How To What is a great way to sharpen knives

[jbarsquat]

If you are forging them and just looking to put edges on I would think your best bet is a belt grinder or a work sharp to set the bevels. You can finish them on your lansky after that for a nice refinement.

 

[AMForge]

If you are forging them and just looking to put edges on I would think your best bet is a belt grinder or a work sharp to set the bevels. You can finish them on your lansky after that for a nice refinement.

Thanks I just wasnt sure the best way

 

[maximus83]

I have a normal Lansky knife sharpener and after I make a new blade it takes me about 2 hours to get from flat to kinda sharp, then for it to be hair shaving sharp i have to work again for 1 hour. Is their any other way that is under 100 bucks that gets knives hair shaving sharp? I have looked at some electric knife sharpeners but i don't know if that will be good or just a waste of money for a hardened knife. I have already looked at Viper sharp and the Profile Tech-studio Sharpening kit.me

If you are making knives and selling for $$, I think you want to invest in a belt grinding system, or a precision manual system that allows you to use repeatable settings, like the Wicked Edge. If I were sharpening for a living at a high volume, or making knives and showing them at shows or other places where the knife's appearance in a display is really important, I'd invest in one or both of these types of sharpening systems. If I could only afford one solution, I'd base the decision on the volume and type of sharpening you plan to do. If a high volume, you totally want a belt grinder system and get good at using it. If you have a more modest volume--as might be the case with a custom knife maker, and if you are not doing a side business of sharpening for $$--then I might be tempted to choose the Wicked Edge system.

For your own use or at much smaller volume even if making custom knives, I'd personally prefer sharpening freehand to using gadgets. I've used Sharpmaker, and some less expensive guided systems like DMT. All of these limit your range of choices and control over the sharpening results, and in the case of things like Sharpmaker, it can take prohibitively long to do a basic task like profiling an edge, something I can do in a few minutes on a good coarse stone.

 

[tiguy7]

View attachment 780465 This sharpener was under $100 if you do not count my labor or the stones.

 

[adamlau]

If I were making knives, I would strongly consider a variable speed bench or belt grinder to put on the initial edge.