PLEASE HELP an idiot sharpen his knife

Torogoz

Torogoz

Joined
Oct 23, 2018
Messages
20
I love knives, but I can’t overstate how terrible I am at sharpening them. Advice would be appreciated.

I’m trying to sharpen my Izula and having a terrible time. I know 1095 is easy to sharpen and I’ve had success in the past, but I think I was just a blind squirrel stumbling upon a nut.

The photo shows everything I have at my disposal right now. I’m in Central America so what I have is all I got: Lansky turn box (ceramic and diamond), WorkSharp Guided system (NOT the electric one), and a strop.

My recent efforts have left the edge a total mess. I tried to sharpen at 20 degrees with the sticks and then got frustrated and tried to do 17 degrees using the WorkSharp (which is basically free hand, so that didn’t help). I’ve taken off so much material that it’s going to look like an Al Mar soon.

Can someone talk me through where I should go from here? I’ve watched a million videos, read a lot of threads, etc, but I need someone to point me in the right direction. I don’t need to carve hairs; I just want a good working edge for EDC.

I’m almost 50 and I’d like to be able to put an edge on a knife before I die. I have some good knives that I don’t use as much as I should because I know that once they’re dull, I’m screwed.

Thanks!
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Sharpening is like making a sculpture or whittling, in that it's using material removal to achieve a desired shape. There's no magic, there's just getting closer to the desired shape or not.

Use a marker to make some marks on the edge. Sharpen how you think you should and then look at where the ink has worn off--did you hit where you thought you were hitting? Between this and just learning to feel the edge for any burr that's formed (if you feel it catching your fingertips on one side but not the other, there is a burr folded that way slightly to fix) you can figure out where you're going wrong.

No magic gear is required. If you don't mind some scratches you can make any knife shave hair in no time on the bottom of a ceramic coffee mug.
 
I was asked to sharpen the Izula by a fellow forumite.
He sent me the knife and I tried the best I could do, but the knife was so soft that it dulled very quick.
I had to put on a very thick bevel to get any edgeholding at all.

Regards
Mikael
 
Try this: Work one side until you get a burr along the entire edge, so you know you have actually hit the apex. Use a plastic rod to fold the burr over to the side you haven't sharpened. Then sharpen that side until you raise a new burr. Now the edge should be apexed on both sides and you can go to a higher grit with light strokes to remove the burr and clean the edge.
 
I hate to tell you that, but despite the abundance of good, good meant and well documented advice you can get here, sharpening is a pure hands on, physical path, which requires some time. There's no quick internet / intellectual learning tutorial, as far as I know. And it's not about the tools, it's about the steadiness of your hand. You should learn with someone who masters the stuff and who can show you "hands on" what you should do and not do. Some brands and some retailers offer (very affordable) sharpening classes. I would go for that, just to get started. Once you get a feeling for it, you will be able to adjust and to find what suits you and your knives best.
 
The key to achieving a sharp edge is to keep the blade steady at the desired angle as you hone (an angle guide is useful). Start with a hone with a coarse grit until you get a burr, then proceed to a finer grit and the burr is gone. I prefer freehand sharpening as it seems to me to be faster, more versatile and less expensive than the various kits or systems. Lots of information on this forum and you can find even more on-line -- there are several excellent books on sharpening.
 
There’s some good YouTube videos that will take you through the process with the sharpeners you have.
Use a sharpie to make sure you’re hitting the edge and go slow until you understand the method and get a feel for what you’re doing.
 
I’m willing to bet. Less than 30% of the people on this planet know how to sharpen a knife. I’ll bet only 5% do a really good job.

when free hand sharpening imagine you are trying to shave off a nice long curl of wood from a branch. That’s about the right angle.
 
Watch all four of this video series that explains the history of sharpening a cutting edge and how to use the Spyderco Sharpmaker for edge sharpening of all kinds of cutting implements. It is fun and easy.

 
GatorFlash1 said:
Watch all four of this video series that explains the history of sharpening a cutting edge and how to use the Spyderco Sharpmaker for edge sharpening of all kinds of cutting implements. It is fun and easy.

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Yeah, the Sharpmaker makes it easy. I've been using one for years with perfect results.
 
Torogoz said:
I’m almost 50 and I’d like to be able to put an edge on a knife before I die. I have some good knives that I don’t use as much as I should because I know that once they’re dull, I’m screwed.

Thanks!
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Preach it brother. I had to check to make sure I hadn’t written your post! I’ve actually sold off knives that were about to need sharpening.
 
CHNeal said:
Preach it brother. I had to check to make sure I hadn’t written your post! I’ve actually sold off knives that were about to need sharpening.
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Glad I'm not alone. Hopefully, time and patience will pay off eventually.
 
Thanks to everyone for all of the suggestions and resources. I appreciate having a place to come when I need help or encouragement.

I used the sharpie trick and realized that my 20 degree rods weren't reaching the edge. I adjusted accordingly and found a better angle. It's not a very good edge, but it can cut printer paper so I'm going to call it a victory.

Thanks again.
 
Torogoz said:
Thanks to everyone for all of the suggestions and resources. I appreciate having a place to come when I need help or encouragement.

I used the sharpie trick and realized that my 20 degree rods weren't reaching the edge. I adjusted accordingly and found a better angle. It's not a very good edge, but it can cut printer paper so I'm going to call it a victory.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Arkansas stone sets made by "Smith's" made a tri-hone sharpening set that used to come with a 23 degree angle ramp and three six or seven inch stones.....the way the ramp worked was that you simply placed it on the stones......then you simply laid the blade on the ramp and that would give you the angle for your edge that you were looking for.....it came with coarse medium and fine Arkansas Stones ~ it was and still is a good sharpening unit ~
 
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