Knife Sharpening

HardcoreSlot

HardcoreSlot

New member
hey guys, i know there are some kick a$$ knive makers and shapeners around here. I was just wonderin how you get ur knives sharp and stay sharp. i know how and you u use your knives affects the staying sharp but what do you use to shapen and are there special tequniques to get that perfect, long lasting, razer sharp edge?
 
Depends on how you intend to use it and if it is a factory blade. Cutting a lot of tough stuff, add 2-3* to the angle. Cutting soft stuff like meat but no ligament or white skin, cut a thinner angle. If you want it to last longer , buy a harder knife. I have never tested a factory knfe above 59.4Rc and it was Soligen carbon. It lasted very well. Most are in the 56.1 - 57.7 Rc for stainless.
Now if you get a hard blade, you have to watch out for brittleness. Take a file at 61.6 Rc. Its hard and if you could make a knife out of it, it would be better than most. BUT a guy had one here and wanted me to sharpen it because he couldn't. It was 46 Rc. He had got it too hot while grinding it down so it lost its hardness. Worthless except to look at and say, I made it. Its like building a racing engine. You can do a lot of things right but 10 times that many wrong things and it only takes one wrong to ruin the whole operation. The right things also must be done in sequence for the final outcome to work and keep on working. Some of our processes are measured in seconds on a knife that takes 16 hours(of doing it right) to complete. We try to make a good knife that is harder, sharper, and lasts longer. But "trying" that's all a steer can do. In the past 18 months, we have been able to pick up an extra Rc in our process. What does it mean? Ask the guys that use our knives and you will hear that they are light years beyond the competition. Call me if you have questions. 877 2knives.
Sorry this is so long but I tried to say that there is no simple answer.
Dave
 
Dave is right! I would try and find a local knifemaker and let him show you, the process isn't that difficult and it's hard to put into words (at least for me). There is something about being able to put a razor edge on a blade!
If you don't want to do it yourself, you can send knives to David Poppo at "The Razor's Edge" he does fanastic work at very reasonable prices and gets your knives back very quick.
They don't come no better than this guy, trust me!!
 
I'll second what Tha edge stated above. I'll also add that most people wait till the knife gets so dull that it won't cut well at all before they try to resharpen it. You should always lightly touch up the edge as soon as you start to feel edge getting dull. This means the difference between a 10-15 min chore and a 1 hr job. The way I would recomend sharpening a knife by hand would be to get a good medium wet stone and learn to hold the knife steady while you draw it across it trying to keep the angle consistant. make sure that you draw the knife so that the stone is going away from the edge not into it. Then after you have done this for a period of time (can't say how long because every type of steel and hardness will be different) you'll see a small burr raise up on the edge. This is a very thin layer of steel that you've worked the blade down to. Next I take a peace of 1/2"thick x 2"wide x 8"long pine board with no knots in it and run the knife along it the same way you did on the stone. The board works just like an old barbers strop. This works very well for me and I do not see why with alittle pratice anyone couldn't do it.
 
Im not real handy with a stone so I use a set of the smiths sharpening sticks sometimes I will take a permanet black sharpie and color the cutting edge to see my progress and that I am doing it evenly on both sides. I have full plans of sending them to dave at razorsedge but a friend brought me a deer last night so I havent done it yet.
I do agree that if you don't tune them while using them it can then be a all night progress getting them back in shape.
Mike
 
take a look at this one i picked up at a sport show up here last spring ive tried about every thing and could never "do it right ..Till this one! Easy! WarthogSharp.com
 
It does take a little practice. Start with something cheap like a kitchen knife. I bought a lansky kit a long time ago and never used the clamp, but just sharpen by hand. It does take time, but once you learn it doesn't take long.
 
So I have a question. I was able to get an edge on my knife that cut my arm hairs but it dulled half way through a coyote. It is a kershaw wildcat. Any help to get it to keep an edge?
 
as near as I can tell there seems to be different angles for different types of knifes. A kitchen knife uses a 20 degree angle and a hunting knife uses a 25. hopefully a pro knife maker can chime in but you may have the wrong angle on it.
as for the smith sharpener it has both but I have noticed the lansky has more. I can tell the difference between the two angles.
I have sharpened about 10 knifes with it and it does a pretty good job but I still go back over them with the round stones and it seems to help. Smith sells a finishing stone for a extra $12.00 but I haven't purchased it.All in all it does seem to speed my sharpening time so I guess it wasn't bad for $24.00
Mike
 
Quote:
I would advise you getting a smooth steel and us it along and that will extend your edge some. Good luck!!



Usually a flatter blade can be made the sharpest, but won't hold as long as a greater angle. So its a compromise in what you are using it for and how much sharpening you want to do.
 
Quote:
take a look at this one i picked up at a sport show up here last spring ive tried about every thing and could never "do it right ..Till this one! Easy! WarthogSharp.com



I just picked one of these up yesterday. Not the cheapest but it works very very well. I sharpened every knife in the house last night and it had them all shaving sharp in no time.

Guy
 
I agree with atvalaska. A couple years ago, They were demo'ing the V-sharp warthog at the elk show in Reno. I had a knives of alaska alpha wolf made from D2 tool steel that was almost impossible to get a good edge on due to the steel hardness. They took my knife and ran it through for about a minute and it was sharper than I've ever been able to get it.
 
one of the forums on here had a deal where you send the knife to a guy that will sharpen it for very little and knows what he is doing,I think he worked for Schrade as their master knife sharpner
 
lungpopper,
I am one of Dave's, (razorsedge), happy customers! I am selling all of my sharpening equipment, because what Dave does with a knife is nothing short of amazing!

If you use him, you will not be disappointed!

Good Luck!
Tim
 
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