Show your sharpening skills ... what's the craziest blade you dared touching?

masterserg

masterserg

Joined
Jan 4, 2011
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I'll start with some spirograph on bark ... Had a rough day yesterday so I thought "what the hell" and unleashed the Wicked Edge on this beauty ...
 
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You're a brave soul, but it looks like it turned out well! I'm still being chicken (for some reason) to even sharpen my factory edge on a plain ol' sebenza 21. It doesn't really need it yet- it came quite sharp from the factory, but I'm still nervous to put it on my favorite stone.
 
I messed up a couple of nice custom blades thinking I could sharpen when i was learning! I practiced a lot and have just recently tried to sharpen a nicer knife- a dozier folding hunter. It turned out well, but I still think I would hesitate on a knife that nice (and rare)
 
I was actually very conservative ... only touched up the very edge with the diamonds at 24 degrees to remove some micro nicks. Then went down to 20 with strops only, trying to follow the factory edge. It is almost impossible to mess it up this way. It turned out very well.

On the second one I was a lot more aggressive and reprofiled at 20/19/18 and 17 as I was unhappy with the factory bevels ... blame my OCD ... It turned out real nice as well but the chances of screwing up are much higher, especially towards the tip. I should also mention that I have done a lot of cheap blades and my kitchen knives very often before I gathered the nerve to do this ...
 
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masterserg said:
I was actually very conservative ... only touched up the very edge with the diamonds at 24 degrees to remove some micro nicks. Then went down to 20 with strops only, trying to follow the factory edge. It is almost impossible to mess it up this way. It turned out very well ... I'll post some better pictures later.

On the second one I was a lot more aggressive and reprofiled at 20/19/18 and 17 as I was unhappy with the factory bevels ... blame my OCD ... It turned out real nice as well but the chances of screwing up are much higher, especially towards the tip. I should also mention that I have done a lot of cheap blades and my kitchen knives very often before I gathered the nerve to do this ...
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BRAVO!! Love it! I have always thought a beautiful blade like the one pictured above with an ok factory edge looks better with a screaming sharp mirror edge. I think the mirror edge adds value and looks to the knife. However I can understand if collectors are rolling in their graves right now..if you have to skills do it in my jaded opinion. Just please make sure you do have the skills:D

Ps if that is large I am very jealous! Like very very! This and the night sky is just about my favs...just wait about a year and I might have a night sky to add to this thread hint hint...
 
Somebody else has to play ... no fun otherwise ... Dennis?? I know you are out there :D
 
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Don't have a picture of the edge, but I touched up this one DMT guide sytem.
mastadon_zpsd65ecdf7.jpg
 
I really wish I could get the hang of my WE better. No matter how many videos I watch or how much I read, I just can't seem to get my knives sharp.
 
BBQ BOY said:
I really wish I could get the hang of my WE better. No matter how many videos I watch or how much I read, I just can't seem to get my knives sharp.
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I have a spyderco sharpmaker and really only use the whole system for the knifes under $100. I touch up my sebenza with the ceramic sticks by hand. If I spend enough time I can get hair shaving sharp. It only takes a couple minutes to get paper slicing sharp though, which I am usually more than happy with. Doing it by hand is pretty much fool proof if you just take your time with it. Recently I've even had some success in having to fix a ridiculously uneven grind on a kabar by hand.
 
pvicenzi said:
Don't have a picture of the edge, but I touched up this one DMT guide sytem.
mastadon_zpsd65ecdf7.jpg
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I can see a mirror there ... very nice! Love that bark by the way!

BBQ BOY said:
I really wish I could get the hang of my WE better. No matter how many videos I watch or how much I read, I just can't seem to get my knives sharp.
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You are probably not spending enough time with the lower grit stones. The first stone (for example 50, 80 or 100 if you are re-profiling) is the most critical step and you must make sure you reach the edge and form a burr to each side (you should feel it with your finger on the opposite side). After this, it is all refining, honing and polishing. If you didn't reach the edge, you will just be polishing the bevel without sharpening. Also, once you got that burr, don't apply a lot of pressure ... just glide and let the weight of the stones do all the work. Get a cheap knife that you won't be afraid of damaging and just have at it. All trial and error ... at first (on the cheapos) remove more metal on purpose to make sure you get to the edge ... once you learn the technique, you'll be able to adjust as needed and remove as little metal as possible.

It takes time though ... that ladder sebbie took me around 4 hours or so.

Feel free to PM'me and I'll give you some pointers.
 
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^^^ Interesting bevel on that Zaan ... how many degrees?


ZippoThisKnifeThat said:
I'll play! :D
Edge Pro'd.
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Nice one! I've seen a few of your videos on youtube. Very helpful man! Actually I just saw the one from 4 days ago and I am now thinking about ordering an SBL wallet! Love it!
 
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masterserg said:
I can see a mirror there ... very nice! Love that bark by the way!



You are probably not spending enough time with the lower grit stones. The first stone (for example 50, 80 or 100 if you are re-profiling) is the most critical step and you must make sure you reach the edge and form a burr to each side (you should feel it with your finger on the opposite side). After this, it is all refining, honing and polishing. If you didn't reach the edge, you will just be polishing the bevel without sharpening. Also, once you got that burr, don't apply a lot of pressure ... just glide and let the weight of the stones do all the work. Get a cheap knife that you won't be afraid of damaging and just have at it. All trial and error ... at first (on the cheapos) remove more metal on purpose to make sure you get to the edge ... once you learn the technique, you'll be able to adjust as needed and remove as little metal as possible.

It takes time though ... that ladder sebbie took me around 4 hours or so.

Feel free to PM'me and I'll give you some pointers.
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I think you have said something that I never realized that it can take many hours to sharpen a knife. I was spending about 20 minutes at most and that's all I thought it would take after seeing so many YouTube videos of the Wicked Edge in action. I have never seen anyone take more than 20 minutes. I use a marker, digital angler, loupe(with light) and all too. Also, I have sharpened till I raised a burr, well, I can't seem to raise a burr unless I am using a coarse stone. I think 80 grit is the coarsest I have.
 
BBQ BOY said:
I think you have said something that I never realized that it can take many hours to sharpen a knife. I was spending about 20 minutes at most and that's all I thought it would take after seeing so many YouTube videos of the Wicked Edge in action. I have never seen anyone take more than 20 minutes. I use a marker, digital angler, loupe(with light) and all too. Also, I have sharpened till I raised a burr, well, I can't seem to raise a burr unless I am using a coarse stone. I think 80 grit is the coarsest I have.
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Exactly! It depends on the shape the bevel is in ... if you reprofiled once, you know the angle and there is no serious damage ... yeah, you can touch up in 20 minutes, provided that you are are reproducing the setting and are hitting the exact same angle ... in that case you know you are reaching the edge because you did the hard work before.

But .... the first time, you definitely need to spend some time ... with the 80 or the 50 (the 50 is on the other side of the 80 so you have it). You want to form your basic bevel with that one until you raised a burr on both sides ... and then start polishing. Depending on your level of OCD ... you can do it from scratch in about one hour (YMMV) ... I took the longer time polishing the mirror edge with 2000 grit auto sandpaper taped to the ceramics, cape cod polishing paste on the sandpaper and a LOT of stropping. Hours fly by quickly....

What you say above is exactly correct, I only worry about the burr with the coarse stones ... finer stones are just for polishing. I know that after I raised a burr on both sides, it will be sharp. Just remember, do not apply pressure after that point ... just glide the finer stones .. their own weight is enough.

Ignore the videos and practice practice practice!
 
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