tri hone on the table just like the stone of the tri hone and then use the same technique to sharpen the knife?

What makes the DMT "beginner proof?" ON http://www.amazon.com/DMT-FWFC-Doub...ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1268765815&sr=8-1 I don't see a guide system.

Ill prob get the DMT as it is "beginner proof" and would get me a sharp razors edge on my first try.
 
letsgo said:
It seems that the DMT and the tri hone use the same technique isnt it? Dont you put the Tri hone on the table just like the stone of the tri hone and then use the same technique to sharpen the knife?

What makes the DMT "beginner proof?" ON http://www.amazon.com/DMT-FWFC-Doub...ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1268765815&sr=8-1 I don't see a guide system.

Ill prob get the DMT as it is "beginner proof" and would get me a sharp razors edge on my first try.
Click to expand...

OK... I see the problem.
You are looking at just one thing and we are talking about a 'group' of things being used together.

The DMT 'Aligner' is a clamping device that holds the knife blade in place at the front, and has guide holes in the back through which a rod slides backwards and forwards. The other end of this rod has either another clamp which holds a stone, or a magnet attached that will hold a folding pocket stone
Take a close look at the clamp system on the left side of this photo
http://www.dmtsharp.com/products/other.htm
You can see the stone clamped into the guide-rod, and the rod going through the guide ring at the back of the Aligner clamp device.

With the knife blade clamped into the front of the device, that rod hold the stone at a precise angle in relation to the stone, so that each time you change stones, the angle stays the same and you get a perfect edge.
Here is the instruction pdf for the "Aligner" system
http://www.dmtsharp.com/products/aligner_instructions.pdf

Looks just a little complicated, but read it again. And once it's in your hand, you'll see there is very little that can go wrong. 'Almost' foolproof. 'Almost.' And certainly much MUCH easier to get a great edge than free-hand for a beginning sharpener.

The Magna-guide uses a magnet instead of a clamp to hold the stone. This mean you can use other sizes or shapes of stones. You can use the 'dedicated' Aligner stones, or, as Knifenut recommends, use the folding double sided diamond stones.
http://www.dmtsharp.com/products/diafold.htm
Both of these will work with the Magna-guide, but not with the Aligner clamp, so perhaps a bit more versatile.

Hope this clears it up a bit.

Stitchawl
 
"The Magna-guide uses a magnet instead of a clamp to hold the stone. This mean you can use other sizes or shapes of stones. You can use the 'dedicated' Aligner stones, or, as Knifenut recommends, use the folding double sided diamond stones.
http://www.dmtsharp.com/products/diafold.htm
Both of these will work with the Magna-guide, but not with the Aligner clamp, so perhaps a bit more versatile. "

then the Magna-guide should work with the small DMT 4" stones?
 
I'm sure they will work fine but remember that sharpening is a learned skill and can take years to create you own technique. Any sharpening tool will do its job but you are always the sharpener.
 
Thanks.

So any of those should be fine right?

Any advantage to the whetstones vs the other one i linked?

Also, I have seen someone put 2 quarters on one side of the diafold and then using that as like a guide for sharpening the blade...is that a good idea?
 
I would go with the C/F diafold to start then get the EF/EEF when you want really sharp. You could even add the aligner clamp down the road to test out guided sharpening.

The quarter trick will work fine, 2 quarter would be about 10-12 degrees on a 1 inch tall blade, about perfect for a folder.
 
knifenut1013 said:
I would go with the C/F diafold to start then get the EF/EEF when you want really sharp. You could even add the aligner clamp down the road to test out guided sharpening.

The quarter trick will work fine, 2 quarter would be about 10-12 degrees on a 1 inch tall blade, about perfect for a folder.
Click to expand...

Thanks! So the quarter trick would be good for my kershaw ram and hopefully to get soon: the spyderco delica, ontario rat, endura or native?

Should I use 3 quarters or 2 is good?

And watching youtube videos and the quarter trick should be sufficient instead of the guide system?

Would this be ok, or would you go for the whetstones?
http://www.amazon.com/Smiths-DCS4-COARSE-Diamond-Sharpening/dp/B00009YV6L/ref=pd_cp_hi_2

Thanks!
 
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