Sharpening the blades

[JEBar]

most interesting setup .... I've seen pictures of such sharpening systems but never touched one ... at first glance it sure looks complicated

[Danwin22]

[attachment=0]DSC_1133.JPG[/attachment

]My Norway and Finland knives have a different cutting angle than American blades. Be careful using sharpening machines which may not match your edge angles.

[fergy]

I've just replaced my Lansky set that I have worn out the stones on. This type works best for me to keep the angle exact, especially if I am sharpening a knife the first time. Once I go through the complete set of stones the knife is dangerous sharp. Once there, I tend to just use a small set of ceramic sticks to clean up the edge back to razor sharp. I built a hunting knife from a blade blank back in 2002 that I've used for skinning and quartering in the field and it has been sharpened once on the Lansky stones, but touched up many times with the ceramic sticks. I am careful with it around the bones but it is always crazy sharp once I touch it up again.

[JEBar]

UPDATE =====

I'm still using the same set of Smith's Sharpening Stones discussed earlier in this thread .... in fact, as shown below, I used ours for a couple of hours or so this morning sharpening a variety of blades .... all of the blades are made out of really good steel .... 2 folding knives were made by Buck - 1 fillet knive by Schrade Walden - 1 utility knife by Leatherman - the rest were made by Imarku chef's knives .... I've never measured the sharpening angle of the edge I try to put on a blade .... since I sharpen by free hand I'd be surprised if any two come out the same .... the cleaver's angle is a bit higher than the rest and its the only one in the picture that will not give a smooth shave .... there is absolutely no telling how many hours of sharpening a fairly wide variety blades that this Smith's stones have taken care of .... unless something totally unexpected happens, it should last much longer than my lifetime

[Rifletom]

As for sharpening, I've been using a DMT diamond sharpener and just ordered a BeaverCraft honing strop. That will really put an edge on my knives.

[DsGrouse]

I have two wicked edge set ups; my original is their table top version. I use it primarily on knives that need a less than 13 degree sharpening angle. (i don't have many of those left)

The one I use most often is my pro model. It allows for quicker transitions and makes sharpening down to .01 microns quite rewarding and fun.

Here is the process i use when sharpening my pocket knives. This was taken about 2 years ago now.

The station,

Mounting the knife

Determining the angle using black sharpie, 1000grit stone and magnetic angle finder.

With sharpie on the blade edge


Micro scope taking photos of the edge.


Finished edge, you can see some scratch feathering near the Choil. That is mostly due to the angle difference in the blade there. I could spend hours bringing that angle to match the rest of the blade, but I'm not that picky



Now here is what the process looks like under micro scope.
Starting grind, 100 or 200 grit stones, its been so long i don't remember. THe key is to make the edge have uniform and even scratching.



Here is a bit later, you can see how the edge develops a saw tooth pattern as you work it with finer grit stones. Towards the left and right edges you can see a bit of a burr formed on the edge. (The dark area at the top of the edge) If you notice from the first photos i have a wine cork. I run that cork along the edges and it pulls those burrs free of the blade.



Finer grit stones working those deeper scratches out.



Here i am after going from 100 grit to 1000. I've now started on polishing papers, This is probably 30 to 10 micron papers. again at the top edge you can see a burr forming, (if you don't have a burr, you won't have a sharp knife.) The burr is that now bright line. It gets removed between each new grit of paper, or diamond paste on balsa/leather.



Final stages of the work, leather and balsa with diamond paste down to .01 microns.




The edge is that mirrored black line at the top of the blade. the little dots on the edge are from an alcohol wipe (to get the diamond paste off.)

[JEBar]

that looks like one heck of a rig

[RanchRoper]

Holy smokes, I sharpen mine on a little stone on my knee. That's quite the setup.