Sharpening your traditionals?

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getpower

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Sep 24, 2008
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I was wondering what method you guys around here use for sharpening your traditional knives?

I, personally had been using the Spyderco Sharpmaker for the most part, and until I got my Buck 301 it worked pretty good and produced a really respectable edge on my traditional knives-especially if they had carbon steel blades.

However, my Buck 301 seems to have some pretty "fat" blades and the Sharpmaker was just no longer producing the edge that I was after.

You know, the edge where you "look at it and start bleeding?"

To solve this, I thought that I would go back to my sharpening roots and re-acquire the skill of freehand sharpening on normal Arkansas Stones.

The stones that I purchased showed up today and what I ended up going with is one of those 3 stones glued to a triangle and held still by a wooden block.

I seem to have re-acquired the skill pretty well, since I was able to produce a pretty good edge freehand with the stones. I can shave the hair off my arm for sure, but it doesent really seem to be the edge that the Sharpmaker is capable of producing.

So, I was wondering what methods and materials others around here use to sharpen their traditional knives? Are there any techniques that you guys may want to share that really produce a "look at it and bleed" edge?

Shoot...
 
Let me get some popcorn. I am very happy with getting my tradtionals hair popping sharp. They will loose some of that when you use them, so I don't see much gain out of the extra effort to get them "hair whittling" sharp if you will.

I use a medium and fine diamond bench stone, a Norton fine india stone, and a Bark River leather hone on mine. I don't have any problem getting them as sharp as I need them to be.

I know the paper wheels will be coming along, but in the meantime, I am interested in what everyone uses myself.

Ed

P.S. - Please don't get the idea that I have anything against paper wheels, as I don't. I would like to have a setup for myself.
 
For reprofiling, I use DMT stones. X-tra Coarse, Coarse, Fine, Xtra Fine.
For maintaining an edge, I just use the Sharpmaker.

It won't pop hair, but it cuts everything I need cut.

(I sense thread movement)
 
TLARbb said:
I know the paper wheels will be coming along, but in the meantime, I am interested in what everyone uses myself.

Ed

P.S. - Please don't get the idea that I have anything against paper wheels, as I don't. I would like to have a setup for myself.
Click to expand...

I'm guilty of using paper wheels. Quick and easy and after you get the hang of them you can have a super sharp knife in minutes. Before buying these however I did put in my time learning all different ways to sharpen and spent years getting good at them before discovering paper wheels. I haven't found a knife yet that I can get hair splitting sharp now. Well worth the small investment IMO. :):thumbup:
 
I freehand on diamond bench stones, a 12" DMT diamond steel, and leather strop.

My knives will shave and push cut paper, but not whittle hair. Plenty good enough for me.
 
Free hand with norton waterstones, I have a 200/1000 and a 4000/6000 that I got as a set. I rarely use the 4k/6k because I get a perfectly usable edge with the lower grits and finish on a double sided strop, green compound on one side and treated leather on the other.
I enjoy the whole experience of free hand sharpening as opposed to all the gadgets out there now. And the feeling of accomplishment that comes from taking a dull knife, and giving it a Propper edge. Even if I have lots to learn
 
These are all great answers so far guys. I am already learning some just from that reading that has come about already. I'll have to research the whole paper wheel thing though as I have never heard of that method. Google, here I come.

knarfeng said:
For reprofiling, I use DMT stones. X-tra Coarse, Coarse, Fine, Xtra Fine.
For maintaining an edge, I just use the Sharpmaker.

It won't pop hair, but it cuts everything I need cut.

(I sense thread movement)
Click to expand...

As far as the thread possibly being moved, if it happens, it happens and I sincerely apologize for it, but I specifically tried to gear this thread towards the traditional users and possibly even learning how some fellas "traditionally" sharpen their knives.

IMO, things like the Sharpmaker and most other sharpening "devices" are more geared towards other knife users like the guys who go for the tacical style of things. That's where I used to be, and that's how I came to know the sharpmaker.

IMO, the art of freehand sharpening is a more traditional method and may even be losing here in this world of sharpening "gimmicks."

Do with that what you will, but hopefully the moderators don't move this thread (as I get down on my knees and beg)...
 
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By the way, I found out what the paper wheels were, and boy that seems like something you'd have to mess a few blades up with before you mastered it.

But, it does nothing for me when out hunting. The places I hunt are for sure not set up for me to bring a portable grinder in and touch up my knives every night.

