Sharpening Advice

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Paul 883215

Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
305
Hi all,

I have a Tenacious that I have put through some very hard use. I can not seem to get the belly of the knife sharp on the Sharpmaker. I can always send it in for the factory resharpening but I would rather learn to do this myself. Should I purchase a diamond stone? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul
 
I use "Dia-Sharp" diamond stones 6"x2". I have extra coarse / coarse / and extra fine. I also use a strop I purchased here in the exchange with green oxide compound. I have been using this setup for a few years now with great results. It takes practice but you will get the angles and all that quick enough through trial and era.
 
Paul, Generally the sharpmaker is best for normal sharpening of a knife that is starting to dull. If you had the diamond rods for it the process of getting the edge back would go much quicker. DMT makes some fine diamond sharpeners. Diamond stones are about the fastest way to replace a edge. A combo bench stone would be quicker then the sharpmaker as long as you can maintain the proper angle. These stones are relativly inexpensive. If you are new to sharpening it would be a good idea to mark the edge with a sharpie marker and then start to sharpen the knife. After the first couple of strokes, look at the edge to see if you are holding the knife at the right angle. Even on the sharpmaker when you first start sharpening you might also use the sharpie to see if you are holding the knife 90 degrees to the table. Good luck.
 
If you prefer to do this yourself and do not have any diamond stones:

-You'll probably want to do this at the 40 degree setting on your Sharpmaker. You can do it on the 30 degree setting but it will take a much longer time
-Use the medium grit stones
-Work only on one side until you've built up a burr across the entire edge.
-Be careful to make sure that you're always holding the knife perpendicular to an even surface like a table. If you get lazy and start to mess up the angle, you'll just make everything harder for yourself. It's easier to mess up the angle when you have to remove a lot of metal because the process take so long.
-If you don't know what a burr is, read this article: http://www.knifeart.com/sharfaqbyjoe.html This is the article that taught me how to sharpen freehand
-After building up a burr on one side, do the same on the other side
-After that, start to alternate between sides as shown on the Sharpmaker instructional DVD.
-Work your way to the fine grit stones as described on the instructional DVD

This may take a long time for you to reach the edge of your knife because from how you describe it, it seems like your knife is very dull. This is why diamond stones are suggested. They take off much more metal than the ceramic stones in much fewer swipes. But this can still be done with the ceramics.
Welcome to the forums:)
 
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Sounds like the knife is very dull and your cermaic rods need cleanning. Otherwise you should be able to sharpen it fairly quickly. The dark med hones can clog with metal quickly and still look clean. Clean them by scrubbing with comet/ajax cleanser and see if there is a difference.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums! Lots of good advice here. I've moved the thread from General Knife to Maintenance, where we discuss sharpening.
 
Use a sharpie and make lines from above the bevels down to the edge. This way you'll be able to see if maybe you're hitting above the bevels, at the edge, or wherever. Because if your blade isn't getting sharp at the belly, then you must not be hitting the edge at that point, and you need to find out why.

You sure you're holding it perfectly vertically, especially when moving toward the belly? It IS the trickiest part; I still have some trouble with it.
 
went to d.mt.s years ago.ir your freehand is decent;can rebevel in short time i use 10@11 inch diamonds with xtra coarse , black, blue, red, @green.a sizable investment, however you can handle anything from penknives ,hunters, and 10 in.chef's blades ;for the rest of your life.
 
I agree with the DMT. Just using one of their two-sided butterfly-handled sharpeners with the blue and red stones, I can get a nice edge on any pocket knife or folder very quickly.
 
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