Sharpening and Keeping sharp

J

jim preston

Joined
Jul 22, 2007
Messages
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I don't have the skill levels or sharpening systems of some of you guys.

I do have this- a desire to get my knives, and keep them, very sharp.

Steel involved- 1095, CV, AUS-8, 420, 8RCMV1083ZZZ (whatever the heck that alphabet steel Byrd uses), China mystery steel

The sharpening tools I have- a Lansky Crock Stick, a butcher steel, and a piece of cardboard.

Again, I want really sharp. Very sharp edges that will last. Paper-cutting sharp is preferable.

I have read the sharpening sticky several times, and still my edges are below factory sharp satisfaction.

I'm willing to work hard, and keep trying.

I'm not really willing to spend a bunch of green on a sharpening system, or special stones, or to have someone else sharpen my knives.

With that in mind- what should I do? I'm also willing to forget everything I ever thought I knew about sharpening. I'm willing to work hard. Numbers always help, as does very clear instructions. Run it like removing a long slice isn't that helpful- actually tell me how to do that.

Thanks in advance,

Pres, in NC, with his semi-sharp knives.
 
The lansky crock sticks should work fine for getting paper cutting sharpness, just stay away from the 25degrees per side holes, they're too obtuse.
Another cheap way to sharpen knives is the sandpaper on mousepad method, you need 5bucks to spend on sand paper sheets, and an old mousepad for ball mouses. Go to your local hardware store and get some 400grit, 800grit, 1500grit, and 2000grit sandpaper.
You just mount it on the mouse pad with pins and you sharpen the edge with the edge trailing, but for this method, you'd need some basic knowledge on angles.
 
You need some more/better sharpening equipment and I would stop using the steel, it can do more dammage than good. Skip the headache of hand sharpening and get a guided sharpener, it saves time and puts a sharper edge on almost any knife. Learn how to sharpen by hand with a cheap knife in your spare time but for now get something like a DMT aligner or a edgepro, then learn about stropping with compound and you will be making fuzz sticks out of hair in no time.:D
 
I use an old sharpening stone that was my grandmothers. It takes the factory edge off, and I cant get it where I want it. When I feel the blade getting very close to where I want it, I strike it a few times across my arkansas oil stone, and you can literally split hairs with it!. I use this tecnique with every knife. I have friends who give me thier knives to sharpen them. I have done it on everything from basic carbon steel, to s30v, and has yet to fail.
 
I might try the snadpaper trick sometime. Knifenut and Moose, I'd love to have either of those systems mentioned, but I simply don't have the money. As to the steel, I don't currently use it after sharpening, but for touching up the edge from time to time, just like with a kitchen knife.

Roger99- how would one use the Crock Stick to get something paper-cutting sharp. I've used it, but the CV knives I've sharpened have not been able to cut construction paper cleanly. I'm looking for step by sttep techniques.

And by the way, the cardboard is for dry stropping.

Thanks,
Pres
 
How much do you have to spend? the DMT is only 40 USD. The percision of your angles are the most improtant part in sharpening, if you can not keep a stright angle you will NOT have a sharp knife. The first step in sharpening is to create the main bevel, starting with a coarse stone and progressively moving to finer grits (I start with 220grit and finish with 100,000grit) until the burr has been removed. The burr is a small flake of metal that builds up on the edge from sharpening, it is important to remove this metal build-up because it will give you a false sence of sharp. The sand paper and mouse pad method is ONLY for convex edges, so don't do this to your knives unless you want convex edges! The dry cardboard is a good start but it works nothing like leather with compound and its about 100x slower.
 
Your probably gonna need to spend a little money. You have no course grit in the stuff you listed. You will probably be fine with a piece of wood and some wet/dry sandpaper for your course hone, 100 to 220 grit. Then go straight to the crock sticks. I have not found a steel to be very useful, but that's just me.
 
Hi Jim

I'm no youngster, I learned to sharpen knives from my dad as a kid, and since then I've tried just about every sharpening system out there. Here's what I recommend:

Go to Jerry Hossum' s page on sharpening here. Buy what he recommends. Then take some old, cheap knives of any type, and practice putting an edge on them. It shouldn't take you long at all to put some great edges on your knives.

Once you've got those beautiful edges, throw away the butcher's steel, and get this. Using a strop is the best way to keep those edges polished and sharp.