I have to say that mastering the art of sharpening on a couple of stones to razor sharp feel like a much better accomplishment.
 
I use small diamond hone pads by Eze-lap...I use them on everything from a traditional to my khuks, I hone them down to 8 micron and if i'm feeling saucy i will strop them on a cheap belt I loaded with some paste. They are mirror reflective though at the end and pretty sharp, once they are at that level unless I completely demolish the edge I just strop to touch up!

Even without stropping they pop hairs, ultra fine diamond hone is very nice...it took a while to get that memory in my hands while working the blade and hone, but its how my granddad did it (except he used small stone hand hones).
 
A lot of you guys mentioned stropping.

The only thing that I have done to strop anything is just run the knife over a piece of cardboard or get out the old Carhartt belt that I have and run the knife over that.

I havent noticed any kind of difference in my edge wether I do this or not, but I am sure that there is much left undone as far as getting together some kind of paste or something like that.
 
getpower said:
A lot of you guys mentioned stropping.

The only thing that I have done to strop anything is just run the knife over a piece of cardboard or get out the old Carhartt belt that I have and run the knife over that.

I havent noticed any kind of difference in my edge wether I do this or not, but I am sure that there is much left undone as far as getting together some kind of paste or something like that.
Click to expand...

You need to load the strop with stropping paste, you'll see a big difference...I didn't believe it till I tried it late last year.
 
For reprofiling: 240 grit sand paper on a hardwood surface, coarse diamond, Spyderco medium, arkansas surgical black, a strop loaded with mothers billet paste

Touchups: Spyderco medium pocket hone. I love this thing, removes metal pretty fast while being fine enough to get a hair splitting edge if you're delicate.
 
strop and sand paper

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knarfeng said:
For reprofiling, I use DMT stones. X-tra Coarse, Coarse, Fine, Xtra Fine.
For maintaining an edge, I just use the Sharpmaker.

It won't pop hair, but it cuts everything I need cut.

(I sense thread movement)
Click to expand...

+1

I use the DMT Aligner Xtra Coarse, Coarse, Fine, Xtra Fine.
But I maintain an edge with DMT Xtra Fine.

I have just discovered the DLT Paddle strop with white compound.
A couple of passes improves the edge beyond expectation
 
I'm one of those Paper Wheel guys.

I used a Lansky kit for 20+ years prior to that. I never could get the hang of stropping. My lifestyle kept getting increasingly more hectic and although the Lansky did a great job, I found myself not having time to keep my knives as sharp as I like them. It even got to the point where I was hesitant to use my knives because I didn't know when I would have time to touch them up. That was unacceptable and it was time for a change.

I am much happier now and my knives are always razor sharp. With the wheels I can get just about any blade razor sharp in about 3 minutes or less and that makes me very, very happy.
 
I use a Lansky knife sharpener, it's what I grew up with and what I was taught to use. I can get the edge razor sharp on my knives, if they need touched up I take a stone to them.

I remember my Dad sharpening his knives on the Lansky at night, it may not me the most affective way to sharpen a knife, but I enjoy it.
 
getpower said:
...
As far as the thread possibly being moved, if it happens, it happens and I sincerely apologize for it, but I specifically tried to gear this thread towards the traditional users and possibly even learning how some fellas "traditionally" sharpen their knives...
...
Click to expand...

okay

I learned in school how to freehand sharpen all the tools.
There was never another way and there were no jigs available
I used to use Oil Carbrundum Stones for carpenrty chisels and plane irons and they were messy but good
I then moved to Arkansas and Washita also soaked in oil.
They were finer than the Carbrundum and worked well on the soft traditional steels of slippies.
Messy with lots of clean up both on the oil on the stones and oil on the knives.

But D2 and other steel renders the Arkansas and Washita ineffective
And with modern steels comes modern sharpers which is diamonds
Water instead of oil!
How wonderful to sharpen with minimal clean up
And with the modern sharpeners are the jig sets that makes it all so easy
 
knarfeng said:
For reprofiling, I use DMT stones. X-tra Coarse, Coarse, Fine, Xtra Fine.
For maintaining an edge, I just use the Sharpmaker.

It won't pop hair, but it cuts everything I need cut.

(I sense thread movement)
Click to expand...

This is my approach too. The Sharpmaker is a good thing if the knife comes sharp in the first place. Shaving arm hair or push cutting paper is good enough for me frankly. DMT stones work well on blunties or toughies like D2.
 
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