sharpening rat knives

I use the Spyderco sharpmaker on my RAT/ESEEs. It works pretty damn well for me. I am however, giving serious consideration to convexing my Izula.
 
Boondock Saint said:
I use the Spyderco sharpmaker on my RAT/ESEEs. It works pretty damn well for me. I am however, giving serious consideration to convexing my Izula.
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I'm serious about my plane blades and chisels but i'm a bit new to buying a good knife and taking care of it . Its all interesting and we'll see where all this goes. For now i can't stop picking up the RC4 and fiddling with it.
 
What do you use to sharpen now?

You probably don't need anything new but just a better understanding of how to use what you have now.
 
knifenut1013 said:
What do you use to sharpen now?

You probably don't need anything new but just a better understanding of how to use what you have now.
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I use water stones and a jig from Lee valley to do all my plane blades and chisels. 200x, 1000x,4000x is basically what i use. I have an 8000x but never use it.
I saw some jigs for knives but they seemed a bit flimsy on the video's. I may eventually do it freehand but tendonitis kept me from that with my other tools so for now i'll try the spyderco system and see what happens. Honestly if $$ was not an issue i would just pop for the edge pro but the downturn has made my work shaky.
 
$10 for the aligner and the continued use of your water stones will bring you better results than the sharpmaker, plus you will now have a use for your 8k stone ;)


Use the money you would save and buy another waterstone.
 
Pilot1 said:
Can someone suggest a store to buy sharpening supplies? Thanks.
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Is there a WOODCRAFT store in your area? They carry several brands/types of sharpening stuff....stones, DMT products, paper wheels, and so on....
 
Moengo said:
Try here they have good products and equally good customer service.
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Thank you Moengo! That looks like a great one stop shop. Can you or anyone give me a basic list of items needed to sharpen both convex grind and full flat grinds used on an RC-4 and RC-5? Diamond stone needed?, strops, compound, grit of sandpaper? etc. I may convex the RC's, but I am I'd like to keep their flat grindfor a while and see how I like it. I have been using just a sharpening stone, but the results aren't the best since I can not keep the angle consistant.

Thanks.
 
Pilot1,
The person you need to ask these questions to is knifenut1013. Email Jason and he will help you, the guy has a wealth of knowledge/experience with regard to sharpening with bench stones.
 
Brad "the butcher";7904948 said:
Even if you do not want to try convexing, take some of the shoulder or steel right behind the edge so 1/8 in of coating comes off.

Really helps reduce cutting friction and will get you started on convexing. Looks better with all that shiny edge too.

to lee valley and get 2 water stones a 1200 and a 4000, should only be around 60$.
Your hand sharpening with a guide so this is the next step, freehand will convex everything a little unless you are a robot.

I pack a little diamond rod and a 1.5x5 in leather strip charged with green compound for camp. Only need the rod if I catch a rock.
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What is the best way to knock back the shoulder and that blade coating???
 
DocBurN said:
Did the same as you pal.. im no master sharpener but this tool seem like a good choice to me.. keep me posted how it goes..
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I just got the Spyderco rig today and gave my Spyderco Tenacious a run through and its never been sharper. It was very easy to use and fast. I'm happy at this point i made the purchase. Now if i only had more knives to sharpen (-;
 
mbiraman said:
I just got the Spyderco rig today and gave my Spyderco Tenacious a run through and its never been sharper. It was very easy to use and fast. I'm happy at this point i made the purchase. Now if i only had more knives to sharpen (-;
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Good to know.. i am still waiting on my spyderco and would like to know if i should care about ordering those ceramic rods from LV you ordered..

i didnt received the spyderco kit yet and im leaning toward DMT diafold for field-sharpening and wetstones/leather strop at home.. maybe i should wait for the kit first, lol. I am mainly using RCs knives and none are convex from the very little i know..
 
DocBurN said:
Good to know.. i am still waiting on my spyderco and would like to know if i should care about ordering those ceramic rods from LV you ordered..

i didnt received the spyderco kit yet and im leaning toward DMT diafold for field-sharpening and wetstones/leather strop at home.. maybe i should wait for the kit first, lol. I am mainly using RCs knives and none are convex from the very little i know..
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At this point i would say skip the LV rods. I made a little field kit with one rod broken in two, sorta like a small sharpmaker but i don't think i'll end up using it and will probably just tune up my knife edges with a diamond card of some kind. Having said that i don't think i'll need to do any field tune-up much unless i'm out for days at a time and battoning allot
 
It looks like the Spyderco Sharpmaker is the way to go for home sharpening, is there a consensus recommendation for field sharpening?
 
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