Lennox
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2012
- Messages
- 1,232
Ok folks let's get to sharpening some Infi. :thumbup: This is just the the first part and it's mostly a redo on stuff i have written before, i have a lot of pics, vids and more sharpening stuff coming up soon.
During my time here i have seen many people ask about sharpening various knifes, i can see why people with no experience in sharpening are hesitant to start messing around with expensive blades due to fear of failure so sending your blade to a pro is often a good solution. Now!! if you want to learn how to do it yourself there is a few ways to go about it. If you want to invest some money in something to help you out you should get a belt grinder and a bench grinder for a buffing wheel and scotchbrite wheel and such ( i will be getting back to this later), if you don't want to get into using machines there is a jungle of other stuff that works and i will try to go trough most of them and explain how they work and how to use them without making things too complicated and nerdy.
Sharpening systems seem to work ok for a lot of people but convex edges like on most Busse's are kinda out of the question on these systems unless you take your edge down to a v edge, i will talk more about v edges later.
DMT sharpeners are nice tools for sharpening and maintaining both convex and v edges but the blade needs to be straight due to the flat surface on the DMT so recurves and blades like the zilla is pretty much out of the question when using flat sharpening tools. When practicing with a DMT you can use a permanent marker to color the part of the edge you want to work on and this way you can easily see what you are doing to the edge, on a v edge you color the v and on a convex edge you color all the way from the cutting part of the edge to where the main edge stops and flattens out towards the spine. If you choose to use DMT's you should get some cheap blades to practice on and after a few days of practice you should be able to master sharpening with DMT's.
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How to practice you say.... Hmmmm we are getting to that part now.
When i sharpen with the Spyderco stone a DMT or any other stone for that matter i always make sure i start behind the sharp part of the edge (Convex edge), i will try to explain as best i can.
Take look at the convex edge in this pic and imagine that you start sharpening the Apex (cutting part of your edge) first, what you end up with if you do this is a blunter edge angle, do this enough and your edge will be a bitch to get sharp.
But if you take care of the convex on both sides before touching the apex of the edge the geometry will stay correct and you can move on to joining both of the convex sides by sharpening on one side until you get a burr on the opposite side, then proceed to sharpen on the burred side so you cut/move the burr to the first side you were working on, then you simply remove the burr on a stropp or a fine stone and whooooohoooo you have a razor sharp cutting edge. 
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A Japanese water stone is also a great way to sharpen and i will let this video from Carter describe the technique. I have been using Japanese water stones for more than 12 years now and they are well worth learning to use, When you get the hang of using them you can make just about any knife razor sharp in minutes, the best brand i have tried so far is KASUMI, they are expensive but will last you for years. An important thing with water stones is to let them soak in water for about 30 minutes before using them.
[video=youtube;ozZF2EgnYm0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozZF2EgnYm0[/video]
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These smaller waterstones are great for recurves and taking care of stuff such as a sharpened svedge due to the rounded butt. when your fine waterstone gets clogged with steel you need to use a rougher waterstone to rub it out (1000 grit is great) Just rub them together with water and they will clean up nicely, this also helps to keep your stones flat.
[/URL][/IMG]
The natural stones below are great stones to use on most knifes but i find them to be a bit slow when used on INFI
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A leather stropp with some stropping compound is a must since this is usually all you need to get your INFI back to shaving sharp after a chopping session, just rub some compound on the leather and stropp away from the blade at a slightly flat angle at first and work your way towards the apex. Why is stropping so great on Infi??????
Well! this is because Infi is extremely resistant to chipping and as a result it deforms instead of chipping, so if your Busse feels a bit dull and won't cut paper or shave after you have been at it killing hordes of those pesky zombie pine trees just stropp it with some medium or fine compound and 9 out of 10 times it will go right back to being scary sharp.
[/URL][/IMG]
The spyderco ceramics below are some of the best ceramics you can get, they hold up really well and 9 out of 10 times they are all you will need besides a strop. The thin stick is for folders but it works great in recurves and on smaller blades.
[/URL][/IMG]
A rolled up leather belt with some compond makes for a great stropping tool when you are in the bush, just tie one end to a tree branch, tighten and stropp away.
[/URL][/IMG]
A small belt grinder like this one from Proxon is nifty and cheap little machine for taking care of all types of knifes, i prefer to use a bigger grinder myself but a small one like this works just fine.
[/URL][/IMG]
This way you can make or maintain a convex edge with the Proxon
[/IMG]
Some soft insulating tape from Armaflex with some 400 grit paper on top is also a great way to make or repair a convex edge
[/IMG]
A machine like this one from MOE & CO does the same job the leather stropp does and it takes less skill to use but you dont need one of these unless you are planning to sharpen a lot of knifes often.
[/URL][/IMG]
[/URL][/IMG]
The scotch brite wheel above is a 600 grit wheel and will give you a great satin finish. Keep in mind that the scotch brite wheels will easily catch the spine on your knife and take your finger off if your hand is in the way Be careful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Before scotch bright wheel. (In this pic you can also see a good way to use the marker on your blade.)
