What do you use to sharpen your ESEE knives?

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VR4

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I was sharpening up my Izula last night and used a Norton 1000 grit waterstone that I had. Although I got the blade sharper, it didn't seem like I got it as sharp as it should be and wasn't as sharp as the factory edge. I was wondering if there was something better to sharpen the blade with or if the problem was with my technique (which, admittedly, does need some work).

So, what do you guys use to sharpen your ESEE blades with and what is the best way to get 1095 back to a razor sharp edge?
 
I use the spyderco sharpmaker with brown and ceramic rods.

Remember that if you're using 1000 grit, it's going to take you a long time since it's such a fine abrasive. If the blade is dull, you may want to start with a lower grit and work your way up. Remember to take your time and use very little pressure
 
lazerboy2000 said:
I use the spyderco sharpmaker with brown and ceramic rods.

Remember that if you're using 1000 grit, it's going to take you a long time since it's such a fine abrasive. If the blade is dull, you may want to start with a lower grit and work your way up. Remember to take your time and use very little pressure
Click to expand...

Thanks, I was thinking that part of the problem was starting with something as fine as a 1000 grit wetstone. The other side of the stone is 200 grit and I thought that might be a little too abrasive... would it be best to start with that for a while?

To give you an idea of the state of the blade, before I attempted to sharpen it, I had let the blade become significantly duller than it was from the factory; the edge and v grind still looked good, it just wasn't very sharp. After I spent 15-20 minutes with it on the 1000grit wetstone, it sliced paper decently but wasn't hair popping sharp and it looks more convexed (which was obviously a result of my rather poor technique). Where should I go from here?
 
I am interested on this topic too!!!

I am thinking of getting or building a strop... they say that you don't even need stones if you run it through the strop as soon as you feel it's not sharp...
 
I bought a kit from DMT somewhere around 4 or 5 years ago. It's the one that comes with the clamp that holds the blade and it has the slots for different angles bla bla bla. I threw the clamp away when I bought it and I just use the diamond plates and sharpen by hand. I think their diamond ceramic plates are wonderful. Before that, I was strictly a stone guy.

This is the kit I use. I also use smith's 3 in 1 honing oil.

dmt-akefcx-deluxe-aligner-4823745.jpg


Sometimes, if i want things cray sharp, I use a strop block loaded with green paste.

This is where I got my strop block.

http://www.knivesplus.com/KP-STROP8-STROPBLOCK.html

For sharpening in the field, I keep a Smith's double sided sharpener with me. This is it.

31K613TDTKL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


I'm a firm believer in hand sharpening. I don't use any of the Spyderco setups or sharpmakers or anything like that. I've tried all of them and I prefer hand sharpening with stones / plates. Plus I think it's a very important skill to develop.

When i start sharpening, the first thing i figure out is whether or not i want to keep the edge angle the same or change it. If I want to change it, or if it has significant damage I need to repair, I start with a course plate and reprofile the edge. For either of these reasons, I change the angle to about 15 degrees per side. I use that angle for almost every knife I own and I dig it. If I'm not going to change the angle, I'll move right to the medium plate. I set the blade flat on the stone and then raise the spine until I see that the edge bevel is flat on the stone. Then I'll burn the angle into my mind. Sometimes it helps to think of something that is the same height as the spine is from the stone (example: the distance between the spine and the stone is the same size as the diameter of a dime.) I always do a few swipes per side, using light pressure at a time, switching back and forth. I start with kind of light pressure and reduce the pressure as I work and it gets smoother. By the time I'm done with the medium stone/plate, I'm not applying pressure at all. The weight of the blade itself is the only pressure. I never even mess with the fine plate. I'll either leave it at that or strop it at this point. If you've had to do a good amount of work, it's always good to strop, because inevitably you now have a burr (steel wire) on your edge that has to be removed. Always remember when stropping, you'll have to make about 4 times as many passes with that strop as you had to with the stones. The best thing to do is just try to avoid the burr. One other thing, I always have a very light coating of 3 in 1 oil on my stones. I clean the blades throroughly before i strop as to not gunk the strop up with oil or other contaminants.

I think that's it. Did I leave anything out?

One VERY important thing. If you can't get the knife sharp, it's you, not the steel. The crapiest steels in the world are the easiest to sharpen. Steels that are hard like D2 take longer because of how well the hold up. The steel doesn't want to give up any material whether you're using the knife or trying to sharpen it, that's why people want that particular steel. Common medium steels like 1095, 5160, O-1, etc. can get crazy sharp. It your knife isn't getting sharp, you're doing it wrong and you should try to find someone who can show you how to do it correctly or just look up videos and try try try. Practice is the name of the game.


