Where do I start with sharpening?

C

cobragrover

Joined
Jan 7, 2014
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2
Hey guys, I'm brand new here and also new to knives, or good knives at least. I grew up with my main connection to knives being my grandfather who was really no knife collector but he had mostly Case brand folding knives. He carried one all the time and used it for anything and everything. So my knowledge and history is very limited.

I have become much more interested in knives the past year or so and from a recommendation of someone whose opinion I respect I bought a SOG Aegis. It has been my every day carry for about a year now. It's not the most expensive, highest quality knife out there but I believe it to be a pretty decent knife. It came with a very sharp edge so I never had the need to sharpen it until now. That brings me to why I'm here.

Where do I start in the world of sharpening? I need some good recommendations on what to buy. What kind of stones, what grit, what brands, where to buy? How can I tell if what I am looking at is of decent quality? Do you really need those $100 Japanese water stones to get a great edge? I think eventually I will get a sharpening jig like a Lansky or maybe even an Edge Pro or similar but for now I would like to try the old fashioned method.

Where should I start? Thanks
 
i went out and spent the money on the edge pro apex and it will do everything you kneed and you wont kneed another sharpener you will be able to shave hair off your arms with ease
 
Seriously, start with the $6 economy Norton from Home Depot. Use a thin layer of petroleum jelly on both surfaces, then mineral oil from the laxative section from Walmart or other pharmacy.

Practice your angle control with a cheap kitchen knife until you feel a little confidence, then sharpen your SOG. The steel on that knife will respond well to the silicone carbide stone, and you should be able to achieve a good edge.

Be patient with yourself. If you start getting frustrated, quit for a few hours, then try again.

Once you decide that you need a more refined (or whatever quality your after) edge, then start looking at systems, or continue with different stones.

A lot can be done, and learned with that Norton.
 
Cobra, I had to start over about a year ago because I lost all my old stuff during a move. I got a combination coarse/fine India stone, and a combo soft/hard Arkansas. It's really all I need, I don't try to get to a mirror edge, but my knives are plenty "user-sharp".

You only need a coarse stone if you are reprofiling or repairing badly damaged edges. And I don't use the fine India that much, mostly on knives that are new to me. For maintenance I mostly use the arkansas stones -- and except on my best and finest knives, mostly just the soft arkansas.

I'd start with a soft arkansas, and go out from there -- india stones if you need to get a really dull knife sharper, and hard arkansas or waterstones if the soft arkansas edge isn't sharp enough for you. If you are like most of us, eventually you will want to do a little more, get a little sharper, etc. But you can do it one stone at a time if you want......
 
I've been through this progression: sharpmaker -> strops -> edge pro -> sand paper -> water stones -> more water stones. If I were to lose all of my stuff and rebuy, I'd get a nice set of water stones + nagura. You don't need expensive ones to begin with. A King #1000 (~$25 + vat) is fine and gets the job done, but I prefer the Chosera #1000 (my most used stone, ~$65-70 + vat). I used a King #1000 and a small King #6000 (~$30 + vat) to sharpen my parents' knives this xmas. Worked just fine.

While the edge pro is handy, I hardly use it any more. Only for fancy pocket knives.
 
+1 for Strigamort's suggestion. until you get in plenty of practice on a basic stone it makes no sense to spend more money on better stones you haven't learned how to use yet. and it does take practice before you get it right.
 
Basic stone + cheap knife or knives to work on as you can get some good results on cheap gear, than you work your way up from there. Personally I like the idea of having a dedicated sharpening knife to experiment on so you don't feel bad about quickly dulling it down and than bringing back the edge if you feel like getting some practice in. And expect to dull your knife instead of sharpening it sometimes till you get the hang of it.

You can pick up a knife with good steel to practice on for around $10 if you know what to look for, as an example Opinel has a nice carbon and stainless steel blades to it.
 
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Just my experience and opinions, don't buy anything until you save enough money for a Wicked Edge Pro Pack 2. I know it sounds ridiculous to spend $700 on a sharpening system, but man, I used to try to sharpen my knives with many different ways, spend money on different sharpeners. And finally, I realized that was a very big waste until I ended up with Wicked Edge Pro Pack 2. Look it up and you'll see how it works.
 
Strigamort said:
Seriously, start with the $6 economy Norton from Home Depot. Use a thin layer of petroleum jelly on both surfaces, then mineral oil from the laxative section from Walmart or other pharmacy.

Practice your angle control with a cheap kitchen knife until you feel a little confidence, then sharpen your SOG. The steel on that knife will respond well to the silicone carbide stone, and you should be able to achieve a good edge.

Be patient with yourself. If you start getting frustrated, quit for a few hours, then try again.

Once you decide that you need a more refined (or whatever quality your after) edge, then start looking at systems, or continue with different stones.

A lot can be done, and learned with that Norton.
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I agree with everything but using oil, I prefer water, tried and didn't like oil, I also like sharpening over the sink so having water trickle on the stone while sharpening (for me) is better. There are a lot of methods out there and unfortunately they all take time to learn and like sports you just need to develop the muscle memory to do it best.

steelymonster said:
Just my experience and opinions, don't buy anything until you save enough money for a Wicked Edge Pro Pack 2. I know it sounds ridiculous to spend $700 on a sharpening system, but man, I used to try to sharpen my knives with many different ways, spend money on different sharpeners. And finally, I realized that was a very big waste until I ended up with Wicked Edge Pro Pack 2. Look it up and you'll see how it works.
Click to expand...

