What is your knife sharpening set up?

[shawnhu]

Ahhhhhh, if you don't let your edge get too far away from you, the Spyderco Sharpmaker does a dandy job. I keep mine setting in the corner of one of my workbenches, all set to go. After a gutting/skinning/boning/filleting session I just run the blade over the stones (angles set already and difficult FU) and within a dozen strokes I'm back in the game.

Other than eye balling, (and that's fine) how do you "shape your edge"?? I can see the desire of using different stones when you've "lost" the edge.

I've never lost an edge, but I've worked on knives that has. The lower grit stones make quick work on taking out chips, wrong angles, and alignment of the blade itself.

I'm not familiar with the Sharpmaker, but it sounds like a nice touch-up tool to have. I generally only need to hone the blade after gutting and quartering.

If I take my time and skin properly, I usually don't have to hone either, but if I'm short on time and start cutting hair, I'll either switch knives as they dull, or hone it a couple times as I skin.

If I find it necessary, I'll run a ceramic stick a few times on each side of the blade and then hone if it requires it.

Knives that I find I need to go a little further are my fillet knives, since I cut through bone often with them. I'll use a super fine wet stone to polish up the edge and then skip the ceramic and just hone.

Shaping the edge: there's two types that I generally do. One is the angle, and the other is the geometry, or what I call alignment, of the blade. For the purposes of ultra-sharpness and functionality, I generally go for a smaller angle. Generally on a 1" tall blade, it'll be 1/2 my thumbs width. That's my angle . I generally try to achieve feathering paper on my meat knives, and slicing on my utility/all purpose knives.

The other shaping is the geometry of the blade. For example, curved vs straight. If I wanted to remove serrations etc. Most of the time, it's just fixing others bad sharpening jobs that has altered the alignment of the blade where there's gaps in the blade.

Lastly, the edge grind itself can be customized from a flat grind to a chisel, chisel with backbevel etc.

X-Calibur Lighting Systems

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Edited October 14, 2015 by shawnhu

[dbHunterNY]

I have a couple stones but honestly the $5 carbine and ceramic fixed 20 degree or so "v" sharpeners is all I use for everything.  many times I "touch up" the blade on the ceramic side in soapy water.

[pewlodar]

I have a Japanese 8" chef knife. Sharpest knife I ever had. Even though it is dull and I need to have it sharpened it is still better then the German knives in my draw.

Anyone know a good place to get a Japanese chef knife sharpened?

[Marion]

I've never lost an edge, but I've worked on knives that has. The lower grit stones make quick work on taking out chips, wrong angles, and alignment of the blade itself.

I'm not familiar with the Sharpmaker, but it sounds like a nice touch-up tool to have. I generally only need to hone the blade after gutting and quartering.

If I take my time and skin properly, I usually don't have to hone either, but if I'm short on time and start cutting hair, I'll either switch knives as they dull, or hone it a couple times as I skin.

If I find it necessary, I'll run a ceramic stick a few times on each side of the blade and then hone if it requires it.

Knives that I find I need to go a little further are my fillet knives, since I cut through bone often with them. I'll use a super fine wet stone to polish up the edge and then skip the ceramic and just hone.

Shaping the edge: there's two types that I generally do. One is the angle, and the other is the geometry, or what I call alignment, of the blade. For the purposes of ultra-sharpness and functionality, I generally go for a smaller angle. Generally on a 1" tall blade, it'll be 1/2 my thumbs width. That's my angle . I generally try to achieve feathering paper on my meat knives, and slicing on my utility/all purpose knives.

The other shaping is the geometry of the blade. For example, curved vs straight. If I wanted to remove serrations etc. Most of the time, it's just fixing others bad sharpening jobs that has altered the alignment of the blade where there's gaps in the blade.

Lastly, the edge grind itself can be customized from a flat grind to a chisel, chisel with backbevel etc.

X-Calibur Lighting Systems

http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

Sounds super complicated

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[shawnhu]

I have a Japanese 8" chef knife. Sharpest knife I ever had. Even though it is dull and I need to have it sharpened it is still better then the German knives in my draw.

Anyone know a good place to get a Japanese chef knife sharpened?

If the steel is of a very high Rockwell hardness, you'll need diamond and a special steel to hone it afterwards. Generally, the longer a blade holds its edge, the longer it'll take to sharpen it back. Diamond stones has shortened the traditional sharpening times greatly.

X-Calibur Lighting Systems

http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

[shawnhu]

Sounds super complicated

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I wouldn't expect everyone to understand the process to getting a blade to a custom level of sharpness.

X-Calibur Lighting Systems

http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

[Lawdwaz]

Sounds super complicated

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It's an art and worth learning...........

 

As a young boy I spent many hours TRYING to get an edge on a bunch of knives that somehow I talked family & friends out of.   I'd sharpen fish hooks, hunting knives, broadheads, axes, hatchets etc for fun.  I got very good at it but always longed for a better method.  The Spyderco Sharpmaker isn't the be all, end all because like I mentioned, if you really monkey up your edge you are SOL unless you have the tools and smarts to get it back.

 

I tried Lansky and Gatco and couldn't stand either one.  I have DMT, Smith's, Spyderco and others to use but rely on the Spyderco mostly.  I'd like to try a Norton Crystalon stone at some point, saw them mentioned on Phil Wilson's web site.  I enjoy using stones like this and want to grab one when I figure out what would be best for my needs.  Shawn, ever use these??

 

Here is a COPY/PASTE from Phil Wilson's web site @ Seamount Knives.............................................

