When is a Traditional Knife "Sharp Enough"?

the sharper it is the better
I tend to keep them all shaving sharp (arm hair sharp), many get to a shiny polished edge, some a little less
overall I try to keep all knives I have (those I use or use regularly at least) the same, the thin edges and profiles lead to a very sharp edge so why not enjoy it?

use a convex setup with leather strop, sand paper and compound
 
i try to keep mine at push cut paper level, or at least catch on the fingernail at 20 25 degrees
i sharpen them with the sharpmaker, and freehand sometimes.
 
If it's sharp enough to shaw a bit of arm hair off, or cleanly slice newsprint, I'm happy.

I've never used gizmos or gadgets. I'll just sharpen by hand using a cut down Eze-Lap model L that I carry in my wallet, or my old boy scout pocket silicate 'carborundum' stone as it was called in the old days. I don't oil the stones or hones, just makes a mess and isn't needed. Then I'll finish off with a few licks on the back of my belt.

Of course, if there's a coffee cup around, all bets are off!:D

Carl.
 
AFAustin said:
I am wondering what traditional knife guys consider "sharp enough" for their knives. . . . Thanks,

Andrew
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Sharp enough for a traditional is the same as sharp enough for any other knife. When you whistle for it to come to you (same as your horse), it has to be sharp enough to cut itself out of whatever spot it is in and get to you on it's own without being opened.

I use a Lansky 4-rod turnbox for quick touch-ups and a Spyderco Sharpmaker when I want to get things even sharper. I have a little flat diamond-coated metal card for touching up the edge when I'm not at home. Same treatment for traditionals as non-traditionals.
 
Railsplitter said:
I used a Lansky kit for 20+ years and I always liked the results I got.

For the last 3+ years I've been using a paper wheel settup.

I test the sharpness by shaving arm hair and by feeling the edge with my fingers. I feel the edge first and if it feels sharp enough then I attempt to shave arm hair with it.
If it shaves hair along the entire length of the edge then I'm good to go.
Click to expand...
a member stopped by last week and he brought along his edge pro and showed me how it worked.
i showed him the paper wheels and how they worked and now he's sold on the paper wheels. in the time it took him to set up his edge pro, he could have sharpened a few knives and been done.
 
I use a Lansky or KME system, depending on the knife. Both use diamond stones. After the initial sharpening, I maintain the edges on a leather hone, charged with a Chromium Oxide compound. I can use a blade for quite awhile, before I need to resharpen it on the guided systems, if I hone it regularly.

I also freehand, but usually on beater or kitchen knives.

I use the thumbnail test and shave arm hair to test sharpness. My left arm is usually bald. :)
 
Almost all my new knives go thru my DMT Aligner
From E Course to E Fine
This works a breeze especially with the Queen D2

To maintain
A couple of licks on an E Fine DMT and a couple of swipes on a strop with white compound

How sharp is that?
Slices paper
 
Duncan,

The best advice I can give to you for a start is to try the sharpie trick.

Color the edge on both sides from choil to tip. Then on a dry stone proceed to sharpen. If the sharpie is not coming off on both sides all the way to the edge then you found your problem.

If this doesn't work let us know :)
 
I've sharpened using guided setups (Lansky, GATCO, DMT Aligner/Magna-Guide), and also using DMT hones freehand (often with pocket-sized 'credit card' hones). The guided setups, I mainly use them to put new bevels on. I usually follow that with convexing on wet/dry sandpaper (freehand). I have also gone start-to-finish on the sandpaper (leather backing), and made some nice convex edges that way. Everything I sharpen gets stropped using either diamond paste (1 micron) or Simichrome polish, mostly on wood backing (balsa or oak) or very firm or very thin leather.

I've gotten into the habit of testing all of my edges by slicing phonebook paper. Heel-to-tip draw cut, at varying speeds, with a page held at the corner, cutting sort of diagonally into the page. If I can consistently and repeatedly slice all the way through, without snagging on, slipping over or ripping the paper, I consider that pretty good. Sometimes, if it's really good, I'll also be able to push-cut the same paper as well. I've noticed, edges that can slice this way are excellent users for all of my other 'real world' cutting tasks. So I view it as a very reliable method to test an edge. Sometimes I'll come across a steel that really seems to respond well to whatever sharpening method I've used, and I'll keep working with it, just to see how far it can go. I particularly like D2, Sandvik 12C27M (read: Opinel's choice) and VG-10 for this reason. At times, it seems these will just keep getting sharper and sharper, if only my skills could keep up with it.
 
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This is sharp enough for me.
P1012964.jpg

Thats my edge with the Lansky.
 
Thank you, gentlemen, for all the interesting posts. I enjoy reading about all the different techniques and tests.

I didn't get seriously interested in knives till just a few years ago, and I began with beveled knives, mainly Spydercos. My first sharpener was a Sharpmaker, and I still like it very much and use it daily for touch ups. I got the ultra-fine rods for it, and they are great for a final step, or final before stropping. I then got some coarser stones from Congress Tools, which I would attach with binder clips to the Sharpmaker rods. They made reprofiling jobs manageable.

But then I got bitten by the Bark River bug (and am still bitten!), so I started learning convex sharpening. I acquired some good leather-on-wood hones, on which I used Bark River black and green compounds. Of course, a full array of sandpaper was also necessary---from 100 grit all the way up to 3000.

