Knife Sharpening

[Iraq Ninja]

At the SHOT Show, I visited the Wicked Edge booth. The designer is a hunter who was not happy with the sharpeners on the market. I was very impressed by the wickededgeusa.com system. Easy to use and puts an excellent edge on a blade.

It is pricey, but probably the best on the market right now.

[TriviaMonster]

I use paper wheels to sharpen. I only use RazorSharp brand wheels. You need a 6" bench grinder with the grinding wheels and guards removed. It comes with a grit wheel and a spotted cardboard wheel. Well both wheels are cardboard. You use wax on the grit wheel which keeps it cool, and jewelers rouge on the slotted unfinished wheel. The full kit comes with the two wheels, the wax, the jewelers rouge, and some grit to deviation the grit wheel when necessary.

This system is amazing. It's like freehand sharpening but on steroids. In less than a minute I can go from extremely dull to a mirror finished edge. The rouge is what finishes the edge and shines it up. I believe the rouge is about 2 Micron if that helps anyone.

I would also recommend the sharpmaker. It's a simple system that gets fantastic results. The biggest downside though is how long is takes to rebevel the edge on a knife the first time you sharpen it, but its superb for touchups.

On another note, it is very important to keep the edge from getting hot, which can and will destroy the heat treat if it gets hot enough. This is why I prefer paper wheels over grinders. I have less than $100 in my grinder, stand, and wheels. Awesome results. Plus, who doesn't like power tools?

Also, the wicked edge and edge pro apex are amazing sharpeners, albeit expensive but with results that are almost impossible to beat. Make sure to get some quality stones like Chosera brand for the best results.

-Chris-

[mercop]

Most of the time it is this, sometimes at home it is a Sharpmaker.- George

[aflin]

A buddy of mine who is a custom knife maker suggested what Iraggunz said. Take a leather strop or belt, put automotive sand paper on the belt and sharpen. The leather conforms to blade and makes a wicked edge.

As well, a MOUSE PAD work great. Yes...a mouse pad, I didn't believe it until I tried it.

[Hot Sauce]

A buddy of mine who is a custom knife maker suggested what Iraggunz said. Take a leather strop or belt, put automotive sand paper on the belt and sharpen. The leather conforms to blade and makes a wicked edge.

As well, a MOUSE PAD work great. Yes...a mouse pad, I didn't believe it until I tried it.

What grit sand paper do you use? I've never tried this before but I'm intrigued.

[aflin]

Start with course AUTOMOTIVE sandpaper then proceed to fine.

Buddy emphasized using automotive sandpaper. I'm not sure why as opposed to normal sandpaper.

[NC_DAVE]

[QUOTE=Failure2Stop;1077490]Personally, I only buy blades that can be sharpened with a flat stone.
I prefer diamond hones since they cut quickly and consistently.
QUOTE]

I am just getting into knifes, how can you tell which knifes can be sharpened with flat stones?
I want to buy a good fixed blade knife, I also would like to know how to sharpen same?

[maximus83]

Have used the Spydie Sharpmaker for many years now. I understand the ONE main criticism of the Sharpmaker that I've heard: it's fine for touching up, but when you need to do serious profiling work, it takes too long.

The best way to mitigate that one weakness is buy the add-on diamond rods for the Sharpmaker. Yes they are spendy: the pair of stones will cost $40, which is over half the cost of the Sharpmaker. But this enables you to profile edges and quickly sharpen really dull or chipped knives without requiring hours of work to get it done.

After you get started with a basic sharpener that's easy to use like the Sharpmaker, you can step up to one of those expensive proprietary systems like EdgePro or Wicked Sharp. Or (better, IMHO), learn to freehand sharpen using flat diamond bench stones. One of the best names in diamond sharpening stones is DMT: they make bench stones of various sizes. Go to companies online like KnifeCenter or KnifeWorks to see the variety of sharpening stones and options, and go to forums like BladeForums.com, in the sharpening section, to get tips on how to get started. Freehand sharpening on quality stones is a learned skill, but is worth it.

One last thing, this is REALLY critical IMO: don't forget about a field sharpening solution. Whatever you set up above, is about home use. But you've got to have a small sharpener at least in your go-bag, definitely when camping/hunting, and really it's a good idea to even EDC a small sharpener. Just as we tend to recommend about weapons--that users need to train with them under real-world conditions, low-light, etc.--similar advice applies to sharpening. Given that knives can be such an important, life-saving tool, you need to be able to sharpen your knives effectively with your chosen field-sharpening solution. That will take PRACTICE. You should practice with your field sharpener at home and get good at it, so that you're not dependent on just always using your full-size sharpening kit. Also, it's good to choose your field sharpener carefully based on your skill, and what kind of blades you have. If you have mostly convex blades, you'll need a different kind of field sharpening setup than if you have flat-ground blades. If you have a lot of serrations, you'll need a specialized sharpener for that. There are too many options for field sharpeners to list here, you'll need to figure out what kind of blades you have and go from there.

My preferred field sharpening setup is another DMT diamond product, the Diafold that has a 2-sided stone (coarse/fine) with foldable grips. It carries compactly (about 4" folded), but lets you get a good hold on it for field sharpening, and it does a GREAT job. I can use this to sharpen all the knives I carry backpacking, including that I can use it like a file to sharpen my machete.

[TriviaMonster]

One more thing I would like to add is that freehand is a must learn technique. Whether you use a small folding portable lansky diamond sharpener or a rock, one day you will need to sharpen in the field, and you may not have anything other than a rock.

Those little fixed angle ceramic sharpeners are fine, but for any serious work like chips in good steel, they are pretty limited in what they can accomplish.

Also, buying a knife that can be sharpened in a pinch is a good thing to consider. M390 may hold a good edge but is a pain to sharpen in the field.

-Chris-

[jhs1969]

After looking for the past few years and, finally, all the first hand reports to consider in this thread, I just bought a new sharpening system.....but first some of my earlier trials.

I have for the last several years used a Smith's system that is very similar to the Lansky systems that have been mentioned here. It would sharpen with OK results but I have a few knives that I never used because I knew I would not be able to re-sharpen them to their factory sharpness. Two of these knives were a RC4 and a Benchmade folder.

I then experimented with a few simple sharpeners with set carbide and ceramics that use a simple pull through motion. One of these was also a Smith unit. While being able to put a usable edge on a knife I was still disappointed.

I had looked at some of the high end, high priced systems such as the Wicked Edge system but just could not justify the costs.

After several recommendations in this thread and futher research I decided on Spyder Co's Sharpmaker. All I can say is WOW, I wish I had found this system years ago. I have now sharpened even my unused knives sharper than the factory edge. I ordered an extra set of Ultra Fine stones as well and next will order the diamond stones. Some of my knives with better steel are now so sharp they almost draw blood just by looking at them.

While it may not be the absolute best system available, I highly recommend the Sharpmaker. This is IMO.