Will Rat sharpen there knifes?

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Originally Posted by onado2000
What do you think of the pull thru V shaped sharpeners or an electric sharpener? Any experience with either that yielded positive results?


I do own a pull through that works pretty well. it's called a warthog. It's two vertical diamond-type "stones" mounted in a V and runs on springs. It's a hell of a contraption to look at, but it actually does work.

-Now with that being said, I mainly use it on thin blade kitchen and fillet type knives. It's a nice thing at deer camp when I'm processing a dozen deer to bring the edge right back during butcher mode. (I am NOT proficient with a steel -never been taught by a master)

On big fixed blades I preferr to sit down with the tri-hone. But I'm going to be looking at these videos myself as my method does work, but it takes me FOREVER!
 
Well, we've been over the Sharpie method, which is just a huge help, you've said you watched the videos, another huge help..... The only thing left to do is practice, over and over again.

Sharpening is similar to riding a bike or cooking, it seems so difficult at first but once you get the feel for it, it's like second nature. And it's all about feel, because you can't see the material being removed or the surface contact of the edge to the stone, you need to get a feel for it.

I've gone through trying to sharpen with a stone with piss poor results, to buying a few different systems with fair results, to just taking alot of time to learn with varied results to now I feel most comfortable freehand sharpening.

With freehand, you can adjust your angle to your task much easier than with a system. Also a DMT fine/course paddle stone is thin and light, easy to carry with you in the bush.

My advice is practice, practice and practice. And once you get the feel for it, invest in some diamond hones. DMT, Smith's and a few others are great products that will help you shave time off your sharpening tasks. But be warned, you can ruin a blade with a diamond hone much faster than you could with a regular stone. They remove alot more material per swipe.

Good luck!
 
Fellas the burr is some thing you are trying to achieve.
When you have a burr coming up on either side as you turn the knife over, then change to a finer grit stone or if you are at the end of your stone collection ( I have six stone grits from a super coarse garden tool stone ( for shovels or sythes) for shaping work to a super fine razor stone made from ocher (?) that puts a mirror polish on the edge.
If you have used your finest stone and you still have a burr and no strop then probably the easiest way to get rid of the burr is to use the sort of non-corrigated cardboard ou find on the back of a note pad with some toothpaste, engine valve grinding past or metal polish. This is a definet drag sharpen alternate EVERY stroke you are ow trying to break that burr off like you would bend a piece of fencing or tie wire back and forth to break it off.
If you leave the burr on ( even in the "straight poistion" between either side of the blade) it will fold the first time you cut something as it folds over it leaves a flat or rounded section of edge that won't cut efficently. A stropped edge with no flexible burr will last/cut much longer than one that isn't.
You can use anything that is non abrasive to strop ( although obviously some objects work better than others) I reguly use cardboard at work for a quick align but I have used wire on a fence, a ( old) rifle barrel I was hunting with at the time, broom sticks anthing that will bend the tiny burr back and forth and break it off. When you see a butcher "steeling" his knife he is re-aligning the very very fine edge on his work knife
IN MY OPINION
The best type of steel to use as a steel has no abrasion on it, polished is possible.Sharpening and Stropping/steeling are two different jobs with different tools, You can't steel with an abrasive ( eg;diaond coated steel)
sharpening is to take a rounded edge and bring the edges together to form a burr. Steeling is to either aline a very fine edge Normaly done by a Meat industry worker.
Stropping is done by the rest of us to break off a very fine burr.
I can't think of a situation where a person not working with meat would need a edge as fine/thin as a meat worker.
If you read "Bushcraft" by Mors Kochanski he speaks of stropping some tools 200 times.
Now don't forget tht except for fine carving you might well be better suited by not having a mirror polished edge a polished edge will ride over and not cut some fiberous materials ( thats why some many knife reveiws use manila rope as a testing medium.
My strop A piece of 4x4 pine with a heavy belt nailed through the tounge run over the end abd back to an eye bolt then connected to a turnbuckle so I can tension it if I want. That is a Cold steel gunsite for size comparison.
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Buck 136 hone master. Probably the best edge guid I have used I can't understand why it is discontined, They do turn up on ebay ( search buck 136 honemaster) I think $AUD40 is fair. I haven't brought one from fleabay I have 3 ( no not interested in selling any they will wear out)
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Carl
 
I have an old leather belt, Can I glue the outer face of the belt to a piece of pine and use that soft inner belt as a strope, or does the strope have to be free floating?
 
You can glue it, the give of the belt will be enough. I personally just use my regular belt that way I always have it with me.
 
