Sharpening a SAK with water stones! (new video)

[Magnaminous_G]

I'm now able to upload videos longer than fifteen minutes, so this is a full sharpening video from start to finish. In this video, I resharpen an alox Wenger Soldier (alox Victorinox Pioneer) on Arashiyama 1000 and 6000 grit Japanese water stones and finish with a kangaroo leather strop. The edge of the Wenger Soldier had some chips and dings near the tip where I'd used it to cut carpet, so I correct those issues. I've now sharpened a few dozen knives with the Arashiyama stones, and I can say that this is my preferred sharpening method. It requires good technique and some practice, but you can take an edge to a very high degree of refinement.

Advice, suggestions, and tips welcome. I am always looking to improve.


[youtube]RiXvUme1Szk[/youtube]

 

[BluntCut MetalWorks]

Good video. A long video is better than multiple clips.

Your sharpening edge sure gets better with experiences. As you said, the resulted edge is beyond EDC sharpness, I agree. So below is nit-pick.

My observations & suggestions on vid (btw - I skipped repetitive parts of vid)

*start*
1) -17:30 that toothy edge should haltingly slices newsprint
2) -18:00 created a good size wire-edge
3) -26:45 small burr, edge should slices newsprint a bit smoother than 1)
4) -28:00 formed a small wire-edge due to heavy pressure edge-trail strokes
5) -30:00 reduced the wire-edge to micro by light pressure on slurry (mud+swarf), essentially you are lapping.
6) strop didn't do much (not long enough) since the micro-wire is too large for silicates in roo leather to abrade all away.
final edge won't push cut newsprint.
*end*

I found my 10 yrs old fisherman sak in the truck, woah still has factory grind & dull. Summary of the ~30* incl edge thru sharpening progression:
140grit diamond plate - slice newsprint grain wise with visible fibers.
220grit dmt x - slice newsprint all directions smoothly, haltingly push cut.
320grit sic w&d (for fun) - didn't improve from above, thus still slice newsprint smoothly, haltingly push cut.
1K waterstone (for fun: dry sharpening & keep wipe surface clean of dust & swarf) - slice & push cut newsprint.

Sak steel is soft & tough so it's fairly difficult to produce a burr&wire free edge.

 

[Magnaminous_G]

Thanks for watching my vid. I really appreciate it. Yes, I still could get that edge as free of burr as possible to slice even cleaner. I think for next time, I need to really lighten up the pressure at the end of the edge-trailing strokes and go a bit more at a feather-light touch, maybe even bringing the angle up just a hair on the 6000 grit stone.

Coming soon: my vid of sharpening on a $20 Norton India stone! No joke. I went out and bought a Norton Combination Coarse/Fine India stone and a bottle of Lansky honing oil (total cost = $24) just to try it. It was a very interesting and rewarding experience, as you will see.

 

[Jason B.]

Though moving slow I still think you are grinding excessively. I think you need to use more pressure with the 1k as it should be producing more and thicker mud. This is probably part of the time issue, I believe you should still be about half of the above time. So about 20 minutes from dull to sharp would be a more reasonable goal.

Sharpness looks better and burr removal also much better. I do not believe you have excessive burr or any lack of sharpness. The edge type left by the Arashiyama 6k is a bit toothy so push cutting with the given steel sharpened on that stone is more difficult that it seems. From your test cuts I would say your are running in the 90% range of what's capable with those stones on that blade, much better would only be a small noticeable upgrade.

 

[Magnaminous_G]

Always greatly appreciated when you take the time to watch my videos and share your experience and feedback, knifenut! I agree that the sharpening and burr removal was pretty much fine. Yeah, heheh... the time thing; I do enjoy taking my time (hate being rushed) and stopping to do other stuff (sharpening is a hobby for relaxation for me), and my time on the stone is getting shorter, but I agree... 20 minutes for a sharpening vid of this nature is more reasonable. Use more pressure on the 1k to build a thicker mud? Ok, I can try that next time; I'm excited to see what the result is.

Posting my Norton India Stone review video now. Take a look!

EDIT: Actually, you've given me inspiration for my next video. I'm going to make a sharpening video and keep the entire video to under 20 mins.