Properly Sharpening a Knife

jesse2205

jesse2205

Joined
May 30, 2009
Messages
396
I am having a hell of a time trying to sharpen my RAT Izula. I am very new to blades and I have watched many videos and read many instructions on how to sharpen a knife, but everytime I try, it doesn't end up being sharp at all. Is there any advice for beginners?
 
I figured out one thing. When I sharpen, I end up rolling over my edge. I guess that's from changing the angle while sharpening. Its a little better but not arm shaving sharp
 
Are you hitting the edge? Try the sharpie trick, use a permanent marker to mark the edge and sharpen, if you don't remove the ink at the very edge then you need to increase the angle or reprofile it.
 
Ya I just tried the permanent marker thing. THe ink is removed at the edge, and still will not hardly even cut through paper. I'm loosing my patience lol
 
Properly following the curve of the edge is probably the hardest part of sharpening to learn along with being able to do it repeatedly. The two most important stones in sharpening are your first (coarsest) and your last (finest). The initial edge that you make with your coarse stone is very important, if the edge angles are not meet at this stage the rest of the sharpening process becomes a waste of time. Once you have meet the edge angles and have refined the edge a bit to reduce the burr you should be good to move to your next stone. If you have moved through your stones keeping a good angle and keeping the burr to a minimal your last stone will be more effective. To get good results with you last stone use lite pressure and lots of strokes. If you have kept your angle consistent you should be able to reduce the burr to almost nothing with your final stone, the edge should be very sharp and crisp at this point and ready for a final strop or you can just leave it at that.

Following the edge is not the curving motion that you may think, its more like doing a push cut. As you push the edge across the stone you should be lifting from the handle as you reach the curve of the edge, when you reach the curve another motion is needed. The second motion is a foward tilt or slight lifting of the spine, if you rest your fingers near the tip to help guide you, you can feel this slight roll. Sharpening is a lot about feel, over time you will get the feel for how the edge bevel "locks" to the stone and also the sound it makes.

Mulitple angle's are also something that just comes naturally with hand sharpening and if you learn to use them to your advantage you edge will have a slight convex that improves cutting performance.

Picture179.jpg


Here is a short vid that shows the motion of following the edge, if you watch close you can see the slight roll near the tip.
http://s284.photobucket.com/albums/ll20/knifenut1013/?action=view&current=Picture322.flv
 
I dont have a strop. I am having a problem getting an edge on the coarse stone. I'm sure its an angle problem, but every time I sharpen it I think i've done a good job but when I go to test it, its horrible. Thanks for the video and I will use that example.
 
I don't expect much from a coarse stone. It takes a lot of skill to get an edge with the coarse grits. I use coarse grits only for removing defects or reprofiling.

Get the edge to the shape you want, and start working down the grits. I like to use light pressure. I don't want a big burr.

The finer the grit, the finer the edge. That's a big advantage of a loaded strop, you use very fine abrasives. You don't need anything fancy. Recently I've been experimenting with stropping on a piece of alder charged with polish, (cerium oxide). It works well.
 
The key with sharpening is edge consistency. Maintaining the same angle while moving the blade back and forth takes skill learned through practice. This is why guided sharpening systems (like edge pro apex, DMT aligner, Lansky, et.) are so popular: they take most of the skill out of sharpening because they maintain the angle while you grind. Sharpening wheels and belts are the other way around: they do the grinding so you only worry about keeping a steady hold at the correct angle.

My suggestion is to do it slowly at first and concentrate on hitting the exact same angle all the time. As has been said on this thread, do a forward motion as if you're shaving the stone, but don't use much pressure. Put just enough downward pressure to keep the blade from bouncing.

This thing takes practice. It might take you a couple of hours at first, but after a while you'll be able to do it in minutes.
 
One more tip is, try and set a standard angle for yourself to start. This will get your muscle memory started, it takes some time but it's what will give you consistancy. After you have learned to hold and follow a given angle changing your angle is as simple as moving the spine up and down. Muscle memory, Feel, sound, and visual inspection are some of the main points when trying to master freehand sharpening. Buy a Mora and practice full bevel sharpening this will give you a very good understanding of how a blade needs to move.
 
You could also cheat... for a price and either get a wicked edge or an edge pro.

other than that the information provided here should be all you need to know, concentrate on the angle and only the angle, speed comes with time.
 
I've been practicing over the last few days, and my edge has gotten a lot better. Thanks guys for your help
 
Jesse,I'll not beleaguer the points of this thread which knifenut and Sep have.As they've taken the time to post excellant info.on this subject.Just read and work on their advise.
Now,I wonder about your stones.You stated Arkansas stones of coarse,medium and smooth.Those are really fine, X-fine and XX-fine and are slow metal removers taking more time.Requiring more strokes allowing for more chances of angle change.2)Are these stones flat? Stones over time,espically old handed down family stones can be wavy or dished.Which are not conducive to efficient knife sharpening.They must be smoothed up and flat.If this is not the case then proceed w/ patience.If you dont feel patient that day put this away till another day.If you suspect the stones are wavy, go to your hardware store and get one thats not.A Norton med. or med.fine India oil stone will be of good quality and very flat as well as economical.Some of the guys here are faster learners.But it took me years to get good at free hand sharpening and that was before this forum was thought of.Just keep trying every other day or so and on different knives in a quiet shop/garage listening to the sounds the scooting blade makes.We'll be standing by for updates.Good luck.DM
 
David Martin said:
Jesse,I'll not beleaguer the points of this thread which knifenut and Sep have.As they've taken the time to post excellant info.on this subject.Just read and work on their advise.
Now,I wonder about your stones.You stated Arkansas stones of coarse,medium and smooth.Those are really fine, X-fine and XX-fine and are slow metal removers taking more time.Requiring more strokes allowing for more chances of angle change.2)Are these stones flat? Stones over time,espically old handed down family stones can be wavy or dished.Which are not conducive to efficient knife sharpening.They must be smoothed up and flat.If this is not the case then proceed w/ patience.If you dont feel patient that day put this away till another day.If you suspect the stones are wavy, go to your hardware store and get one thats not.A Norton med. or med.fine India oil stone will be of good quality and very flat as well as economical.Some of the guys here are faster learners.But it took me years to get good at free hand sharpening and that was before this forum was thought of.Just keep trying every other day or so and on different knives in a quiet shop/garage listening to the sounds the scooting blade makes.We'll be standing by for updates.Good luck.DM
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Very good point, dishing can be a big problem. If your stones are dished and you decide to buy new stones I would suggest something like Spyderco ceramics or DMT diamond. Its not that Arkansas stones are not good its just that modern stones are really that much better, plus you don't have to worrie about dishing.
 
Since the OP said that he's "very new to blades", I assumed that his stones are brand new. Well, if I was wrong then he needs to get it flattened. The easiest (and cheapest) way is by using sandpaper backed by a piece of glass. If we're dealing with really dull edge, he should start with one of those cheap coarse hardware stones.
 
Yes, my arkansas stones are brand new. I recently had another try at sharpening my knife. With all the pointers and help i've been receiving on this forum, i've improved my skills considerably. I've learned to keep a constant angle, and to use a smoother grain other than coarse. The edge on my Izula has gotten quite sharper. I think another reason why I had problems is because the Izula is a small blade. Doesn't that make it harder to sharpen?
 
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