Onado I now think glued is better but wen I made the strop I thought it was important to be able to have the leather curve as Shotgunner said the give of the belt is enough.
Lots of people talk about using mouse pads for convexing edges I think most mousepads are too thick and will let the wet&dry paper curl up and remove the dge thin mouse pads are ok but I have gluded a piece of vinyl to one side of te strop for that purpose (convexing) and find I works really well.
Carl
 
Thank you guys for the education. Now I need a lot of experience. Going to order a few sharpening stones and try to get this sharpening/honing skill down. It’s frustrating when I see a guy on youtube get his knife razor sharp after a few strokes on the bottom of his coffee mug. I tried it and just ruined the edge even more. Thanks again everyone for the input. Dan
 
Just got three knives back that I sent to Richard J for sharpening...all three came back very, very sharp with a fast turnaround. I had him put a convex edge on two of my fixed blades and he sharpened a folder that I carry everyday. I'm definetly pleased and Richard is a good guy to speak to - plus he offers the service free to fireman, emts, police, etc.
 
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Patience my friend onado2000, Warrigals strop and steel tutorial was bang on. On my two polished steels from work I would take 600 and 1200 grit wet/dry and stroke the steel from bottom to top in single strokes.(no back and forth) You put micro grooves on the smooth steel and that will remove your burr or thin flexible edge without stropping, no time for that on the line.
Regards
Brad
 
Where is a good place to purchase sharpening supplies on line. If you can't post publicly can someone PM me. Also, can I get a good basic list of items to purchase for both convex and V grinds? I have a wetstone that has served me well, but I am afraid I am not producing the best angles by hand, although that seems to be the only way to do a Convex grind (mouse pad and sand paper).

Thanks all, I've learned a lot here.
 
I found a website with info. on sharpening tools with oil & water stones and sandpaper on plate glass. Interesting article to read and provided some good tips. I never thought to ask woodworkers how to sharpen tools ! I tried to sharpen my Becker Necker (so that I don't ruin my RC knives). I really screwed up the edge. One side is convex and the other seems concave (don't ask how I managed that one, I was trying to get a flat grind). :confused: Hey Lucid, or anyone else that knows, can you give me Richard J.s email, or someone that can help me out, would like some one to sharpen and fix my Becker Necker, will pay for service. I really like this knife and want to get it back to a sharp straight blade. I think I just need to accept my lack of skill and freehand sharpening and buy the Spyderco Sharpmaker ! Please help, thank you.
 
I talked to Richard last week about my RC-5 and he is a real good guy to deal with
 
hey guys, i just got my rc6, and did some thumping on it in the woods. great knife, as most of you already know. anyway, i have a question...i would like to sharpen it now, but not sure what edge degree i should put on it? i was thinking doing a 15 degree start, then to a 20 degree edge. i will be using a sharpmaker as of right now.

thanks!!
 
I bought a Spyderco Sharpmaker. At first I thought it was suppose to be Lourdes for knives (you know miracles and all), but it is not. I struggled for a while changing my technique a million times, trying to get my blade sharp. I was up until 430am (and I started on Saturday at 8pm) working the blade, and for 4 days prior, at least 4 hours a day, I was cutting away at the rods, to no avail. Suddenly, the light bulb shined over my head, surprise my miracle came true, my blade felt sharp for the first time. I sharpened the blade as directed. Afterward I took the white rod and very lightly by hand sharpened the edge closer and closer toward the bevel. I liken this to golfing, when your on the tee trying to kill the ball with the driver, usually the ball goes left or right, but not straight. If you swing gently, let the club do the work, the ball goes straight down the fairway. The key, I figured, is very lightly, almost no touch, just let the blades weight do the work. Don’t try to kill the blade by pressing down hard on the rod. Now I can pop hairs off my leg (because my arm is already bare) easily, almost back to the original edge. I am so glad I bought the Sharpmaker now that I figured out my technique. This is my Easter Miracle!! I am a happy camper!!:)
 
yeah thats so true. i've been grinding pretty hard at the edge trying to ensure a good, strong contact with the rods, but never gaining the results that i seeked...until i did it lightly. i ended up using my lansky system with the coarse stones to remove as much metal as possible to reprofile the edge. and i finished it up with a 20 degree angle at the edge.

happy easter everyone!
 
Primox1, With my 204
I uses the 40degree only for the heavy chopers, Axe, Gollok kitchen cleaver.
The 30degree for any thing that will fit in a shirt pocket ( That includes my Izula) everything else gets as per the instructions both bevels.
Onado2000,
For a rule of thumb,When I grind, hard with coarse either 204 or normal stones and then lighter and lighter as I get further away from coarse. same with the strop hard for the first couple then lighter and lighter.
Only downside with Spyderco If you are reprofiling the edge ( either from new or a bit of abuse it can take a while to notice any improvment. Just make sure you keep it clean performance drops to nill when the pores of the rods are blocked.
I have done my New Izula and it came up quiet nicely.
Carl
Carl
 
thanks carl. do you put a solid 20 degree edge on ur rats, with no other angle before the edge?
 
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