How good are you at sharpening?

The wicked edge is what I use.

It allows me to get very nice consistent bevels, I love how precise the edge as a whole comes when utilizing the WE with proper technique.

You can get a pretty good mirror polish edge by going up to 1000 grit diamond, then strop with some compounds starting at 14/10 and taking it from there.

It is quite a great system, just time consuming... I feel like that is it's biggest con. Other than that, I feel as though its superior to other systems. Also, free handing is very cool, however no matter how good you are, you literally cant be as precise as a guided system like the we will be.
 
y"Wowbagger said:
The edges I produce are mind bogglingly good. It astonishes me EVERY time when I am done to see how sharp the edge is . . . AS LONG AS I USE MY EDGE PRO APEX. :D :) :D
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Yeah, me too. I am happy when the blade is "sticky" sharp. You'll know it when it "is."
 
I think I am adequate. I can now get edges shaving sharp thinks in part to the info here. Still learning more about strops, but now I am able to spend less time on the stones. I have a washita natural tri hone and dmt diamond corse/fine duo sharp. I have an edge pro but never liked setting it up, so I mostly freehand.
 
I mainly use diamond stones and leather. And a norton India stone. I think it’s their medium grit? I use dmt and eze lap diamond stones. Have a couple Smith’s as well but don’t like them as much. I have a box full of mismatched stones and ceramic rods I’ve used for decades. Even an old glass telephone fuse for finishing an edge. For the past 15 or so years though it’s been diamonds and leather.

I like my edges to be grabby and bitey when you rub a thumbprint across them. Easily shave hair but still aggressive in raw meat. I don’t chase mirror polished edges like I once did unless it’s an edc I like showing off.

Don’t misunderstand, I’m probably a novice compared to some of the guys here.
 
I use a Lansky with the extra coarse and coarse diamond stones added. Getting the clamp set is fiddly, but once set I can get good bevels and edges, then take the knife to the sharpmaker and do my microbevel. I get very sharp edges like this, I've even whittled a hair (once!)

When I started I sucked, too impatient to get a burr. Now I take my time, especially at the beginning and work on getting my burr on my coarse stones. Then progress through the rest fairly quickly. I may not get the best looking bevels, but my edges cut and slice with the best of them!

Sometimes I'll set my bevels with the coarse stones, then switch to the sharpmaker diamonds and finish up there. I try to set all my knives at 15 a side. So lansky for initial edge setting, sharpmaker for everything after that.

Have considered going with something else later, like a kme or edge pro system, maybe when funds allow.
 
8thWonder said:
I got a lansky and have sharpened about 4 knives on it and I’m still terrible.
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Please do not get disheartened my friend. It is all a learning curve. Don't expect perfect results straight away. The 3 "P" principle comes into play. Patience, persistence and practice. Just take your time and don't rush it. Learn from the forum, but please don't over complicate it. It will come to you, just take you time.o_O
 
I am probably a 7 out of 10,can't see the need to be a 10 if 7 is working for me.
Can sharpen any of my knives in about 15 min or less,all will shave arm hair and slice phonebook paper without too much effort and I don't worry about wasting away the blade.
10=dropping silk fabric from 5ft.above edge and it slices it in half
9=whittling hair
8=slicing s -curves in phonebook paper effortlessly
0=butter knife will not cut butter:D
 
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BITEME said:
I am probably a 7 out of 10,can't see the need to be a 10 if 7 is working for me.
Can sharpen any of my knives in about 15 min or less,all will shave arm hair and slice phonebook paper without too much effort and I don't worry about wasting away the blade.
10=dropping silk fabric from 5ft.above edge and it slices it in half
9=whittling hair
8=slicing s -curves in phonebook paper effortlessly
0=butter knife will not cut butter:D
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I’m at an 8 then, freehand only, and that’s good enough for me. :)

When I can get clean S cuts in newsprint starting at any point on the edge, I call it good, I’m afraid to fall off the mountain.:eek:
 
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solid 8, yo.

getting there in no time every time, checking perfection with flashlight-apex-reflection method

 
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As a newbie I haven't yet really tried freehand, so I'm using the standard Lansky kit, plus I bought the 2000 grit super smooth home + leather strop hone which I use with some blue polishing compound. I get mirror edges certainly sharp enough for paper cutting and even popping hairs. Typically takes me half an hour for an average EDC folder.
 
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I'm a lot better than I was when I started, and not as good as I will be when I'm finished.

From day one I pretty much committed to getting good at sharpening no matter what it took. Failure was not an option.

It's been a long, hard, rewarding journey so far.
 
Just picked up the sharpmaker as my first attempt to sharpen anything. I feel that for my first attempts I got both my Delica and Manix way sharper than they were to begin with. Hahah. For my first attempt, that’s all I could ask for.
 
Freehand I'm okay, not nearly as good as some of the sharpening gurus out there but good enough to put a decent edge on a kitchen knife.

I'm a lot better with my Edge Pro. I've tried out a ton of different stones and feel like I can sharpen just about anything with my 400 grit metallic bonded CBN and 1100 grit diamond matrix stone.

The thing with the EP is that it gives you consistency, but it still takes a bit of know-how as far as burr removal and really getting the edge screaming sharp as opposed to just "good enough"
 
I use sharpening stones. I prefer old school vs a system. I put a respectable edge on my blades.
 
Started with Smith tri stone, went to Lansky and added 600 grit diamond and strop and then went to Hapstone M2 and never looked back.

Well, that's not true, I look at the Lansky and every once in a while think to use it and then after a few seconds think,naaah and move on.
 
Bikerguy said:
Did most of you start out with Lansky and upgrade, or go straight to another option?
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Salule B Bikerguy , nobody on this forum was more committed to the RUIXIN PRO III than me. It taught me a lot about sharpening principles and details, and i wouldn't want to miss the experience, practice, and knowledge which i got out of my countless hours with it. After 1 or 2 yrs, however, using the guided system over and over again got old, i grew tired of the activity, and at some point there was no more justifcation for its ratio of expense (efforts, time, energy, stone/steel consumption) versus result (sharpness, polish). One day out of the blue i played with a (ruined) Ruixin stone solo and an old cr*ppy :poop: kitchen fruit knife and managed to freehand sharpen it right away, what a revelatory experience!

i once thought that the very activity of Ruixin guided sharpening was also relaxing or meditative. or enjoyable. and it was so, in the beginning years. but after my abrupt transition to freehanding (using oil on Spyderco stones) i never looked back. the truth is that freehanding gives me all the freedom to treat every condition of each knife with the proper response. all my knives have a set bevel by now and since their edges don't get damaged anymore (because they are used with respect ;)) all i need is an UltraFine stone to maintain the edge, maybe in a 4-7min session after 1-2 weeks. Call me cr*zy but i actually look forward to my next oily session with the stone (either 204UF or 302UF); freehanding on these stones is truly enjoyable!

In comparison, i never looked forward to my next session on the RUIXIN PRO III. i abhorred the idea of resharpening the same knife on the system again, so i never planned more than two sessions per year for the same knife. which is ridiculous, obviously.

Guided systems are perfect for setting a geometrically perfect bevel. But from there, maintaining the edge is most efficiently done with freehanding.
 
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