The Seven Secrets of Sharpening

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Brian, thank you so much for this! I went to the Maintenance section to try to determine some difficulties I've had with my sharpening technique and here this wonderful post shows up.

This should be a sticky.
 
Yes, excellent stuff.

This is sticky-worthy indeed (without all the other extraneous posts like mine).
 
Kudos to Bgentry for taking the time to share such valuable information. Others just beginning the journey, like me, might find that light edge trailing strokes across a microfiber cloth will reveal a burr that fingers fail to detect. The tugging of the microfiber tufts provides visible and tactile evidence that a burr is present. With more experience, this step will likely prove unnecessary.
 
Brian,

This was such a good post. Thank you. I hope you can add some pics or graphic and make this into a short booklet. I have lifted all your steps for my library.

Do you write on any other subjects?
 
I'm glad some of you are enjoying this and getting something out of it. It's nice to hear. :)

johned said:
I hope you can add some pics or graphic and make this into a short booklet.
Click to expand...

I hadn't planned on that, but I'll think on it a bit. I'm not sure where I would go from here if trying to turn this into a printable booklet.

Do you write on any other subjects?
Click to expand...

I write various things, mainly technical things for work or forums or the like. I know a decent amount about audio reproduction and I sometimes write on that subject, but nothing all that formal. Thanks for your interest.

Brian.
 
As hard as I looked, there's nothing I can disagree with in this 7 secrets write up. That's kind of rare for me.
Impressive, thanks.
 
bgentry said:
I hadn't planned on that, but I'll think on it a bit. I'm not sure where I would go from here if trying to turn this into a printable booklet.

Brian.
Click to expand...

Brian,

Look at You Tube for the how-to's. none are up to your standard but it is a good reference if you look at many and glean. Each of your chapters has a topic of a knife such as the one about the magic marker on the edge. I only recently became aware of this for a sharpening technique/step. Tremendous! On a really wide flat edge I could see where on different sections of the blade I was cutting more that others. Lifting the blade at the back but keeping it right at the front. I now have a feel for this but I would have understood it quicker had I had a pic to alert me of what I "might see" and how to correct it.

I was sharpening high carbon MARAKNIV and I discovered that I was getting a burr so small that I couldn't feel it. I only noticed the "fine-white" line on the edge cause I had the sharpener right under a 40 watt florescent light. That super hard steel creates only a micro size burr. Great info.

Idea: Do your book using Bench made knives and market the book in a prelim version to BM for inclusion in their knife sales. Maybe at a modest charge. Do another with Cold Steel then Kershaw, etc. With the word processing and publishing software you must be 75 percent there. Good luck with this. You have a talent that might retire you sooner than you planned.

Happy new year, Thanks again

John
 
Should merge with Mag's sticky! They complement each other.
:thumbsup:
One about the 'what' and the other is about 'how'
 
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BGentry- thank you for sharing your knowlege and experience with us. Have yet to try free handing- but with your posts as a reference I think I might have the guts to try! Thanks again
 
Yes, thanks for taking the time to write this all up. I agree with Chris, this could be a good combo sticky with M's!
 
Really enjoy this comprehensive guide to sharpening for a newbie like myself. Thank you very much for your effort to gather and put the wisdom together in one spot. I have saved this link for further reading and I am pretty sure that I will be going back here again and again. Greatly appreciated.
 
Theres no secret,except practice.After many years of sharpening I am getting hair whittling edges without even trying,as that is not my goal.As long it shaves its good enough for me.The equipment is overemphasized too.All you need is coarse-fine Norton stone and youre set.I use sharpmaker nowadays for touch-ups,and get excellent results.Its not tools but skills but its nice to have couple nice dmt stones,belt sander, or sharpmaker,it makes it easier.
 
This is really a great thread. Thanks to the OP!!

FWIW, I agree that practice is key. Once you learn WHAT you need to do, you need to work hard / practice to develop skills so that you CAN do the things necessary to create a sharp edge.
 
Not that it needs to be said again, but thank you for your time and knowledge.
 
Excellent series!

I have a print copy of your Steps at my bench and plan to use them until they are committed to "muscle memory."

Thank you!
 
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