sharpening with a DC4

[whats wrong with you all]

have just got myself a DC4 sharpener.

I have tried on a couple of knives, and got a useable edge on them, but the bevel is always very uneven, even on the straight bits!

any advice for a very inexperienced knife sharpener?

 

[Nonsuch]

How are you keeping the DC4 in place while you use it? I take it you are moving the knife, not the DC4...

 

[Shewie]

I find it's easier to hold the dc4 and do small circles by hand rather than doing it on a flat surface and moving the knife.

 

[DavidJT]

I find a dc4 fine for a quick tickle up of the edge in the field, but a little small for a proper sharpen at home. Maybe just me though.

 

[whats wrong with you all]

How are you keeping the DC4 in place while you use it? I take it you are moving the knife, not the DC4...

yes i am holding it down with tacks a la ray Mears, although i may try your method Shewie and see how i go.

David what would you recommend for home sharpening then? other than a sharpmaker because that's all expensive and suchlike.

 

[Paulm]

I've got all sorts of sharpening gear, waterstones, diamond stones, dc4, sharpmaker etc, but what I use the most is a DMT Duofold red on one side green on the other (fine/extra fine). Hold the hone and move the knife, followed up by a few swipes on a loaded strop.

Works great on small pocket knives and up to 3 or 4" fixed blades.

Cheers, Paul

 

[DavidJT]

Most people use full size water or oil stones.
Decent old oil stones can often be picked up from car boots, but check the surface.

 

[Totumpole]

For a cheap and effective sharpening kit see the £5 sharpening kit thread, its a sticky in edged tools, comes in first on the thread when you open it.
I made an adaption so I can fit it in a small belt kit:

Just strips of various grit wet and dry paper, add to this a rectangular block of wood and your off (note Ive also got a DC4 in there). I am going to trial attaching the wet and dry paper with elasticbands or hair bands or something, will maybe make a thread to tell all how it works

Colin

 

[salad]

I keep a bit of blue tack with my pocket whetstone (spyderco double stuff) to help stick it to a surface when I am sharpening. I used to use a dc 4 and did the same thing with that. It will hold nicely to a bit of split wood and give you more control to give a good straight bevel

 

[Longstrider]

It sounds as if you might be letting the hone 'wander' while you're using it. You need to keep the hone pressed flat on the bevel of the knife (if it's a Scandi grind) at all times.
If you've now made the bevels uneven, you'll need to put some work in to flatten them again, or have the knife lightly re-ground for the same result.
You can easily maintain the edge with a very fine hone or a strop once it's properly shap unless you let it get overly dull between bouts of TLC. Get the bevels flat again, polish them to give you a truly sharp edge and then adopt a 'little an often' approach to maintenance and you should find the knife performs at it's best for many years.

You can do all of this with a simple strop and your DC4, but it does take a little practice to keep that bevel flat in the first place.

 

[Ogri the trog]

One of the best tips I've picked up in recent months is to take the dc4 pouch apart and resew it inside-out!

Hey presto a mini strop that you can load with abrasive ready to use right after the stone itself.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[kiltedpict]

One of the best tips I've picked up in recent months is to take the dc4 pouch apart and resew it inside-out!

Hey presto a mini strop that you can load with abrasive ready to use right after the stone itself.

ATB

Ogri the trog

Oooh- great idea!!

 

[DavidJT]

Yes, that's a really good one Ogri.
I squeeze a pad of that non-slip silicone matting in, wrapped around the dc4. Holds the stone fairly still on a flat surface.

 

[whats wrong with you all]

It sounds as if you might be letting the hone 'wander' while you're using it.

yeah i was, but I've spent all of yesterday sharpening all the penknives i could find, and once i was better, kitchen knives. im getting much better results now

One of the best tips I've picked up in recent months is to take the dc4 pouch apart and resew it inside-out!

very nice idea that! might have to do that myself.

Yes, that's a really good one Ogri.
I squeeze a pad of that non-slip silicone matting in, wrapped around the dc4. Holds the stone fairly still on a flat surface.

i need to get some of that, for now I've been using bits of thick rubber band cut into strips because i didn't fancy banging nails into my bedroom table [went inside when it started raining]

 

[Stringmaker]

Very good tips all round here.

I've got a DC4 and the ceramic side is not completely flat; using it like an axe stone is a much better idea.

I love this place!

 

[Nonsuch]

I wouldn't see my DC4 as a primary sharpening tool, rather as a field touch-up. I'd use a full size ceramic stone or wet and dry board for proper sharpening. Funny thing is - I never need to do more than a good stropping.

 

[Jinsin456]

I hold the knife and rub the stone on the blade, after a couple of strokes you will be able to tell if you're on the bevel or not. This, I find makes it a lot easier and faster as the stone cannot mave away due to its size. It was Jag009 that showed me this method and my knife has been razor sharp every since.

 

[whats wrong with you all]

I wouldn't see my DC4 as a primary sharpening tool, rather as a field touch-up.

out of interest, why is this? because it is small, because you cannot get as good an edge or both?

 

[Nonsuch]

out of interest, why is this? because it is small, because you cannot get as good an edge or both?

It's a bit small and fiddly compared to a full size ceramic stone or similar. Because it's small I think you are more likely to wander off the bevel and over time end up with rounded bevels. Or at least with my skill level I do. Gets a good edge 'though.

 

[robevs73]

Personally I dont like the DC4 The diamond side is far to coarse and the ceramic side (I have) is uneven, the wet'ndry on a board (2"x6" is a good size to start on) is an inexpensive and very good method of sharpening when done properly, when you have a nice even sharp bevel strop it regularly with a flat strop loaded with cutting paste or autosol (I do both in that order). Make sure you dont abuse your edge and you should not need to do more than strop your knife after use, when it dose dull as long as theres no chips in the edge you will probably only need to go as coarse as 600 grit then work up to 1200 or 2500 (thats the finest paper I have heard of).
My personal home sharpening kit consists of DMT bench stones 240grit to 1200grit, ceramic 3000grit, japanese water stones 6000 and 8000 and 2 strops. I have 2 dmt diafolds x coarse to x fine for field use but I never need them just a double sided strop, I hope this babble helps.!!!!!!