Sharpening system for serveral damaged or dull knives?

S

SBaker34

Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Messages
793
I got out of knife collecting because I could never really bring myself to use the things because I could not passably sharpen them with a stone.
I have a griptilian, kabar bk9, kabar combat knife and a few junkers.
Stones are just out of the question for me, sharpening a 9 inch long carbon steel blade that is dinged and dulled up freehand is not happening.

I'm considering either getting a sharpmaker and sending my knives off to be sharpened once professionally and just maintaining the edge, and maybe picking up a few new knives. but if the angles don't match up it will be one big headache to sharpen them especially for a novice like me.

I also considered picking up a worksharp knife and tool sharpener possibly the ken onion edition but I am concerned about ruining the heat treatment.



I would really like to get into collecting again but I have OCD which makes knife maintenance very unenjoyable. I prefer to think about it as little as possible Or ill spend hours working on it and feel like I just screwed it up. Oddly enough using a sharpmaker with a spyderco wouldn't bother me, but with a benchmade unless I knew the exact angle would probably annoy me to no end. The longer I work on something the more anal I get about it.
 
It's really not that hard to sharpen. Like anything that requires a skill it takes time to developed. If you have learned to ride a bike then you can sharpen a knife. I also don't think I would recommend something as small as the SM to touch-up a knife as large as a BK9.

If you want a belt sanders then get a 1x30, but I would recommend some quality bench stones and learning to freehand.
 
Have you taken a look at wicked edge or edge pro, to my understanding they can get some pretty consistent results? Will it suit your needs I don't know, I am not familiar with the limitations of those machines.
 
If it were me (and it was) and I did not want to send them off, I would buy:

1X30 belt sander from Harbor Freight to re-establish and repair the edge, using very light strokes. Available with both 80 and 140 grit. Looking for 400-600 grit.

Than I have the Lansky dual ceramic stock V sharpener with med and fine rods.

And finally, if I think I need it, loaded strop with .5 micron paste.

I am not a professional, but I can sharpen any/all my knives to a consistent having sharp edge.

I would love the complete stone system, but I seem to have trouble maintaining a consistent angle.

My 2 cents worth.

Larry
Tinkerer
 
tinkerer said:
If it were me (and it was) and I did not want to send them off, I would buy:

1X30 belt sander from Harbor Freight to re-establish and repair the edge, using very light strokes. Available with both 80 and 140 grit. Looking for 400-600 grit.

Than I have the Lansky dual ceramic stock V sharpener with med and fine rods.

And finally, if I think I need it, loaded strop with .5 micron paste.

I am not a professional, but I can sharpen any/all my knives to a consistent having sharp edge.

I would love the complete stone system, but I seem to have trouble maintaining a consistent angle.

My 2 cents worth.

Larry
Tinkerer
Click to expand...

Trugrit, Super grit and ebay will get you what you want.


Totally agree with knifenut, stones are a must. However its understood not wanting to do your BK9. Ix30 with light passes and keep it cool.
 
If your knives are "damaged" or severely dull, the SharpMaker isn't going to do anything useful in any reasonable amount of time. I guess it depends on how dull and how damaged. Don't get me wrong, I *really* like my SharpMaker, but it's not my go to system when I have a blade that's anything beyond "a little dull".

The 1x30" belt sanders mentioned are probably going to be very fast and work well. I haven't used one myself, but I've used the WorkSharp Ken Onion quite a bit and it's very effective. I think you have very little chance of affecting the heat treat of the blade with a WSKO: It just doesn't work fast enough to severely heat a blade unless you just bone-headedly hold a blade against it for minutes at a time. I've gotten a blade "warm" at top speed, but I'm certain it was no where near the point of damaging the blade. Not even close.

I like the WSKO and I think it's worth owning. It's fast compared to stones, or a guided system (Lansky, Wicked Edge, Edge Pro). But it's not a full sized belt sander either. It's all about what you're after. Frankly, I think you'd like a magic machine that would just sharpen your blades for you on command... like a knife butler! :) But sharpening isn't like that. You have to accept that there is a certain amount of time and skill involved and try to not be too OCD about it.

Given what you've said, I'm not sure what to recommend for you other than trying to change your mindset a little and think of sharpening as a really cool skill that not a lot of modern people have. Having it makes you able to do things they can't and means your blades will almost always be the sharpest ones anyone you know has ever seen. That makes the effort worth it.

Good luck with your choice; I'll be curious to hear what you decide. :)

Brian.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top