Sandpaper Sharpening?

ERINT

ERINT

Joined
May 19, 2002
Messages
353
Well first off I love my Spydie 204. It's has saved many a knife in my house from going in "the drawer."

But I have been wanting to get into free hand sharpening for a while. But The expensive water stones are a bit out of my price range. Then I read about people uing sandpaper and polishing compounds to achive their desired results.

So I went and bought some wet/dry sandpaper in 100, 1500, and 2000. Osh didn't have anything finer. :( But I have no clue as to what polishing compound to use with wet/dry sandpaper. Or what I should mount the paper on. If I mount it on wood I may get an uneven surface. And if the wood swell it could get even more uneven.


So the newbie is here asking those that know far better than he does. I really want to become proficient in sharpening. Because unlike Lavan, my knives are never "sharp enough." :p
 
I've never tried the "scary sharp" method, but it's my understanding that they use a piece of plate glass and either use adhesive-backed sandpaper or a spray adhesive.
 
Here's a link with some info and supplies for the scary sharp method. Also, I'd guess the polishing compound is for stropping, not the sandpaper. Post a review after you've tried it, I'm interested in how it turns out.
 
One quick note. With the wet/dry sandpaper, use it wet. Works much better and doesn't tear up the sandpaper as fast. I use the sandpaper/mousepad method, but this is for my Busse and Swamp Rat blades with a convex edge. Not much water is needed, just enough to wet the surface, about 1/2 tsp or so. Honing oil will work also, but doesn't dry out after use and can get messy.

Rob
 
Well this is first going to be tried on my VG-10 Endura. And since this is a fairly high carbon steel I was hesitant to expose it to water for so long. But I guess if I wipe the blade after each session and don't let it sit it should be fine.

Somewhere around here I have some 20 year old buck honing oil. :D

I never thought of plate glass. I can see why it would be used. Doesn't get much flatter. ;)

And I'll definatly post a review.
 
You can get waterstones pretty cheap, alot of decent waterstones are priced in the 20-30 dollar range, and last quite a while if you don't gouge the surface. A 1200 grit stone for 20 bucks (8X2 inches) will do just fine to learn how to use them properly, and if you need a finer edge the sharpmaker will be perfect. I use a 4000 grit polishing stone for most of my honing (once a week usually, I like to keep my edges nice and crisp) that I got at 2000 blade show. That stone hasnt even worn down 2mm yet.
 
ERINT,

You can get finer than 2000 grit sandpaper from www.toolsforworkingwood.com and www.leevalley.com They both sell 3M lapping film with the first place selling up to .3 micron sticky-backed and the second selling up to .5 micron sticky-backed.

For polishing compound, most folks on the forums use a .5 micron mixture of chromium and aluminum oxide. From both dyes and the chromium oxide, it's green. It's best used on a smooth-leather strop. It also seems to work better with low-chromium/non-stainless steels. .5 micron diamond paste should leave the same mirrored edge without caring what sort of steel is being stropped. The best deal I've seem on the buffing compound is at www.buffingunlimited.com That 3 pound bar may outlive your family name.
 
For convex edges, I have had good results with 600 grit and 2000 grit paper on thick leather or a mouse pad. For final finishing, a strop charged with the appropriate polishing compound works well.
 
Well, I just finished a little "zen-sharpening" of my 12" HI sirupati with my sanding pad/mouse-pad/wet-dry paper set up. I glued a mouse-pad onto one of those sanding pads that you can attach a strip of sanding paper onto. Unfortunately my siru came dull as snot, and I've been working on it in small increments to get an eventual shave-sharp edge. Not there yet, but it's coming along. It does scratch the heck out of the blade, but I've gotten over that for a user. My co-workers don't seem to freaked out about it anymore, my associate saw me working on it and asked me if I could sharpen some of her kitchen knives!
 
I'd sugest getting some between the 100 grit and the 1500 grit. With that big of a junp you'll have alot of work at the 1500.
 
I sharpen using 100, then 600, 1200, then 2000, then strop. Usually does a great convex edge with a mouse pad. It's the only way that I can get a great edge on D-2 and the harder tool steels.
Matt
 
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