Need some sharpening advise please

Craig James said:
Disagree somewhat on the failings of a diamond stone for a beginner. I myself use water stones but even the atoma 140 or DMT XXC are unlikely to remove metal so fast that you won’t be able to correct any initial mistakes.

They are pricey tho so you may want to go for a cheaper (although quality) alternative as a beginner
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Sure you can fix your mistakes with diamonds but put yourself in the total beginner mindset, you really don’t know what you are doing.
The shoulder is all scratched and the knife now won’t cut anything.

Now the knife goes in a drawer and the idea of sharpening my own knives is done.
I have heard this story on the forum here and I they may not of even used diamond plates but diamond plates are always going to be faster and have deeper scratches than another equivalent rated stone.

I am sure that I am in the minority with this view but for the beginner I think it is better to use stones that cut a little slower.
Slower working and more time on stones equals more experience.

Another thing is stone feel, most here would agree that diamond plates have not so great feedback.
Feedback and feel really help when you need to find that bevel on a nice curvy clip point.

I would probably progressed faster as a sharpener had I started on Japanese stones.
When I first used them in the 90’s everything started to click.
 
To each their own.

I started on SiC and Arkansas stones about 40 odd years ago. Finally managed to get pretty good with them. Even came on here boasting about my skill with them on high vanadium steels.

I was wrong.

I had diamonds for my KME and was getting great edges on higher vanadium steels. Then I decided I was going back to free handing and din't need diamonds for it. I wish I would have just got them straight away.

A course Norton is no slouch in material removal so I don't see the concern. And while I do think a JB8 can work for higher vanadium steels, I personally think diamonds will work better, especially for a beginner. You can raise that burr quickly and feel what you're doing.

It's all a learning curve no matter how you go at it.
 
Shnipper said:
People who buy that thing for $15 probably don't own other sharpening devices to compare them to.
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That would be my guess, although I wouldn't use any pull-through device.

Craig James said:
Disagree somewhat on the failings of a diamond stone for a beginner. I myself use water stones but even the atoma 140 or DMT XXC are unlikely to remove metal so fast that you won’t be able to correct any initial mistakes.
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I like both of these diamond plates but they did not hog off metal fast enough for me. I went to the 60 grit Baryonyx Manticore for a lower grit and so I could use more pressure.
 
No.Body said:
Either way, I'm going shopping for a real sharpener, and look forward to learning a new skill
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If you choose the freehand route, get a lower cost knife to practice on You'll cry less when you scratch up the nice finish. You can also use it to experiment with different techniques.
Come back with other questions, we obviously have a bunch of opinions.
 
Ourorboros said:
If you choose the freehand route, get a lower cost knife to practice on You'll cry less when you scratch up the nice finish. You can also use it to experiment with different techniques.
Come back with other questions, we obviously have a bunch of opinions.
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I am going the free hand route and luckily I do have a few cheap knives on to practice... I will definitely check back, thanks.

eveled said:
View attachment 1397020

That’s pretty funny.
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I use the name on other boards... it's always good for a laugh :D
 
No.Body, I think you made a good choice going freehand. I have nothing against guides or machines, but like to be able to sharpen a knife anywhere and try to minimize the amount of equipment to save space, money, and set-up time. Once I have a good edge I can usually keep it that way with touch-ups that only take seconds.

When I started to learn sharpening I floundered around for quite awhile getting only bits and pieces of advice and information, but not seeing the big picture or understanding the basic principles of sharpening and how to do it. It wasn't until I read and studied The Razor Edge Book of Sharpening, by John Juranitch, that all this finally became clear and I was able to get the sharp edges I wanted. I was actually surprised how simple sharpening is. The great info and advice I got on this forum made a lot more sense once I understood the basics.

To get the best edge (thin) I often have to scratch the sides of the blade, but all my knives are working tools. I don't worry much about scratching my shovels, either. I'd far rather have a knife that cuts as well as it can than looks as good as it can.

Good luck!
 
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Thank you M
MtnHawk1 said:
No.Body, I think you made a good choice going freehand. I have nothing against guides or machines, but like to be able to sharpen a knife anywhere and try to minimize the amount of equipment to save space and set-up time. Once I have a good edge I can usually keep it that way with touch-ups that only take seconds.

When I started to learn sharpening I floundered around for quite awhile getting only bits and pieces of advice and information, but not seeing the big picture or understanding the basic principles of sharpening and how to do it. It wasn't until I read and studied The Razor Edge Book of Sharpening, by John Juranitch, that all this finally became clear and I was able to get the sharp edges I wanted. I was actually surprised how simple sharpening is. The great info and advice I got on this forum made a lot more sense once I understood the basics.

To get the best edge (thin) I often have to scratch the sides of the blade, but all my knives are working tools. I don't worry much about scratching my shovels, either. I'd far rather have a knife that cuts as well as it can than looks as good as it can.

Good luck!
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Thank you MtnHawk1 and the other fine members of Blade Forums for very helpful advise!
 
No.Body said:
Wow, thanks guys.... I take it I should throw these away :D

Somehow spending $15 and taking it to a $400 knife .... doesn't seem to add up. I'm having a difficult time reconciling how thousands of people are giving it 5 star reviews...
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Because they don't know any better.
Proof positive it's best not to believe everything you read.
 
It seems like many people buy many knives and maybe they do this because they are not sure what they like at first.

Total up all you have spent on knives and then try to understand why you don't want to spend some money on a good sharpening system to learn.

I think the more prudent thing to do would be to buy less knives and get a good sharpener. As long as the blade steel is good and it is a reasonable profile you can sharpen anything with a good sharpening system and you will always have a sharp knife. Once you have a good sharpener then you will also be more likely to use your knives.

You got many suggestions on a sharpener so I will let you ponder what has already been suggested on those by others.

Enjoy your knives and learning how to sharpen.
 
The Norton DM mentioned is a fine stone, I have it and use it. It works fine on the premium steels in ZT and Hinderer knives you have. But it doesn't work great, to get the best edge, get diamonds.

I don't agree with advising beginners not to get diamonds. They actually are simpler to use than other stones, less maintenance. It boils down to get something that's flat to begin with (the DMT interrupted diamond stones are usually perfectly flat--check with a level when you buy, if not flat exchange them), use light pressure, and use a lubricant such as soapy water or mineral oil while sharpening. Other than that, diamonds are a girl's (and a sharpener's) best friend.
 
Diamonds are good advice, so is the Norton Crystalon. Learning on diamonds is a good way to ruin them, but also a good way to eliminate initial problems with glazing, plugging etc that can really mess up your efforts. Your initial goal is learning angle control on the coarse stone, that stone needs to cut well.

After all these years the BEST advice I can give to anyone learning freehand is to buy a pile of cheap knives to learn on and master the coarse stone. DO NOT learn on any knife you value for the material cost. Don't even touch them to the stone till you can reliably put a good edge on your cheap knives.
 
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