Please help a newbie sharpen up!

S

steelmooch

Joined
Dec 30, 2013
Messages
1
Dear members,

First and foremost, thanks for everyone's insightful contributions to the board...I've been reading off and on for quite some time and really appreciate everyone's collective knowledge and expertise.

Long story short...

After a lot of years of too much work...not enough money...and young kids that were too young to get (meaningfully) outdoors...I'm slowly but surely getting back into the game with hunting/hiking/outdoors.

Spoiled myself with a BK2 as a general "camp" knife, a Bushman to play around with, a Kukri for some brush work around the property, and a Fiskars camp axe for splitting.

Not looking to get "flamed" here or open myself up to too much criticism...but my history with knife sharpening is very spotty. In the past, I've done more harm than good...and I really don't want to mess up the
BK2, which is the nicest knife I've ever owned.

For a guy (perhaps wisely?) not wanting to learn how to use a stone...is there a sharpener that you'd recommend that would permit me to sharpen these implements? Would one of the "Smith's" get it done? Manual vs electric?

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Not looking for "shaving" sharp...just keeping my blades functional and safe to work with.

Thanks!
 
Spyderco Sharpmaker. Real easy to keep your edges sharp. Around $55 new. Can't go wrong with this tried and true sytstem. All you have to do is hold the blade vertical as you pull the blade down the stone :) Youtube it. You'll find plenty of videos
 
^this. And you WILL get your knives shaving sharp and beyond, whether you want to or not! :D

Also, I recommend getting the additional diamond stones too. Makes it a lot easier to reset a bevel or bring a very dull knife back to sharpness.
 
Personally not a fan of the sharpmaker. I'd recommend the DMT aligner over it, for touch ups, sure but not sharpening that requires serious metal removal.

My recommendation would be a DMT, Lansky or worksharp. It's really all about angles, grits and time to get an apexed edge.

You have been reading, so why not pick a system, grab some cheap knives are work at making burrs until you can consistently get them, make a cheap strop and practice getting it working too. I wouldn't even worry about anything over 320 grit until you can easily get good consistent edges.

I think too much is put into even bevels, mirror edges, hair splitting by us enthusiasts for beginners, for starting it's all about the basics, don't worry about grits, don't worry about angles, just find a way to get a burr down the length of the blade and knock the burr off.

That's the reason I recommend angle guided systems and low grits, ways to get consistent burrs.
 
I'm a fan of guided angle systems. I'd look at the Lansky or Gatco, with a preference for the Lansky. They are affordable and the Lansky has many different stones, strops and accessories you can add on if you want. If you have some more money to spend you can't go wrong with a Wicked Edge. Although I don't think you'll get your axe into it :)
 
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