[/URL][/IMG]
After scotch brite wheel.
[/URL][/IMG]
A piece of rolled up 1200 gritt paper for wet sanding is a super cheap and very easy way to sharpen your blade and it's amazing how well this works .
[/URL][/IMG]
More to come in the next few days.
Len
During my time here i have seen many people ask about sharpening various knifes, i can see why people with no experience in sharpening are hesitant to start messing around with expensive blades due to fear of failure so sending your blade to a pro is often a good solution. Now!! if you want to learn how to do it yourself there is a few ways to go about it. If you want to invest some money in something to help you out you should get a belt grinder and a bench grinder for a buffing wheel and scotchbrite wheel and such ( i will be getting back to this later), if you don't want to get into using machines there is a jungle of other stuff that works and i will try to go trough most of them and explain how they work and how to use them without making things too complicated and nerdy.
Sharpening systems seem to work ok for a lot of people but convex edges like on most Busse's are kinda out of the question on these systems unless you take your edge down to a v edge, i will talk more about v edges later.
DMT sharpeners are nice tools for sharpening and maintaining both convex and v edges but the blade needs to be straight due to the flat surface on the DMT so recurves and blades like the zilla is pretty much out of the question when using flat sharpening tools. When practicing with a DMT you can use a permanent marker to color the part of the edge you want to work on and this way you can easily see what you are doing to the edge, on a v edge you color the v and on a convex edge you color all the way from the cutting part of the edge to where the main edge stops and flattens out towards the spine. If you choose to use DMT's you should get some cheap blades to practice on and after a few days of practice you should be able to master sharpening with DMT's.
How to practice you say.... Hmmmm we are getting to that part now.
When i sharpen with the Spyderco stone a DMT or any other stone for that matter i always make sure i start behind the sharp part of the edge (Convex edge), i will try to explain as best i can.
Take look at the convex edge in this pic and imagine that you start sharpening the Apex (cutting part of your edge) first, what you end up with if you do this is a blunter edge angle, do this enough and your edge will be a bitch to get sharp.
But if you take care of the convex on both sides before touching the apex of the edge the geometry will stay correct and you can move on to joining both of the convex sides by sharpening on one side until you get a burr on the opposite side, then proceed to sharpen on the burred side so you cut/move the burr to the first side you were working on, then you simply remove the burr on a stropp or a fine stone and whooooohoooo you have a razor sharp cutting edge.
A Japanese water stone is also a great way to sharpen and i will let this video from Carter describe the technique. I have been using Japanese water stones for more than 12 years now and they are well worth learning to use, When you get the hang of using them you can make just about any knife razor sharp in minutes, the best brand i have tried so far is KASUMI, they are expensive but will last you for years. An important thing with water stones is to let them soak in water for about 30 minutes before using them.
[video=youtube;ozZF2EgnYm0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozZF2EgnYm0[/video]
These smaller waterstones are great for recurves and taking care of stuff such as a sharpened svedge due to the rounded butt. when your fine waterstone gets clogged with steel you need to use a rougher waterstone to rub it out (1000 grit is great) Just rub them together with water and they will clean up nicely, this also helps to keep your stones flat.
The natural stones below are great stones to use on most knifes but i find them to be a bit slow when used on INFI
A leather stropp with some stropping compound is a must since this is usually all you need to get your INFI back to shaving sharp after a chopping session, just rub some compound on the leather and stropp away from the blade at a slightly flat angle at first and work your way towards the apex. Why is stropping so great on Infi??????
Well! this is because Infi is extremely resistant to chipping and as a result it deforms instead of chipping, so if your Busse feels a bit dull and won't cut paper or shave after you have been at it killing hordes of those pesky zombie pine trees
just stropp it with some medium or fine compound and 9 out of 10 times it will go right back to being scary sharp.
The spyderco ceramics below are some of the best ceramics you can get, they hold up really well and 9 out of 10 times they are all you will need besides a strop. The thin stick is for folders but it works great in recurves and on smaller blades.
A rolled up leather belt with some compond makes for a great stropping tool when you are in the bush, just tie one end to a tree branch, tighten and stropp away.
A small belt grinder like this one from Proxon is nifty and cheap little machine for taking care of all types of knifes, i prefer to use a bigger grinder myself but a small one like this works just fine.
This way you can make or maintain a convex edge with the Proxon
Some soft insulating tape from Armaflex with some 400 grit paper on top is also a great way to make or repair a convex edge
A machine like this one from MOE & CO does the same job the leather stropp does and it takes less skill to use but you dont need one of these unless you are planning to sharpen a lot of knifes often.
The scotch brite wheel above is a 600 grit wheel and will give you a great satin finish. Keep in mind that the scotch brite wheels will easily catch the spine on your knife and take your finger off if your hand is in the way Be careful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Before scotch bright wheel. (In this pic you can also see a good way to use the marker on your blade.)
After scotch brite wheel.
A piece of rolled up 1200 gritt paper for wet sanding is a super cheap and very easy way to sharpen your blade and it's amazing how well this works .
More to come in the next few days.
Len
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that's a serious set of stones you got there bro 