Can anyone sharpen my knife

[Bushcraft4life]

Bit embarrased to be honest , But i can't sharpen knives to save my life and i am going away soon so i want it razor sharp.

Having looked at numerous tutorials i still can't seem to get it right and considering how nice my knife is i don't want to mess it up.

So is there anyone out there kind enough to take a little bit of time to sharpen mine. I am the worlds worse knife sharpener .

Cheers
Jamie

 

[leon-1]

Jamie, where are you going??

If it's the bushmoot, don't worry about it. There will be tutorials and many people there who would be willing to spend some time showing you.

 

[Bushcraft4life]

No its not the bushmoot Leon (i wish). I am heading up to scotland soon wild camping around loch lomond and maybe up a bit further and this is the first time i will be using this knife (if it is sharp that is )

I seem to do more harm than good when it comes to knives, i usually end up making them blunt even when they are moderately sharp before

Jamie

 

[mace242]

What's your technique - please give a quick runthrough - including what you use to sharpen. Thx.

 

[Bushcraft4life]

Oil stones on account of the fact i can't afford anything else. I don't really have a technique, i just pray (never bloody works though )

 

[mace242]

That may explain it. Forgot to ask - what kind of grind is on your knife and what sort is it - stainless or carbon?

 

[Bushcraft4life]

The knife i am talking about is at the bottom of this page. It has a convex grind (not that i know anything about grinds)

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9243&highlight=field+knife

Just so you know i haven't even attempted to sharpen this. Don't want to mess it up.

 

[Goliath]

First of all, nice knive you got there!

Convex is way harder to sharpen than scandy, but i'm a noob aswell. Don't really know much about sharpening yet.

I think the trick with convex grinds is to find the right angle; Fallkniven says on it's DC4 'manual' to lift it jup only a tiny bit: just the thickness of the spine.

You really should learn to do it yourself, buy some cheapass knive with same grind if needed to. I don't doubt there are people who would want to sharpen it for you, but if you use it alot you may need to sharpen it even once a day.

Good luck!

 

[C_Claycomb]

Well, you are in luck! If you screw up sharpening any of the other grinds, guess what you end up with?......A Convex So, since you already have a convex, there is nothing left to screw up, unless you convert it to scandi

There are copious notes on how to sharpen knives on here, many using nothing more technical than wet and dry paper and a board, or mouse mat. Keep the spine low, use black felt marker on the bevel to show where you are removing metal, as you work to the cutting edge, be gentle, the last couple of strokes should be at an increased angle with nothing but the weight of the knife behind them, just to remove the wire edge. Stropping on leather, or cardboard with Autosol gives a good polished edge.

http://outdoors-magazine.com/s_article.php?id_article=91
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22601&highlight=convex

There is no reason that I couldn't sharpen it for you, there are plenty of other folk that could too, but I think you need to learn how it is done. It is the self reliance thing, if you know enough to know you want a sharp tool, you should work to acquire the skills needed to create one, and maintain it. It is not a hard thing to learn.

When are you going and where abouts in London are you?

 

[Nightwalker]

I always sharpen with japanese waterstone's, im still learning to perfect my technique I think, but I was recently outstanded by my friends use of a sharpening rod, I've never used one myself, and I havent checked the blades he has sharpened using the rod, but he says he has a few blades to hair-sharpening-sharpness; which I fully trust and he said it took him very little time. Having not used a sharpening rod I dont know how good they are; but I think I understand the technique & principle behind it and the type of edge it'll produce. I take it it'll produce a convex edge on the knife. If a rod does produce the same result (sharp!) easily/quickly is it not just easier to use the rod over stones that take longer? I suppose its understanding the different pro's & con's of different edge shapes?

Bushcraft4life I would recommend watching a couple of sharpening videos from someone who knows what they're doing. Infact how soon are you going away?.. I've got a DVD of someone teaching sharpening technique on stones, I'll happily post it to you if you want.

 

[mace242]

I'm bowing out. Though I'm having great results sharpening my knives (clipper and some SAKs) I've not tried to do a convex so I'm not going to try to advise. The hints that Chris has given are great. And he's right you need to learn how to - as will I when I get a really nice knife liek yours. I'll leave this to the more experienced.

 

[Dave Budd]

come on, don't be beat! convex edges are teh easiest to sharpen. just get yourself a mouse mat and some wet and dry paper and you're sorted. simplu lay the wet n dry on the mat (start with 240 grit if it's really blunt, otherwise 500 grit). Then place teh knife on the paper, flat with teh edge away from you. Now draw the blade toward you without lifting it. tunr the knife over and work n the other side. Now repeat with finer grits until you get to where you want it!

just remember to move the knife spine first to avoid cutting the paper/mat. Don't raise your hand or apply excessive pressure (just enough to deform the mat) or you will have a very obtuse angle to you edge.

simple

or come on one of my sharpening courses

 

[Bushcraft4life]

Convex grinds are gits .

Right you have made me see that i will have to learn to do it myself. I'll try again on one of my moras using the technique Dave suggested although all comments have been taken into account :You_Rock_ .

Now to get some wet n dry...........

 

[British Red]

B4L

I wouldn't use the technique Dave suggested on your Mora - the Mora is Scandy ground so doesn't need a mousemat etc.. I also sharpen "edge first" on a scandy. Different grinds need a different technique

Red

 

[Dano]

get yourself a lansky kit, you can go wrong with it

 

[sxmolloy]

What Red just said. On a convex grind you need to drag the knife along the W&D spine first with a mouse mat as backing. With a scandi you dont need the mouse mat, and you push the knife working edge first.

Good luck....ATB....Stu

 

[rapidboy]

Different grinds require different sharpening techniques, a lansky is no good for a conex grind, oil / water stones are no good for a concex grind.
Wet n' dry and a mouse mat are what is needed here.
Once it's sharp you can keep it's edge with regular stropping.

I uae a small leather strop and a piece of wet and dry to keep my convex opinel sharp.

Not sure if this video link will work and it's very rough but hopefull this will help explain the technique.

 

[C_Claycomb]

get yourself a lansky kit, you can go wrong with it

A slip on the keys, but now it is perfectly true Lansky and similar jigs are used to maintain a constant angle, not what is needed for convex sharpening.

a lansky is no good for a conex grind, oil / water stones are no good for a concex grind.

Agree with the first bit, but you are wrong on the second part. Water stones work perfectly well for doing convex edges, assuming you know how to use them. Longstrider does all his sharpening on convex edges with flat DMT hones, Fallkniven sell their DC4 to sharpen their convex edges, and the Japanese have a long tradition of using stones to form and polish convex edges

Some find using a mouse mat easier, but I prefer using a hard backing for wet and dry, or a stone. It is just a matter of rolling the edge through the stroke.

Bushcraft4life, if you happen to pass the North West corner of London, or are going up the M1, and haven't got it sussed already, drop by and I can show you how I sharpen. I can also show how the mouse mat is used, but it is pretty straight forward.

 

[rapidboy]

Agreed but you can also mess a convex up using a stone so for a for a complete newbie wet and dry is the way to go, slowly and steady.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Admittedly the best waterstones for doing convex blades are not the best ones for doing flat bevels. I have a 220 grit brick that breaks down fast and dishes easily, it is hell to keep flat for working dinks out of chisels, but is great for taking dinks out of convex edges. I think it was Roger Harrington who said that he got quite a lot of his convex knives back for re-sharpening when the owners had ground a neat flat bevel on them :tapedshut So it is definitely something to be wary of.