Coming soon, knife sharpening!

[The General]

As it says! Watch this space... :biggthump

[Danzo]

Eek! I am actually squeaking in anticipation!

:smlove2:

Danzo

[The General]

I aim to try and explain the basis of getting a geometrical edge bevel in laymans terms... Gulp! Ever tried explaining on paper what takes 10 seconds to show in person? :o

My best explanation is think of the edge of a knife being the tip of a triangle and the sides of the knife being the sides of the triangle...

[The General]

Well when you sharpen one side too much a wire edge forms as a result of stock removal on one side. What you want to do is get rid of that wire edge and the way to do this is start removing stock from the 'other' side of the knife! Simple

[The General]

Obvious stuff right? Well ok so when you have removed the really obvious wire edge, how do you know the edge is PERFECT? Well to be honest you don't need to, your edge is probably fine as it is... However... this is what I do!

I shave hair like the picture and then repeat going the other way on the other side of the blade. Normally one side is notacably better at shaving that the other. This is how to fix this...

[The General]

In effect a wire bur, (very slight) is still present and in effect is working something like a chisel.

If the stroke I have just done is the best, then if I were to look at the edge with a very very fine lens then it would be like this...

The answer? Simple remove stock from the side that does not shave well! Simple as that! So if in this case the edge pops hairs going down the arm and is not so good on the oposite side going up the arm, give the side of the blade going UP the arm a couple of passes with your stone and try it again. Eventually you will get both sides of the blade shaving equally well and razor razor sharp! Really easy?

[Danzo]

Wayne

I reckon it costs about £35 from N Wales to Nottingham by train. Could I just send you a ticket and give you beer at my house whilst you explain?

:rolleyes:

Danzo

[The General]

Told you its not easy! :p

What brand of beer? :biggthump

[boaty]

Told you its not easy! :p


Not easy to explain (but you've done a fine job) but remarkably easy to do (after a little practice :p )

I was taught to sharpen by thinking I was taking a slice out of the stone. That method doesn't give you much feedback; when you've raised a burr you've removed enough stock. Since learning this method I can repeatably get lovely edges

Also sliding your thumbnail (carefully :yikes: ) from spine to edge makes the detection of even very small burrs easy

[Danzo]

Ooh! It actually does work! Used an old cheapo Mora. Its luvverly and sharp now! Onto the Spydies and Kershaws and Cold Steels and.......!

:thanks: Wayne

:biggthump

Danzo

What beer you like? I normally keep Stella and Old Speckled Hen in stock.

:yumyum:

:beerchug:

[keith_beef]

Great explanation, General.

I know what you mean about showing and telling.

I like Jovanovich's "Razor edge book of sharpening". Clear text, drawings and photos.

But book learning can only take you to a certain point, then you have to get your hands mucky.

Do you want to be in the Coticule Stone pass-round? The thread has gone cold, and I'd like to get this one started before all my time gets taken up with another Big Project [tm] that is just round the corner...

Keith.

[The General]

At the moment I drink, Budweiser, Stella act a t*** and Hoegarden! :alcoholic

Glad you found it useful! This is only a taste of what is to come! :biggthump

Keith, sorry I am too busy at the moment to take on the kind offer! Thanks though! :cool:

[jbaron]

i like hoegarden! have you got a hoegarden glass yet?

tho it's expensive a £3 a pint

[The General]

Of course! :p

Guess what they use in the brewing process? Hot dogs!!!! :D :D :D

[ZDP-189]

I shave hair like the picture and then repeat going the other way on the other side of the blade. Normally one side is notacably better at shaving that the other. This is how to fix this...

How can you tell a knife collector on the street?

- He's got one hairy forearm and one nearly clean-shaven

How can you tell a bladesmith on the street?

- He's got two clean-shaven arms and hair missing from other bits too!

[JMS]

Good one,

I did this one on sharpening some time ago.

http://outdoors-magazine.com/s_article.php?id_article=91

[The General]

Nice review, what I am aiming to do is show the basics in some detail and list the most common sharpeners and how best to use them. THe idea is to focus in great detail in certain area's and avoid wondering off topic. Such a subject could fill a whole book and be very boreing!

I want to show people what tricks and shortcuts work for me and make it as easy as possible and user friendly for the layman collector/user. With that in mind benchstones are simply not suitable for beginners IMHO. Few can maintain the consistant angle required free hand to get the results required.

