sharpening small knives

D

drskip

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Jul 26, 2009
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I like small traditional folders. I'm sharpening free hand on a stones now ,but hope for a sharper result. I've been looking at edgepro and KME. Any help on what to pick for small blades?
 
drskip said:
I like small traditional folders. I'm sharpening free hand on a stones now ,but hope for a sharper result. I've been looking at edgepro and KME. Any help on what to pick for small blades?
Click to expand...
Hi,
Both the edge pro and the kmesharp have extra/addon clamp/holder for small knives ... so :)


how sharp can you get? what kind of stones do you have? What do you do exactly?
Maybe all you need is a slight/small adjustment in how you sharpen
Have you tried sharpening like this with microbevels?
In this video, 320 grit stone , push cut newspaper at 90 degree, 45 tip left , 45 tip up Normark EKA 12C27 : optimal edge geometry for slicing hardwoods (norton economy fine edge) - CliffStamp
 
bucketstove said:
Hi,
Both the edge pro and the kmesharp have extra/addon clamp/holder for small knives ... so :)


how sharp can you get? what kind of stones do you have? What do you do exactly?
Maybe all you need is a slight/small adjustment in how you sharpen
Have you tried sharpening like this with microbevels?
In this video, 320 grit stone , push cut newspaper at 90 degree, 45 tip left , 45 tip up Normark EKA 12C27 : optimal edge geometry for slicing hardwoods (norton economy fine edge) - CliffStamp
Click to expand...

Cliff Stamp...... ask Ankerson about him, I going to start some popcorn.....


Russ
 
I've got a Lansky diamond kit with both ceramic stones, extra course stone & I handmade a leather strop with green compound also. It works quite well, mirror polished edges. Cost, around $80-$110. The only drawback is it takes a little longer to sharpen knives due to the stones only being 1/2" wide. I've been looking into the KME, & it's the one I'd buy. With the six stones I'd like, plus one leather strop, it'll run me round $300. Of course I've got other things that the $300 is going to right now.
 
I have many systems incl. the KME and Wicked Edge and for smaller knives I can certainly recommend the KME but for my smaller knives I still prefer my original Lansky and I just made a quick video to show you why. What you see is the blade of a Congress knife that was sharpened with the Lansky, I than dull the blade so it will not cut the paper anymore and than sharpen it again in less than 2 minutes.

Usually I take more time and make sure that I get a perfect result but the purpose of this video was to show you how well a Lansky can work with these kind of blades.

I would advise getting a Lansky with an original style clamp with notches for small knives, not the ones without the notches or with the rubber inserts.
Usually, a couple of them are available on eBay for around $20.-

[video=youtube;7w30a3EjgIM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w30a3EjgIM[/video]
 
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For my traditional knives, small to large, I use bench stones freehand to set the initial bevel and then a Spyderco Sharpmaker and a strop to refine and maintain it. I don't have any set approach - the knife and the situation the edge is in determines what specific stones and progression I use.
 
I sharpen all of my small blades on a Ken Onion work sharp. I put it on the slowest setting and start with 800 grit to avoid taking off too much metal, and get wicked mirror edges in only a few minutes!

Here is a vintage Diamond Edge that is 3" closed, so both blades are fairly small. You can see how small the bevels are in the pic, and trust me they are sharp:) It is a short learning curve as long as you have a steady hand and some sharpening knowledge.
 
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