Sharpening the blades

[clovishound]

For woodworking tools, I sometimes sharpen freehand, and sometimes use a jig. Knives, are always freehand. You won't get a flat bevel, but I don't see that as a problem with a knife.

[JEBar]

a sharpening tip from Buck Knives website :

"Al Buck (1910-1991) had a great tip using a felt pen for people struggling to master sharpening by hand. He would tell people there were only three things to remember when sharpening: Always cut into the stone, never drag your knife edge back over the stone and always maintain your angle.

To use Al's method, take a black felt pen and shade in the bevel of the knife. Then take two strokes on the stone and examine the edge. If you have maintained the proper angle then all the black will be gone. If you see black on the top of the edge it means you are holding the back of the knife too far from the stone. If there is black on the bottom of the edge but the top is clean then you are laying the knife too flat on the stone and you need to raise it a bit. Repaint the edge and try it again. Once you discover what the right angle looks like then just maintain that."


https://www.buckknives.com/about-knives ... harpening/

[PT7]

Thanks to you & Buck for the sharpening tip. Since I'm a newbie and have been learning (struggling?) to sharpen freehand, I've "ground out" a couple of older blades similar to Highway41's results: "...all I've ever been able to accomplish freehand is making butter knives." This tip is worth trying....appreciate it.

[daytime dave]

That was good information on the buck site. Thanks.

[DWD445]

I picked up a new sharpener on eBay the other day. A friend has one and really likes it. I think he has the Ken Orion edition which is twice the money, but has variable speed and infinite angle adjustment. I got mine today and must say WOW
this thing is amazing
I sharpened about 12 knives in about 30 minutes !! Just about like a factory edge and I haven't switched to the fine grit belt for honing yet Work Sharp WSKTS Highly recommended !!

[JEBar]

when we packed for out winter trip to Texas, I forgot to pack my knife sharpening gear .... needing to sharpen some of Maureen's kitchen knives but not wanting to spend much money on sharpeners, I checked Amazon .... while several different types caught my eye, I ended up ordering their SunrisePro Knife Sharpener ===> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 <=== my decision was guided in part by price $19.97 and that with Prime it qualified for free shipping .... the biggest factor was a 5 Star rating based on 3,633 customer reviews .... to me that was impressive .... it arrived today and I used it to sharpen the 3 knives .... I wouldn't use it to sharpen my good knives but for working blades it does OK .... it did put a solid working edge with minimal effort but I wasn't impressed with the way it looked .... for what I wanted it to do, it should be fine

update : while I still have and use the SunrisePro, I am more and more convinced that it works great for taking a dull work knife/kitchen knife and putting a working edge on it quickly .... I do not find it delivers a quality fillet/skinning type of edge that I'm happy with on a quality knife .... specifically, I will not use it on my Buck knives ..

I have always sharpened my own knives and the wife's kitchen knives. For years I have used the Lansky knife sharpening kit.

https://www.amazon.com/Lansky-LKUNV-Uni ... pening+set

the videos I've watched show this system being used on good knives ... comments from folks with experience with this Lansky system would be appreciated

[daytime dave]

I've had mixed results with the Lansky. It works well, but the worksharp is better and the Spyderco Sharpmaker is easier.

[RetiredSeabee]

I get good results with this Lansky set. The dark rods are a medium grit the white are fine. It has two angles 20 and 25 degrees.
It keeps a good sharp blade well honed just using the white sticks. I have revived some fairly dull blades with the dark set.

[JEBar]

after much thought and a good bit of research, I decided to take a good look at Smith's 8-Inch Diamond Tri-Hone Bench Stone .... a few years ago when one of our sons moved away from home, he took my Arkansas stones and other sharpening stones .... that was fine, over the years he'd gotten really good at using them .... with them being gone I had a good reason to look for replacements .... I quickly came to realize that there were a great deal of different systems on the market which resulted in more choices .... as time passed I tried first one system, then another .... they all would sharpen a blade but none did as good of a job as using a series of whet rocks .... consequently, I now plan to still use some other sharpening systems on some of our cheaper knives but I decided I want to go back to using stones to sharpen our good knives .... to find a good set of stones that I can pass on down the line should be simple, nothing seems to be simple anymore .... now days they have many different types of stones .... they come in many different sizes and shapes .... in the end, I decided to go a bit on the modern side of a classic set of hones .... Smith's 8-Inch Diamond Bench Stone seemed to fit the bill .... it is a tri-hone system with a coarse diamond(325 grit), fine diamond (750 grit), and Natural Arkansas stones (~1,000 to 1,200 grit) ===> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001I ... UTF8&psc=1 <=== its a bit more expensive than I like but then, now days, what isn't .... I thought it would be fitting for the first knife to be sharpened on it to be my Buck 110 Folding Hunter .... secondly, my smaller Buck pocket knife, and thirdly, the blade in my Leatherman .... they all three quickly went from being pretty dang sharp to shaving sharp .... the two bucks worked well but the handle of the Leatherman doesn't lend the blade to work well with the stones .... I hope to spend a good bit of time over the next few day regaining a sharpening grip on knives so as to maintain a proper angle ... I must admit that it is larger than I anticipated but I do think I'm going to like it

