sharpening fiddleback knifes

[drdriller]

I am very new to this site and am sorry if this has been covered. I want to buy a EDC knife from fiddleback forge. I have never owned a custom knife, so was wondering if someone could tell me how to sharpen one before I buy one. I currently use a couple ceramic poles to sharpen my knifes.

 

[troutfisher13111]

Ceramic poles would work fine. If you want a more polished edge, follow up with a strop.

 

[HWF]

I use a mousepad with sandpaper on top at home.

 

[cybrok]

I use a mousepad with sandpaper on top at home.

I do that for all my convex edges knives. Learned from here.

For my non convex knives, I use Murray Carter's technique. But I only started recently for my Japanese kitchen knives. Mousepad technique is WAY cheaper.

 

[RobKevlar]

Do you guys have an suggestions on a good strop? With or without compond? What grit sand paper on the mousepad trick. Is the mouse pad the soft version or does it have the harder plastic surface.?

 

[HardTripper]

It has to be the soft kind, which I have trouble locating. At the dollar store here they have cheap foam yoga mats that do the trick.

 

[HWF]

Mine is actually one of those stadium seat cushion mousepad-like thingys it's not soft but not hard either, and about 1.5" thick. I use 1200 grit paper mostly because I don't let my blades get terribly dull. But I also have 300 and 600 grit on hand just in case some reprofiling is necessary.

Quick pic:

 

[Big Mike]

Forget the mouse-pad, use a piece of leather.




Big Mike

 

[cybrok]

Forget the mouse-pad, use a piece of leather.

Big Mike

I was lucky enough to learn the technique while I still had thick mousepads on hand. I guess if I didn't I would also use thick leather.

 

[cybrok]

Do you guys have an suggestions on a good strop? With or without compond? What grit sand paper on the mousepad trick.

For strops and compound, check JRE industries
http://www.jreindustries.com/sharpening.htm

Or Knivesshipfree
http://www.knivesshipfree.com/knife...rpening-kit-ksf-double-sided-hone-w-compound/

If you cannot find a thick mousepad, you can always put the sandpaper right on the strop.

For grit, I use 1000-2000, then leather for touchups, or as low as 400 when convexing a blade.

 

[thurin]

For convex, I do sandpaper on mousepad followed by strops. I use Flexxx Strops loaded with Bark River compound.

For scandi, here's a really cheap sharpening system I put together that's similar to my convex system. This is not my original idea and I take no credit for it - I just wanted to share the ideas I've gathered.

I picked up a cheap (about $5) 12"x12" granite tile from Lowes to use as the base. The tile is perfectly (as far as I can tell) flat. You could also use a piece of plate glass or a glass table top.

Other supplies used are a no-slip drawer liner to put under the granite tile to keep it from slipping on the table, spray adhesive for attaching the sandpaper to the tile and various grits (220, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 2000) of automotive wet/dry sandpaper from an auto parts store.

If the blade needs serious work, I'll go all the way back to 220 and work up from there. Normally however when they just need a touchup I'll start at 600 or 800. I cut down the larger sheets of sandpaper into 3 2/3" x 9" strips.

Attach the sandpaper to the tile with the spray adhesive. I can usually lift and attach a few sheets before needing to reapply the adhesive. I use Mineral Spirits to clean the tile in order to make sure the adhesive doesn't build up.

I pull the knife across the paper similar to what you'd do on a strop instead of pushing it like you would on a stone. It might work fine pushing, I just don't want to take a chance on cutting into the paper.

Finally, depending on how hard I plan on using the knife in question, I'll put on a VERY fine micro bevel with a couple swipes on the Sharpmaker or a strop.

My only real cost was the granite tile as I already use the sandpaper for sharpening convex knives on a mousepad and the other supplies I already had around the house.

 

[awestib]

drdriller, I strongly suggest to look into this thread:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ning-System-for-sale!?p=12485464#post12485464

You can use it for virtually any kind of edge. The feedback is unmatched by any other sharpening method IMHO. I like it particularly for scandi edges.