Best way to sharpen your knives?

D

Doogoon

Joined
Feb 21, 2012
Messages
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I've been using a waterstone lately, despite the time and care I take to use it, I barely notice any results. Are there other methods of sharpening knives to be really sharp without being machine operated? Or do I need a machine to get a really nice edge?

If not, what sharpening techniques for the stone should be used? I'm still a noob to sharpening and it's still relatively not a long time since I learned how to use it without giving my practice knives a completely convex edge.

Maybe I'm not looking for the ultimate way to sharpen knives, but simply good ways to sharpen knives.
 
A lot of people get super edges from freehanding on waterstones and other abrasives. I'm absolutely piss poor at freehanding, I can barely get a hair scraping edge with freehanding. I got the edge pro and now I can get sharp edges.
 
oil stone for carving chisels and straight razors. a straight razor is zero-ground, meaning you just lay it flat on the stone and let the spine thickness and distance to edge determine the bevel angle. of course, this means you also wear out part of the spine. you can avoid this by putting a strip of electrical or surgical tape along the spine and ease pressure on that side.

now, you're talking about hand honing a V or convex blade by sharpening very close to the edge for strength. it takes a lot of practice and discipline to maintain a consistent bevel angle (20 to 30 degrees) without marring the rest of the blade. it can be done. japanese sword polishers and sharpeners do it with different stones using just water.

in another thread, i wrote about sharpening very thin blades using a mixture of aluminum oxide metal polish and oil on a slab of glass. that one works too. :D
 
What grit is your whetstone?

Sometimes it helps to go through all the different grits, from course to fine, or extra course to extra fine.

But, tecnique is the most important.

Knifenut has a great post called 'The first sharpening' I recommend you read that.

There is no BEST sharpening system IMO. Only what works for you. If you spend a lot of time away from home, sometime very remote places a big setup or electrical system won't work. That's the case with me.
 
There are many ways to bring up a burr on an edge. All you really need is something decently hard and abrasive. Hell you could use the sidewalk if you wanted to but chances are it doesn't have the properties you'd want in a sharpening medium. All you really need is to make sure the medium is flat and you have pretty much all you need. Eliminating the flatness of the medium as a variable doesn't solve all your problems though as you still need to develop angle consistency, a "feel" for how much pressure you want, to make sure the medium doesn't get clogged, and grind out any imperfections in the edge (folds, chips, etc.) to make sure the edge has a consistent edge to it. Also, if you haven't already done so, you might want to mark the edge of the blade with a sharpie prior to running it over the whetstone to make sure you're actually hitting the edge. If you're meeting the angle you need to meet, the sharpie at the cutting edge should be shaved off by the time you pass it over a few times. Not seeing any results may be because you're only catching the shoulders of the blade.
 
when you're in jail as a lifer, scrape the shank in different parts of the cell floor to equalize wear.
 
A lot of people sharpen freehand, suck at it, and recommend it.
Or recommend destroying knives learning.
Or for field sharpening while out in the woods, paper wheels are the way to go. Just be sure to bring a generator to power your equipment.

How about telling us what knife it is? There are some cheap, easy to use sharpeners that seem to work piss poor on one knife, but amazingly well another. I would try the cheap and easy rout first. I believe I'm making blade forums history with that answer.
 
i use a Lansky Crock Stick. its pretty easy to use, and u can choose the level of grind yourself. about 15 minutes on it and its pretty damn sharp. ive never really had shaving sharp, but thats probably because i stop too soon. idrc if it can shave me really......
 
bladeboss said:
i use a Lansky Crock Stick. its pretty easy to use, and u can choose the level of grind yourself. about 15 minutes on it and its pretty damn sharp. ive never really had shaving sharp, but thats probably because i stop too soon. idrc if it can shave me really......
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For now I use one of those and I've found to get shaving sharp you should start with, depending on how dull/sharp your knife is, 20 or 10 strokes on each side (as in 20 and then switch sides), then go down by half, then a few until you get to alternating strokes. At that point, as long as you've been consistent, after some stropping you should have at least a shaving sharp knife.
 
Thanks for all the input! I'll take a look at everything suggested when I get back home today. :)
 
I prefer the time well spent "bonding" with your knife on a whetstone. I use a coarse oilstone, then a coffee mug
 
Doogoon said:
I've been using a waterstone lately, despite the time and care I take to use it, I barely notice any results. Are there other methods of sharpening knives to be really sharp without being machine operated? Or do I need a machine to get a really nice edge?

If not, what sharpening techniques for the stone should be used? I'm still a noob to sharpening and it's still relatively not a long time since I learned how to use it without giving my practice knives a completely convex edge.

Maybe I'm not looking for the ultimate way to sharpen knives, but simply good ways to sharpen knives.
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You don't mention what type or grit waterstone you're using. I highly recommend you build on the stone(s) you have. What you might need more than another method is to learn the one you have - waterstones impart an edge with excellent cutting characteristics - I dabble with other methods, but now sharpen everything from my kitchen knives to my machetes on the same King or Norton stones. You would be well-served to get a copy of Murray Carter's "Fundamentals of Sharpening" and continue with your waterstone (you'll need at least two grits, a medium and a fine, and a coarse stone comes in mighty handy too - this is common to all methods of sharpening, one relatively coarse grit to grind a new edge, and one or more to refine it). Whatever method you opt for, a thorough understanding of what you're trying to accomplish is essential. Guided systems make some aspects easier, but are no substitute for knowing what you're doing.
Best of luck
HH
 
eccvets said:
HA! give me a break! he wants to see results man, not wanna keep wasting his time!
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It's funny how the first time someone is actually asking you miss a beat to reccomend paper wheels in favor of criticizing the sharpmaker.

I like diamonds for hand sharpening, low maintenance. If you wanna go motorized, check out work sharp, paper wheels or a belt sander.
 
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