sharpening a cheap knife

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kyle840

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Jul 14, 2009
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i have a question regarding 2 of my knives.
i have a ka-bar warthog- made from DIN 1.4116 steel.
i also have a brand new benchmade griptilian 550. made from 440c steel.
my goal is to make the warthogs edge as sharp as the factory edge on the benchmade.
i have been trying to sharpen this knife for days and can get it pretty sharp but
not nearly as sharp as the benchmade.
is this due to my poor sharpening ability or the difference in steel?
the tools i have are as follows.
lansky standard sharpening system.
lansky crock sticks with med and fine ceramic rods.
a homemade strop with jewelers rouge.

what i have done to the warthog is used the lansky system and put a 20 degree edge on it using all 3 grades of stones and then finished it off with the crock sticks set at 20 degrees.

because i cannot get the edge on the warthog as sharp as i want i am afraid to try and sharpen the benchmade when it gets dull.
all advice is appreciated
 
I don't see why you need to finish it off with crock sticks after you're done with the standard Lansky setup. The crock sticks are unnecessary.

The standard answer:
- Get a marker and color the edge.
- Keep sharpening until the color is completely gone and you can feel burr forming on the other side.
- If you're having a hard time removing the color, either change the angle or use the coarsest stone.
 
i was under the impression the white ceramic crock sticks were a finer grade than the fine stone in the lansky system.


i would let a burr form with the coarse stone, switch sides and let a burr form on the opposite side. then switch to med and repeat and switch to the fine and repeat again until i couldn't feel a burr anywhere. it was definitely sharp but nothing like the factory edge on the benchmade.
 
OTOH, some cheap knives just won't take a really good edge no matter what you do.

If you can get it sharp enough for whatever you intend to use it for, save your time, effort and stones for better knives.
 
i am definately forming a burr. in fact i am having trouble getting rid of the burr with the lansky system. as stated i may need a finer stone.
my methods of testing the sharpness are probably not that accurate either.
i am cutting paper by pushing the knife through it and also sharing the hairs off of my arm. it doesnt make the hairs "jump" and the paper cuts easy but the cut is a little rough.
 
kyle840 said:
i am definately forming a burr. in fact i am having trouble getting rid of the burr with the lansky system. as stated i may need a finer stone.
my methods of testing the sharpness are probably not that accurate either.
i am cutting paper by pushing the knife through it and also sharing the hairs off of my arm. it doesnt make the hairs "jump" and the paper cuts easy but the cut is a little rough.
Click to expand...

Standard Lansky set is definitely sharp enough for EDC purposes, but probably not sharp enough to be hair-popping. That's why they sell finer stones separately.
 
Hate finicky steels, yes I do.

Sounds like the burr is breaking off instead of being worn off - if you can see the analogy.

Once a burr is formed with the fine lansky, try stropping with cardboard or such. That is one technique that has sometimes had success.
 
Last edited:
thanks for all of the help and different suggestions.
when i get home tonight i am going to try and strip the burr with cardboard and maybe tomorrow i will get a finer stone for the lansky system. can i jump from the fine stone that comes with the system to the finest stone lansky makes, or do i need to buy the ones in between also?
 
One of the reasons I prefer DMT over Lansky is because DMT actually publishes numerical mesh / micron rating of their stones. Lansky doesn't numerically rate their hones, so I don't know how much finer their Super Sapphire is compared to their Ultra Fine. I would buy the Super Sapphire first, and if takes too long to sharpen then get the Ultra Fine to speed up the process.
 
Only Knifenut mentioned the strop. I use a Lansky deluxe kit with the five stones and a leather strop for finish.
 
that sapphire hone is very hard to find around here so i just ordered it from my local cutlery store for $12.99. while i am waiting on that to arrive i am going to experiment with my strop and learn how to properly use it. are there any good threads that may aid me with the strop? my search feature does not work and i am having trouble finding much info.
 
The paragraph below is an extract from my own post in another thread (My first good edge):

I started 'accumulating' knives because I was always (almost, anyway) dissatisfied with the factory edge on whatever knife I happened to use or carry at the moment. Then, I started accumulating different sharpeners (ceramic rods, Sharpmaker, Lansky kit, strops, etc.). For a long time, I relied on using a 'double stuff' ceramic pocket stone from Spyderco. Got pretty good at freehand touch-ups with that. Then, I finally dug my Lansky system back out of storage and gave it a second effort. Finally found a comfortable bench setup for using it, and what seems to me to be a bullet-proof combination of stones. Started with a medium diamond hone, followed by two, progressively finer, ceramic stones. Finished off with a strop. To test my skill with this setup, I purchased a couple of inexpensive, used Ka-bar folders on eBay (bought a Ka-bar 1179 and 1199 as a pair for about $30.00 with shipping). The 1179 had obviously been used and sharpened (not very well), and the 1199 still had what appeared to be it's 'factory' edge. It was decent, but nothing to get excited about. Since I hadn't spent too much $$ on these, I felt brave enough to completely re-bevel and sharpen both knives with the Lansky setup. I was absolutely STUNNED at the finished result. It was something of an epiphany to find out that even a relatively 'cheap' knife, from a reputable maker using decent quality steel, can be made WICKED, SCARY sharp with a little time invested. It's the best feeling I've had since my knife habit was born.

In addition to the above:

The one thing about crock sticks, every time I use them, since they're being used 'free-hand', i.e. without some kind of guide to precisely maintain the sharpening angle, it's virtually guaranteed to round the edge a bit. Don't bother with them after using the Lansky setup. Finish with the strop instead (that should take care of the burr, that's what the strop is for). The more precisely you maintain the sharpening angle (such as with the Lansky rod/guide system), the better chance you'll have at making a hair-popping edge.
 
thanks again for all of the help!
i used google and found a lot of useful info.
still seem to be making the knife dull with the strop but ill get the hang of it with a little more practice.
 
Dear Obsessed:
Really glad to have read your post. Am expecting my new Edge Pro in the mail tomorrow and was wondering about using the crock sticks I have.
 
garyahouse said:
Dear Obsessed:
Really glad to have read your post. Am expecting my new Edge Pro in the mail tomorrow and was wondering about using the crock sticks I have.
Click to expand...

Get finer stones for the EP and forget about the crock sticks, no reason to ruin a perfect edge.
 
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