I want to get novices up several notches so they can take almost any knife and get it shaving sharp every time it needs a sharpen. I want people tobe able to consistantly be able to get the job done without having to rub thier tummy and pat their head at the same time! :p

[JMS]

Well, I agree on bench stones not suitable to beginners, but IMHO only one name for beginners: Sharpmaker. The rest is also too complicated.

[ugug]

rub thier tummy and pat their head at the same time!

so i shouldn't be rubbing my elbow and patting my erhmm


but thanks for that sharpening guide General ... vg work :biggthump ..

JMS .. what about the Ege Pro or Lansky? worth a look?

[Danzo]

Hi Jean Marc

Interesting that you as a maker recommend the 'sharpmaker'. I am a bad knife sharpener with just a stone, although Waynes article is very helpful, but you would recommend the sharpmaker without hesitation?

(Funnily enough, as Mrs Danzo is pregnant, I am also a 'Sharpe-maker'.......A big clue there for my surname!)

:D

Danzo

[JMS]

Hmm, have a look to my article.
I am an addict of the bench stone. Now I reckon I am generally agile with my hands, but it took me quite a time to use properly a bench stone. I now use mainly japanese waterstones, by preference.

BUT, for a beginner, the sharpmaker is great, and I prefer it to the Lansky-whatever sliding guided solutions, because:

- it kills the bevels, and convexes them rather naturally.

- it can sharpen more than 3" at a time, like 10" or even 12"

-it also helps you do Mrs Danzo scissors.

- it works in seconds, no complex rigging, etc.

- If the angle is not that of the knife, a bit of thinking and angling of the knife will do it, and you'll start learning benchstones in the same time.

- it can sharpen strong recurves, thanks to the triangular stones.

- The sliding guided systems are a leure, a bit of analysis on the way they work and you will quickly discover that you can ruin an edge by setting the wrong angle (and there is not better way to find the angle than on a bench stone), but also because the angle is not constant all the way long, because the edge may be closer or further to the sliding pivot point, depending on edge geometry. And you'll never be able to sharpen more than 3"-4"at a time.

The sharpmaker is the only system I bought that I still use occasionally. (at least the ceramics)

Well, there are lots of similar, but I talk of the one I know. and from my own sharpening experiences.

I really recommend it for those that do not want to spend time in sharpening.

The only "system" I'd bother talking about.

This said, it does not come close to what I get with the bench waterstones, neither in terms of sharpness, or beauty of the polish. And I do all my sharpening and profiling by hand.

I have done my own humble tests and experiences on this and these are my conclusions over some 4-5 years use.

Agin the thing is to find what works for you, and tlaking with people, I have never heard people complaining about a shapmaker, so you have greater chances it works for you too, when the rest is less sure...

Felicitations! Hmm for the surname I may be lost, due to my native langage not being english, so phonetically I prononce everyzing wiz a ztrong French aczent, mon ami. Spanish isn't it? :D

[Danzo]

Merci Jean Marc

Mon surnom n'est pas difficile, c'est seulement 'Sharpe' ; Madame Danzo et moi, nous avons une bebe qui est arrive apres Noel. Je suis vraiment une 'Sharpe-maker' par excellence!

Peut-etre plus bien et humoureux (?) en Anglais.......

Sorry for my very bad French! But thank you for your valuable comments. I had not noticed your reference to your article as I was reading quickly!

Merci bien

Danzo

[keith_beef]

Merci Jean Marc

Mon surnom n'est pas difficile, c'est seulement 'Sharpe' ; Madame Danzo et moi, nous avons une bebe qui est arrive apres Noel. Je suis vraiment une 'Sharpe-maker' par excellence!

Peut-etre plus bien et humoureux (?) en Anglais.......

Sorry for my very bad French! But thank you for your valuable comments. I had not noticed your reference to your article as I was reading quickly!

Merci bien

Danzo


Not such bad French, Danzo. Except that 'surnom' doesn't mean 'surname', it means 'nickname'... Your's is very apt. It's like finding a butcher called Butcher, or a baker called Baker. And I suppose we'd better not ask who's the Sharpest knife in the drawer, eh?

So, when your kid gets to be old enough to have a birthday party, you can invite all his/her friends to come round for Sharpe's Trifles.

Enough silliness. I have work to do.



Keith.

[jbaron]

francais c'est tres facile (accents over e of tres and c of francais) i not going to speak anymore francais incase i get banned again. zut!!!!!

[Danzo]

Monsiuer Boeuf,merci bien!

Nom de famille?

