Sharpening help needed

A

Agrsiv

Joined
Apr 14, 2019
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I have a lansky sharpening system because I don't want to screw up my knives by doing something wrong however, it is awkward to use and I am ready to try free handing (at least with my cheap knives at first). There are so many types of stones and grits to choose from. What should someone like me that understands the basics, has read through the stickies here, watched YouTube, etc. Start with? How important is a 200 grit, 600, 1000? How important is a strop? My knives are mainly edc knives, but I am kind of a perfectionist so I want to do the best job I can and honestly in the least amount of time and without spending a lot of money. What would you recommend buying?
 
If the knife say just has a factory edge I usually start with 800 grit.

The main thing is when starting out is inspect the edge very frequently with a 10X loupe to make sure you are on your angle.

In time you will get a feel for what angle is which.
Burr reduction is the next thing to tackle.
Many threads about that but once you get a burr you need to get rid of it on the other side and every steel is different but usually a light touch will do it with an edge leading stroke.

There are tons of little tips and nuances about sharpening but putting steel to stone often is how to learn.
 
I have a lansky...once you get used to it, use a level and protractor to verify angles, it's really not a bad system. Although it does have limitations and I've nearly screwed up my natrix cfs blade because of it. Mostly due to Kershaws crappy plunge grind, but I'm going to add a finger choil and make the best of the situation!
Other than that, my Bareknuckle has a wicked edge on it now, after using the lansky to get it to 15 dps and fix a few spots Kershaw didn't do well. Oh and making a microbevel on my sharpmaker. Sucker is stupid sharp!

As for freehand, go with smith's tri-hone. It's cheap (25 bucks), has good stones for most blades, and you can add a strop if you're into that. It will give you an inexpensive entry into freehand.

Good luck!
 
For water stone grades, the uses are:
<300 - super coarse. Repairing an edge, reprofiling, or putting an edge on a really dull blade (like you can grab the blade safely).
300-500 - coarse. Setting a bevel, taking out small chips, sharpening a dull edge, or to quickly sharpen.
800-2000 - medium. Sharpening a blade that hasn't gotten really dull, taking out micro micro chips.
above that is polishing. You can go as fine as you desire.

SiC, AlO, and novaculite are on a different scale. Fine/polishing would be like 1200 on that scale, 400 medium.

When you are learning, a medium grade stone is where you should start practicing your sharpening. A finer stone takes too long to put on an edge and you shouldn't be letting your edge get so dull that you need a coarse stone. A medium stone will be fast enough and give you a nice working edge.

If stropping necessary? Well you can buy very fine stones. If you want a "working edge" you won't be putting on such a polished edge.

If you don't have a modern 'super steel' then a King Deluxe in the 800-1200 range will do fine. The size is good if you have kitchen knives too. Or the King 1K/6K KDS.
I wouldn't recommend learning with a super steel, btw.
You won't ruin a knife when learning sharpening, unless you are unusually persistent. At most you will take out a bit more steel, or scratch out the sides.
 
325 DMT is very capable. It's fast enough to do some repairs and will work on all steels. You can start and stop there. I dont go higher than that for my edc and kitchen as well. This edge after a stropping will easily shave hair off your arm.
 
Now this might sound stupid but should I be practicing on a puma bantam 673? I just realized old might mean valuable.
 
I came across an old listing for a Puma Bantam NIB from 1984 for $200.
So I guess the question is how meaningful is $200 to you?
 
I should clarify what I said about stropping - while stropping with a low micron abrasive isn't necessary, stropping in stones is a good for burr removal. I got to the edges I wanted on each stone faster when I finished with stropping on the stone I just used.
I assume you meant stropping by loading a compound on a strop - leather, balsa, etc. But just in case.
 
Ourorboros said:
I came across an old listing for a Puma Bantam NIB from 1984 for $200.
So I guess the question is how meaningful is $200 to you?
Click to expand...
It was one of my grandfather's edc I think and he died in 87 so it's not new by any means but it is now put away as a collectable. Thanks.
 
Been sharpening 30 years....sil carbide,stone or sandpaper or beltsandes,same.....but cheap stone will do...even with supersteels...lol...its simple get burr...and dont worry about damaging the blade
 
lonestar1979 said:
Been sharpening 30 years....sil carbide,
Click to expand...
Been sharpening 31 years :) :) :)
I just took my sort of barely kind of dull but not really pretty much shave sharp S35VN Cold Steel lucky to a new Gritomatic T2 1200 (3 micron) stone, a hard stone with lots of feed back while going edge leading . Free hand, very carefully right on the edge using a jeweler's visor, many passes. The edge was hardly improved and not hair whittling.

