How do you sharpen your CPK’s?

Oh and forgot most important when it come vs between mirror edge and toothy edge. Key difference is time.
For example if you need approx. 30-45min to put mirror edge which cuts like a laser on badly damaged edge (and when i say badly i mean badly, with edge rolls and nicks on the edge). It will take you just 5-10 minutes to get scary sharp toothy edge on same steel.

So keep in mind, different steels take different time to sharpen. Also its up to you when choosing between mirror edge and toothy edge, aestetics and beautiful look takes work and time, when practical and working edge takes minutes compared to another.

P.s

As nathan says his delta 3v will blow your mind. You will be amazed how fast you can get scary sharp edge (compared to stainless supersteels like s90v s110v m390 and so on) and how long this edge will last in heavy use (again compared to those steels)

Thanks and hail to nathan the genius lol. Honestly thanks.

And good luck mate, experience is most important in everything so in sharpening. With experience you can get scary sharp edge with proper stone from river.


P.p.s

Maaan cant stop lol, editing one more time to mention, never change nathans dps (degree per side) for example 18° on field knife, it is the best, toughtest and sharpest degree for this knife, nathan is not stupid to just put whatever degree on his knife, when he decided to put 18° dps, this means its the best for this knife. So dont change his bevel, thats important

Wow, so much good info in your posts, Miracle! Thank you so much for taking the time to do that.
 
Wow, so much good info in your posts, Miracle! Thank you so much for taking the time to do that.

Thanks for appreciation. One is i just cant shut up when its about sharpening, because i got weakness of sharp thigs from childhood lol..
and another more important is that we should help each other, share with each other. Othervise you see bad times are coming and if we wont help each other nobody will help us.. you see this coronaviris made people hate each other lol....
 
Thanks for appreciation. One is i just cant shut up when its about sharpening, because i got weakness of sharp thigs from childhood lol..
and another more important is that we should help each other, share with each other. Othervise you see bad times are coming and if we wont help each other nobody will help us.. you see this coronaviris made people hate each other lol....

The sharing of knowledge is incredible on this forum. So many great people just like yourself that are happy to help others. Even before I got into “fine” knives I was pretty obsessive about keeping a sharp working edge. Now I’m at OCD levels with the more high end knives. I plan to use the crap out of my Winklers and Carothers but I want to take care of them along the way.

Hopefully the silver lining of this Corona virus is that this country will come together and become an even greater nation. We are our brothers and sisters keeper.
 
This is a fresh edge on a DEK1.

0ncmwqul.jpg


This arrived this afternoon, second hand. Prior owner said it had a single outing and cut a single piece of sea kelp (so a touch of salt water?). Showed up with zero stains or corrosion, but also would not shave arm hair. I could feel one absolutely miniscule tick with a fingernail along the edge half way. It definitely wasn't a factory edge (but honestly not bad).

This took all of 15 minutes, using the fine and extra fine ceramic triangle rods from a Spyderco sharpmaker kit. Freehand, laying the stone on a table top. I took it to a faint burr on each side on each stone, then debured a few light passes. Then the black and green compound-loaded strops.

It will now 'almost' whittle hair consistently. Mostly clips them in half, but got one or two curls.

This is a real testament to the quality of the factory edge CPK applies. To get it back to this sharp in 15 minutes is crazy.
 
This is a fresh edge on a DEK1.

0ncmwqul.jpg


This arrived this afternoon, second hand. Prior owner said it had a single outing and cut a single piece of sea kelp (so a touch of salt water?). Showed up with zero stains or corrosion, but also would not shave arm hair. I could feel one absolutely miniscule tick with a fingernail along the edge half way. It definitely wasn't a factory edge (but honestly not bad).

This took all of 15 minutes, using the fine and extra fine ceramic triangle rods from a Spyderco sharpmaker kit. Freehand, laying the stone on a table top. I took it to a faint burr on each side on each stone, then debured a few light passes. Then the black and green compound-loaded strops.

It will now 'almost' whittle hair consistently. Mostly clips them in half, but got one or two curls.

This is a real testament to the quality of the factory edge CPK applies. To get it back to this sharp in 15 minutes is crazy.

I agree! It takes no time to bring that D3V back to hair whittlin' sharp!
 
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I haven’t sharpened any of my CPK’s yet either. When I do sharpen one I will use my WE130. It’s a whole different hobby using the Wicked Edge to sharpen.
But I am tempted to put a mirror edge on one of my UF’s just because. But they are so sharp the way they come I’m afraid I may lose some of that!
 
I haven’t sharpened any of my CPK’s yet either. When I do sharpen one I will use my WE130. It’s a whole different hobby using the Wicked Edge to sharpen.
But I am tempted to put a mirror edge on one of my UF’s just because. But they are so sharp the way they come I’m afraid I may lose some of that!

I put a mirror edge on a UG, like Charlton Heston said, "Just because I can!" It was ithe a WE. It was sharp(!) but didn't stay sharp for as long.
 
I'd like to say that I went the cheap route, but I have more than one system as a result and therefore maybe it's not all that cheap. I use an Edge Pro with Chosera stones when the need arises, but 99% of the time, I just use my Sharpmaker. Besides the standard rods, I have the Ultra fine rod and a Dia-sharp coarse/fine diamond stone that can easily be used with the Sharpmaker to get the "correct angle". I can freehand it, but prefer not to just so I have consistency from one sharpening/touch-up to the next. Quick, easy, consistent, and good enough for "gubment work". ;)
 
I will say this Keoneloa Keoneloa - nothing taught me more about sharpening that really using a guided system (Wicked Edge, in my case) and truly learning about raising a burr. Once I figured that out, freehand sharpening became a snap. If I had not gone the W.E. route I do not feel like I would have ever become proficient at freehand. It's that eye opening (for me, at least). But now that I have a feel for it, I prefer freehand so much more that I've put my W.E. up for sale.
 
