Sharpening Advice & Tips.

[Nod]

Hi All,

It was suggested that it would be a good idea to start a thread here about sharpening.

There has been some discussion on the Wilkinson Sword/Allan Wood Woodlore Knives thread, but having it's own thread may make it easier for people to find when they need to.

So, for starters, I've previously used Lansky Sharpening system stones with the honing guides etc. Found these OK for some knives but not for those with a thick blade and strong curve at the tip, as all they did was remove the finish from the blade and didn' get near the edge at all. They are hadny to take out into the field though as they pack up nice and neat into their own box.

Have now moved onto Jap Waterstones in prep for my new RM-WS Micarta Bushcraft knife, and am getting much better results, the edge having a much better finish and seems to be more durable. It's also so quick and easy to just dunk the stone and get cracking.

So, I was wandering, what do you use, and what handy hints and tips do you have that will enable us all to learn from each others experiences and get and retain that razor sharp edge.

Cheers
Nod
:-D

 

[gurushaun]

As a guide to where you are removing metal from the edge, I run a line of marker pen along the edge. This allows me to check that I'm taking metal away from the edge where I should be (and that I've not missed a bit!). I find it useful when free sharpening the curve on the blade.

Cheers

Shaun

 

[Mikey P]

I think that is probably one of the best tips I have read this year and should probably also be copied into the 'tips' forum area.

What an outstanding idea - and like all the best ones - so simple. I'm off to try this to see whether I'm really getting the blade angle correct when sharpening.

As to the original question - I'm still a bit of an amateur when it comes to sharpening and I'm nowhere near as skilful as I would like to be but I have found the Axminster Tools waterstones excellent as they are big enough to get virtually the whole blade on and I bet they'll last a lifetime. In the field I have a small waterstone in a leather pouch I got from the US and a honing rod. Seem to work OK but more practice needed for me.

 

[Hoodoo]

I recommend getting a 10x hand lens for inspecting the edge as you sharpen. This also works well with the marking pen but when using the marking pen, you may just want to make 1 or 2 passes before checking the edge because the residue/oil/water slurry on the stone can remove more marker than just where you are sharpening. This is less noticeable on dry ceramic sticks.

For crockstick sharpening, I really like the lansky sticks because they have 20 degree and 25 degree sticks. By sharpening with the coarse and fine 20 degree sticks, I can easily maintain a small bevel on my knife and then when I finish, I use the 25 degree fine sticks and lightly pass the knife across them, effectively removing the wire edge. Little or no stropping is required after this.

If you strop, be careful you don't roll the edge. This is easy to do if you hold the knife at too steep of an angle.

 

[Stew]

I just use the red DMT sharpening stone (that folds into itself as a keyring) for my "normal" knives and hold the angle by hand. I don't do too bad but the curves can sometimes be a problem.

For my spoon knives I have a round ceramic stone for the inner part of the curves but I don't like it very much as I'm not used to using ceramic.

I find my DMT to be very good. The red one is the medium but I've also used the green (fine) and black (coarse) and they're good too. They seem to remove metal a lot faster than other stones, so be warned!

 

[tenbears10]

I have a combination japanese waterstone from Axminster Tools which I have cut the last 3 inches off to make a field/axe stone. The remainder of the stone is still big enough for home sharpening, even my carving knife in the kitchen. The small peice of the stone is great for taking out in the field and also works like the new gransfors puck shaped sharpening stones.

I am still learning in terms of grind angles and bevels with a bit of trial and error. Hopefully I can have it cracked buy the time I can afford a Ray Mears WS knife.

The tips from you guys go a long way to help getting a good technique.

Bill