I chucked up my Shapton Glass 4,000 (4 micron) stone in my Edge Pro Apex, adjusted it to be right on the edge, took a few passes, not many and the edge is hair whittling.

Depends on ones definition of better.
 
lonestar1979 said:
dont worry about damaging the blade
Click to expand...
PS: blades last much longer if a minimum of material is removed.
The best way to ensure a minimum of material is removed is to always be right on the edge with the finest grit stone to get the edge sharp. The best way to do that is with an angle guided jig.
PPS: I didn't even raise a bur with the 4,000 in the jig.
 
"Hair whittling" may or may not be the "definition of better" since, I'm gonna go way out on a limb here, I don't think that most folks spend their time using their knives to whittle hair.

So, while one may achieve more precision with a jig, (of which I have little doubt and own an Edge Pro Apex for when the inclination hits, though in truth it rarely does), reality is probably closer to a good, sharp working edge being quite good enough for most tasks.

I do wish that I could achieve your hair whittling edges freehand, Wowbagger, but I'm usually content if it meets most of the practical standards with phone book paper, thumbnails, and various other methods of determining reasonable sharpness and burr removal. (And in truth, I've never actually checked to see if any of my edges could in fact whittle hair. But I doubt it.)
 
WELL,use jigs 8f you want,edges i get are all i need,they whittle hair most of them,without even trying,s30v and similar no problem
...i like sandvik steels best
 
Blues said:
I've never actually checked to see if any of my edges could in fact whittle hair.
Click to expand...
Where is your OCD ? ! ?
Where is your inadvertent loss of all sense of time and your immediate surroundings while focusing on such things?
Then there is the NEED to always buy more and "better" sharpening equipment while in pursuit of savaging said helpless hair.

Don't tell us you have lost all these super powers !
. . .ssshhhhhhh . . . you'll get us both thrown out of here.
Just look natural . . .

. . .er yeah, whittling those hairs . . . and er . . . tree topping.

A tree topping good time we've been having here !
(It's OK . . . I think we fooled 'em . . . for now)
 
Mr.Wizard said:
Wowbagger Wowbagger LOL! (By the way have you used the T2 1200 on the Edge Pro yet?)
Click to expand...
Yes a couple times today.
First off it seems to perhaps need conditioning. I can see super fine saw pattern marks in the surface though it seems to be pretty darned flat.

Even with the pattern in the surface it is quite hard and I can go edge leading HAND HELD without digging in or taking off hardly any stone material as opposed to say going edge leading on my Shapton Glass 4,000 which tends to take off some slight stone material.

In the Edge Pro on the S35VN it seemed to do nothing much.
I just tried it on a fairly basic damascus clad Boker blade and it worked better and polished the rough ground bevel significantly. The blade looks really, really even and the bevels look the same width on both sides and the ladder pattern comes right down nicely to the edge on both sides
but
when I put the blade on the Edge Pro the actual sharpening bevel angle was dramatically different side to side. I wound up raising the guide block all the way to the top of the vertical rod just to get onto the edge of one side and that meant I was way too steep on the other bevel. This knife is begging for a Wicked Edge to maintain the look of the sharpening bevels.

I spent some time with the 1200 free hand then without much success, I then tried the T2 150 grit and raised a bur then the 1200 to take it off. The edge is still just ho hum. Shaves but not SHARP.
Now where near as sharp as my average edge off the Edge Pro which is SHARP.

I got thrown out of the kitchen then because The Chef is cooking.
I am debating whether to reprofile so I can just use the Edge Pro or to leave the sharpening bevels as they are and just hand sharpen. Really I got the knife to use and don't care about even bevels much. No body around here that I know to show "perfect" edges to so it isn't like I am going to be embarrassed by the end product. I would enjoy the glint and the performance of a better edge.

More than likely after The Chef goes to bed I will reprofile with the Shapton Glass and put on the final edge refinement with the 1200.

Do you guys/gals recommend I condition / flatten the T2 1200 ? I'm tempted to just put pencil marks on it and rub it on the T2 150 which seems flat and has no saw marks.

Thoughts ?
 
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