Sharpenning & stropping

[Trunks]

Evening all,

I have a couple of knives, both have a full flat grind with micro bevel, one in RWL34 the other in A-2.

I have a set of waterstones but can never seem to get the angles quite right

Is there a sharpening system (adjustable angle?) out there that will give me a shaving edge without fear of damaging the blade, and would it be small enough to pop in the rucksack & take out in the field? Just in case

Once it's sharp, it seems that stropping generally brings a good edge back, what paste/compound do you recommend? Grey or Pink or...

Thanks for your time

 

[Shewie]

Have you ever tried the DC4 James ? It's nice to use just laid on top of the blade and moved in small circles, the ceramic face gets it scary sharp too before a strop.

 

[Trunks]

I do have one Rich, but i always worry that i'll end up getting uneven angles on either side, especially when going round the curve, towards the pointy end! I was wondering if there was a 20 degree angled v shaped sharpener that i could glide the blade through that would do a good job. Small & compact.] that would just tuck into a pocket.

Do you use a compound when stropping, or just straight onto the leather?

 

[Shewie]

Do you use a compound when stropping, or just straight onto the leather?

I use Autosol bud, never used to but tried it last year and it really makes a difference I've found.

 

[JonathanD]

Possibly the biggest obstacle you have to overcome is your worry. Sharpening is one of the easiest skills to learn from scratch, but it is the fear of cocking it up that makes it seem like a dark art.

 

[Trunks]

Fantastic I have a tube that i used to use on my old VW Beetle bumpers

Have you read any reviews on the Gerber Ceramic Pocket Sharpener?

 

[satosato]

I only started doing sandpaper and strop about 6 months, I got the angle right 7 of off 10 times but you soon pick it up.

 

[sasquatch]

Blacken the bevel with a marker and do a couple passes on your stone, you'll soon see where you're removing steel and where you're not. It's definately worth a bit of practice as opposed to buying special sharpening implements. Like Jonathon said don't worry about damaging the knife, you'll soon be able to undo any wrongs...

 

[Trunks]

Great idea I'll give it a go

 

[Oblio13]

Blacken the bevel with a marker and do a couple passes on your stone, you'll soon see where you're removing steel and where you're not....

What he said.

I also try to visualize scraping a postage stamp off the stone. Pay attention to the feel and sound, and you'll learn to get the angle right.

The key to stropping is two opposites, a tight strop and light pressure. If the strop sags or you put too much pressure on the blade, you'll round off the edge instead of just burnishing it.

 

[sasquatch]

What he said.

I also try to visualize scraping a postage stamp off the stone. Pay attention to the feel and sound, and you'll learn to get the angle right.

The key to stropping is two opposites, a tight strop and light pressure. If the strop sags or you put too much pressure on the blade, you'll round off the edge instead of just burnishing it.

Ha ha, what he said! After doing it for countless hours the sound and feel is pretty much all you need as it becomes second nature. Different knives have a different action to them but you soon get into a pattern with whatever you're currently doing.

For the strop I'd suggest using a fixed paddle strop where you glue leather to a flat piece of wood(rough side up, smooth side glued to the wood). Hanging barber strops are great but you risk rounding the edge when starting out...just my opinion but a paddle strop is the quickest and easiest to use.

 

[michiel]

Mastering sharpening free handed is a great skill to have; You can get sharp edges pretty fast, but perfect edges take a while.

If you do want a device, I can only recommend the Edge Pro.