View Full Version : Blade sharpening
I have a couple/few knives that I would like to get sharpened. Does anyone do it? Or can anyone suggest a good source on getting it done, or sources on how to do it properly?
Admittidly, I have never sharpened a knife, at least not one that I cared anything about.
We should have a blade forum here. I know this is a gun board, but guns and knives kinda go hand in hand.
Thanks for any help
Should have asked the other day...[Abused]
Should have asked the other day...[Abused]
doh....
I actually just got a new one, well new to me, and would like to get a couple others done too.
If they aren't too bad, I do have the quick and dirty honing stuff close at hand.. If they need a full blown sharpening,, I'd have to dig around a bit..
GreenScoutII
04-07-2010, 21:34
Too bad you're not closer to Pueblo. I'd be happy to hook you up. I have everything from #60 grit super coarse aluminum oxide to #1200 grit ceramic stones. I'm pretty good at it. I don't touch serrated blades though. IMHO, all they're good for is cutting bread and cutting rope.
Nope no serrated blades.
I would really like a nice clean edge on them, I am kinda picky about things.
Its really something everyone should know how to do really. You never know when you are going to need to sharpen a knife.
I've tried to sharpen knives a bunch of times through out my life. At one point I came across a used knife sharpening kit. You know the kind, block of wood, two metal rods and a wooden dowel. I've tried to sharpen stuff but never noticed any difference. Then a while ago I picked up a cheapy Cold Steel blade and tried sharpening it with that kit I have. I can tell you right now, that apparently I had never felt an actual SHARP knife until I was 26 years old. I couldn't even believe the difference it made. I have no idea how I did it either, or why it worked on this knife and none of the others.
Conclusion, I too, would like to know the proper procedure for sharpening knives.
Serrated, aren't too bad to sharpen,, minor pain, nothing major.. You're right though,,bread and rope...
Ask Me about the scar on my left thumb sometime...[Abused]
Hey Marlin, what that scar on your left thumb.....
A case of, that one might have been "too" sharp...[ROFL1] Got momentarly distracted, blade went off stone,,, through thumb,, Deeply I might add..
Sitting there looking at the tendon.. Fun times...
Oh damn, thats nasty
Glad your ok
The Iguana bite bled more....[Tooth]
Man those things freak me out
StagLefty
04-08-2010, 07:48
I have a couple/few knives that I would like to get sharpened. Does anyone do it? Or can anyone suggest a good source on getting it done, or sources on how to do it properly?
Admittidly, I have never sharpened a knife, at least not one that I cared anything about.
We should have a blade forum here. I know this is a gun board, but guns and knives kinda go hand in hand.
Thanks for any help
Go on knivesshipfree.com-they have some good sharpening videos that would help you get started. That's the place I buy most of my knives-I'm a huge ESEE (formerly RAT) knife fan.If your looking for a great place to talk knives go to bladeforums.com.
GreenScoutII
04-08-2010, 09:02
The best advice I can give you in reguard to sharpening knives is to start out with a basic, two sided aluminum oxide stone. These are available fairly cheaply at sporting goods and hardware stores, or online. Get the biggest one you can get your hands on. IMHO, trying to use a small stone doesn't lead to satisfactory results on blades much longer than three inches. A good size to start with is a stone measuring at least 10 X 2 inches.
Next, get a bottle of automatic transmission fluid to use as honing oil. You can use dang near anything though if you don't want to mess with tranny fluid. 3 in 1 oil, WD-40, hydraulic oil, any light bodied oil will work fine. The purpose of the honing oil is to float steel particles and grit away from the edge of the blade you are sharpening. Now, this is a source of endless debate among hard core knife affectionados. Some advocate using water (indeed some ceramic stones require water), or using stones dry. I'm sure these methods will work too, so don't get too hung up on the cutting fluid. I've been using oil stones since I was about ten years old. I can sharpen a good knife to the point that it will shave hair off your arm using progressively finer stones and honing oil.
Finally, get a few cheap knives of different types to practise on. I'm thinking of the sub ten dollar varieties available at any sporting goods store. A lot of times a guy can score POS knives for free. Now, look at the angle of the edge as ground on at the factory. You want to duplicate this angle to the best of your ability.