Nom seconde?

Le nom apres le prenom?

Nom derniere?

:rolleyes:

I can't remember!

:(

Danzo

:stupid:

[PS_Bond]

Nom derriere?

:)

(I'll plead that it has been a long time since I last used French, and anyway, it was Belgian French... :D)

[jbaron]

parce que?

[Danzo]

Garden nom?

:D

Danzo

[JMS]

Hey guys my French is good too, but it woud own me to be banned from here :)

Ton Francais est bon, Danzo mon pote. (the closest I know to mate)
Have fun and stay Sharpe ;)

[JMS]

Nom de famille

ou nom as opposed to prenom

[JMS]

Belgian French is fine, Sais tu?
They only subtitle Canadian French on TV. :)

[keith_beef]

Belgian French is fine, Sais tu?
They only subtitle Canadian French on TV. :)

Belgian French is fun, one time.

:wink: to J-M.



Keith.

[Danzo]

Salut Jean Marc

:thanks:

:D

Danzo

[The General]

Please guys, this is not the thread for this... :(

[Danzo]

:sad6: Generalissimo Wayne!

:27:

OT :nono:

:sulkoff:

:wink:

Danzo

[The General]

Had to do it, sorry, but this is not a language class! :p

[Slidje]

having owned knives and sharpening them for years, i cant reccomend spyderco`s tri-angle thingy enough. i got mine today and gave my dragonfly 2 strikes on one side and cut a big hole in my thumb like a dumbass.
i swear im not an advert

aside from that i have a DMT diamond laced file which i used for all my knifes before.

i see knife sharpening as a way of making two sides into a point. you can also use a rougher sharpening surface to make your knife edge more like a fine hacksaw which is good for ropes and tough fabrics like leather.

[Danzo]

.

[The General]

Just ordered the Diamond stones and ultra fine for the sharpmaker.

[bagman]

Just ordered the Diamond stones and ultra fine for the sharpmaker.

got my diamond ones a couple of weeks ago and the UF ones a couple of weeks before that :D

have not had a chance to try them out yet though :rolleyes:

[The General]

:p Well my handmade sword needs a bit of sharpening... ;)

Ordered an Apex also... Why don't we have a bling bling smiley? :bling: Ah we do! :wink:

[Mr_Yarrow]

were there pictures with this thread originally as there anrent any now and the text seems to elude to such a thing...

[Mr_Yarrow]

Any update on this stuff not actually existing?

[The General]

Such is life... I will see if I can organise a refund.:lol:

[MotorbikeMan]

Such is life... I will see if I can organise a refund.:lol:
Fantastic, a four page thread entitled Coming Soon, Knife Sharpening and there's no knife sharpening in it, and it's even a sticky :lol: :lol: :ralmao: :ralmao: :happy51: :happy51:

[Danzo]

Move along now, this thread doesn't exist.

;)

Danzo

[Stuart Ackerman]

In a nutshell.....remove the bits that make it blunt...
There ya go...

[The General]

Its work in progress...

[The General]

Basic instructions from a very dull knife.

1. My prefered method is to sharpen ten each side on a knife to start with on the grey corners of the stone. I keep doing this until I can see the edge is forming or feel the burr.
(seeing the edge forming, get a black marker pen and colour the full length of the edge. The stone will remove the marker pen where it is wearing the steel away. This will give a simple visual guide as to if you have removed enough steel to be at the edge or not. If you think a burr is forming, place your finger on the SPINE of the knife and very gently stroke downwards with your finger or thumb towards the edge of the knife. NEVER EVER from the edge upwards as this will prolly CUT you! What you are trying to do is at the point where your finger leaves the edge, just at that point where you stroke downward and leave the knife, do you feel something? A roughness? if so that is prolly a burr.)

The combo of looking with the black marker pen, feeling for the burr and looking very closely at the edge for the actual burr will hopefully tell you if one side is fully ready. Continue to sharpen till one side has a burr along its full length. This side is now fully sharpened for now and you must now ONLY sharpen the other side of the blade until the burr moves over to this new side.

2. You now have a burr on the other side of the blade, let me know if I need to explain what a burr is?

So switch to the grey flat stones and sharpen till that burr is removed. From experience do ten per side with the stone, then 5 per side, then 4,3,2,1 per side. Now check again for the burr, it will still be there, but not as noticable.

3. Now switch to the white flat stones and do 5 per side, then 4 then 3 etc. Now look again for the burr. It will still be there only really hard to feel or see now.

