Knife Sharpening Assitance Please (which stones and what Grit?)

[dapesche]

I'd like to be able to sharpen my own knifes for hunting and for the house. Including hatchets and axes.
From youtube it looks like there are a lot of options and I am getting paralysis from analysis.

It seems like you could get away with a 1000 grit diamond (DMT) or ceramic stone, and then use a honing thing to clean it up?

It seems like a 8"x3" is more than enough size wise. Is there a minimum width/length that is recommended? I have a longer cutting knife for the kitchen that is around 8-9"s.

I think if I spent $100 - $150 I'd be ok with that but I'd want the tools/stones to last a LOOONG time for that price.

Cheers.

[Arctic Lake]

I was in the meat industry for many, many years slaughtering and deboning . If you need ,get reasonably priced commercial knives that butcher,meat cutters use day in day out .I will list the following ,Victorinox , Swibo, Henckels .Cabelas has the yellow handled Henckels that are good for the home do it yourselfer .A knife steel used for making knives that has a Rockwell Hardness of 56 to 60 is good . Not too soft to need to put on the stone all the time and not too hard that it takes forever to sharpen . Get a good butchers steel to straighten the knife edge while using your knife . When the steel won’t resurrect the the edge , time to hit the stone again ! Great sharpening steels are made by F.Dick of Germany or Henckels . Get a sharpening steel that is a harder steel than what your knives are made of !
Get yourself a good set of Water Stones you can order online from a butcher supply or restaurant commercial supplier or I will suggest Lee Valley Tools has a wide range of water stones in various grits more than enough selection !
If you use an electric powered machine WATCH OUT you don’t take the temper out of it by heating the steel too much !
Stone wise the rule of thumb is to match the stone length to the knife length 8x3 is fine or even a little less in width .
Do you have a Lee Valley catalog ?If not they are free, explains a lot about stone grits and what grit is best used for what VERY informative . Now here is the thing Do Not Go Down The Rabbit Hole on Sharpening you will go nuts ! It is like any subject out there it can get crazy ! A sharp knife is a sharp knife if it’s cutting well it’s cutting well ! 15 to 20 degrees is a good angle for what you will need to do . Check out the Blades Forum on the internet MORE than enough information on there . When I get a chance I can post a link to what I think is a good You Tube vid
Arctic Lake

[adriaticum]

Worksharp solved all my household knife sharpening needs.
Also diamond honing rod that I keep on the kitchen counter and re-hone kitchen knives once in a while.
For hunting, worksharp plus small diamod stone for honing in the field.
When I come back I use worksharp to run them through once.

I have abandoned the stones, too much work.
They don't do any better job than worksharp for 98 percent of the time.
For that 2 percent than you need shaving sharp, get a razor.

[r106]

I was skeptical of the worksharp but I have to admit it works very good. I have the ken onion edition and have sharpened every knife in the house to shaving sharp. Lol. I also have the Lansky system and it also works very good but takes way longer

[wildcatter]

I was in the meat industry for many, many years slaughtering and deboning . If you need ,get reasonably priced commercial knives that butcher,meat cutters use day in day out .I will list the following ,Victorinox , Swibo, Henckels .Cabelas has the yellow handled Henckels that are good for the home do it yourselfer .A knife steel used for making knives that has a Rockwell Hardness of 56 to 60 is good . Not too soft to need to put on the stone all the time and not too hard that it takes forever to sharpen . Get a good butchers steel to straighten the knife edge while using your knife . When the steel won’t resurrect the the edge , time to hit the stone again ! Great sharpening steels are made by F.Dick of Germany or Henckels . Get a sharpening steel that is a harder steel than what your knives are made of !
Get yourself a good set of Water Stones you can order online from a butcher supply or restaurant commercial supplier or I will suggest Lee Valley Tools has a wide range of water stones in various grits more than enough selection !
If you use an electric powered machine WATCH OUT you don’t take the temper out of it by heating the steel too much !
Stone wise the rule of thumb is to match the stone length to the knife length 8x3 is fine or even a little less in width .
Do you have a Lee Valley catalog ?If not they are free, explains a lot about stone grits and what grit is best used for what VERY informative . Now here is the thing Do Not Go Down The Rabbit Hole on Sharpening you will go nuts ! It is like any subject out there it can get crazy ! A sharp knife is a sharp knife if it’s cutting well it’s cutting well ! 15 to 20 degrees is a good angle for what you will need to do . Check out the Blades Forum on the internet MORE than enough information on there . When I get a chance I can post a link to what I think is a good You Tube vid
Arctic Lake

I have an old sharpening steel, no markings on it, stag handle and it works like a charm.
Also have stones down to 6000 grit, a few strokes and a leather strop after and it's sharp a as razor.

[srupp]

Hmmm have used the Lans key sharpening system for over 20 years...
I also have a powered sharpening system for kitchen knives...faster and pretty good results.
Cheers
Srupp

[Downwindtracker2]

What Artic Lake said. Sharpening is merely abrading steel.