Place several layers of newspapers on your table or workbench. Place the stone on them and make sure you are in a comfortable position where you can work freely. Apply a liberal amount of your chosen cutting fluid to the fine side of the stone and lay the knife against it while holding it at the approximate angle of the factory edge grind. In a slicing motion, push the knife away from you as if you were attempting to remove a thin slice from the stone.
* Don't use too much pressure. Keep it gentle and consistant. Too much downward pressure works against you and can be dangerous, which leads me to the next point.
* Don't try to hold the stone in your free hand. YOU WILL CUT YOURSELF EVENTUALLY. Don't ask me how I know.http://www.co-ar15.com/forums/images/icons/icon12.gif
Make 8-10 passes on the same side of the edge. Clean off the oil and examine the result. See where the stone has been contacting the edge bevel. If the abrasive marks you just made don't match what the factory put there pretty closely, adjust as necessary. Repeat for the other side of the edge bevel.
Sharpening a knife by hand is as much an art as it is a technical skill. A guy has to get a "feel" for it. It is actually much easier than most people think. When you buy your first stone, there will probably be a set of pictoral instructions included. These will be a good visual aid to help explain what I've been describing. The only tricks are learning to make the slicing motion steadily and at a consistant angle. This comes quickly with practise. Also, remember to not use too much pressure. Play around with it and before long you'll see results.
A guy can go crazy with different types of stones and accessories like I did over the years and be able to produce a truely wicked edge on a knife made of good steel. But, the basic method I described above is a good way to get started.
A case of, that one might have been "too" sharp...[ROFL1] Got momentarly distracted, blade went off stone,,, through thumb,, Deeply I might add..
Sitting there looking at the tendon.. Fun times...
did that with a box cutter once. cut the vein on my wrist right in half...I was watching it squirt blood, kinda interesting to watch actually
Rocky Mountain Specialty Gear sharpens knives, Tom does a great job too. I had a Benchmade Ares that had a nick in the blade, Tom made it perfect - sharp as hell too.
BPTactical
04-08-2010, 10:23
I have a diamond honing sytem from Smith's. I bastardized it and adapted larger diamond hones to it instead of the tiny ones they include. I like that the jig has 2 angles to it so you can get the right edge for the end use of the blade.
If the edge is really rolled a couple dozen passes with the coarse followed up with the fine and every knife I have used it on will shave.
I think I only have about $50 in it.
StagLefty
04-08-2010, 11:22
[QUOTE=GreenScoutII;192146]
* Don't try to hold the stone in your free hand. YOU WILL CUT YOURSELF EVENTUALLY. Don't ask me how I know.
HAHAHAHA Been there done that and then wondered why !!
"We should have a blade forum here. I know this is a gun board, but guns and knives kinda go hand in hand."
I agree with "spleify" that a blade forum on here would be of benefit to all members of the site. Or maybe team it up with a blade and every day carry items forum. I would love to see what the other fellow members on here carry on a day to day basis.lol
If not maybe some of the guys can recommend some of the better "EDC" and "blade" forums they like to get on?
If anyone wants to put up pictures of what they carry with them everyday or just some of their knives that would be wonderful. I love to look at knife porn as much as gun porn!
Thanks!
Love this site so many good people on it!
Here you go bub.
http://www.co-ar15.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18822&highlight=post+picture
StagLefty
04-08-2010, 13:27
"We should have a blade forum here. I know this is a gun board, but guns and knives kinda go hand in hand."
I agree with "spleify" that a blade forum on here would be of benefit to all members of the site. Or maybe team it up with a blade and every day carry items forum. I would love to see what the other fellow members on here carry on a day to day basis.lol
If not maybe some of the guys can recommend some of the better "EDC" and "blade" forums they like to get on?
If anyone wants to put up pictures of what they carry with them everyday or just some of their knives that would be wonderful. I love to look at knife porn as much as gun porn!
Thanks!
Love this site so many good people on it!
A few posts before this I recommended bladeforums.com and ESEE(formerly RAT) knives.
The best advice I can give you in reguard to sharpening knives is to start out with a basic, two sided aluminum oxide stone. These are available fairly cheaply at sporting goods and hardware stores, or online. Get the biggest one you can get your hands on. IMHO, trying to use a small stone doesn't lead to satisfactory results on blades much longer than three inches. A good size to start with is a stone measuring at least 10 X 2 inches.