OR... you could take the easy way out and get the Spyderco setup.
 
Last edited:
i've been practicing sharpening with a stone and with a pocket knife... but i can get it sharp but not enough to cut my finger (i am trying to test it this way since I just got cut with my RC3 and that's sharp... so i figure if i can cut my skin, it is as sharp as my RC3 :D)
 
Dylside said:
I'm a firm believer in hand sharpening. I don't use any of the Spyderco setups or sharpmakers or anything like that. I've tried all of them and I prefer hand sharpening with stones / plates. Plus I think it's a very important skill to develop.

When i start sharpening, the first thing i figure out is whether or not i want to keep the edge angle the same or change it. If I want to change it, or if it has significant damage I need to repair, I start with a course plate and reprofile the edge. For either of these reasons, I change the angle to about 15 degrees per side. I use that angle for almost every knife I own and I dig it. If I'm not going to change the angle, I'll move right to the medium plate. I set the blade flat on the stone and then raise the spine until I see that the edge bevel is flat on the stone. Then I'll burn the angle into my mind. Sometimes it helps to think of something that is the same height as the spine is from the stone (example: the distance between the spine and the stone is the same size as the diameter of a dime.) I always do a few swipes per side, using light pressure at a time, switching back and forth. I start with kind of light pressure and reduce the pressure as I work and it gets smoother. By the time I'm done with the medium stone/plate, I'm not applying pressure at all. The weight of the blade itself is the only pressure. I never even mess with the fine plate. I'll either leave it at that or strop it at this point. If you've had to do a good amount of work, it's always good to strop, because inevitably you now have a burr (steel wire) on your edge that has to be removed. Always remember when stropping, you'll have to make about 4 times as many passes with that strop as you had to with the stones. The best thing to do is just try to avoid the burr. One other thing, I always have a very light coating of 3 in 1 oil on my stones. I clean the blades throroughly before i strop as to not gunk the strop up with oil or other contaminants.

I think that's it. Did I leave anything out?

One VERY important thing. If you can't get the knife sharp, it's you, not the steel. The crapiest steels in the world are the easiest to sharpen. Steels that are hard like D2 take longer because of how well the hold up. The steel doesn't want to give up any material whether you're using the knife or trying to sharpen it, that's why people want that particular steel. Common medium steels like 1095, 5160, O-1, etc. can get crazy sharp. It your knife isn't getting sharp, you're doing it wrong and you should try to find someone who can show you how to do it correctly or just look up videos and try try try. Practice is the name of the game.


OR... you could take the easy way out and get the Spyderco setup.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your run down here. I use an edge pro for major stuff and a strop/ceramic rods for upkeep. Lately I have been meaning to gain the muscle memory to do it all by hand. Your post is clear and easy enough to follow. I suppose now is as good a time as any to start.

First, I need to dull some knives!:D
 
Dylside said:
I'm a firm believer in hand sharpening. I don't use any of the Spyderco setups or sharpmakers or anything like that. I've tried all of them and I prefer hand sharpening with stones / plates. Plus I think it's a very important skill to develop.

When i start sharpening, the first thing i figure out is whether or not i want to keep the edge angle the same or change it. If I want to change it, or if it has significant damage I need to repair, I start with a course plate and reprofile the edge. For either of these reasons, I change the angle to about 15 degrees per side. I use that angle for almost every knife I own and I dig it. If I'm not going to change the angle, I'll move right to the medium plate. I set the blade flat on the stone and then raise the spine until I see that the edge bevel is flat on the stone. Then I'll burn the angle into my mind. Sometimes it helps to think of something that is the same height as the spine is from the stone (example: the distance between the spine and the stone is the same size as the diameter of a dime.) I always do a few swipes per side, using light pressure at a time, switching back and forth. I start with kind of light pressure and reduce the pressure as I work and it gets smoother. By the time I'm done with the medium stone/plate, I'm not applying pressure at all. The weight of the blade itself is the only pressure. I never even mess with the fine plate. I'll either leave it at that or strop it at this point. If you've had to do a good amount of work, it's always good to strop, because inevitably you now have a burr (steel wire) on your edge that has to be removed. Always remember when stropping, you'll have to make about 4 times as many passes with that strop as you had to with the stones. The best thing to do is just try to avoid the burr. One other thing, I always have a very light coating of 3 in 1 oil on my stones. I clean the blades throroughly before i strop as to not gunk the strop up with oil or other contaminants.