4. Here comes the magic. Test for the burr by feel. very very gently sharpen the side with the burr to remove it. a couple of passes on thw white flat stones and check it. After about 10 passes on this side or until you think you have removed the burr, give the side without the burr the occasional pass over the stones. keep gently doing this until you can neither see nor feel the burr.

5. This is the point usually where a knife is sharp, but a micro burr is still there and will cause the knife to dull more quickly than a quality steel deserves. So to the question, how do you remove this burr? Well what I do FIRST is make sure the edge is set up right and is a symetrical edge. How do I do this? Simple, I shave my arm hair up and then down the arm. If its set up right it will be equally as good going up as down the arm.

6. It wont be at this point, but this test tells you how well set up the angles and symetry are without a laser or microscope to check! So how does this test tell you which side of the knife to sharpen a little more? If you are holding the knife in you right hand and the knife is placed on the skin and you shave hair down your left arm and its not as good as turning it over and shaving UP the arm. This tells us that the micro burr or symetry is not as good on one side of the blade. So which side to sharpen to fix this? This is where most people go wrong as they sharpen the wrong side of the knife and make it more blunt.

(This is how to do this, if we remember it shaves down the arm the worst, then if you look at the blade, its the side next to your skin that needs steel removing to sharpen properly and set up the symetry of the edge properly. A couple of very gentle passes on this side will prolly sort the symetry out if both sides shave well. If one side shaves and the other does not or is very poor. Do five passes on the flat white stones and test by shaving arm hair up and down the arm on different sides of the knife. Using this method you will get a perfect symetrical edge and angle on the blade.)
7. This all sounds a bit of a hassle, but you only need to do this the first time you use this method of sharpening as repeat sharpenings will go a lot easier as you are "starting as you meant to go on" and doing it right NOW to make it easier in future! Trust me its worth it!

8. At this point, the wire is not noticable and the edge is hopefully symetrical. You really don't NEED to do more as the edge is already really good. However, do the next simple bit and the edge holding will be a lot better for slicing and dicing! Make sure the white flat stones are cleaned fully. Take the knife and increase the edge angle a little bit, say 10 degree's per side. How do you do this? Tip the knife inwards a little, away from the stones rather than straight up and down. Do a couple of passes at this new angle. Slowly and gently. This will burn the burr off. If you are not sure, do a couple more passes each side but NO MORE THAN THAT. Now return to sharpening up and down like you are supposed to and do one pass one one side of the edge, then one pass on the other side of the edge. Again I can't stress this enough, be very gentle, force is your enemy here. Do this 3-4 passes in total per side and then do the arm hair test again. One side will shave SLIGHTLY better than the other, normally. Use the symetrical method to determin which side needs the final single pass and the edge will now be razor sharp, with perfect symetry and no burr.

9. If your feeling a little smug and really want to show off. Get a rough backed leather belt, put some Flitz or similar on the back, rub it in and loop the belt round your foot. Pull tight and then strop the blade up and down the knife gently at a lightly higher angle than you used with the sharpmaker no more than 10 passes per side. Alternate up and down equally. At the end of each stroping pass, PICK UP THE KNIFE and turn it over. Dont try and show of and turn the knife on the strop. This will dull the edge badly.

Well I don't doubt you will all have several things you need me to explain, but that is the full version of what I do with the Sharpmaker to sharpen an edge. Ask away!


Not bad for a quick post...;)

[The General]

Fantastic, a four page thread entitled Coming Soon, Knife Sharpening and there's no knife sharpening in it, and it's even a sticky :lol: :lol: :ralmao: :ralmao: :happy51: :happy51:


:tongue19: :tongue19: :tongue19: :tongue19: :tongue19: :tongue19: :tongue19: :fishing :lol:

[The General]

Move along now, this thread doesn't exist.

;)

Danzo

:)

[Stuart Ackerman]

Damn fine splendid for a quick post...

[Andy]

When I'm taking off a fair bit of metal I tend to put a few lines of felt tip along the blade at 90degrees to teh cutting edge. Give it a few strokes on the sharpmaker. I then put some more lines next to the first ones. Then give the knife a few light passes on a sheet of wet&dry (dry). If you get the lines wearing away the same you can tell that your sharpening the knife at the same angle as the sharpmarker. If you need to remove a lot of metal it helps if you do so at less then or equal to the angle on the sharpmaker (providing of course that you have one). If you sharpen at 18 or 19 degrees but can't get a great edge you can just give a few light stokes on the white stones and you get a good edge.
I prefer to use wet&dry wet once I have got a feel for the height to hold the spine to get the right angle on a perticular knife, this makes using felt tip difficult though but the paper seems to last better. I try and use my thumb as a sort of guide by pressing it against the spine (or in some cases under it) in a way so that I can just feel the paper (or it's just in contact with the water on the paper) when the knife it at the right angle. You then feel if you making the angle more acute (your thumb hurts wet yosand it away) or it's in the air.