[dapesche]

I was in the meat industry for many, many years slaughtering and deboning . If you need ,get reasonably priced commercial knives that butcher,meat cutters use day in day out .I will list the following ,Victorinox , Swibo, Henckels .Cabelas has the yellow handled Henckels that are good for the home do it yourselfer .A knife steel used for making knives that has a Rockwell Hardness of 56 to 60 is good . Not too soft to need to put on the stone all the time and not too hard that it takes forever to sharpen . Get a good butchers steel to straighten the knife edge while using your knife . When the steel won’t resurrect the the edge , time to hit the stone again ! Great sharpening steels are made by F.Dick of Germany or Henckels . Get a sharpening steel that is a harder steel than what your knives are made of !
Get yourself a good set of Water Stones you can order online from a butcher supply or restaurant commercial supplier or I will suggest Lee Valley Tools has a wide range of water stones in various grits more than enough selection !
If you use an electric powered machine WATCH OUT you don’t take the temper out of it by heating the steel too much !
Stone wise the rule of thumb is to match the stone length to the knife length 8x3 is fine or even a little less in width .
Do you have a Lee Valley catalog ?If not they are free, explains a lot about stone grits and what grit is best used for what VERY informative . Now here is the thing Do Not Go Down The Rabbit Hole on Sharpening you will go nuts ! It is like any subject out there it can get crazy ! A sharp knife is a sharp knife if it’s cutting well it’s cutting well ! 15 to 20 degrees is a good angle for what you will need to do . Check out the Blades Forum on the internet MORE than enough information on there . When I get a chance I can post a link to what I think is a good You Tube vid
Arctic Lake

Thank you for the great info.
I'm still confused about grit required

Have any opinions on the various grits and what you'd recommend for sharpening?

Seems like having one stone to really set the angle and get it sharp and then another stone to get it buffed up and as sharp as possible.

[Downwindtracker2]

Lenard Lee suggested 1000, since you are cutting flesh, not wood, a fine saw action works great. I have been using a 1000 grit water stone in the kitchen for years.

[grantk]

I have the Worksharp guided sharpening system and love it. Haven't heard a bad thing about the Ken Onion sharpener if you want to spend more.

[BowsUp]

Chef's Choice for everything. Ancient two sided stone for the field. Only exception is our Japanese fish knife that is one sided. SIL, the chef does that one on his stones.

Never was willing to put in the time to learn to build a good edge. It is a skill, for sure.

[Arctic Lake]

Different options have been posted above . Grits in stone . Think of sandpaper , coarser the grit faster the removal of wood and the rougher the finish . Take that same principle to stone grits an how it would work on knife steel .The lower the number in a stones grit the coarser the stone which equates to faster metal removal . Higher the number in a stones grit the finer the stones grit and will thus remove less material . I believe Lee has a book on knife sharpening as does Steve Bottorff Sharpening made Easy . I think he has a website as well.
As mentioned earlier check out the Blades Forum on the web !
Arctic Lake

[srupp]

I have a hard covered book on sharpening tools by LEE....the guy from Lee valley tools..
with Lans key system you start on courses stone..work until it develops a wire edge along entire blade length.
change to finer stones. Repeat..
When finished I then strop the blade edge on a leather belt glued to a 24 and use green stopping compound
Knife sharpening is like fly tying or woodwork..you do it when your mind will allow you to do it well.
Srupp

[GOLDEN TOP SNIPER]

i have the lanskey system and there is some great utube videos on it .. found some great techniques on the use and sharpening and some things i didnt know . then i run the blade across a pop bottle top . just a few times. that works good .

[TARCHER]

I was skeptical of the worksharp but I have to admit it works very good. I have the ken onion edition and have sharpened every knife in the house to shaving sharp. Lol. I also have the Lansky system and it also works very good but takes way longer

I bought the same ken onion one thru amazon and I like it

[dapesche]

all good options. Thanks for sharing the experiences.

That worksharp seems pretty slick. Essentially the cost of a couple high quality stones.
My guess is the stones will last longer vs the electric motors and relacing bands and other parts.

I do like the idea of art of sharpening and i feel like I am going to have time to figure it out due to this damn virus.

Seems like a 1000 grit stone is versatile. Then maybe a ceramic to really clean it up. I have a old leather belt so I like SRUPP's 2x4 idea.

[Hugh Mann]

Second any and all recommendations of a work sharp. I started with stones, and I will say I got better results with the stones after spending two hours on a single blade across 6 different stones. Meanwhile 1 minute on the work sharp gets me results that are plenty good enough for cutting up an animal.

[Chillybilly]

Another vote for WorkSharp. Had it for 5 years now. These work for all household needs. Wife complained everything was to sharp kept cutting herself till she got used to it. I’ve done everything from knives to shovels, machetes, scissors.

[alpinedust]

I have an old sharpening steel, no markings on it, stag handle and it works like a charm.
Also have stones down to 6000 grit, a few strokes and a leather strop after and it's sharp a as razor.

how do you maintain your angle through the whole sweep?

