Sharpening the easy way

I'm very satisfied with my Edge Pro Apex thus far. If you've got the cash (~$250 for my medium-range setup), it's a very good way to go because it's precise, consistent, well made, and it will last you a very long time.
 
Surfingringo said:
Thanks remn...you are making it sound interesting. How do you maintain the correct angles when sharpening on the dmt?
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That was what kept me away from hand-sharpening at first. I didn't get how you could possibly maintain a consistent angle without a guide. But after a little practice I figured out that the way to do it is not by sight but by feel. When you're passing the blade over the stone with the edge flat against it, you'll get noticeably more resistance than if you're off by a few degrees in either direction. So I can tell when I have the angle right when the stone is pulling against me as I slide the blade across it. With a little practice I've just developed a knack for this..hard to explain!

Of course this might not work for re-profiling the bevel, but as long as you just want to re-sharpen the edge as-is, this has worked for me. I'm a total beginner so the more experienced sharpeners might chime in to explain what's wrong with this method. But it's been working for me.

Now I'm planning on trying to re-profile the blade on my Ka-Bar Hunter, so I'll see if this method continues to work :)
 
Hadji Flip Me Over said:
I'm very satisfied with my Edge Pro Apex thus far. If you've got the cash (~$250 for my medium-range setup), it's a very good way to go because it's precise, consistent, well made, and it will last you a very long time.
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If you decide to go with the Edge Pro Apex I've got one for sale.
 
The Sharpmaker is a good system, but you'll need to learn how to match the stone angle to the edge angle. And you'll need to learn how to raise and remove a burr on both sides of the edge.

If you then add a pair of diamond rods to the Sharpmaker, you'll be able to sharpen a lot faster and easier when the stone angles and edge angles don't yet match.
 
Surfingringo said:
Thanks remn...you are making it sound interesting. How do you maintain the correct angles when sharpening on the dmt?
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Second paragraph of my first post. Eyeball it til your hands get used to the motions. You can sharpen slowly and build muscle memory, later on it will be much faster. You really cannot go wrong with a DMT Diafold. I suggest a double-sided version with coarse/fine sides, but since I use mostly vg-10 and s30v steel, I actually use a fine/extra fine diafold. Trust me, you'd save a great deal of money trying this option first.
 
From reading your post I say get the Sharpmaker.
I was tought to sharpen freehand when a kid, and then did it alot as a meat cutter, but I will use a Sharpmaker at times now. I bought my ex wife one years ago and kept it set up on the counter. I didn't use it myself for a year or so, but now use it at times for touch up. I let a Sebenza get butter knife dull once just to see if it would bring the edge back. It did, and didn't take long at all. If my ex could sharpen with it anyone can.
 
spyderco sharpmaker is actually pretty good for learning, IMO. I had watched a bunch of videos and tried stones for awhile, but I never "got it". Then I watched the DVD that came with the sharpmaker. Sharpened a few knives that way to arm hair shaving results. After that, I really looked into what was going on with the angles and pressures, and how that could be translated into using a bench stone. Once it clicked sharpening as a whole became easier for me.

Sharpmaker is really limited on PUTTING an edge on a knife, IMO. It's great at taking a knife with a good but dull edge, and getting it screaming sharp. But if you need to reprofile or really repair an edge, it will take you all day.
 
There is also the 'Poor Man's Sharpmaker' the Lansky Turnbox.

[video=youtube;xrv9X_iWIdQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrv9X_iWIdQ[/video]

I think you can get a 4 rod Turnbox for just over $20
 
Ok, so at this point I think it's down to the spyderco and the DMT. I have to be honest...I am kind of leaning towards the DMT. I appreciate the simplicity. And I know this is going to seem to be in conflict with my original post, but when i consider it, i realize I'm not really concerned about taking my time with the sharpening. I'm concerned about not getting results. If I felt confident I could get decent results "from the get go" and get better with time I would probably go with the DMT.