I think that's it. Did I leave anything out?

One VERY important thing. If you can't get the knife sharp, it's you, not the steel. The crapiest steels in the world are the easiest to sharpen. Steels that are hard like D2 take longer because of how well the hold up. The steel doesn't want to give up any material whether you're using the knife or trying to sharpen it, that's why people want that particular steel. Common medium steels like 1095, 5160, O-1, etc. can get crazy sharp. It your knife isn't getting sharp, you're doing it wrong and you should try to find someone who can show you how to do it correctly or just look up videos and try try try. Practice is the name of the game.


OR... you could take the easy way out and get the Spyderco setup.
Click to expand...


Great info, thank you. :thumbup: I think hand sharpening is a worthwhile skill to have and that's why I'm trying my best to develop it.
 
I use whatever's at hand. I use a Sharpmaker when I'm around it and finish on a strop. If I'm in the field I usually use a DMT diamond card, but I virtually never have to do so thanks to the excellent edge retention. :D
 
I currently use sandpaper and a leather strop on all of my knives. I'll start off with 400 grit, then move my way up to 800, 1200, then finally 2000. After the sandpaper I move on to the 2 sided strop with the gray compound first then finish it off with the green compound. After I'm done I've got a nice convex edge on all my knives and they're all super sharp. Once the knives have gone through the process it's just a matter of touch up to get them back to shape, usually just the 2000 grit then the strop and they're good as new.

In my bug out bag I carry some strips of the sandpaper and a piece of leather to touch them up in the field. I also carry a Fallkniven DC 4 diamond / ceramic sharpening stone that also really works great for quick touch ups.
 
I have a coarse DMT 6" stone and a 701 Profile set from Spyderco. I can get anything 'shaving sharp' with this setup.

I do it all freehand.
 
depending on my mood i'll either use the spyderco sharpmaker (either with the preset angles or down flat), the dmt diafolds, or the cheapo stone i bought from home depot that i usually use to sharpen my hatchet...one thing is for sure though, i'm almost always in the mood to sharpen my knives whenever i'm drinking :eek: :o
 
333rm said:
I currently use sandpaper and a leather strop on all of my knives. I'll start off with 400 grit, then move my way up to 800, 1200, then finally 2000. After the sandpaper I move on to the 2 sided strop with the gray compound first then finish it off with the green compound. After I'm done I've got a nice convex edge on all my knives and they're all super sharp. Once the knives have gone through the process it's just a matter of touch up to get them back to shape, usually just the 2000 grit then the strop and they're good as new.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I do! Saves money using wet/dry paper!
 
Sharpmaker with brown and white sticks on the 40 degree setting. Works great. Gets very sharp even without the ultra fine stones. I am thinking about getting the ultra fines. On the other hand i do not realy need a sharper edge than i have now.
 
just picked up a coarse/fine DMT dia fold thingy works great, really great. I like it better then the sharp maker. Also have the green DMT credit card sharpener(extra fine) with these 3 grits(Blue,Red,Green) you can get stuff wicked sharp. I need to get the Black(extra coarse) to cover everything.
 
carspidey said:
I am interested on this topic too!!!

I am thinking of getting or building a strop... they say that you don't even need stones if you run it through the strop as soon as you feel it's not sharp...
Click to expand...

This is somewhat true if you lightly use your knives. The strop will bring back a decently sharp knife to extreme sharpness. If you have any significant dulling (see light reflect off the actual edge) or even a tiny ding, you will not be able to get that back with a strop. Where strops shine is putting the finishing touch on a edge (I strop after my Spyderco white/fine benchstone), they work so well because they allow a good deal of angle error and still sharpen the extreme edge of the knife (instead of a stone which can sharpen the secondary grind or wreck the primary).

If my RAT (don't have anything with "ESEE" on it yet) is dull very dull or dinged, I may start with medium diamonds. If it's after a usual weekend in the woods, I'll start with a 500 grit whetstone until I can feel a nice edge along the whole length (usually a couple of passes to straighten any small nicks), then move to Spyderco white and finish on strop with chromium oxide on it. Takes about 4 minutes and I end up with a shaving sharp knife every time. Touchups are on the Spyderco white or strop and take less than a minute.

**Note: I slightly convex all of my fixed blades when I get them so that touchups are very fast. This allows me to sharpen only the tiny primary bevel (maybe .01"-.02") and not have to remove metal from the whole secondary bevel (.125"-.25" depending on thickness).
 
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