Some people (including myself) find it easier to strop knives with the strop on a flat surface such as a table. It's best to start with the spine fairly low and if it's not helping raise the spine a little, you wont damage the edge by stropping at an angle to acute to do anything much(it will polish the trasition bewteen the primary grind and the edge bevel which isn't bad). If however you strop at too great an angle you'll blunt the knife)

[MotorbikeMan]

:tongue19: :tongue19: :tongue19: :tongue19: :tongue19: :tongue19: :tongue19: :fishing :lol:
:D

Good quick post :biggthump

[Andy]

a while ago someone asked me to do a sharpening article for another forum. I didn't get it finished but I've just made it a bit more tidy and thought I'd post it here. It's a little long so I've put each section in hide tags

sharpening
Sharpening goes in hand with owning a quality knife, after all there’s no point in owning a really good knife if you can’t keep it sharp. It’s a much talked about topic and people have different opinions on how it is best done. I do not claim to be the best at this but my results are very good. I do not have a lot of money either so have limited knowledge on some sharpening systems.
Firstly when sharpening a knife you have to look at the knife and how you want to use it, the steel it’s made from and the material you are wanting to cut most will affect the angle of the edge and the finish you wish to achieve. By finish I mean the size of the micro serrations left by the abrasive (I will go into detail later). The grind on your knife may affect how it is best for you to maintain the edge. Though not impossible it’s difficult to sharpen a convex knife on a flat stone so I’m covering that in it’s own section.

benchstones
The most common form of sharpening system is a bench stone of some sort, these are either Japanese water stones, Oil stones, ceramic and diamond. I have not used Japanese water stones and they require more care and preparation then others. Please seek advice about how to prepare them and care for them. For the sharpening the technique is the same as the others. Some People use oil stones dry and report very good results, however if you use oil once you must carry on using oil or the stone will clog, since all the stones I have were my grandfathers they have all had oil used on them at some point so I can’t comment on the pros and cons of either practice. Bench stones are ideal for flat or hollow ground knives with a secondary bevel forming the edge and knives that use a single bevel per side to form the edge (often referred to as a Scandinavian style grind). Chisel ground knives are sharpened in the same way as the above but you only grind from the side with the bevel.
Press the knife onto the stone so that it forms the angle you want (this can be worked out using trigonometry if your changing bevels). When starting out it’s best to stick to the same angle as the knife already has. This is much easier with knives that only have one bevel per side as you just lay the whole of that bevel onto the stone. Press down with a small amount of force and push the knife along the stone. Many people suggest you imagine that you are taking a very thin slice of the top of the stone. I dislike using this analogy because when you slice something you increase the angle the edge forms with the material being cut which would result in a thicker more obtuse angle being formed. I find it best on concentrating on the distance between the spine of the blade and the stone. I often press a thumb against the spine of the blade and have the thumb just touching the stone as I push the knife forwards. This allows you to feel the angle changing with your thumb. It becomes much more difficult to keep the angle constant when doing the curve (or belly) which forms the tip of the knife as you have to raise the handle slightly. For very small stone (such as the Fallkniven DC03) you can use the same principle but use a circular motion decreasing pressure on the backwards movement. You may also wish to move the stone and hold the knife still. With softer stones it is often beneficial to wear the stone more evenly so when sharpening tips of knives where there is a high pressure on a small area of the stone you may find it best to use a figure of eight type motion. I just move the stone around to try and use all of it at some point. Sharpen one side of the knife until you have a burr along the whole edge and then sharpen the other side until the burr feels to have gone or in some cases moves from side to side with a single stroke on the stone. When you get to this stage I find it best to increase the angle slightly and use a couple of light strokes to make sure all the burr is removed.
If the edge needs major work then a range of grits will be needed. In this case start with a more course grit and form a burr on that side and then a few light strokes using the same grit on the other side. Then use the next grit to more the burr onto the other side until you have a even burr along the edge. This burr should be smaller then the one you had with the courser grit., again push the burr back into line using the finer grit. Depending on the state of the edge (or when your changing the edge angle) you may find that a wide range of grits will make life easier. I tend to use wet & dry abrasive paper for the more course grits as I seldom need them. When using abrasive paper to sharpen a flat bevel I like to use a sheet of glass (such as the flat side of a glass board).