I was learning a lot, and making progress. But, as Duncan described, I was inconsistent. Some knives I had very good luck with, and others were pure frustration.

A real breakthrough came for me when I decided to try the WorkSharp knife sharpener, which is a miniature belt sander (there are a couple of long threads on it over in the sharpening subforum). I got a bunch of additional belts for it in a good progression of grits, and got going. There is a learning curve, and I managed to round some tips, create a few involuntary recurves, and make other mistakes at first. In fact, I'm still learning, but at least I've gotten a lot more careful because, as with any powered system, you can remove a lot of metal fast! The WS is especially good at taking the drudgery out of reprofiling or setting your original edge. And a key thing for me is that I can use it successfully on all my knives, convex or beveled. With my Bark Rivers, which are relatively thick blades with full convex grinds, the belts do an excellent job of maintaining a sharp convex edge. With my beveled knives, which means all my small but growing group of traditionals, the belts create a shallow convex edge, which can be touched up either with the SM UF rods, or the hones, or both.

Finally, I also agree with sappyg and Kevin about patina being an easy substitute for the "Sharpie trick". The pic below shows this, in an exaggerated way, since I thinned out the edge a bit as well after the patina started.

As for sharpness tests, I use the same ones that everyone has mentioned---thumbnail test, slicing printer paper and then on to phone book paper or newsprint, shaving hair, etc. But I know I've still got so much to learn and hope I can get to the next level of sharpening. While, as a practical matter, it's not necessary, and I don't have the skill or patience to ever master the art, I'd like to go a little farther, just to see if I can.

Thanks again for all the great posts.

Andrew

100_3072.jpg
 
This is great reading folks..... Kevin...once again Thank you my friend...I will try that, and I will let you know how I am getting on.
 
You are very welcome Duncan :)

I think the most important thing I learned in my sharpening trials, is that it does not have to be complicated.

I look forward to hearing how you make out.
 
I put convex edges on most of my trads and strop them til they are just able to shave with a bit of a push. If I want a sharper knife, I usually use something else

I think trads must be heat treated a bit softer than other kinds of knives. I have never had one chip for instance, and they certainly get blunt a little quicker than a bit of Spyderco S30V :). But then again, I have never had one chip :D
 
I mostly just use the sharpmaker. Shaving arm hair and cleanly slicing paper along the whole edge works for me. I used to want to pick up some extra fine stones and a strop, but the white stones get me where I need to go easily enough. I'll set them up as flat stones and touch up free hand on carbon, or softer stainless. For my super steels, or more edge work I use the preset angles because I feel I still don't keep a constant enough angle on extended sharpening.
 
I want my D2 shaving sharp that is as good as I can do with it, everything else hair poping sharp, paper push cut most of the time.
 
I use the Sharpmaker with UF stones followed up with HA diamond slurry and then on to bare leather stropping.

Not happy with it until I can whittle hair. I can take most every knife I own and cleanly shave arm hairs.

Lately, I have been carrying Vic SAKs that I have brought back to life by cleaning, oiling, honing, and replacing the scales with "plus" scales. My son begged for his own Outdoorsman so I scored him one. Once I got it serviceable, I told him it was sharp and he knows I keep them all that way.

So I added him a paracord lanyard with a Cordlok compass. Got home from work and he had a bandage on a finger. So I asked him "That from the Outdoorsman?" and he sheepishly replied in the affirmative.

He wanted to see it with all the blades/tools opened up. While getting the woodsaw open, he drug his finger across the main blade. He said that he didn't even feel it when a slice of his skin fell off. He noticed the leaking/blood though.

He's learning. He is in that tween klutzy stage so I am sure it won't be the last time. His mom is the same way. I sharpen up her favorite chefs knife from time to time. By bed time of the same day, the bandages come out.

I haven't cut myself good since the late 80s. I am super overdue. Little nicks here and there but nothing requiring stitches.

So yeah, when he told me that he didn't even feel it....and when others test my edges and either cut themselves or say "that is too sharp", I beam a little.
 
[video=youtube;AlhwbgKQ3jg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlhwbgKQ3jg&feature=youtu.be[/video]
Here is how I keep my whittler. 440C. I just keep the edge up with a leather belt loaded with green compound on my 1SM.

:)
 
I just use a bit of 800 grit wet dry sand paper with some spit more often than not. I use a lower grit if I'm reprofiling. As long as it slices through newspaper I'm happy.
 
I'm an old guy (68) and I like to free-hand sharpen my knives in a circular motion. Many of my knives are 1095, Case CV, 420HC, etc. and I use a "round" 4" diamater Norton combination fine/coarse, aluminum oxide, stone for a lot of my sharpening. This stone works well for all carbon steel and quite a few stainless steels.

nortonindia4inchaluminu.jpg

Canned picture.

I also use a Norton rectangular 8" combination fine/coarse, aluminum oxide, stones at times.

nortonindiaoilstone.jpg

Canned picture.

Give an Arkansas stone or Norton aluminum oxide stone a try. Some of you guys will be surprised at how nice an edge and how sharp an edge you can get using these stones and in pretty quick order too.

If I can't get the edge I want using one of the above stones, I'll go to a Sharpmaker or a round, crock stick, sharpener.

I have several DMT diamons stones of various types but don't use them much anymore.
 
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