Ultra-sharpening

[arctic hobo]

This might be a might of a n00b question, but to be honest I'm not really a knife guy, despite owning quite a few. What I was wondering was, how can I sharpen one of my blades to ultra-sharp? I have an india oilstone that gets a knife to reasonable usable sharpness, but I always like to have a spare blade that is very sharp indeed. What do I use to give it razor sharpness?
Thanks

PS If anyone's ever held a blade in a river and cut wool floating down it in half, you've an idea of what I'm after :rolmao:

 

[tomtom]

ask jake! ):

or click here..

 

[JakeR]

See, tomtom knows what it is all about! ):

The consensus on this is, you either love it, or don't rate it at all!

i would recomend one of these highly. Its a leather strop with a "magic" paste that *really* polishes and sharpens a knife, more than any belt could. IMO

You could just click on my "Don't click here" on my sig!

Cheers.

 

[tenbears10]

I have a warncliff style small kitchen knife which is like a razor after using my stakie. My wife cut her thumb on it and remarked 'why does the :***: knife need to be so sharp' we had a long and interesting discussion on the merits of properly sharp tools which includes kitchen knives .

Bill

 

[JakeR]

Use it on a flat, hard surface for well controlled sharpening, especially for scandi's, as you don't necessarily want to convex it...brings out a mirror polished, scary sharp edge.

 

[Hoodoo]

I have an india oilstone that gets a knife to reasonable usable sharpness, but I always like to have a spare blade that is very sharp indeed.

Is the wool still attached to the sheep? :yikes:

First things first. When you use your oilstone you want to make sure you have taken the edge as far as you can so that there is no meat left on either side of the bevel. In other words, you should have a nice V that will not catch light when you hold it under a light. A good 10x loupe should tell you this. Once you reach that point, you can do a couple things. You can polish the edge with a finer stone and then strop on a piece of leather to remove the wire edge, or just strop. Either way, you will get a very sharp edge. The difference is that one method will give you a "toothier" edge than the other. If the sheep is still attached to the wool, I'd go with the toothy edge. If not, go for the polished edge.

 

[JakeR]

A polished edge is better for woodwork.

 

[alick]

Best edges I've ever achieved have been finished on a 6000 grit waterstone with a nagura (usually about 8000 grit). OK these were japanese chisel and plane blades but it was appalling how fine a slice these would take with a push cut straight across the end grain of a hard maple plank.

I used a jig to maintain a precise angle and achieved a mirror polished edge straight off the stone. Absolutely no stropping !

In the Spyderco sharpmaker video, Sal Glesser holds up a piece of glossy magazine paper in one hand and uses an 8 inch kitchen knife in the other to cut a circle of paper out of it - guess they work too !

 

[Shing]

First you need a knife made of fairly hard steel, could be carbon or stainless, then you need to grind it on the oil stone at a fairly low angle. Next depending on how course your oil stone is, you need a finer stone, say 600 grit, then an even finer stone, say 1200 to 2000. At 1200 or 2000, the edge should be shiney and shave hair from your arm or leg easily. To get the ultimate edge, you'll need a piece of smooth leather, a smooth leather belt works and put some very fine abrasive on it such as metal polish or buffing soap. Strop the edge at a low angle until it is polished and you should have an edge as good as the steel will allow. For the best edge, the steel should be very fine grain and hard, S3V is very good I've heard.

 

[Moine]

The more I go, the more I use sandpaper to sharpen. I start by giving a coarse edge with 180 and 320 grit, then proceed to 600, 1200, 2000... The finer the grain, the sharpest it will come out. I can't find any sandpaper with a finer grain than 2400. Then I proceed to the japanese whetstones : 4000 and 8000 grit. A gentle, final strop on a jeans gets rid of any redisual burr (which is micro-wide at this grit level). The edges of my scandis are so shiny I can use them as a mirror to check myself for ticks

They cut so well I usually don't notice it when I cut myself

For a faster result that's 90% as good: create a coarse but even bevel with a rough stone/sandpaper (320 or even 180 grit), then use a butcher's steel and/or ceramic rod to polish the edge. This will create a microscopic bevel that will make the edge a little tougher without sacrificing much of the sharpness. This gives an arm shaving sharp edge, but not a floating wool cutting sharp one.

HTH,

David

 

[JakeR]

Thats the effect i get with the starkie. sometimes, i feel a patch of wet on my hand, i look and it's blood!

:shock:

 

[Andy]

I've used the side of a glass cutting board to get the ultra sharpe edge. Glass rods have also been used to put the final edge on knives in my house. Having felt a proper razor edge I can say that they still aren't there. The edge got this way is still better then what some call a razor edge. ceramic rods, steels and glass rods are a skill which takes a lot of practice.

 

[JakeR]

Best way to tell if it's razor is to shave with it :?:

 

[leon-1]

Best way to tell if it's razor is to shave with it :?:

I can and have with a Gene Ingram #30 (that's facial fuzz), not recommended for anyone who's not practiced in using an open razor as it is extremely dangerous

 

[JakeR]

It takes shaving cuts to a whole new level.

 

[arctic hobo]

Wow, thank you all for the help. Never expected this much! :biggthump