This system will sharpen any steel, any knife, any machete, axe or car bumper you've got! :thumbup:
 
I need specifics, for the sharpening system I have. I don't have the money for an Edge Pro, or really even for a Sharpmaker, at this moment.

I'll see what I have in the course grit sandpaper range.
 
course stone plus your crocksticks should do you; your problem is knoledge & skill. research & practice are your friends, and knowing the difference between sharpening the edge and sharpening a burr is key
 
course stone plus your crocksticks should do you; your problem is knoledge & skill. research & practice are your friends, and knowing the difference between sharpening the edge and sharpening a burr is key
Click to expand...

I know that smoothing out the burr is key, and all that. The problem is, I don't know how to do it. That's why I am asking you- I need to know how to sharpen with what I have around, not just how to sharpen in general. Like I said, specifics, numbers, step-by-step instructions, are what I need.


Thanks,
Pres
 
it would be quicker, and easier if you googled, and read from people more educated then myself in reguards to sharpening. i too have spent many an hour reading, and then practicing with much tears to get to where i am at now, and would not be the one to convey a technique very well over the internet. good travels.
 
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Okay, Jim, with what you say you have - crock stick, butcher's steel, and cardboard - you really don't have a sharpening system.

What you have is three different items that can be used (to a greater or lesser degree) to keep a sharp knife sharp. Once it gets dull, you don't have the right tools. Sorry.

Bet let's look at what you have:

All the butcher's steel will do is sorta keep a (soft) kitchen knife sorta sharp - and frankly, it's not that great even at that. If I were you , I'd toss the butcher's steel - in fact, I've long ago gotten rid of mine. There are much better alternatives, including your crock stick (see below).

Cardboard can make a great stropping material to keep an edge in top shape - but it only works on a pretty sharp knife - it let's you make a sharp knife really sharp, but there's not enough abrasive quality to it to make a dull knife sharp, unless you're willing to spend a lot of time stropping - several years, maybe! :grumpy:

The crock stick is your best tool. Used correctly, it can keep your knives sharp. Starting with a fairly sharp knife, or maybe one just a teensy bit dull, try to gently, lightly slice a very thin slice off the stick with the edge of your knife. Start next to the handle, and go all the way to the tip. Repeat on the opposite side of th edge. Each time you do it, you should see a thin gray line on the crock stick. That is metal from the edge of your knife.

It is important that you are gently abrading the very edge of the knife. To be sure of this, run a Sharpie-type marker along the edge of your knife. After using the crock stick, look at the edge - is the black marker removed from teh edge? Great! If instead it's removed from somewhere above the edge, you need to adjust your angle.

Keep at it until your edge is acceptably sharp - if the knife is very dull, it may take awhile.

The next time you get a few dollars, get yourself Jerry Hossom's set-up. The whole thing will cost under $100, and you'll be amazed at what you can do.

Good luck!




p.s. You might want to look around your circle of acquaintances for some old codger who can show you n real life how to sharpen a knife. It'll be a lot easier to learn from him, than from reading here.
 
Man stop asking and start practicing. I learned to sharpen at a young age... Didn't learn to sharpen well until more recently (couple years ago spent a lot of time and eventually got all my knives, and my skills razor sharp).
 
Search youtube, it has tons of step by step video instructions, some done by members here. Good luck
 
If you are constrained by budgetary concerns look for the cheapest two sided stones you can find. Look at a hardware store, sporting goods store, woodworking store...

Anything is better than what you have now for going from dull to sharp.

The trick is to make the two bevels meet. After they meet knock the burr off and refine the edge by stropping. For angles you want them as shallow as you can stand for life of the edge between sharpenings and touch ups and not to shallow that the type of steel will not support the edge.

I favor a rod guided system. They GATCO Professional is what I use.
 
I have Lansky Crock Sticks and a Spyderco Sharpmaker. They both work well. I can't see where either one is any better than the other.

They're not perfect by a long shot, but if you can't afford a better system, the Crock Sticks will give you a razor edge with a little effort and practice.
 
I won't bother with the angles etc. for the bench stones: lay your knife flat, lift the spine to an equal height as it is thick push full length of blade in 5's (5 stroke side 1, 5 stroke side 2). This is for CARBON steel.
For STAINLESS, increase the spine's clearance by 50%.
If you have 2 Fine crock sticks, & a drill press, 5-10 degrees degress for CARBON (10-20 compound), 15 for stainless (30 compound).
That's all you really need.
As a plus, get a SMOOTH steel, or a 1200 grit diamond pocket stone.
 
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