How do you sharpen your knives?

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Jun 30, 2017
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Hi fellas i'm looking for a good and affordable way to sharpen my knives.
As for right now i'm a Spyderco Sharpmaker and a leather belt for stropping.
I'm thinking about buying a couple Japanese water stones and a good leather strop

So what do you guys use for your sharpening?
Any recommendations are welcome.
 
I used to use Spyderco ceramic bench stones with great success; that was before I discovered WorkSharp. I have the Ken Onion edition of the worksharp belt sharpener and I love it for sharpening my knives. Very easy and quick. I keep the speed fairly low so any mistakes happen slowly. After you get good at sharpening on the Worksharp you can always increase the speed.
 
I use spyderco ceramic bench stones. Also use a few water stones when I need to remove some material. Water stones seem to cut faster but they're messy
 
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Sharpmaker and strop like yourself. Don't see the need for anything else. I drop ship new knives to a pro to have the edge set properly. Once that's done the Sharpmaker is plenty for my needs.
 
Sharpmaker and strop like yourself. Don't see the need for anything else. I drop ship new knives to a pro to have the edge set properly. Once that's done the Sharpmaker is plenty for my needs.
Whats the best way to clean those stones?
Nothing seems to work for me, cleaning them with water and i tried cleaning them with an eraser aswell
 
It depends on how dull the knife is. Coarse wet stone, medium Arkansas oil stone, a fine 320 grit aluminum oxide stone and finish up with beaver teeth ceramic sticks.
 
Oilstones and diamond stones. Free hand, although I’m tempted by the DMT Aligner, for setting bevels. They make an extra coarse, the black, stone that works well for that. Larger sized solid grit diamond stones in extra coarse are excellent for flattening oilstones and waterstones.
Thanks, Neal
 
I have a ken onion work sharp that I use frequently. The belts come in a wide range of grits and it is quick and easy. I found that removing the guide and going freehand is the best way to go. The belts will last a long time, especially if you use one of those eraser type cleaners from time to time on them. I also have a set of Naniwa water stones all the way up to 12k grit, but I use those more for straight razors than knives. They are the "splash and go" stones that don't require soaking before use. The only thing to remember with water stones is that they require occasional lapping, which I do with a DMT diamond plate.
 
First for cleaning usually rinsing with water and wiping them off after use is enough but occasionally I use Barkeepers Friend to clean my ceramic stones and ceramic honing rods ...

I'm one of the odd guys out as far as I never cared to sharpen using the Sharp Maker ...

I use stones ... love the Shapton Glass stones for most steels ... have a few Chosera Waterstones in the mix too ... and I have a couple Norton India Combination Oil Stones ... then for the new super steels I use DMT diamond stones the continuous surface type not broken surface ... just much better feedback IMHO ... I also have some of the Baryonyx Stones ... the Artic Fox Series I can recommend highly and for the bargain price they are a great value.

I hear good things about the Spyderco Ceramic stones but haven't used them myself.

And I maintain my edges or finish after sharpening with the 1200 grit Ceramic Honing Rod (the Idahone) and various strops from plain balsa wood or plain leather to CBN Emulsion or other compounds on the strops ... dpending on what finish you prefer.

And I prefer horsehide or boarhide strops they are firmer and I just like them better ... DLT Trading sells a nice big horsehide Strop I like those.
 
Lately I've been using a Work Sharp system as well. It's the Guided Sharpening System with the stone mount that pivots to keep the angle correct on blades with bellied tips. An area that I always had problems with when freehand sharpening. The Pivot Response System actually works as advertised and is the best feature of this system in my opinion. I used the guides on my first two sessions but now I use the unit freehand.
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Guided rod or freehand on stones, or the bottom of a ceramic coffee cup.
For a strop, an old leather or canvas belt, with a polishing compound, or dry.

In the case of a Cold Steel machete, I'll hit it with the carbides of a draw through "sharpener" first, to get rid of the burrs, and even up the grinding first, followed by stones and stropping.
 
I also use a DMT aligner for setting new bevels and usually use the stones freehand for general sharpening.
The aligner doesn't cover all my bases because I can't always get an acute enough bevel on some blades, but I recently bought a WorkSharp and it changed the game for me.
Sometimes I'll use it freehand with the micromesh belt and use as a powerstrop, and the hairs on my arm will fall off before the blade gets within 6 inches :D
 
+1 for cleaning rods with BKF/Comet/Ajax and a Scotch Brite pad. That’s actually the recommendation from Spyderco.

I’ve tried pretty much the whole gamut with sharpening. I started with a Lansky, then went through sandpaper on plate glass (scary sharp method), waterstones, Norton Crystolon, and probably a few others that I forgot. I’ve kinda settled on DMT plates, freehand, as my preferred method. I also have a Spyderco Double Stuff ceramic stone that puts great edges on my wood carving blades. I have a few strops, and for an EDC or working knife, I’ll often sharpen to DMT fine (600), give it a few stropping strokes on the leg of my Carhartts, and call it done.

Truthfully, the Sharpmaker and similar crock stick systems are probably the easiest way to keep a usable edge on a knife. If you really use a knife a lot, you will eventually get into edge thickening issues with the 20 degree microbevel system, and the “back beveling” at 15 degrees often takes quite some time on modern, wear resistant steels, but for most folks, unless you’re using the knife really often and pretty hard, an occasional touch up on the rods will keep the blade working for a good long time.

I prefer to be able to lower edge angles from the factory, as they almost always come in too obtuse to take full advantage of the steel’s cutting ability, and that is accomplished much more quickly with freehand methods, or with much more expensive systems, which are beyond my means.

BTW, I learned most of the useful stuff I know about sharpening from the Maintenance subforum. There are some guys over there who really know their stuff, and who are happy to share knowledge.
 
Freehand with Diafolds. A big coarse carborundum for setting or changing angles. I have a Worksharp but only use it on my axes/hatchets. I don't care for it for knives.--KV
 
I use whatever I need so I got 2 large Norton styled stones, Ark Stones, Crock Sticks and Sandpaper!
 
For traditionals? Norton IB8 India combo stone, hard/soft combo Arkansas stone, strop on leather with green compound.

I have a Sharpmaker but don't use it as much as I used to. Cleaning Sharpmaker rods: quick wash in warm soapy water, then use Bar Keeper's Friend and water. I just do it in my hands over the kitchen sink.

I own some diamond plates and some water stones, but I don't need them for the basic steels in traditional knives.
 
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