Who sharpens by hand??

Sharpening knives is a pleasure that goes beyond a tight blade. Vampyre I dunno about Canada but down here we use disposable razors to shave with. If they haven't come up with that up there yet e-mail me your address and we'll send you some.
;)
Anyway steve don't forget that the concept of sharpening is to POLISH the blade as perfectly as possible. people tend to forget that. Anyway an old Legionnaire taught me that a rolled up newspaper works much in the same manner as the ol' leather strop. It really does, too. next week I'll reveal how to use cigarette ash to clean your rifle barrel...
:p
 
rolled up newspaper??:confused: just by itself or with the polishing compound? how much longer will this take?(if any)
 
All by itself. Rolled up taught in one hand blade reversed in the other. Works pretty good.
File under
'FIELD EXPEDIENT'
 
Let's see, how many sharpening outfits do I have...
White Hard Arkansas
Black Hard Arkansas
Washita Arkansas stone
Norton Fine India
Sharpmaker
DMT Fine Grit Bench Hone
DMT Diafold Coarse/Fine
DMT Small Ultra-Fine Hone (Green)
Leather strop loaded with red rouge
Various old stones--too many to list

I like the Sharpmaker for touchups, but I really prefer freehand sharpening, especially for reprofiling edges, which I do to almost every new knife I get.

I started sharpening freehand with stones when I was just a little kid, and have just kind of learned by trial and error. I used to watch the old men who did the spit-and -whittle thing at the feed store whet their old pocket knives a lick or two after whittling down a stick of red cedar or cutting a plug of tobacco. It fascinated me then, and it still does today.:)
 
I'm guilty of using of my SharpMaker 204 around the house. The SharpMaker just makes minor touch-ups too easy for words. I carry one of those little folding DMT diamond hones when I'm out in the field.

But because I use so many convex ground knives, I end up sharpening a lot of my knives with just a piece of cardboard or a sheet of 1200 grit wet/dry paper.
 
Yeah, Buzz. I forgot to mention all my different grits of sandpaper that I use to sharpen my convex grinds.
 
capacitygear> I use a remington coil for shaving most days... but you know the times you don't feel like shaving and get called in to work? I just shave with my knives when I get to work(if someone complains).

Had it happen a couple times this summer where I'd get a day off and not shave. The next day I'd sleep in, and be in a rush after that. When an officer complained, I'd pop into a bathroom for 10min and shave(with a spyderco SS dragonfly). I normally don't shave with disposables/pull razors.

Another tip to pass out: ashes will also remove stains from your blade.
 
Newspaper can be used as a strop because it is slightly abrasive. Stropping is still an abrading process. You do not want to break the burr off of an edge, and then you have a ragged edge. You want to abrade the burr off, producing a nice sharp edge. Honing compound has grit embedded in a paste. I believe the Veritas compound is something like half micron in size. When you have a burr, it is just abrasive enough to remove the burr and polish the edge. Newspaper can be used to do the same job. You don't necessarily have to rollit up, but I can see that rolling it would make it easy to use (sort of a newspaper "steel".

Stropping is a burr removal step, and it is a polishing step. THere are lots of ways to remove a burr, and lots of ways to polish an edge. FInd the steps that work best for you!

P.S>, I do a lot of freehand sharpening using my Razor Edge kit (without guides) and I have sharpened one knife using my waterstone setup I got from Lee Valley (See their Pro Cabinetmaker's gear kit). It is a plastic tub with holders for 2 stones, 800 grit and 4000 grit waterstones, lapping plate, and sharpening guide for chisels and plane blades. I just started getting back into woodworking, and thi ssetup dows wonders on chisels! Made it easy to sharpen my Buck/Strider tanto too!
 
Spyderco Sharpmaker: $50
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Lansky sharpening system: $40
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Set of Quality Oil Bench Stones: $150
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Fine Diamond Bench Hone: $50

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EdgePro Sharpening System $200

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Being able to achieve a Scary Hair Poppin' edge free hand,
..
..
Priceless:D

There are lots of systems, but nothing beats practice.
 
Originally posted by T. Erdelyi
Priceless:D

There are lots of systems, but nothing beats practice.
Click to expand...

lol
anyway i sharpen freehand all the time
why?
cos i only know how to sharpen freehand... never quite got the idea of using guides :o
 
I use Smith's Arkansas stones and I sharpen the knives under running water from the kitchen tap.

