Sharpening Stupidity

N

Noober

Joined
Jan 30, 2002
Messages
12
Hello. I'm new to this forum and I recently got a balisong. It's a real cheapy but that's ok cuz I will train with it till I'm really good then get a knife I can be proud of but I do have two questions. One is first off I read the sharpening FAQ here http://www.balisongxtreme.com/baliplanet2/BasicTerms/shfaq.htm
and there's one minor detail he omits through the whole thing. Exactly which way do you pull it? My dad showed me a while back but I can't be sure he's 100% correct. I'd like someone very experienced to tell me which way to pull the blade with a sharpening stone.
is it : pull the blade straight to your right?
is it : pull the blade to your right and slightly away?
is it : pull the blade to your right and slightly towards you?
or is it pull the blade straight away from you and just work your way across the blade?

and secondly, with a balisong would they be considered ok for camping and the like? I mean it is after all a knife and therefore a tool for cutting and camping does require a fair amount of that so i was wondering if i could just leave behind my lame swiss army knife and bring a balisong instead. Thanks for the advice in advance.
 
Generally, I move the blade directly perpendicular to the stone, perhaps moving it a bit towards me.

For camping, a knife's a knife. I'd recommend bringing both. Bali for larger cutting tasks and playing around with, SAK for the various tools and junk, since you never know when you might need them.
 
Generally I push or pull at an angle and then sweep the point raising the handles a little to ensure i get the point sharpened.

Oh yeah and I highly recommend a bali for camping. That's the main blade I used for camping all summer and fall. Now I still had my trusty SAK with me for other types of tasks but for medium sized work (anything that doesn't envolve me needing my Khukri) the bali is my best friend.
 
Just wanted to welcome you to the forum! :)

If you're using one of those big sharpening stones, and it's rolling away from you, sort of, I think the most 'correct' thing is to let the blade's edge face away from you, and move the knife slightly away from you (in the same direction the stone roll). At least that's what I've seen those ol' pops do with their scythes and knives. :D
But then I'm guessing you don't use those big stones, so that's not an issue. ;)

From your alternatives, it's definately not the last one, and most likely not the first one either. I think I'd be sharpening in a circular motion - doing small areas of the edge at the time, if you know what I mean.

Hope some of this mumbo jumbo jibberish helps. :D ;)
 
Are you using an electric rotating grinder wheel, or a flat stone? A flat stone might be better for a new knife.
 
Place the blade on the stone, edge away from you. Act like you are slicing off a peice of the stone. Push the blade away. Turn it over and repeat. Act like you are slicing off towards yourself. Once you learn how to do that right, you can sharpen just about any knife you pickup. You need about a 15 to 20 degree angle from the stone surface to thr blade flat.
 
Navajo so you mean it's like im whittling the sharpening stone? striking away and at a 15 to 20 degree angle. then when i get the bur on the other side (am i correct on this bur thing?) i flip it over and pull away from me? or pull forward? (god i feel stupid)
 
There's nothing stupid about it. This is how you learn. Well you've more or less got it except do not strike the stone. Just shave the stone until you get a burr and ten flip the knife over and get the burr on the other side. After that start using alternating strokes (1 on each side) using less and less pressure against the hone. Keep that up until you get desired edge. Now one question how many stones do you have? I ask this because to get a really great edge you need at least two different grits (they can be one the top and bottom of the hone it doesn't matter) a rough stone for creating the burr and a smoother stone to finish the edge. If you have any more questions don't feel like it's stupid to ask...it's not.

You could also try this FAQ full of great suggestions http://www.ameritech.net/users/knives/

hope this helps
 
Two stones, better, three stones best. Search the net for Arkansas Stones. You can buy them seperate or buy them mounted on a triangle shaped block of wood. Don't forget the oil. Yes, just like you are trying to slice off a thin layer of the stone. Push away, pull back. A little practise and there is nothing to it.
 
While many have mentioned this, I dont know if its clear or not.

Dont ever "pull" the blade. Always move it in a motion that would cut, like slicing the stone.

If you pull the blade, spine first you will round of the edge of the knife, by pushing it you are cutting away material instead of just rounding it off.

Hope that helped. Always do it in a 'cutting' motion, be it away or towards you.
 
Sorry about the wording. Slice away. "Slice" back toward you. Any way, with a little work it becomes second nature.
 
I decided to get my own stones so i bought this 3 piece combo. Its basically a wood triangle wedge with the 3 stones glued on each face. So now that i have stones (i dont have to use my dads) i tried sharpening. What i did was with the course i would cut into the stone while holding the spine at about a 15 degree angle. i would alternate strokes but it still wouldnt sharpen by the time i got to medium it was dul again. Please teach me how to do this. thank you.

If you could just run through a typical sharpening session with a particularly dull knife to begin with that would be great. Using the 3 stones as what you would use. Thank you.
 
Okay start with the coarsest stone and hold start slicing it at ~15 degrees like you have been. The trick is to not alternate sides of the blade yet. Instead keep sharpening on that one side until a burr (you'll be able to feel it with your thumb or fingernail) pop up on the other side. Now flip the blade over and repeat the process until the burr is on the side you started on. At this point you can go to your medium stone repeating the entire burr popping process. Once you've popped the burr on both sides using the medium go on to the fine stone and start using alternating strokes of less and less pressure. This should work every time.

I hope I've explained this well if not just pop in and ask me to be more specific.
 
ok so you DO want to make a bur. I read in a few places that it lopsides the blade over time but if thats what you want to do then i will take taht advice. You raise a bur on each side per stone? or just course and medium then on fine alternate strokes?


oh and just one more small question that is probably pretty subjective but id like a rough estimate from anyone who replies to this most likely mykle (i forgot the name sorry) But what is the time frame to go from pretty dull (it feels like a butter knife after im done with it hehe) to razor sharp .... 3 hrs? Thanks for input.
 
Ok i also realized that i didnt get an answer on my stroking method. Ill say what i do and then you can critiq it... can you guys tell my determination at wanting to be able to sharpen like a pro? hehe... anyway. i have the stoen in front of me the blade toward me the knife on the stone angled 4 to 10 o clock. and it is placed at the start of the blade. then i sweep down and kinda make a sort of circular motion so by the time i reach the end of the stone im at the end of the blade as well..... is this right?
 
I just raise the burr on coarse and medium stones and alternate on fine.

I don't know when the last time I let one of my knives get "butterknife dull" but my family members are always bringing them to me this way (in fact my little brother brought one of his friends knives home from school yesterday to have me sharpen it) and it takes me ~1 hr. Things like pressure, practice and the actual grit of stone tend to speed up the process. If you're using Novalite (sp?) stones the process may take a little longer. Another factor is quality of knife (edge geometry, blade steel, heat treatment) some knives almost can't be sharpened (sidewinder) and some do it very easily.

Hope this helps
 
the burr is a thin bit of metal that has flowed towards the other side of the edge. It serves as an indicator saying that you have removed enough metal to actually affect the edge.
 
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