Sharpening

H

H-1Hawk

Joined
Nov 16, 2010
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Hello everyone. It is my first day on blade forums and I have started to collect knives. I have a couple knives but I don't have any way to sharpen them. I know nothing about sharpening but I will learn. I just need to know what the most simple and easiest knife sharpener there is( I don't care much about money but if it's cheap that's another plus).
 
Edge Pro Apex is a great device. It is expensive, but it does an incredible job. I also highly recommend the Spyderco Sharpmaker. Welcome to Bladeforums.
 
Kinda depends on the knives, but Spyderco Sharpmaker covers most of the basics and comes with a DVD to show you how.
 
If you haven't taken a look at Maintenance, Tinkering & Embellishment section yet, it has quite a few threads about sharpening.

Good luck!

Ric
 
Sharpmaker can be found pretty cheap, works with serrated knives, and it's very portable - can put it in a small backpack.

It's really not hard at all though to get a $20 double-sided diamond pad and sharpen plain edge clip-point and drop-point knives in 30 seconds or so.
 
Another + for Edge Pro. I got one recently and with little practice, my knives are sharper than they have ever been. Ben is pretty nice to deal with too.
 
Simple bench stones are the most versatile sharpening method IMHO, and likely the least expensive. Combined with an angle guide, they are all you need. You can go with natural (Arkansas), artificial/ceramic or diamond hones. I prefer DMT diamond hones. There are lots of books on sharpening, and plenty of information on this forum. Have fun, and keep the Band Aids handy.
 
In my opinion I would avoid the Edge pro if you are new to knives. It's a little overkill.

Depending on your collection and skill go with something like a Spyderco Sharpmaker or some benchstones.

Sharpmaker is great for touching up blades. Reprofiling though is another matter.
 
arjung said:
In my opinion I would avoid the Edge pro if you are new to knives. It's a little overkill.

Depending on your collection and skill go with something like a Spyderco Sharpmaker or some benchstones.

Sharpmaker is great for touching up blades. Reprofiling though is another matter.
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I would agree. The Edge-Pro is a great system but at $155-$200 it seems a little over the top for a small collection of knives.

I recommend starting out with a Smith's 3 in 1 Knife Sharpening System ($30) or a Spyderco Sharpmaker. ($55) If you continue to add to your collection you may decide to move up to the Edge-Pro later on.
 
Boozoo Chavis said:
I would agree. The Edge-Pro is a great system but at $155-$200 it seems a little over the top for a small collection of knives.
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I see where you're coming from, but I think it depends on how sure the OP is that collecting/using knives is going to be a serious/long-term hobby. We all know how quickly a small collection of knives can turn into a large one. ;) Still, it couldn't hurt to get the Sharpmaker first, since even if he decides to get an Edge Pro down the road, he may still find the Sharpmaker useful for quickly touching up/maintaining edges.
 
Simple, easy, and cheap are all pointing to benchstones. No setup, no adjustments, no moving parts.
 
Alberta Ed said:
Simple bench stones are the most versatile sharpening method IMHO, and likely the least expensive. Combined with an angle guide, they are all you need. You can go with natural (Arkansas), artificial/ceramic or diamond hones. I prefer DMT diamond hones. There are lots of books on sharpening, and plenty of information on this forum. Have fun, and keep the Band Aids handy.
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A big :thumbup: to all of this.

If you don't have a problem dropping hundreds of dollars on an edge-pro, go nuts. I hear they give great results and are popular among folks who have difficulties getting proficient with other sharpening methods, but they certainly seem to come at a high price.

It seems as though you're just beginning to sharpen, and benchstones are a fantastic place to start. :thumbup:
 
I recently started collecting knives as well and plan on investing in a good sharpening system. However, for now I use a 5 dollar stone I bought at home depot with a course and fine side. Between that and a leather belt I can get even old, dull, chipped kitchen knives hair shaving sharp. I felt it was good to learn free hand first and practice on old cheap knives.

With the same stone I have brought back to life a BM grip that was dull, and had a broken tip. It now slices paper, hair off my arm, and everything else so far.
 
I started with the Lansky system. I used it for a good 5 years. It's cheap 40$ depending on what stone kit you buy. It gets the job done with amazing looking bevels with the right stone kit. IMHO I think it's a good beginner set to start with. Super easy to use and gives great results.

I've since switched to the sharpmaker and have been more then happy with it. In fact it's all I use now.
A note on the sharpmaker, it can be a bit of a PITA to reprofile blades without the diamond stone's or the use of sand paper wrapped stone's.

Whatever you buy, make sure to check out some youtube video's on it just to get a grip on how it works before you spend your hard earned money on it. ;)
 
I would recommend a set of paper wheels if you happen to have more than 5 knives. Total price along with a bench grinder ought to be about $100. More expensive than a Sharpmaker, but half the price of the Edge Pro. It DOES take some practice to use properly, but I like it because of the speed in which it can reprofile and raise a burr on an edge(typically about 5 minutes to go from tearing paper to push cutting it), and the final edge is typically enough to push cut paper or even whittle hair. Though admittedly the edges won't look very pretty until you've mastered it.

The one downside about the Sharpmaker is that the rods are too fine of a grit sometimes and won't properly raise a burr on a dulled out edge, and it takes forever to sharpen if the factory grind is at a high or uneven angle. Some have come up with the idea of clamping sandpaper to the rods, but I'm not a fan of frankenstein'd solutions.

Oh, and the wheels are also outstanding at grinding a new tip on a knife if you've broken it off. I've done it 5 times thus far and I swear it goes faster than a DMT XX Coarse stone.

The wheels can also sharpen recurve knives, which can get tricky on the EdgePro without the 1/2 inch stones(which costs MORE money).
 
I'd recommend the Spyderco Sharpmaker to H-1Hawk. The EdgePro is great of course, but limited. Recurves and hawkbills are difficult or impossible on them (H-1Hawk in another thread expressed interest in a Spyderco H1 Spyderhawk), and if you have a knife with serrations, you'll need something to sharpen those as well. A Sharpmaker will do all of that and more.
 
All you need is a good benchstone like the Norton IB8, and the Spyderco Sharpmaker.
The Sharpmaker is not only capable of producing a hair splitting edge, but it serves as great training wheels for freehanding on benchstones.
 
i believe phydeaux probably states the most viable info.all the tools in the world have no
value w/o the knowledge to properly use them. maintenance & tinkering will give more 1st hand info on many systems & how implemetation of same is accomplished.tools & aids are great but the knowledge to implement same is more important.
dennis--instructions with systems helps but it's hard to drive a car w/o hands on experience. the forum gives lots of hands on info.
 
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