I agree it sounds ridiculous to spend 700 on a stock clamping sharpener, however we're not talking about ways to skin cats and I'll bite my tongue. :D I agree that the Wicked Edge is a good system, but I'll counter that the Edge Pro, Lansky, DMT etc. are all good, capable of producing excellent edges. The upside is that with the well known sharpening systems, if you don't like them, resale is easy.
 
steelymonster said:
Just my experience and opinions, don't buy anything until you save enough money for a Wicked Edge Pro Pack 2. I know it sounds ridiculous to spend $700 on a sharpening system, but man, I used to try to sharpen my knives with many different ways, spend money on different sharpeners. And finally, I realized that was a very big waste until I ended up with Wicked Edge Pro Pack 2. Look it up and you'll see how it works.
Click to expand...

I think there is a place for free hand sharpening, it's a pain to setup the guided system when all you need to do is touch up a knife real quick when your in the middle of doing something. I would call myself a beginner when it comes to sharpening but from my limited use on the DMT aligner, and the stones it has I am getting pretty comparable results free hand to the guided setup.

Both free hand and guided sharpening have their advantages and disadvantages. I picked up the DMT aligner personally so I have an easier time re-profiling blades, and I use the stones to free hand with after that so I could exploit the best of both systems. I don't use the aligner to sharpen with as they don't do well with the narrow blades of traditionals, less portable, longer setup time (by the time I setup the knife for the guided, I could have already sharpened my knife and be back to work).There are several arguments for a guided setup and I won't argue with those, but these are the things that concerned me personally. So unfortunately while a Wicked Edge (or any guided setup) may work well for you, it won't always work out well for the rest of us.

I will admit I hear good things about the Wicked Edge, but I can't agree with putting off experimenting with free hand sharpening or other guided setups till you save up $700 for that sharpening setup. It may or may not be worth it to some of us, it's all debatable. But funds are also a factor for some of us, for me that several years worth of my knife spending fund. I be surprise if I spend that much on knives + equipment in the next 5+ years, or even 10. But to each their own.
 
Some sharpening tests at YT - hardcore!
[video]http://www.youtube.com/user/pavolko10/videos[/video]
 
I don't think anyone mentioned reading the sticky "What is sharpening a knife about?" It is a Sticky at the top of M,T&E. A very good read and great information.

I like Strigamort's advice. Practice on some cheap knives. Dull them and try again. Be patient.

No need to get a fancy system yet. I use a Norton India combination stone for most of my sharpening. Got it when I was in high school and it still has many years of life left on it.

Keep us posted on your progress and welcome to the forums. There are a lot of great people here to help you out and help you get addicted to knives.

Ric
 
I'll put in another plug for a combination silicon carbide stone and some oil. Throw in some cheap knives to practice on and you'll be on your way.
Basic sharpening involves three grit ranges -

coarse, (80-120) for repairing damage or changing inclusive edge angles

medium (320-600/ 800-1k JIS) for refining that edge, now have a cutting tool for rough work and hard use utility jobs that will dull it quickly anyway. Properly done this edge will cover most of your needs.

fine, (1200 + / 3-4k + JIS) for jobs that involves shaving, carving, chopping

You can expand out either end with extra coarse abrasives, and finer abrasives into the sub micron range, but in essence you need three. A coarse combination stone offers two, the coarse and medium, and the fine can be as simple as some white or black Ryobi compound on a sheet of paper wrapped around the same stone for a strop. I also use the grit left over from sharpening off the fine side in the same manner and it works very well. If you can wring a clean edge from one of these stones you'll be ready to make good use of just about any other media out there.

I also sell a sharpening block that makes a full service set-up, coarse through fine, the Washboard. A by-product of how it works, greatly increases tactile feedback and will make it a bit easier to learn freehand, especially stropping technique. Is available through the link in my signature - the sale thread has text and video that explain everything, and the methods I display can be applied to a lot of other means. Have just restocked and have a bunch available, is very affordable.

Martin
 
I also have to say Norton Crystolone combo stone, takes care of all your needs. The fine side leaves a good utility edge and as HeavyHanded mentioned, if you need a step up or for finishing and/or maintenance, wrap one or two sheets of printer paper or writing paper over the stone. Now that I have been doing this for a while, really since Martin started to recommend it and since I watched Murray Carter's video, this is an easy, convenient and inexpensive way and gives you bette feedback than a leather strop.
 
In my view, strigamort had the best suggestion. Go to Lowe's or Home depot and find a Norton or Smith's stone that wont break the bank on you, and then get a cheap beater knife that won't hurt if you mess up. Then when you run into problems you can't figure out, feel free to ask for advice here. You'll find at least one person here who has experienced the problems you've encountered.
 
I recently switched from the Sharpmaker to the Lansky system. It's pretty cool being able to mess with blade angles now that I have a better understanding of sharpening.

Honestly I'm very glad I started with something relatively idiot-proof like the Sharpmaker. I strongly recommend it to anyone, especially those who are looking to maintain their EDC/users or bring a friends blade back from the dead.
 
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