Thats good to hear TR...I have the Spyderco Sharpmaker, and a couple of Worksharp guided systems that I have been using, now working on a DMT bench stone and a Spyderco ceramic benchstone...glad to hear that this approach (guided first to get a feel for the process, angles, and the steps to raise a burr) actually pays off!
 
I've read all sorts of ideas about sharpening over the years, and the one thing I've taken away from it all is that people over complicate it to the point of being ridiculous. Talk is cheap, you just gotta do it a lot to be good at it, like anything, and if you get good at it, you'll be able to put an edge back on your knife with almost anything that's abrasive and hard enough to scratch the steel.

I can appreciate a polished edge- it looks cool- but that level of finish provides next to no real world benefit. I guess it looks sharper, but there's nothing intrinsic about a polished edge that makes it cut better.

anyway, this is how I do it. The amount of pressure you exert against your sharpening media is fundamentally important. It's always good to keep in mind that the sharper and edge is, the less material you have at the edge of your edge. Push laterally too hard, and you'll never have a good edge. Sharpening a knife is about patience and sensitivity.

 
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^ my intermediate level sharpening "skills" parallel and mimic your tutorial above (BTW, thank you for the video) which garner me decent results which for a lack of better term, I would call my achievements a decent and workable field-grade edge but it just does not last like how they come from CPK (duh!).

I do know where I really need to improve and advance my skills (my apologies to those of you with real skills) is in the area of removing the starch pattern as I make the progression from the coarser abrasive to the next lesser coarse stone. This is where I have currently plateaued and I know that the edges which last for a long time are the ones which eliminate my current conundrum. One may argue that removing the previous scratch pattern completely just removes too much steel for a field grade usage but then again so does constant sharpening due to dulling the edge faster.

I am still not very good at this art, so maybe those with much more experience in removing the scratch pattern can chime in. I have been experimenting with different methods (scrubbing vs immediate back & fro vs fro for about 10+ passes and then backward for equal numbers) but still not getting there because of lack of patience and sensitivity in addition to the experience in completely removing the scratch patterns. I do own a pretty good W.E set up which is supposed to make life easier. My past experiences with the Sharpmaker were putrid and I would only recommend the S.M as a good and relatively easy touch-up set up. I didn't find their set up even with much their more abrasive rods (diamond or CBN) to be useful for the larger fixed blades like the CPKs but if you master the S.M, they are good for your folders and the smaller CPKs like the EDCs when it comes to quick touch ups. JMO.
 
^ my intermediate level sharpening "skills" parallel and mimic your tutorial above (BTW, thank you for the video) which garner me decent results which for a lack of better term, I would call my achievements a decent and workable field-grade edge but it just does not last like how they come from CPK (duh!).

I do know where I really need to improve and advance my skills (my apologies to those of you with real skills) is in the area of removing the starch pattern as I make the progression from the coarser abrasive to the next lesser coarse stone. This is where I have currently plateaued and I know that the edges which last for a long time are the ones which eliminate my current conundrum. One may argue that removing the previous scratch pattern completely just removes too much steel for a field grade usage but then again so does constant sharpening due to dulling the edge faster.

I am still not very good at this art, so maybe those with much more experience in removing the scratch pattern can chime in. I have been experimenting with different methods (scrubbing vs immediate back & fro vs fro for about 10+ passes and then backward for equal numbers) but still not getting there because of lack of patience and sensitivity in addition to the experience in completely removing the scratch patterns. I do own a pretty good W.E set up which is supposed to make life easier. My past experiences with the Sharpmaker were putrid and I would only recommend the S.M as a good and relatively easy touch-up set up. I didn't find their set up even with much their more abrasive rods (diamond or CBN) to be useful for the larger fixed blades like the CPKs but if you master the S.M, they are good for your folders and the smaller CPKs like the EDCs when it comes to quick touch ups. JMO.
Sharpie to see where you're hitting and patience with smooth controlled strokes...it's the only way to get good. Frustration is a killer to precision...especially when you're struggling for improvement, take it slow and the speed will come.
 
Just wanted to add: a polished edge is good for shaving and push-cutting paper, but for all-around use, I find a slightly toothy edge (not visibly toothy) tends to both effectively:
- cut better on more materials (on some of the harder materials, a polished edge has a tendency to 'skate' instead of 'bite' and cut)
- and stay usable longer than a polished edge. That's why most of the time these days, I'll just touch up the edge with a DMT Fine (the red side) Diafold. Quick and easy, but CPKs have pretty good edge retention and don't need to be touched up/sharpened that often.

I leave the polished edge for straight razors (which I don't use) or something like a Yanagiba that won't ever be cutting anything other than boneless meat.
 
Sharpie to see where you're hitting and patience with smooth controlled strokes...it's the only way to get good. Frustration is a killer to precision...especially when you're struggling for improvement, take it slow and the speed will come.

That is my poison. I sharpie the shyte outta it and I hit it right but have no patience in eradicating the previous scratch pattern and then I get frustrated when it doesn't go my way :(
 
That is my poison. I sharpie the shyte outta it and I hit it right but have no patience in eradicating the previous scratch pattern and then I get frustrated when it doesn't go my way :(
Really good, large diamond plates can be a huge help for that too...I absolutely LOVE my Atomas for large blades. Dead flat, 8"x3", and they cut like the dickens:thumbsup:
 
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