Sharpening Techniques

R

Redlum

Joined
Sep 15, 2004
Messages
16
Hi,

Can anyone assist with some tips on sharpening ? I have a Lansky setup - and am looking at the Sharpmaker as well.

- Diffent techniques for different blade type, different steel types.
- Anything that you think may be of assistance.

Thanks
 
Understanding what happens when you sharpen is as important as the equipment you use. Here's the Bladeforums.com Knife FAQs and a recent discussion on different blade grinds and sharpness.

One tip a lot of people seem to miss is to sharpen lightly. You can always increase strokes on a stone if you're not getting the edge quite sharp yet but you can't put back edge you've ground off irregularly.

Also, understand what a wire edge is and how to deal with it. Your knife may be sharp already, but the wire edge, or burr, or feather is interfering with that.
 
The single most important tip is to purchase a magnifying loupe or simple microscope (40x is highly recommeded though you can benefit nicely from even 10x). You can get some dandy tools for Edmond Scientific (do a web search) for well under $20.

This will allow you to see what is actually happening to your edge as you go. It'll take a lot of the "mystery" out of sharpening.
 
Absolutely! I carry a small magnifier all the time. Even low power can show you lot. Turn the edge back and forth slightly to catch the light and you can even see micro-chipping sometimes.

Another way to follow what's happening as you sharpen is to use a black marker to coat the edge, the secondary bevel, so you know when you are sharpening what you meant to.
 
Thanks for all the tips - especially the pointer to the FAQ's - It's exactly what I was looking for. :)
 
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