I works just fine for me.
Allen.
 
Originally posted by Fox Creek
I use the biggest aluminum Oxide stone I can get. The big Norton red "Indian" stones are excellent. Sharpen evenly untill you are raising a uniform burr the full length of the blade. Strop burr off on a leather strop loaded with bobbing compound, and then test on some cardboard. ;) For subsequent touch ups use a leather strop loaded with red rouge. When required touch up on a grey Arkansas stone.
Click to expand...

The other day I took a look at my Benchmade 555 (Mini-Griptilian) and noticed -- HORRORS -- that the blade I had thought was just really really sharp had a BURR on it that I had failed to remove at last sharpening!

So last night, I sat at my desk for a few hours -- yes hours -- laboring to be gentle enough to grind off the burr from one side without simply sending it off to the other side, yet again! I couldn't believe I had so much trouble doing it! It's not even what I would call truly done at this point. Just "good enough," and I'm frustrated.

So what's this about stropping the burr off? This is the first time I saw anyone write to do it that way. Previously, I had seen people counsel to gently switch sides and grind off the burr on the stone. It's what has succeeded for me with all my other knives, mostly Spyderco Delicas. I don't know why it was so tough to not alternate the burr on the BM555...but it sure was frustrating.

I should mention that the burr was really only visible when I shone a blue LED light on it -- a technique I developed myself and one that really works well.

I need to know where one gets a decent strop, and also what the "compounds" to use on them are. One doesn't just use the blade against plain leather? Must there be some chemical on the leather? If so, what is the range of different types, please?
 
Get yourself some Veritas stropping compound. You can buy a strop with compound from them ( www.leevalley.com ) or if you have a piece of wood and some leather, make your own strop! It works ver well. Just make sure you only use few strokes if you want a toothier edge. Too many and you polish the edge. Of course, if you are going for a polished edge than more time spent on the strop really makes for a sharp edge!
 
Knowing how to get the exact type of edge you prefer (and finding what you preferr) is just a part of what I happen to think what makes a real sportsman and outdoorsman. This is a skill that I enjoy exercising as well as teaching my son.
silicon Carbide, India (aluminum Oxide) and Washita medium. I also strop ocassionally on a piece of heavy leather rubbed with white buffing compound. Maybe a bit much for most but I make knives so I do take extra care in this area.
 
2 pieces of oak,$0 (scrap from broken chair in garbage)

1 broken leather harness, $0 (found in garbage near local farm)

Sears Red polishing compound stick $0 took from work(too small to use on buffing wheel)

1 tube of rubber cement, $0.89

Half hour of my time, $15

Look on my face as I survey my bald left arm : Priceless:D

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Well in the USA we have a Right to BARE arms... ;)

Free hand using a large set of Norton Tri-hone stones, at work I use the Spyderco Profile set or Spydie Double stuff. On the Norton's I do use honing oil but have read some don't, but old habits are are to break.

G2
 
I use my version of the "Hoodoo hone" aka Buzzbait's mousepad. Simply put, a mouse pad with a 2000 grit double-sticky taped onto one half, and an 800 grit double-sticky taped onto the other half. They are different colors even, so even someone who is only a pawn in the game of life can figure it out. I just place it at the edge of my kitchen table and strop my convex edged blades on it. A few swipes on each grit per side and back to sharp they come.
For my conventional edged blades, I have a spyderco set-up... a little more work, but does just fine. I also have dabbled with a Norton india stone, and really like what it does for my conventional edged carbon blades. 1095 in particular seems to respond very well to this. To me, it takes a lot more practice to go free hand though.
I have found that my more recent knife purchases have been with convex edged blades. The Hoodoo hone really is simplicity at it's most purest form.
 
I have gotten good results with simple stones, and when I'm putting an aggressive edge on a work tool I use the Razoredge system, which is only a stone and a clamp-on guide.

I have Smiths Arkansas stones, also a DMT diamond hone- not quite a "stone", but if your question is about hand finishing, then there ya go.

But its rare I use anything but my Shaprmaker. Its just so much easier to get great results quickly...
 
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