Crock sticks (sharpmaker)
Crock sticks (where the abrasive stones are held in a base at a fixed angle) are good for sharpening knives where the edge is formed by a secondary bevel, however due to them been fixed at certain angles you are more limited then with a bench stone,. People find it easier to hold the knife vertical then at 20degrees to horizontal though so they have the benefit of ease of use. The best set around that I’ve come across is the spyderco sharp maker which has two angles, 20degrees per side (marked 40 as the sharp maker states total angle) and 15degerees per side (marked 30). It also has a slot in the end which is for scissors but I don’t think it’s any use for sharpening knives.
These are very simple to use as you just hold the knife vertical and pull the knife down the sticks as if you were slicing bread. It’s best to stand up with the base on a table so that you can see the angle the knife is making with the sticks. Don’t apply to much force but concentrate on keeping the angle constant. The advice given with the sharp maker is to do one stroke on one side of the knife and then one stroke on the other side repeating until the knife is sharp. The spyderco sharp maker has two angles and you can also use the corners of the stones. Using the corners increases the force on the edge so will remove more metal but behave like a slightly coarser stone. I find that this makes it more difficult to tell when you should change from the medium grit stones to the fine (or if you buy them the ultra fine) so use a slightly different method.
Assuming I’m bringing dull knife back to a really sharp edge I will use the corners of the medium stones to start with and sharpen one side until there is a burr along the whole length of the other side of the knife. I will then move the burr to the other side. Once that is done I use the flat side of the medium stone to move try and get the burr more even from both sides. This would if left leave you with a wire edge but it gets sorted out in the final step. If a polished edge is desired then I will repeat the process using the finer white stones but I will start from the other side from the use of the medium grit stones to try and keep the cutting edge as central as possible. Once the burr is not at any side you will likely be left with a edge that feels very sharp but wouldn’t last. To remove this a slight increase in angle and the flats of the fine stones will remove the weak metal leaving you with a strong edge. When doing this I alternate between each side of the knife. If the 30degree angle has been used then simply place the stones in the 40degree slots for these last few strokes. If the 40degree angle has been used then something can be placed under the base of the sharp maker to create a slightly less acute angle (a CD case for example).
When touching up the edge I just use the flats of the stones and do one stroke and alternate sides.
Some people find that sharpening the point of a knife on a sharp maker difficult so use it like a bench stone. (This means you can sharpen your other knives on it if this is your sole means of sharpening). If a really polished edge is wanted then it may be easiest to just use the ultra fine rods when your doing the final stage of sharpening at the slightly increased angle.

Convex sharpening
The convex edge has pros and cons which may or may not suit you. If you decide to use a convex edge you may need to relearn sharpening. It can be done on a normal bench stone by pulling the knife spine first along the stone and rocking it so that you remove steel from the whole of the convex edge. If you only remove steel from near the edge over time the edge will be thicker.
The preferred method of sharpening a convex edge is to use abrasive paper on top of something which will form around the convex edge. A mouse mat is ideal, depending on how curved the edge is will determine which side of the mouse mat is best to use. A Fallkniven F1 for example has quiet a steep curve so the softer backing side forms around it better then the hard side. For a Global kitchen knife the harder side is best.
Many people use what is known as a hoodoo hone (named after the internet alias of the inventor). This comprises on a block of wood with a deforming substance (I.e. mouse mat) glued to one side and a method of fixing various grades of wet&dry abrasive paper over the top. I use drawing pins stuck into the ends of the block of wood.
Use a stropping action to sharpen the knife (i.e. the edge is trailing rather then leading). Because the backing deforms under pressure the angle the blade it held at relative to the “stone” is less then with other methods. 13degrees seems to be a commonly given angle. The final cutting edge will be more then this and the difference between the two is affect by the density of the backing. This means the global knife using the hard side of the mouse matt will have a cutting edge closer to 13degrees per side then a Fallkniven F1 would have using the softer side.
This method doesn’t seem to form burrs in quite the same way as other methods, I think this is why some people say it’s more difficult to master. I tend to find it harder to know when to change to finer grits so with this more then other grinds I find it essential that you don’t let it get too dull before you sharpen it. Since stropping a knife convexes the edge slightly you can maintain this grind fairly well just with that. I’ve also taken to just touching up the edge using a sharp maker (flat sides of the white rods) or freehand sharpen using hard backed wet & dry paper. I only do this a couple of times before getting out the mouse matt though.
This grind to me seems the ideal one for a kitchen knife as it excels in slicing. With a kitchen knife the edge tends to be thin enough that you can just sharpen it like it already is convex and soon enough it will become convex. If you want it convex straight away then 320 or even 240 wet & dry will sort this very quickly.
One problem with this grind (for me anyway) it that it seems to be very difficult to change the original grind angles unless you have a belt sander. One method I have tried with fair results was to use a bench stone and grind metal away from behind the edge at a few different angles and then blend them together using course wet &dry. It’s a lot of work though and I’d rather just find a maker who could do it for a small payment and a lot less effort (on my part).


