What is a sharp knife to you?

[Tyronethepro]

Depends on the knife. On my large fixed blades they need to push cut paper relatively clean. On my smaller fixed blades and 3.5" and under folders they need to shave.

 

[Dago Red]

Ok, so what really is the best sharpener to get? Do I get belts and a guide for my grinder, and does it need to be going the opposite direction? (i.e. if the knife's spine is against the rest should the belt be turning away from the edge or towards it?) Then get something to hold the blades at the right angle till I get it down freehand? And what does a person need to sharpen recurves?

Right now I just have one old combo stone set, triangle with 3 stones from coarse to fine, about 2"x7". the coarse is totally out of flat though. I have a couple old razor hones, but they're for touch ups really, a full sharpening or setting bevel would take forever. I don't want to buy traditional stones if there is a better way.

Thanks all.

Red

 

[jimnolimit]

Right now I just have one old combo stone set, triangle with 3 stones from coarse to fine, about 2"x7". the coarse is totally out of flat though. I have a couple old razor hones, but they're for touch ups really, a full sharpening or setting bevel would take forever. I don't want to buy traditional stones if there is a better way.

Thanks all.

Red

why not just flatten the stones you have?

 

[Noctis3880]

I finished sharpening up my Overkill in S110V with a 320 grit(at least I think my 320MX belt is 320 "grit") finish, which is a lot more coarse than my usual 3 micron finish, though it still push cuts paper with little resistance. Which makes me wonder if my obsession over sharp edges is just a waste of time given how fast I dull my edges(typically can't push cut paper easily after 1 day of use with most blades, except for M390 and M4). Though anything that cuts my finger when I accidentally touch the blade is enough to convince me that the edge is "sharp enough".

Ok, so what really is the best sharpener to get? Do I get belts and a guide for my grinder, and does it need to be going the opposite direction? (i.e. if the knife's spine is against the rest should the belt be turning away from the edge or towards it?) Then get something to hold the blades at the right angle till I get it down freehand? And what does a person need to sharpen recurves?

Right now I just have one old combo stone set, triangle with 3 stones from coarse to fine, about 2"x7". the coarse is totally out of flat though. I have a couple old razor hones, but they're for touch ups really, a full sharpening or setting bevel would take forever. I don't want to buy traditional stones if there is a better way.

Thanks all.

Red

I'd go for either Paper Wheels or a Work Sharp Knife & Tool Sharpener(I strongly recommend aftermarket Micro-Mesh belts with that) for power tools. When sharpening with either, the belt/wheel should be moving away from the edge. If you turn the edge into the belt or wheel, you either cut the belt/wheel or have the blade fly off somewhere.

To my knowledge, there isn't a jig available for such tools to hold the blade at an exact angle, so practice will be your best friend:thumbup:. I find the Work Sharp to be more forgiving of an imprecise angle though.

To sharpen recurves, whatever you're using simply has to be thin enough to follow the curve. Either the corner of the paper wheel or the entirely of the work sharp belt(they're only 1/2" thick) will do. The Spyderco Sharpmaker rods are also thin enough to get in there.

 

[Steel130]

I use the thing edge of a sharpmaker stone to sharpen say a Kershaw Leek. Which I know isnt super recurved but its there. I like the Sharpmaker alot. Pretty versatile as far as touching up a blade goes. I wouldnt ever put an edge on a blade again with that thing though.

 

[zyhano]

Is it a disorder if you feel that when your knives won't happily shave hair anymore you think they are extremely dull??
that's how I feel anyway. Shaving is the least they should be doing... Else I feel they won't cut anything at all (which of course isn't true)

 

[cziv]

I need to get the sharpmaker ultra fine rods.

It won't help if you're like me. I can't get a d*mn knife sharp to save myself on a SharpMaker. :grumpy:

I've watched a dozen videos, read all the testimonies here about how guys get their knives hair whittling sharp with them. I've read averyone's little systems of how to use them properly and all I can do with one is to take a new Spyderco - Military for e.g. and not be able to maintain the factory edge. I suck with it and have used every rod from diamond to U-Fine.

Scr*w "systems," for me anyway. The sharpest hair whittling sharp edges I can get every time is free-handing with DMT hones. They are the bee's knees and turn out near mirror edges coming off the xx-fine hone. :thumbup:

 

[DaBrew]

Thanks Dale. Been doin some homework on the subject as far as angles go, so I'm getting a better understanding. The knife I've been practicing on is shaving sharp, but I'd love to get it to push cut by sharpening it freehand if possible, although I have been checking out the lansky set-ups

 

[dalefuller]

Thanks Dale. Been doin some homework on the subject as far as angles go, so I'm getting a better understanding. The knife I've been practicing on is shaving sharp, but I'd love to get it to push cut by sharpening it freehand if possible, although I have been checking out the lansky set-ups

Freehand is absolutely a skill worth developing... for the therapeutic value if nothing else. I can do the job with my Sharpmaker and strop, but sitting down and doing it freehand is a wonderful stress reliever for me. Almost as good as "fuzz therapy".

If your Spyderco is already razor sharp, you might want to get a POS to practice on. Most likely it'll have wildly different edge angles, so you can practice determining whether they're what you want or not, and then going through all the stages of re-beveling the blade and getting it razor sharp. By the time you do that, you'll be ready to maintain a good knife like your Spyderco.

 

[Javelin]

Sharp to me is about two things:

1. The edge is thin and refined enough to push cut receipt paper or shave facial hair (finding that ONE left over whisker in the middle of my day is a pet peeve of mine).

2. The knife is aggressive enough for "tickling the dragon" or being able to slice into the plastic on a bag of chips. I hate knives that just slide across things, I feel that an overly refined knife is just asking to get cut cause you had to push-cut something that should have been sliced.

