sharpening help

[burntcrispy]

I know this has probably been answered a thousand times but I'm new here so please hold back the flames.

I'm wondering what you guys use to sharpen your knives. I like for my knives to be razor sharp. I've got several benchmade knives and when I get them they are more than razor sharp. I use a Lansky sharpener and it will get them sharp enough to shave the hair off of your arm but not quite as sharp as when I bought them. How do I get that extra edge?

Thanks.

 

[HoB]

Welcome!
There are many ways and all lead to Rome.....

The Sharpmaker is really hard to beat especially if you have limited experience, and no experience in freehanding. You can upgrade for $16 to the UF stones and get even more polished which will make an even better push cutter.

A strop with some compound is always a good idea, not only does it polish up an edge, it takes care of most residual burrs and you get a good edge quickly an easily. The strop should be backed to minimize rounding over the edge (which will happen but on a backed strop only to a small degree).

You can also buy very fine "sandpaper", or rather PSA backed abrasive sheets that go down to approximately 0.5 microns which is about the same as the compound commonly used for stropping.

In my opinion the last word in polished edges are waterstones, simply as there are finer grits available than in any other medium and you can grade them finer using a Nagura and by building a slurry. However, if you get creative with strops you can find some pretty amazing compounds aswell. Usually waterstones require you to learn how to freehand but you can use jigs like the one from Razoredge and the Edgepro has waterstones available as well.

Really, the answer is: What ever works for you. I find, that the better (more experienced) I get, the easier it is for me to do with less than perfect equipment. On a blade with a good geometry and an edge that is not too far gone you can even get easily shaving with the bottom of a mug.

Maybe to put things into perspective, Benchmade isn't even exactly famous for their factory edges. I don't say that to dampen you enthusiasm for them but simply to say that you shouldn't aim for factory sharpness but that you can, with practice, beat a factory edge. However, cutting ability is not only depending on how well you sharpen, but also on what kind of geometries you are employing and you might not wish to go to significant smaller angles than the one used by the factory as it puts a larger (and by many viewed as ugly) bevel on the blade.

 

[MBWirenut]

There are lots of options, I think the best one is the Edgepro stuff, mainly for the huge variety of options and the supurb results. The customer service is outstanding as well. I have one on the way now. It will not do serrated edges I don't think, but I could be wrong. The sharpmaker works well too, just needs some more angle and rod options. There are so many ways and methods that it's mind blowing. Everyone here is more than willng to help

 

[notsofuzzy]

any freehand tips? because i'm not really into the whole knife thing....just keep finding knifes of my grandfathers and such and swords....and i'm not relaly interested in buying a sharpener.....so if there are any freehand tips that would be appreciated?

 

[HoB]

Sharpening is all about angle holding and minimizing burr formation. In order to free hand you have to teach your hand how to hold an angle. It doesn't have to be to a degree and it doesn't matter which angle, as long as the angle is small enough. I find the easiest way is to make yourself a wedge of wood, something in the range of 15 deg. You lean your knife onto that wedge and when you lift the knife off and transfer to the stone you try to maintain that angle. Maintaining the angle is easy as long as you don't do anything with it, but once you put pressure on the edge you tend to lower the angle. It takes some practice. You start with a coarse grit and establish an edge and then go to a finer grit for the final sharpening. If you build a large burr, raise the angle by at least 5 deg. and take a couple very light passes first on the burr side then on the other side. Make sure you don't transfer too large a burr onto the finer grit, or you may have trouble getting rid of it. When you are practically finished, raise the angle and take a few, light strokes on alternating sides at the increased angle. That gives the edge a good finish. A strop will come in handy especially at the beginning as it is far more forgiving. Even if you don't get the best edge of the stone, you will get a very sharp edge with subsequent stropping.

 

[notsofuzzy]

sounds good thanks

 

[Greg]

G'day,
If you are getting reasonable results with the Lansky then probably all you need to do is get some very fine stones for it and then polish the bevel with a leather strop loaded with polishing compound. The sharpest edges are produced that way although a coarser finish can be used for some materials-tomatoes and rope for instance.
I use a DMT Aligner (similar to a Lansky), up to the ultra-fine level and then polish with a paper wheel, and buff with a strop. These edges will shave arm hair without touching the skin.
BTW practice and a magnifying glass (to ensure no burr and to judge the polish) will make a big difference.
Greg