Sharpening poll.

Sharpening Technique.

  • Freehand

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Guided

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Belt Grinder/Sander

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Bench Grinder/Paper Wheels

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
65535

65535

Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Messages
3,736
I hope Dave doesn't mind, but I saw his "Poll" and decided it would be cool to get an official poll with pretty numbers and colors and everything.

So here is a poll on the exact same topic, how do you sharpen your knives.
 
if its anything but touch up i usually do it freehand, if for no other reason than its faster with something thats really dull, for me anyway. i probably spend more time sharpening kitchen knives than anything and i do all them freehand.

i do keep a sharpmaker on my workbench for touch ups though.
 
Could you change the poll to allow multiple methods to be selected? I actually use all of the above methods (but the grinder and paper wheels the least)?

This week will sharpen around 50 knives for the local soup kitchen. I will need to hog off a lot of material using the belt sander. I will go through 60 grit up to 400 grit and remove about an ounce of material overall. I will finish the job using a large V-style guided ceramic hone system.

For my personal knives I maintain them with bench hones and finish the edges with my Sharpmaker. When I want that little extra kick I follow with a strop loaded with submicron diamond grit. I often buy used knives and often do my first sharpening/reprofiling using my belt sander. For these knives I usually go through 80 to 600 grit belts.

For special cases I have a low speed grinding wheel.
 
I too use multiple techniques. Mostly, for things at home, I'll go to a guided system (Edgepro, then Sharpmaker) to get that perfect, hair-whittling edge.

At work, however, it's either a bench grinder with a stone and then a Scotchbrite wheel, or a CATRA machine, which puts on a consistent angle no matter of the skill of the operator. I still finish by hand on the Sharpmaker after all this.

Freehand I'm working on, and any straight razors or single bevel Japanese stuff still gets done this way on waterstones, but other than that, it's guided for me!

Travis
 
Most of the time I just tune up edges with the butcher steel I keep hung in the kitchen. It is long and well worn and puts a wicked edge on.

But when a knife needs more, I go to the shop and set the edges on the belt grinder, then move on to the ceramic rods, and then fine up the edge with the butcher steel.
 
i used to sharpen by hand then started using an ez sharp. when my friend showed me the paper wheels. it didnt make any sense to do it by hand anymore when i could get better results with the wheels and in the ammount of time it takes to do one knife by hand, i could do several knives.
 
i use a belt sander set up with belts down to 9u and strop on the belt sander and by hand.
 
Nice format (seeing as how I didn't have one!) Just curious what everyone uses (mass produced, machine, strop) or are if there are any tricks I am not aware of.....Oneupsmanship is always welcome!
 
Edge Pro for initial bevel and then sharpmaker for touchups.

I free hand my kabar and axe but I voted for using guides.

I gave freehanding my pocket knives a shot but I just don't have the patience unfortunately.
 
Freehand. I'd work with a belt or a grinder if I were willing to drop the dough for it, but I'm not. I could buy a gun of a knife with that cash.
 
Outdoors Fanatic said:
Dude, a Harbor Freight 1'' X 30'' Belt Sander cost 45 bucks and works better than any expensive system in the market. Some "quality" gun you could get for that money...

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=2485
Click to expand...

That $45 could go towards a gun (thank you for the sarcasm).

I would be weighing out how much I would use the thing also. I don't do major sharpening, I touch up my knives just fine on my diamond stone and stop. I was able to freehand on my Spyderco Sharpmaker stones and strop on newspaper and get my edges hair whittling sharp and because of that, it took me over 8 months to convince myself to go out and get a diamond stone and a leather stop with the stopping compound.
 
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