[JEBar]

in the last three days I've sharpened several knives on the above Bench Stone .... it is, without any doubt whatsoever, the finest set of whetrocks I have ever owned or used .... together the coarse and fine diamond stones can really move some metal .... the Arkansas stone can take the blade from there to a very sharp edge .... bring in a razor strap and shaving edges are a reality

[dave77]

I've always used stones and then a ceramic rod and then a diamond plate but I got a WorkSharp a couple of years ago and it's so quick and easy that I mostly use it now.

I do have a nice set of kitchen knifes and if I use the steel rod that came with them before they get dull they only need a few strokes to maintain a good sharp edge.

I talked to a CS rep at Benchmade and she told me there is no limit or charge to send your Benchmade knife to them to put a factory edge back on it, you pay shipping to them, they will pay the shipping back to you. If you ever need a blade replaced it's a flat $30.

[JEBar]

I've now sharpened a bunch of knives of every size short of a large Bowie Knife that have been made of several different types of steel .... bottom line, the Smith's 8-Inch Diamond Bench Stone (link above) is without any doubt the best set of sharpening stones that I've ever used .... I think I may have found what I'll put under the tree at Christmas for our boys ..

[daytime dave]

It sounds like you have a winner. I'm glad it works well for you.

[JEBar]

I've now sharpened a bunch of knives of every size short of a large Bowie Knife that have been made of several different types of steel .... bottom line, the Smith's 8-Inch Diamond Bench Stone (link above) is without any doubt the best set of sharpening stones that I've ever used .... I think I may have found what I'll put under the tree at Christmas for our boys ..

yep, after considerable use of the one mentioned above, I've decided to give a Smith's 50008 8-Inch Diamond Tri-Hone Bench Stone to each of our sons for Christmas .... knowing them, they will enjoy and appreciate them .... the only thing else that I know might be needed is a barger's leather strap to finish the blade

[bmur66]

I do my honing on a 4" wide Porter Cable belt sander with 120 grit 3M belts and then I buff the edge on a high speed 20" cotton buff with white buffing compound. I prefer a 40 degree cantle on flat ground sport knives.

[bmur66]

when we packed for out winter trip to Texas, I forgot to pack my knife sharpening gear .... needing to sharpen some of Maureen's kitchen knives but not wanting to spend much money on sharpeners, I checked Amazon .... while several different types caught my eye, I ended up ordering their SunrisePro Knife Sharpener ===> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 <=== my decision was guided in part by price $19.97 and that with Prime it qualified for free shipping .... the biggest factor was a 5 Star rating based on 3,633 customer reviews .... to me that was impressive .... it arrived today and I used it to sharpen the 3 knives .... I wouldn't use it to sharpen my good knives but for working blades it does OK .... it did put a solid working edge with minimal effort but I wasn't impressed with the way it looked .... for what I wanted it to do, it should be fine

Hi there. Do you realize that your wife's kitchen knives are Cutco and quaranteed for life? Send them to the factory and they will come back like new. Details on their website.

[JEBar]

Hi there. Do you realize that your wife's kitchen knives are Cutco and quaranteed for life? Send them to the factory and they will come back like new. Details on their website.

absolutely, we have two sets .... like our firearms, our knives aren't for show, they work for a living .... as well made as they are, over time they need to be sharpened .... when that happens we have a couple of choices .... as noted, all we have to do is pay to ship them back and they will most certainly sharpen them .... each of our sets came with a Cutco sharpener ====> https://www.cutco.com/products/product. ... =sharpener .... I've tried them and don't really like them .... I can put a very sharp edge on them so for me, it boils down to preferring to save money and time required to ship them back

[bmur66]

Yea those sharpeners aren't the best. The straight edge knives need more attention to keep them sharp. If you have any with the DD edge, only the factory can resharpen them properly. I work at Cutco and hear often how people hate giving up their knives for the short time it takes to service them.

[JEBar]

I work at Cutco and hear often how people hate giving up their knives for the short time it takes to service them.

other than salesmen, you are the first person who works for Cutco who I've been able to communicate with .... you guys make a very good product .... I'd love to add a couple of knives you offer to our sets and to replace one knife that disappeared .... unfortunately, so far, I've not been able to convince myself to write the check

[bmur66]

Thank you Sir. Been there almost 30 years. Truly an American company trying to do our best. That is some of what draws me to Henry rifles. I am more in the manufacturing side of things so if you have any questions let me know.