SHARPENING

This is tough to do right with out a lot of practice. I have been frustrated many times in the past trying to get that final shaving edge by making one last stroke on the stone only to lose it all and have to start all over again. I was determined to figure out a method for fool proof sharpening. It starts with the blade itself. As mentioned above if you take a close look at most knives you will find a very thick edge section. It is strong but very hard to sharpen. The ideal edge angle of fifteen to twenty degrees can only be obtained by removing a large amount of material. This is hard work takes time and is almost impossible to do with any precision. A blade steel with good toughness can be ground relatively thin and still be durable. A thin tough edge is only half the solution. The other half is the sharpening stone. In my experience the best sharpening media is Silicon Carbide. Norton’s name for this is “Crystalon”. This sharpening stone is available from them in different configurations with the Crystalon/India combination stone the most popular. Silicon Carbide is the grey side of the stone and works best for initial edge forming. Silicon carbide is harder than the carbides found in the high performance tool steels referenced above so the stone cuts clean and leaves a nice aggressive edge. Final second stage polishing for a surgical type edge can be done with the India side (reddish brown, water stones or with a Silicon Carbide dressed leather strop. I guarantee that the combination of the right blade geometry, superior steel, precise heat treating, and a good stone, will eliminate your sharpening frustrations.

[shawnhu]

It's an art and worth learning...........

As a young boy I spent many hours TRYING to get an edge on a bunch of knives that somehow I talked family & friends out of. I'd sharpen fish hooks, hunting knives, broadheads, axes, hatchets etc for fun. I got very good at it but always longed for a better method. The Spyderco Sharpmaker isn't the be all, end all because like I mentioned, if you really monkey up your edge you are SOL unless you have the tools and smarts to get it back.

I tried Lansky and Gatco and couldn't stand either one. I have DMT, Smith's, Spyderco and others to use but rely on the Spyderco mostly. I'd like to try a Norton Crystalon stone at some point, saw them mentioned on Phil Wilson's web site. I enjoy using stones like this and want to grab one when I figure out what would be best for my needs. Shawn, ever use these??

Here is a COPY/PASTE from Phil Wilson's web site @ Seamount Knives.............................................

SHARPENING

This is tough to do right with out a lot of practice. I have been frustrated many times in the past trying to get that final shaving edge by making one last stroke on the stone only to lose it all and have to start all over again. I was determined to figure out a method for fool proof sharpening. It starts with the blade itself. As mentioned above if you take a close look at most knives you will find a very thick edge section. It is strong but very hard to sharpen. The ideal edge angle of fifteen to twenty degrees can only be obtained by removing a large amount of material. This is hard work takes time and is almost impossible to do with any precision. A blade steel with good toughness can be ground relatively thin and still be durable. A thin tough edge is only half the solution. The other half is the sharpening stone. In my experience the best sharpening media is Silicon Carbide. Norton’s name for this is “Crystalon”. This sharpening stone is available from them in different configurations with the Crystalon/India combination stone the most popular. Silicon Carbide is the grey side of the stone and works best for initial edge forming. Silicon carbide is harder than the carbides found in the high performance tool steels referenced above so the stone cuts clean and leaves a nice aggressive edge. Final second stage polishing for a surgical type edge can be done with the India side (reddish brown, water stones or with a Silicon Carbide dressed leather strop. I guarantee that the combination of the right blade geometry, superior steel, precise heat treating, and a good stone, will eliminate your sharpening frustrations.

Unfortunately, no. Sounds fancy though. I use stones passed down from my parents and added the honing and ceramic sticks myself.

Although I understand that there are better stones out there, I'm use to these stones and allows me to practice my strokes. Phil refers to removing large amounts of metal to achieve the ideal angles of 15-20 degrees. The faster you can achieve this, the less fatigue you'll have, the smaller the chance of messing up. You can equate this to form in shooting a bow in terms of fatigue.

The knives that I sharpen are generally of low quality steel, and does not require the faster more aggressive stones.

Here's a post I made and a picture of a knife I repaired for a friend.

http://huntingny.com/forums/index.php?/topic/28357-The-2015-Season-is-Creeping-Up-Fast%2C-What-is-your-game-plan%3F/page__view__findpost__p__390462

You can see the remnants of the damage caused by improper use, and improper sharpening with a metal file. But the edge is pretty flat. The angle was more than I put on my blades, anticipating future improper use of the edge.

X-Calibur Lighting Systems

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Edited October 15, 2015 by shawnhu

[Jeremy K]

I don't mind grabbing a stone and my knife and touching it up while the TV is on .

[VT Outfitter]

I use 3 a stone Gatco sharpening kit. It has a course, medium, and fine grit stone that I put mineral oil on to stop the stone from filling up with fillings. On a dull knife it takes me about 30 minutes to go through the 3 stone process. On a severely damaged blade it could take an hour or more. I bought this Gatco kit at Cabelas for $40 I believe. I never used a system like this before. I always used wet stones, but keeping the correct angle was difficult for me. With this Gatco kit it has guide slots for the stones that have a rod attached keeping the correct degree angle. After 2-4 knives I got the hang of it and now I can shave with my hunting knife. There is no hair left on my arm from edge testing. Incredibly sharp knife sharpening set worth the money.

[chas0218]

I use the ceramics most of you are talking about if I don't have chips in the blade or need to retouch after some use. My skinning knife and de-boning knives usually last 2 seasons of cutting 6-8 deer before I touch them up on the ceramic. 

 

Something to pay attention to are blade angles. Those ceramics usually come in 1 angle which is great for pocket knives and general use but can completely ruin an edge on a filet knife or something using a smaller blade angle.