Knife sharpening

[Muddyhands]

Hi,

After getting a new knife I what to ensure that I keep it in good nick. So what stone(s) and grade do you use to keep your knife nice and sharp?

Looking on the net alot of people talk about Japanese waterstones. Are these the best and do I need the three that are mentioned? Or is it just the Ray Mears affect :notworthy

Cheers

Muddyhands

 

[Man of Tanith]

i use waterstones now
for years i thought it was all just hype and used traditional oil stones.
then i bought a cheap set off of someone on here and my conviction about it being hype has been seriously knocked.
i cant remember the grades off top of my head.
Although in saying that i think technique is far more important than what stones are used.

 

[Mesquite]

Get yourself a combination 1000/6000 grit stone along a nagura stone.

This will cover your for all normal sharpening unless you damage your blade in which case you might need to get an 800 or even a 400 grit stone if it is really bad.

Also get yourself a strop and stropping compound for the final sharpening

 

[Shewie]

I use waterstones but only a couple of times a year, the problem is they actually take metal off so it's not good to use them regularly.

For keeping a good edge I use a Fallkniven DC4 when it needs it and then I'll strop with Autosol before and after a trip.

 

[Robbi]

invest in a spyderco sharp maker, easy and simple to use and gets a hair shaving edge every time. ( if i can use one, anyone can !! )

 

[robin wood]

What is your knife? What have you used if anything for sharpening in the past? Do you want to sharpen "in the field" or only on a bench at home?

I generally recommend folks start with wet and dry mixed grits stuck on boards. Good to learn the basics and costs £5, works well.
I do like waterstones but getting them out is a messy business so I generally only bother if I am going to do a few knives or tools then spend an hour or two in the kitchen. To use them well you need to be able to sloosh plenty of water about. Sharpening with waterstones is a zen like activity though, enjoyable but there are other ways that work.

 

[Muddyhands]

Thanks guys. That's great, I think after the new year I will start to look for some waterstones (don't tell the girlfriend)

Robin to be honest I have been very slack in the past with regards to sharpening knifes/axes mainly because they have been cheap ones. But I have recently got a knife from Rob Evans and my other nice knife my opinel needs a good shapen and clean. It was more a job to do at home before/after I come back and looks like I need to be thinking about stroping more and sharpening less.

 

[Nonsuch]

Robin is the expert and I agree with him. Assuming it is a scandi grind (eg Ray Mears style), then I have found wet and dry paper glued onto wooden boards to be the most successful, followed by the Spyderco ceramic stones. I never get results with waterstones for some reason. Seriously, check out the £5 sharpening kit thread. Wet and dry really works and costs nothing. However, I wouldn't recommend over sharpening. If your knife is sharp to start with, then a good stropping on leather after each use with a bit of compound will be all you need to maintain the edge. Warthog1981 is selling strops and compound at the moment and I can vouch for the effectiveness.

If your knife is a convex grind (eg an F1), then it's a totally different story and then you really will need wet and dry and a mouse mat. Stones and boards won't work and will wreck your edge over time. Your Opinel will be a different grind again.

Sharpening and stropping are quite difficult to do well and can be very frustrating. I could never get my knives shaving sharp and I realised in the end that I was wrecking all the good sharpening work I had been doing by lifting the blade at the stropping phase, thereby rounding the edge ! It is really best to have someone show you to start with.

Hope that helps. I'm no expert but have recently got the hang of this and so thought my experiences might be useful.
NS

 

[Highbinder]

If your knife is a convex grind (eg an F1), then it's a totally different story and then you really will need wet and dry and a mouse mat. Stones and boards won't work and will wreck your edge over time. Your Opinel will be a different grind again.

Actually I just read over on the Bark River forums that the mousemat is more an internet fad and can work against someone sharpening because the material is TOO soft and unless extremely light pressure is used the backing material (the matt) will curve too much around the blade and so roll the edge. They said this would be especially aparant for someone new to sharpening a convex knife. I've just started myself and picked up a little strop kit from knivesshipfree which came with an otter case, a range of different graded sandpaper, and also the black and green compounds. The strop is leather but quite stiff. It's been tricky learning but I'm starting to get it now I think.

I've been using the same strop kit to sharpen my opinel and SAK and I believe I could use it for axes, too, and it's small enough to be portable so it comes with me if I'm away for more than a day or two.

 

[Vibrant]

I've got a sharpmaker and various waterstones and theyre all good. But what I use is the wet and dry as suggested above. I just lay a sheet on the bench and away I go. Cheap and effective.

 

[Loenja]

im going to agree that the spyderco triangle sharpmaker is great but it is a big investment. so id go for something like the dc4 and a strop.

 

[santaman2000]

Quachita stones. But they are expensive and be careful that they are real. The supplies are getting low and they are frequently counterfitted.

 

[WeThePeoplexfbm]

i just use a stone i get form the hardware shop Plus oil and i can get blunt knife razor in about 6mins on a good day

 

[plastic-ninja]

I have one of Rob Evans knives too.A fantastic piece of work.Simplicity itself and good leather too ; I love it.
Arrived shaving sharp so all I ever use on it now is Autosol on a strop.If you take care what you cut and how
it will stay very sharp indeed with almost no abrasive sharpening.
Cheers , Simon

 

[jollo74]

In my view you only need waterstones if you want to sharpen straight razors or need hairsplitting sharp woodworking tools. In most other cases you can use wet&dry, either on a soft surface (for convex grinds) or on a hard surface (for scandi, flat and hollow ground).

The sharpmaker indeed is an excellent tool for keeping flat and hollow ground blades really sharp as it's easy to maintain the correct angle while sharpening. But it's less than ideal if you need to re-bevel a knife (Sharpkeeper would be a better name ) or if you have scandi ground knives.

One cheap alternative for the sharpmaker is making your own: buy two ceramic sharpening rods (e.g. "Flaksa" from IKEA), drill two holes in a wooden block at your desired angle (I normally sharpen at 20° each side/40° total). Remove the handles and fíx the sharpening rods in - DONE.

And I agree, you always need a strop with some kind of stropping compound.

On the other, who wants to only have the stuff that is absolutely needed ? In this case we'd all have just one Mora knife and some wet&dry and a strop to keep it sharp .

Cheers
Jörg