Next, get a bottle of automatic transmission fluid to use as honing oil. You can use dang near anything though if you don't want to mess with tranny fluid. 3 in 1 oil, WD-40, hydraulic oil, any light bodied oil will work fine. The purpose of the honing oil is to float steel particles and grit away from the edge of the blade you are sharpening. Now, this is a source of endless debate among hard core knife affectionados. Some advocate using water (indeed some ceramic stones require water), or using stones dry. I'm sure these methods will work too, so don't get too hung up on the cutting fluid. I've been using oil stones since I was about ten years old. I can sharpen a good knife to the point that it will shave hair off your arm using progressively finer stones and honing oil.
Finally, get a few cheap knives of different types to practise on. I'm thinking of the sub ten dollar varieties available at any sporting goods store. A lot of times a guy can score POS knives for free. Now, look at the angle of the edge as ground on at the factory. You want to duplicate this angle to the best of your ability.
Place several layers of newspapers on your table or workbench. Place the stone on them and make sure you are in a comfortable position where you can work freely. Apply a liberal amount of your chosen cutting fluid to the fine side of the stone and lay the knife against it while holding it at the approximate angle of the factory edge grind. In a slicing motion, push the knife away from you as if you were attempting to remove a thin slice from the stone.
* Don't use too much pressure. Keep it gentle and consistant. Too much downward pressure works against you and can be dangerous, which leads me to the next point.
* Don't try to hold the stone in your free hand. YOU WILL CUT YOURSELF EVENTUALLY. Don't ask me how I know.http://www.co-ar15.com/forums/images/icons/icon12.gif
Make 8-10 passes on the same side of the edge. Clean off the oil and examine the result. See where the stone has been contacting the edge bevel. If the abrasive marks you just made don't match what the factory put there pretty closely, adjust as necessary. Repeat for the other side of the edge bevel.
Sharpening a knife by hand is as much an art as it is a technical skill. A guy has to get a "feel" for it. It is actually much easier than most people think. When you buy your first stone, there will probably be a set of pictoral instructions included. These will be a good visual aid to help explain what I've been describing. The only tricks are learning to make the slicing motion steadily and at a consistant angle. This comes quickly with practise. Also, remember to not use too much pressure. Play around with it and before long you'll see results.
A guy can go crazy with different types of stones and accessories like I did over the years and be able to produce a truely wicked edge on a knife made of good steel. But, the basic method I described above is a good way to get started.
Wow!! What a great description, thanks so much for the tutorial.
I do have some cheap junk knives around that I can play around with. Are the sharpening stones something you can find at like a Gander Mtn, or Sportmans Warehouse?
Thanks again for taking the time to explain this to us. I hope to try and get something this weekend so I can start to play around.
And, I realise there are probably some great knife boards out there. But it would still be cool to have one here as well.
GreenScoutII
04-08-2010, 20:53
Wow!! What a great description, thanks so much for the tutorial.
I do have some cheap junk knives around that I can play around with. Are the sharpening stones something you can find at like a Gander Mtn, or Sportmans Warehouse?
Thanks again for taking the time to explain this to us. I hope to try and get something this weekend so I can start to play around.
My pleasure...
http://www.co-ar15.com/forums/images/icons/icon7.gif
You can probably pick up a decent aluminum oxide stone at Lowe's. Norton Abrasive makes a pretty good 2 X 10 stone for about $20 bucks as I recall. Sportsman's or Gander probably has something that will work too.
Also, you might check out some of the diamond hones too. Those don't seem like they would be a bad way to go either.
Once you become proficient with the technique, it will work with any flat stone. I would just advise staying away from the gimmics and electric sharpeners
Just wait, in a few months you'll have a 10 inch chef's knife with a 1/8 spine and 2 1/2 belly flat ground on a progressive taper which you will sharpen using first an India stone and then going through soft, hard, and surgical Arkansas stones. You'll take a notion to finish the edge on a razor strop and then have a blade which will cut a ripe tomato by it's own weight.
It gets a little addicting.http://www.co-ar15.com/forums/images/icons/icon12.gif
Great, like I need another expensive addiction.....[ROFL1]
Thanks for all the help. I will do some checking around. I am not into gimicks and waisting money on crap first. I would rather buy it once and pay a little more,if I know it is something that will last me a long time.
Man, I am looking forward to this.
