whats the best degree to sharpen to?

[mike_b]

Hells bells - I'm going to have sore hands tonight. I best look into that diamond hone!

Thanks a million Joe.

 

[cgmblade]

Hey thanks for the excellrnt advice Joe. The lowest angel I have is 17 - I've been trying to sharpen one of my blades at this angle for the last 15 minutes. It was at 25 before. Is it gonna take a while??

I have a different system from yours so the time comparison won't be exact. I use the Spyderco Sharpmaker and I have the diamond rods in addition to the coarse (Brown) and fine (white) rods that come with it.

I've just recently reprofiled a Spyderco Endura in VG-10 from 21* or 22* down to just 20* per side. Even using the diamond rods it took me a couple hours.

It probably took me 15 to 20 hours of actual sharpening to put a good working edge on a Queen stockman in D2. The edge on the Queen was pretty bad to start with but D2 is much harder than VG-10. So depending on what type of steel you are working with and how much metal you have to remove your experience may vary.

But don't become impatient and try to rush. Take your time and do it right. Use a black magic marker to mark/darken the edge. That way you can hold the knife up to a bright light and see what progress you're making (a magnifying glass or jewelers loupe helps). At first you will probably only be hitting the shoulder, but slowly you'll see that you are getting closer and closer to the edge.

Good Luck.

 

[mike_b]

Thanks man. Dang, I'm in for a rough ride...

I just checked out some Lansky hones at my local knife store. They have the Extra course stone and Extra course diamond. The diamond is over 3 times the price of the stone - is it that much better?

Not sure if these links will work?

http://www.sharpedge.co.za/index.ph...ufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=4

http://www.sharpedge.co.za/index.ph...ufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=4

 

[cgmblade]

A less expensive alternative is sandpaper. I've got some in 100 grit. Shape/fold it over your stones. It's not as good as the extra coarse diamond stones but better than what you're using now. Use fairly light pressure or you'll just tear it up.

And yeah, the diamond stone is that much better.

Here are some links to other threads that might interest you.

Maintenance subforum

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=794

other threads

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=701933

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=701845

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=698868

 

[dullone]

whats the best degree to sharpen a camping knife to?

I like mine sharpened to the n-th degree !

 

[udtjim]

I really like the extra coarse DMT bench stone for getting the rough work done. I just don't have the patience to spend the time with the finer stones, Once my patience it tried, my sharpening toes to H*^# fast.

I have the whole set of Diafold DMT stones. They take a little longer because they are only one inch wide but they are great to take into the field.

I also like the sharpmaker but I often just use the hones laying in the grooves as a bench stone.

 

[J_Curd]

Belt sanders rule the day imo.