Keeping them sharp

[ronnie]

Lets share ideas on sharpening.Lets here how you do it.

R

[Sir Henry]

I take mine to a professional.

[RanchRoper]

Me too. I can't seem to get it right.

[ronnie]

Using a flat diamond hone from easy lap will help you out and also some basics in sharpening.Google belt grinder knife sharpening.Lots of good stuff there.
I have been sharpening as a side line for years.Is really easy once you understand the tricks of the trade.Sending them out is also quite acceptable.

R

[ronnie]

Here is an example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptspof6CXOg

R

[Sir Henry]

I've used a stone on pocket knives but take my fixed blades in. But in reality I don't sharpen them very often. I've seen 40 year old knives that have been worn down from over sharpening them.

[ronnie]

Yup sharpening is like cleaning a gun more damage has been done by cleaning than by shooting especially if you are ill informed.

R

[JEBar]

if a knife will not shave me, I won't carry it and will only use it if there is no other option .... in the 1960's through the 2010's I accumulated a set of sharpening stones and spent a great deal of time hand honing/maintaining my knives .... as time went on I tried several other sharpening methods but always ended up to going back to the stones .... that changed in 2014 when I ordered a Wrenwane® Kitchen Knife Sharpener http://www.amazon.com/Wrenwane%C2%AE-Ki ... ge_o07_s00 from Amazon .... I haven't picked up the sharpening stones since .... I do still use a razor strap to finish the edges .... my knives stay shaving sharp and not as much metal is removed during the honing process

[Sir Henry]

I think there is a big difference between a daily carry knife and one for collecting. I'll stone my pocket knife but will leave the Garcia, Old Timer, and Ka-bars alone.

[JEBar]

I think there is a big difference between a daily carry knife and one for collecting. I'll stone my pocket knife but will leave the Garcia, Old Timer, and Ka-bars alone.

absolutely .... the only collector knives I have are ones received as gifts (some are pretty but the metal is worthless for use as a working knife) and/or ones passed down in the family .... those are kept in a box .... all my other knives are working knives .... most were bought for a specific purpose like hunting, fishing, working, and even whittling .... I'm on my 3rd Buck 110 folding hunter .... the first two were used and resharpened to the point I had to send them back to Buck to have the blade replaced .... when they were returned they were given to our sons with my wish that when their kids get old enough, to pass them on .... we now have 3 grandchildren, don't know that I'll be around long enough to have to have the blade replaced on the one I carry now so it may have to be passed on as-is ..

[Sir Henry]

I have a Craftsman pocket knife that I bought in 1970 and have only sharpened it a dozen times to it still have a full blade. But I have about a dozen pocket knives that I switch off on so one knife doesn't get used to the extreme. I have a lot of lower case Ka-Bars. Some are from the forties and fifties well before they started making them from stainless steel.

[GeoBoy]

I use a Tormek T7 water cooled sharpener. When I retired my wife thought I should buy myself a retirement gift, so I thought about it and I have always carried a knife since I was 8 years old and never had an accurate way to sharpen, hence the Tormek. Now I sharpen everything that requires an accurate edge.

[JEBar]

I use a Tormek T7 water cooled sharpener. When I retired my wife thought I should buy myself a retirement gift, so I thought about it and I have always carried a knife since I was 8 years old and never had an accurate way to sharpen, hence the Tormek. Now I sharpen everything that requires an accurate edge.

now that is one heck of a sharpener ..

[ronnie]

Tormek does a good job a real hd unit.

R

[Sir Henry]

I had to look it up. Seems a little too much to sharpen my occasional knife. But I bet in the hands of a pro you could do a lot of knives in a very short amount of time.

[daytime dave]

I use a work sharp and a ceramic rod. The bottom of a coffee cup on occasion.

Here is a link

http://www.worksharptools.com/sharpener ... pener.html

I use that work sharp for everything except my straight razor. I sharpen hoes, lawn mower blades, sheath knives, pocket knives and kitchen knives. I use a ceramic rod to touch them up just right.

The only other sharpener that sees the light of day is my Spyderco sharpmaker. It does a better job on some knives for some reason.

I have used the Lansky system, but it just sits now. I have a strop that I am seasoning and will put into service soon. (By seasoning, I rubbed in the yellow lube for it. I'm waiting a few weeks to let it soak in properly before using the strop.)

[eldermike]

I have working knives and collecting knives. I don't worry myself over either of these labels. If it's a collector it will never cut anything and if it's a working knife it will cut anything I need to cut. For the working knives I use a diamond stone and hand lap the edge. The edge I use most is on my Leatherman Wave. Mine is old and I have lapped most of the main blades thin section away. When I was at the Leatherman store while on a business trip I was told to send it back and I would get a new one. But mine has history so as long as it keeps cutting I will keep it.

[ronnie]

A flat diamond lap is a gem to work with and keep it lubed with some dish soap and water a couple of drops in a spray container with water while using it and the results will be great.The water solution helps a bunch to keep the lap from getting full of material.
I have quite a few from easy lap that are winners. http://eze-lap.com/

R