In all fairness, the last time I tried to sharpen with a stone I was a kid using a cheap worn out whetstone with no instruction or guidance. And no, I didn't get good results, but it might be time to stop saying "I'm no good at sharpening" and give it another go. I mean come on! I made straight A's in physics and wood shop! And this is a knife sharpener not a rocket ship. I'm bettin I can figure it out! ;-).

And even though those earlier "why don't you learn to sharpen dude?" Posts kind of rankled my fur, they are probably right. We'll see.
 
goodeyesniper said:
spyderco sharpmaker is actually pretty good for learning, IMO. I had watched a bunch of videos and tried stones for awhile, but I never "got it". Then I watched the DVD that came with the sharpmaker. Sharpened a few knives that way to arm hair shaving results. After that, I really looked into what was going on with the angles and pressures, and how that could be translated into using a bench stone. Once it clicked sharpening as a whole became easier for me.

Sharpmaker is really limited on PUTTING an edge on a knife, IMO. It's great at taking a knife with a good but dull edge, and getting it screaming sharp. But if you need to reprofile or really repair an edge, it will take you all day.
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For a REALLY dull knife you can use the optional diamond rods on the sharpmaker. It will cut down the time it takes significantly.
 
Ok, remykaze, you suggested I get the coarse/fine stone. That will serve me better than the fine/extra fine that you use? I will be using this mostly on a benchmade mini griptillian and a couple of cheap gerbers. Just want to make sure I get the most useful model if I go that route.
 
I always try to bring an edge back with a strop or ceramic rod but if its too far gone for that I use a 1x30 belt sander.
They do take up a bit of space but once you get the hang of it you can get incredible results in no time.
On an edge that I've previously sharpened, a light pass on a broken in 6 or 800 grit belt followed with the leather strop belt gets them razor sharp without worrying about over heating or excess material removal.
 
Surfingringo said:
Ok, remykaze, you suggested I get the coarse/fine stone. That will serve me better than the fine/extra fine that you use? I will be using this mostly on a benchmade mini griptillian and a couple of cheap gerbers. Just want to make sure I get the most useful model if I go that route.
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The coarse/fine DMT stones would be a good place to start, though if you have a lot of re-beveling to do, then the extra course or extra extra course would be faster. The finer the grit is on the final stone that you use to sharpen will determine how fine your edge is.

A thread in the Maintenance and Tinkering forum has a chart of the grit sizes to help you figure out the transitions between the different stones.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/856708-The-Grand-Unified-Grit-Chart

Komitadjie said:
Hey, glad it's helped 'ya out! :)

New revision, I've re-sorted the EdgePro stock stones to reflect the response from Boride that they are FEPA-F graded. This casts some doubt on the numbers for the tapes, given that the 2K tape is now considerably more coarse than the 1K stone... So I've moved the tapes to approximate values.

gcreve.png

FULL VIEW
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The best advice I can give you is to pick up a couple really cheap $1 knives at Walmart and practice before you start in on your mini-Grip.
 
I've had a Sharpmaker for a long time and it has been more frustration than anything. I finally decided that I had a number of knives with angles too steep for the sharpmaker so I bought a coarse/x-coarse DMT diafold to help with that. More recently I bought a DMT Aligner system and I think it is a good combination of foolproof and inexpensive. I can use it on a knife with incorrect angles and get it sharp in a matter of minutes. I have also tried sharpening freehand with the DMT diafold and didn't have much luck but I haven't tried it much.
 
Ever thought of a knife sharpening set with the angles built in? lee valley dot com sells a Knife Sharpening Set that looks easy-peasy. Comes with two alu oxide hones (120 & 600) plus a ceramic at 1200. Uses slots and guide rods to keep you aligned.

I don't know the policy for posting URLs, otherwise, I'd have posted a direct link. just go to leevalley dot com and set your country to US or Canada, depending on where you are.

I'm a total newb at sharpening. I'm saving up right now for that kit and a set of stones for once I'm feeling a little easier with sharpening on the whole.
 
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