Thanks again!
StagLefty
04-09-2010, 00:19
I recently picked up a few of the diamond hones and have been real pleased with them.
Harbor Freight sells a four sided diamond sharpening block each side has a different grit and it comes with a decent holder.
I have had fine results with this.
I recently picked up a few of the diamond hones and have been real pleased with them.
Where did you pick this up?
Harbor Freight sells a four sided diamond sharpening block each side has a different grit and it comes with a decent holder.
I have had fine results with this.
I will have to check this out, but most Harbor Freight tools are not very inmressive.
Thanks for the heads up.
Troublco
04-09-2010, 10:13
I would highly recommend the Lansky sharpening system. It takes nearly all the guesswork out of the process, gives you a sharp knife every time and if you have the right stones you can actually sharpen X-Acto blades if you're careful. This setup has a blade holder that clamps to the blades and provides a guide for the stones, which along with a guide rod you put on the stone (you'd have to see it to really understand what I mean, look at this http://www.lanskysharpeners.com/LKC03.php) gives you repeatable results and you have the choice of ceramic, natural arkansas or diamond stones. You can also get stones specifically for serrated blades. Someone who knows what they're doing can get awesome results just as Greenscout described, but I like this system because it makes it easy for someone who doesn't do this much to get a good edge. I think it's a good system, and mine with the Arkansas stones has served me well for over 15 years. I've considered getting the ceramic stone set just to eliminate the oil, but the natural stones work so well I just haven't bothered.
^^^^^ I'll second this.. Great system, I have one..
StagLefty
04-09-2010, 10:30
Spleify-A 2 sided Smith's with fine and coarse at Gander-about $20. A fine and coarse credit card size and thinness at Woodcrafter's (great for wallet carry) I think these were about $12 each. I'd never used diamond hones until I bought these and have found them to be real good for novice sharpeners like myself. I also have the Lansky system at my house for more detail sharpening.
Here you go bub.
http://www.co-ar15.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18822&highlight=post+picture
Thanks Stuart that is what I was after for sure! Right on.
I’ve always had good results with Spyderco’s Sharpmaker, but would defiantly recommend getting the diamond triangle stone with it.
http://www.spyderco.com/pix/products/med/204_M.jpg
Thanks for all the advice guys! I am gonna try and do some looking around this weekend for some good stones.
I'm sure there is some personal preferance involved, but what is the best way to go, regular stone, diamond or ceramic?
Do these sharpening units last a long time too, if bought right? Again, I would rather get a good one that I can rely on for a long time.
Thanks again
StagLefty
04-10-2010, 11:04
I think if any type of sharpening system is kept cleaned after use that they'll last quite a long time.
gnihcraes
04-11-2010, 08:03
Rocky Mountain Specialty Gear sharpens knives, Tom does a great job too. I had a Benchmade Ares that had a nick in the blade, Tom made it perfect - sharp as hell too.
Great guy, if he's sharpening the knife, I'm sure it's good. [Beer]
How do you clean knife sharpening stuff? I meant to ask how long this stuff lasts. I don't know if the kit I found is old or new or what.
StagLefty
04-11-2010, 12:48
You need to clean the stones or hones to remove metal particles from sharpening-at least that's what I've been told.
How do you do that though? Blow on it? Warm water and dish soap?
How do you do that though? Blow on it? Warm water and dish soap?
I use stone oil and a clean rag.
How do you do that though? Blow on it? Warm water and dish soap?
When all else fails,,,,,,Dishwasher.. [Abused]
When all else fails,,,,,,Dishwasher.. [Abused]
Usually I'd agree, but she's busy making us dinner right now.
Usually I'd agree, but she's busy making us dinner right now.
Holy shit, now that is funny [ROFL1]
Yeah, but she read that and now I will NEVER get a cannon. Serves me right for having the computer so close to the kitchen. :(
Troublco
04-11-2010, 20:55
When all else fails,,,,,,Dishwasher.. [Abused]
These work great on old military rifle stocks that have been soaked with cosmoline too. Just don't let her see you do it........[Hang]
GreenScoutII
04-12-2010, 22:55
When all else fails,,,,,,Dishwasher.. [Abused]
Yep, works great on hard Arkansas stones, ceramic stones, and spoked chrome hubcaps... Just don't get caught!
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