Sharpening recurves
There are a few knives about with recurve blades and most people seem to get a bit concerned about sharpening them. These methods will also work for spoon knives which would work best with a highly polished edge
To sharpen them you can get away with using the corner of a bench stone but I don’t like doing this. Once again the sharp maker can be handy but for a kukri it’s rather difficult to use the base (it’s fine for little Kershaw knives though). A ceramic or diamond steel will be much better to hold but it’s something extra to by if you don’t already have one
I use either the sharp maker rods or some wet & dry paper wrapped around something round. The sharp maker rods are fine but aren’t very good for holding if your doing any more then touching up the edge. Also since you can only use the corners there is a tendency to put more force on the edge then there it with the wet & dry.The radius of the curve your sharpening will to an extent determine what the best thing is to wrap the abrasive paper round. For a tight curve a piece of 20mm dowel can be used. In this case it’s best to have enough dowel for you to have a handle on the end of the abrasive section. I don’t use this all that often as I’ve found that I need to glue the paper to the dowel and normally I can get away with a bigger diameter cylinder. If I can’t I’ll just use a ceramic rod.
At home you can use a glass jar with a smooth side. This gives a very good hard backing for the paper if your wanting to keep a flat secondary bevel and will also give you enough to hold onto and you can normally hold the paper against the jar without having to glue it. If you want a small bit of tape should hold it in place and can be easily removed once your done. Normally I use a plastic spice pot. This will give a little so will result in a slight convex edge. This is ideal for the kukri that I sharpen with this method but if your careful you can just use the part closest to the ends where the pot wont deform so much. What I like about the spice pot is that it gives you a water tight place to keep a range of wet & dry paper in as well as other bits and pieces for knife (and sheath) care.
With any of these devices I find that it’s best to keep the knife still and move the sharpening device (of course if it’s a small blade then use the sharp maker as normal). I tend to use a circular motion but apply force on the backwards stroke with the glass pot or ceramic rod while I use more force on the forwards stroke with the plastic pot. This gives the same effect as edge leading on a bench stone and edge trailing when using a mouse pad to sharpen a convex edge.
You can if you want wrap a piece of leather round a pot and use as a strop but I normally find the ultra fine abrasive paper enough.



StroppingThis is the final part of sharpening which is sometimes left out if you want a more toothy edge (larger micro serrations). Some people feel that that to ensure you have the best edge possible you should take all edges to the highly polished stropped finish and then go back to a stone for a few strokes if your doing something like cutting rope. I don’t bother but if people have trouble completely getting rid of the burr then it may come in handy. Stopping is normally done using a piece of leather (such as a belt) with some mild abrasive rubbed into it but is sometimes do with paper or cardboard.
There are two basic methods of stropping. One is to secure the strop at one end and hold the other tight (such as holding one end of the strop on the floor with your foot and the other end in you hand), the other is to lay the strop on a hard surface. I prefer the second method as I find that people often end up rounding the edge too much if using the first method and then you have to start sharpening again.
With either method you pull the knife along the leather with the edge trailing. I do a few strokes per side and then swap, at the end I’ll only do one stroke per side before swapping over. Be careful not to raise the spine too much, I like to start off with the knife at the same angle as it was when sharpening but may raise it slightly depending on how much the strop deforms. A common mistake made when stropping is to raise the spine at the end of a stroke, it’s really important that you don’t do this as it will dull the edge rather then make it sharper.

