The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Great, one more thing to have to learn
I appreciate it I wouldn't have been using the grit I thought I was using without your help. I need to find a diamond stone in the 1000-1200 range now that I know that the 800-1200 venev I bought is much different than I expected.Yes, it is very unfortunate and irritating. You have to go to micron ratings to compare sometimes. My Venev 1200 is 2-3 microns; my Shapton Glass 6000 is 2.45 microns.
Ugh what a drag, I just found one conversion chart that says 500 Fepa-f is 800 jis and another list says 500 Fepa-f is 1200 jis. Which is it?
I go off the one in the stickies on this sub-forum.Ugh what a drag, I just found one conversion chart that says 500 Fepa-f is 800 jis and another list says 500 Fepa-f is 1200 jis. Which is it?
www.bladeforums.com
That's a great list thank you! I will reference it from now on. The one I found is similar but this one you sent me is much easier to follow. And yes, exact values are not important but I want to have an idea of what I'm using. Thanks again!I go off the one in the stickies on this sub-forum.
The Grand Unified Grit Chart
EDIT: Since creating this chart, it has gone through many revisions and has become far too unwieldy to keep saving as a JPG. Mainly, because it won't fit on one *screen* any more. So, the latest version will now be kept HERE! Well, I've seen a lot of charts comparing various grit sizes in...
I'm not too worried about exact values, just an approximate is fine for my use.
I clean lots of deer and pigs every year. 20 is a low year, have done 5 - 10 in single cleaning sessions. Pig hides really test an edge.
That is not something that I expected it does make sense. Do strop at all?
Also, what knife do you use?
My most used knives are Phil Wilson’s in S110V, K390, and 10v, Paul Rasp 20cv, Gene Ingram in D2, and recently gutted, skinned, and quartered some Oryxes, which are 350#+, with what I had on me - my pocket knives a Hinderer in M390 and Case Bose Bullnose in 154cm.
I agree, I have a 10" Wilson Filet knife that is lightning through Salmon, best fish knife I have eve used!
Jeff,
I looked up all those knives you talked about and so on. It was fun looking and learning about all these knife makers. I even wrote an email to Paul Rasp and he responded right away lol. I asked for an ultralight knife similar to the speed goat from Montana knife company but in magnacut and he said he could do it in his style. 
Jeff,You're very welcome Jon.
Good luck hunting.
Jeff,Yes, diamonds also work on kitchen knives including those with softer steel. A more refined edge works nicely on a chef’s knife especially for cutting some soft food items like fish, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions.
Sounds like you have a nice set of stones. Horsehide strops are $15 - $20 on ebay and a nice finishing step.
The rest is just practice. A Sharpie marker on the edge helps provide a visual check on whether the actual edge is making contact with the stone.
I find sharpening to be a good way to relax the mind. Enjoy.
The kitchen knives likely are softer and way easier to sharpen. S90v is getting into the upper end of wear resistance. Work on the S30V next. Once that is where you want it, then go to the S90v.
Jeff,The kitchen knives likely are softer and way easier to sharpen. S90v is getting into the upper end of wear resistance. Work on the S30V next. Once that is where you want it, then go to the S90v.
Try marking the edge with a Sharpie between each pass to have a visual indicator of whether the actual edge is making contact with the stone. Black marks on the edge will show where adjustment in holding the angle is needed.
When I sharpen straight razors, I use a cheap digital magnifier ($30ish is good enough) to check the whole length of the edge for uniformity before moving to the next step in the progression. A cheap jeweler’s loupe works too and is better than nothing.
I am in the minority view on here, but on the harder to sharpen steels, I use pretty firm pressure and relatively fewer passes on diamond plates. My thought is a coarse diamond plate cuts quickly. I can keep the angle closer to uniform for five passes to cut a good edge than I can for fifty light passes. Once a crisp edge is cut, then use a light touch to finish it.
The coarse stone is doing most of the work of sharpening. An Atoma 140 can produce an arm hair shaving edge. Everything else is just refining that already made edge.
Do not move off of the coarse stone until there is a really good edge. Only then move to the next step in the progression. Again, the coarse stone is doing the sharpening i.e. making two different flat surfaces intersect in a crisp edge. Everything else is just refining that edge.
Practice on the easier blades. Once those can be done with confidence, then move to the next most challenging blade and keep practicing.
It truly is a calming way to pass time and so something productive. Thanks again for your time. I hope I can bother you from time to time to learn some more lol.