 

[Steel130]

Well guys I think today I got my first hair popping edge freehand sharpening on the fine sharpmaker rods. When I went to shave the stubble of my arm today instead of the hair falling onto the blade I could see them shooting off my arm a good few inches. I then went outside cut some heavy rope ,a thin green twig I chopped up into bits then came inside. It would easily push cut newspaper and I could lay the newspaper flat on the desk and shave half a layer off with the belly of my NRG 2. It didn't feel as sharp to the touch after all that but that seems sharp to me. Is that pretty sharp?

 

[nozh2002]

Ok I have had about three hours worth of time touching my knives up freehand on the Sharpmaker stones. I am happy when I have the knife sharp enough to push cut receipt paper, or shave arm hair without effort. But I know some can get knives insanely sharp, so is my standard of sharpness pretty low on the spectrum?

To me it is hair whittling. Like here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr1Fnf5yxsI

It take about 5-10 minutes to do this. See tutorials:

http://www.youtube.com/user/nozh2002#p/u/77/5TscN9h-1xQ

Thanks, Vassili.

 

[cziv]

To me it is hair whittling. Like here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr1Fnf5yxsI

It take about 5-10 minutes to do this. See tutorials:

http://www.youtube.com/user/nozh2002#p/u/77/5TscN9h-1xQ

Thanks, Vassili.

I watched video. You use Dia-sharp x-coarse, coarse, x-fine then strop? No other plates required?

 

[Chris Pierce]

I like to be able to fillet news print but shaving arm hair is good enough for me usually. If I'm in a hurry I'll just sharpen up on the sharpmaker medium, fine and maybe ultra fine. The fine rod will produce a shaving sharp edge. If I'm really looking for a sharp edge I'll go to a green strop and then a bare strop after the ultra fine rod.
I have recently been using my extra coarse diamond stone for reprofiling and edge repair, I'd like to get into free hand sharpening with diamond stones since my Arkansas stone takes forever.

For those of you who are having problems with the spyderco sharp maker, this is what I do. I start with the brown rod flat side, if the edge is not horribly dull I will do 20-50 passes each side alternating. Then 20-50 passes on the "point" side of the rod. Then I'll do the same with the white rod until the knife will shave. This usually takes 20-30 passes. With the ultra fine rod I will usually do 10-20 passes. It is very very important not to apply too much pressure to the edge of the knife. I'll start with just the weight of the knife on the brown rods and about half of that on the white. On the ultra fine rods I will just barely make contact with the edge of the knife. Hope this helps

 

[nozh2002]

I watched video. You use Dia-sharp x-coarse, coarse, x-fine then strop? No other plates required?

X-Coarse is extra step to put initial edge if needed, at first or if edge is severely damaged, otherwise coarse then fine then strop.
You may see from the video it works just fine for over 3 years (see date stamp on video) - so I made conclusion that no other
steps are really necessary. Of course sharpening is in big part meditation and from that point more sharpening in between - better
but I like it myself am not in guru business.

Thanks, Vassili.

 

[cziv]

X-Coarse is extra step to put initial edge if needed, at first or if edge is severely damaged, otherwise coarse then fine then strop.
You may see from the video it works just fine for over 3 years (see date stamp on video) - so I made conclusion that no other
steps are really necessary. Of course sharpening is in big part meditation and from that point more sharpening in between - better
but I like it myself am not in guru business.

Thanks, Vassili.

Thanks - that will save me some money!

 

[Ankerson]

Thanks - that will save me some money!

If you are free handing all you need is 3 stones, Coarse, Med and Fine and then a strop if you want to take it higher and or remove the bur.

And even then you would only use the Fine and the strop for maintaining.

You could get into the EX Fine and beyond that if you wanted to really refine the edges, but that gets into money, can be serious money depending on the stones you by like 15,000 grit and up Japanese Water Stones.

For most stuff a Norton Fine Stone would be enough.

 

[cziv]

If you are free handing all you need is 3 stones, Coarse, Med and Fine and then a strop if you want to take it higher and or remove the bur.

And even then you would only use the Fine and the strop for maintaining.

You could get into the EX Fine and beyond that if you wanted to really refine the edges, but that gets into money, can be serious money depending on the stones you by like 15,000 grit and up Japanese Water Stones.

For most stuff a Norton Fine Stone would be enough.

I'm getting DMT plates to replace the dia-folds I've been using with great sucess. I think I could even get the 6" - 2 sided sontinuous plates. I'm use to using about 4"s so another two would be awesome. I can't see getting the 8" models since I don't sharpen tons of knives and none are tha large - up to 4" blade folders.

I should be able to get 4 grits in the dual 6" plates.

 

[nozh2002]

I'm getting DMT plates to replace the dia-folds I've been using with great sucess. I think I could even get the 6" - 2 sided sontinuous plates. I'm use to using about 4"s so another two would be awesome. I can't see getting the 8" models since I don't sharpen tons of knives and none are tha large - up to 4" blade folders.

I should be able to get 4 grits in the dual 6" plates.

If you can get 11 1/2 (price is OK for you). I will recommend you to get longest. It is just way more convenient, easy and comfortable, believe me. Width does not matter, but longer pass you do better for you and better for edge. I had 6 before and any way switch to 11 1/5 because it is just so much better.

Thanks, Vassili.

 

[Ankerson]

For practical use for me is it will slice through TP clean, I can get it there with a 600 Grit Stone off the EP.

It will shave easy, slice through phonebook paper like it's not even there and provides me with the best balance IMO of sharpness, cutting ability (Aggressiveness) and edge retention based on testing and real use.