Who needs expensive sharpening systems?

G

Gadgetaholic

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Last year I took my new DMT Aligner kit with me to my mother's place for Xmas and I sharpened up a bunch of her kitchen knives, with good results. This year I decided to bring my field sharpening kit, one of these: http://www.knivesshipfree.com/Complete-Sharpening-Kit-for-Field-or-Home-w-Clear-OtterBox

I was able to get great results this year with some wet'n'dry sandpaper resting on a piece of leather followed by a bit of stropping on leather with so green compound. I wasn't trying to get a mirror polish on the edges or anything, just a sharp working edge. It's amazing what you can achieve on a tight budget, you could take a mousepad worth a couple of dollars and a couple of sheets of sandpaper and get a whole kitchen full of knives 'sharp enough'. That doesn't stop lots of people from having blunt knives though!

Anyway, I'm pleased that I am now able to get good results freehand with a low tech set-up - last year I had only just learned to sharpen.
 
I can get a good working edge that will shave hair in less than five minutes using only a medium and fine stone freehand if the edge isn't terribly bad to start. The edge won't be pretty, but it will cut. If I want a pretty, hair whittling edge with even bevels, I find it mich easier to use my Wicked Edge system. Do I need a pretty, hair whittling edge? No, not really, but they sure are nice. If I spent 2-3 hours or more free handing an edge to perfection, I wouldn't want to use it. Been there done that.
 
That's the thing - sometimes perfect edges are pointless, you just want to make some knives sharp so that they can be used to prepare a dinner for 16 people. Mum's cheap crappy kitchen knives made from the cheapest stainless steel are not the sort of knives that you would get too fussy with - you just grind a little steel away to produce a sharp edge. As a bonus the method I used created a convex bevel, which I prefer to a V grind.
 
who needs expensive knives?

Its all in perspective, some sharpen with bricks and others with priceless japanese water stones.

Sandpaper over glass AKA scary sharp method, has been in use for a very long time and still commonly used by wood workers. Results can be among the best but paper wearing out, becoming progressively finer the more its used, and repeated cost are some of the factors that make sharpening stones seem more favorable. The usual problem with stones though is that to get a similar grit progression to that of a few dollars worth of sandpaper it could cost a few hundred dollars.

I guess I understand your post but at the same time I don't, do you not understand why some choose expensive stones or are you simply happy to have found a cheap and effective sharpening method?
 
knifenut1013 said:
I guess I understand your post but at the same time I don't, do you not understand why some choose expensive stones or are you simply happy to have found a cheap and effective sharpening method?
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I understand why some choose expensive stones, but they tend to be what people choose for sharpening quality knives, where it is worth spending the time to get the good results.
I guess I'm just happy that I'm now able to sharpen freehand (I had no confidence in that when I got my DMT Aligner last year) and that I can put a working edge on a knife in a minute or two.
Sometimes you just want a rough & ready solution for a cheapy knife that is too blunt to cut well, it's good to have the ability to take a piece of sandpaper and a soft surface and make a knife sharp.
It is also good that my field sharpener does a reasonable job, I now have more confidence in it when I go camping and take it along - it's a pretty useful kit.

On Mum's knives I just used the coarsest sandpaper (400) that came with the kit, to do a nicer job on a more expensive knife I could take more time and work through the grits - it comes with "400, 600, 1000, 1500 and 2000 Grit Sandpaper (4 pieces of each)"
 
I see now..

I agree at the point that theres too many dull knives around and many misinformed people that still consider them sharp. Some sandpaper or a simple and cheap india stone for sharpening of edged tools should be a more common thing, maybe some of the fear of knives would go away if people knew the usefulness of a sharp edge.
 
knifenut1013 said:
I agree at the point that theres too many dull knives around and many misinformed people that still consider them sharp. Some sandpaper or a simple and cheap india stone for sharpening of edged tools should be a more common thing, maybe some of the fear of knives would go away if people knew the usefulness of a sharp edge.
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Exactly - a sharpening solution needn't be prohibitively expensive and it is a shame that so many people don't learn the skill of sharpening a knife. It is even more unfortunate that so many people that buy a knife sharpener for their kitchen knives end up with a knife scraping device utilising carbide blades - I'd much rather use sandpaper!

I think that there are a lot of people that buy knives and use them for a long time even though they have become dull and then eventually buy new knives and marvel at how much better their new knives cut. A couple of minutes of sharpening for their old knives could have yielded the same results.
 
This doesn't happen all the time, but I think the reason we see some exasperated posts about how insert sharpening system here doesn't work is because people haven't practiced with a crappy knife and just a plain stone to understand what they're trying to achieve. I am as impatient as anyone but I realize that sometimes I have to take my time, especially with harder steels. Some sharpening systems CAN be starting points if you are patient and practice on something other than your favorite knife but I see it happen over and over on this forum that someone bought a decent knife and love it and use it and they want it sharp again without any issue. It is unfortunate that the people who keep repeating that there is no instantaneous fool-proof method without practice get ignored or called know-it-alls.

Anyway, I support this attitude and way of thinking.:thumbup:
 
I think the point, already noted by others, is that one has to know precisely what one is trying to achieve and then one can adapt. In this context, sharpening. The OP clearly has with practice "gotten it" and can now extend that skill away from gadgets or expensive conventional stones to sandpaper. Presumably, in a pinch, a rock could be pressed into service. Following this logic, the OP would be able to select a good rock because he knows precisely what he is trying to achieve and then use that to good effect.

For me it was a Lansky. Never found the thing handy but I learned a lot that I was able to apply later.
 
HoosierQ said:
I think the point, already noted by others, is that one has to know precisely what one is trying to achieve and then one can adapt. In this context, sharpening. The OP clearly has with practice "gotten it" and can now extend that skill away from gadgets or expensive conventional stones to sandpaper. Presumably, in a pinch, a rock could be pressed into service. Following this logic, the OP would be able to select a good rock because he knows precisely what he is trying to achieve and then use that to good effect.

For me it was a Lansky. Never found the thing handy but I learned a lot that I was able to apply later.
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Ditto. :thumbup:

The Lansky can definitely be a PITA, but once I finally exercised enough patience to learn how to use it, it demonstrated what can be done. Learned a lot about consistent angle, light pressure and PATIENCE. That last part is key to everything.

I'm also really beginning to appreciate the simplicity of sandpaper on leather. Already, my mind is gearing up towards trying other simple methods, like sandpaper on glass (or other hard backing). I take walks through the neighborhood every day, and I'm always scanning the ground for potentially useful 'sharpening rocks', too (:p).

I can tell now, that 'simple' is always going to be best, in my book. Focus on technique, first. After that, specialized (expensive) tools aren't as important anymore. They're nice, at times, but not essential.
 
Who NEEDS an expensive sharpening system?? No one, of course.

Who NEEDS a razor blade sharp pocket or hunting knife? Again, no one!

We have them because we want them!:p:p

We sharpen a blade far beyond any real need simply because we can. :thumbup::thumbup:

Like most hobbies, one finds great satisfaction in striving for a level of achievement that approaches perfection.
 
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Ben Dover said:
Who NEEDS an expensive sharpening system?? No one, of course.

Who NEEDS a razor blade sharp pocket or hunting knife? Again, no one!

We have them because we want them!:p:p

We sharpen a blade far beyond any real need simply because we can. :thumbup::thumbup:

Like most hobbies, one finds great satisfaction in striving for a level of achievement that approaches perfection.
Click to expand...

Well said sir! :thumbup:
 
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