Steeling

Normally only used on kitchen knife blade but is suited to all knives depending on what you want them to do. Steeling a knife is in a way the alternative to stropping a knife in that it is the final stage of sharpening and something which should be done between proper sharpening. The effect of steeling is that it relines the edge like stropping but while stropping will also polish the edge and slightly convex it steeling wont. This makes it the finish of choice for knives where micro serrations are wanted (cutting meat for example).
There are two main groups of steels, finishing steels which are smooth and sharpening steels which remove a small amount of metal. The popular steels seem to be diamond or ceramic. Of the two I prefer the ceramic steels but I find most people can do a better job with crock sticks. If you only have a steel then you may find it easier to hold the steel at an angle and keep the knife straight up or down (or depending on what you rest the tip of the steel on you could hold the knife horizontal). For example a right handed person would hold the steel in their left hand. If you hold the steel with the tip pointing down on a chopping board at 20degrees from vertical you can sharpen the left side of the knife. If your sitting down you can then support the steel against a table and sharpen the other side, If your standing up you can hold the tip against a wall. When doing this it’s best to have a steel with a guard.
A smooth steel is just that. I tend to just use a glass rod (though it’s more difficult to hold and has no guard so isn’t the best thing for beginner). I’ll use this in the same way as described for the sharpening steel but may hold it at a slightly greater angle then the edge bevel is at (only a couple of degrees though).
Some people feel that when steeling (or at least when using the smooth finishing steels) it best to have the edge trailing. This is meant to reduce the risk of dulling the edge against the steel by trying to make it bite into the “steel”. I haven’t found it to be any trouble but if you want to steel your knife with the edge trailing then I find it’s best to learn by sitting at a table and holding the steel with the tip slightly up when working on the left side of the knife and the handle slightly up when working the right (if your left handed reverse).


Tips
Checking angles
To make sure that your getting the right angle you can put some lines of felt tip perpendicular to the edge. If the felt tip is not removed evenly along the length of the blade then your not keeping a constant angle. This can be difficult when using a wet stone so when first sharpening a knife I like to use some fine (1500grit) wet & dry paper on a hard surface and then once I know that I’m removing the felt pen in the right places I’ll use the courser oil stone. If you have ceramic bench stones or a sharp maker then you can just use the white stones. Some people like to put felt pen along the whole edge but I prefer to just do a few lines as it means my sharp maker doesn’t need cleaning so often.
If your wanting to make sure the angle your sharpening at on a bench stone is the same as your sharp maker (handy when removing a lot of metal without the diamond rods) then you can put a line of felt tip every inch or so (I put a line every inch and a half along the straight edge and closer along the belly of the knife). Remove a little bit of this lines using the sharp maker and then put a new line next to each one. If the new lines get removed in the same places then the angles are the same.

Edge inspection
A small magnifying glass can be useful for inspecting the edge of a knife. If the edge feels sharp but behaves differently in one place then you may have micro chipping in the edge. It’s easy to seem if you have a ten times magnification. The best thing I have found for this is a special one designed for people with poor sight which has a light built into it.
You can check for dull spots in a knife edge by holing it in the light. If there is a point on the edge where light gets reflected then in that place you either have a fault in the edge.
If the final sharpening edge is at a constant angle then it’s possible to get a small amount of light reflecting from the edge bevel and as you move the knife this light will appear to move along the knife. If there is a gap where it doesn’t then inspect it with the magnifying glass. On occasions there appears to be a tiny chip out of the blade but one which doesn’t go through the whole cutting edge. This will leave the edge weaker and prone to chipping so it’s worth keeping an eye on. I don’t normally bother sharpening them out unless it does chip though.

Checking for burrs
The normal way it to lightly brush your thumb against the knife perpendicular to the edge. When you get to the edge there will a change and you’ll feel the bent over metal catching slightly. Some find it easier to use the pad of the thumb as the skin is less hard.
I I sometime use a stropping type action against the outside of the palm (below the little finger). It just seems a bit quicker and some people find it means they can check that the burr is more consistent with this method


I hope this helps someone

[dtalbot]

Good stuff here

[Danzo]

Good work mate!

:biggthump

Danzo

[Andy]

just added the sections on steeling and sharpening recurves

It's become a 5 and a half page word document now:O

[The General]

Sharpening recurves. Use the corners of the Spyderco Sharpmaker. Easy as that.:)

[Andy]

Sharpening recurves. Use the corners of the Spyderco Sharpmaker. Easy as that.:)
easier to sort out chips or sharpen a convex edge using my method though;)

[The General]

Don't worry Andy, I will get to convex sharpening.