This video shows how quickly it's possible to sharpen a dull knife when you have good technique, my problem in the past was to get the technique right. Might need to get some Whetstones again and give it another try.

https://youtu.be/kFhMGJYhYpU

[Arctic Lake]

With practice you can maintained the desired angled edge on both sides of the blade . Lee Valley has a little black plastic gizmo that you clamp on your blade if you would l8keto go that route .
Arctic Lake

.
how do you maintain your angle through the whole sweep?

This video shows how quickly it's possible to sharpen a dull knife when you have good technique, my problem in the past was to get the technique right. Might need to get some Whetstones again and give it another try.

https://youtu.be/kFhMGJYhYpU

[alpinedust]

With practice you can maintained the desired angled edge on both sides of the blade . Lee Valley has a little black plastic gizmo that you clamp on your blade if you would l8keto go that route .
Arctic Lake
.

I guess I need to practice. I will use my old kitchen knife to practice once I get my hands on a stone. I would rather learn to free hand it than using a plastic guide

[dapesche]

I got my first stone. It is a course diamond stone.
It's really working well. Very sharp blades already.
I have a cheaper king two sided stone with finer grits.

I find that focusing hard on your angle by starting flush with the stone and then lifting to your angle. Then the motion requires you to really focus on your hold and arms.

I have a heavier blade knife and with no pressure on it it slides through a banana like a hot blade though butter.

I'm thinking it'll get extremely sharp with the finer stones.

So much good stuff to watch on YouTube. Pretty fun learning the process.

[dapesche]

I only watched a bit of this but it was excellent...
https://youtu.be/Yk3IcKUtp8U

[Arctic Lake]

Yes to your above two posts ! Like I mentioned before I think , try not to get to bogged down in it ! Sharp is Sharp ! You will master it and have an edge that will be good for cutting , veggies ,meat , field dressing, etc... It’s like a lot of things you can get lost down the rabbit hole , LOL . Again checkout Lee Valley for a wide selection of water stones , get a catalog real good information on the stones they offer and a great Canadian company !
Arctic Lake

[dapesche]

I ended up buying from Paul's finest. Cdn Company back east. I tried Lee valley but a lot of their stones were sold out... Guess other people are getting into sharpening during this covid lockdown.

Appreciate all your advice.

[Arctic Lake]

Anytime !
Arctic Lake

I ended up buying from Paul's finest. Cdn Company back east. I tried Lee valley but a lot of their stones were sold out... Guess other people are getting into sharpening during this covid lockdown.

Appreciate all your advice.

[MRP]

Spit and a stone for 50 years. In the field touch ups with diamond steel or point ignition file.

[twoSevenO]

Spit and a stone for 50 years. In the field touch ups with diamond steel or point ignition file.

great covid19 sharpening tip right here.

[adriaticum]

Don't forget to let us know when you get tired of stones and buy something more practical.

[twoSevenO]

Don't forget to let us know when you get tired of stones and buy something more practical.

lol. I admit, i did the same.
I tried a stone and in todays day and age it was a dumb method. It's too slow and even the slightest mistake leaves scratches on your blade. it just takes too much practice to get good at.

I bought an electric pull-through sharpener and all my knives are great after like 20 seconds. They are all high quality steel so i really have no need to be doing it in camp or in the field once they are sharpened well at home.

[adriaticum]

lol. I admit, i did the same.
I tried a stone and in todays day and age it was a dumb method. It's too slow and even the slightest mistake leaves scratches on your blade. it just takes too much practice to get good at.

I bought an electric pull-through sharpener and all my knives are great after like 20 seconds. They are all high quality steel so i really have no need to be doing it in camp or in the field once they are sharpened well at home.


Hashtag #metoo :mrgreen:

[albravo2]

Sharpening is really difficult. I don't usually believe people when they say they use some simple trick to get their knives razor sharp. Razor sharp is really sharp. I'm happy when I can get my knives to pop hairs off my arm.

I have a Lansky system, a Ken Onion and a few others. I've found the Lansky works best for blades that have a V cutting edge and the Ken Onion works best for knives that have more of a U shaped cutting edge.

Sharpening is about abrading steel but if you aren't at precisely the right angle you are making it more dull, not more sharp.

[MRP]

Don't forget to let us know when you get tired of stones and buy something more practical.

I've tried them all ceramic sticks, carbide draw, lansky sharpener.... Always go back to the stones.






lol. I admit, i did the same.
I tried a stone and in todays day and age it was a dumb method. It's too slow and even the slightest mistake leaves scratches on your blade. it just takes too much practice to get good at.

I bought an electric pull-through sharpener and all my knives are great after like 20 seconds. They are all high quality steel so i really have no need to be doing it in camp or in the field once they are sharpened well at home.

The dumb method is a lost skill. Trying to explain the value of lost skills to the "# I won't it now mentality" is a lost cause. Wow a scratch on the blade, worse yet you might break a fingernail or cut yourself.

[Ron.C]

I use the Lansky for my traditional edged knives.

My hunting knife is a full tang fixed blade Falkniven F1. Has a convex edge. Takes some practice, but I use 1500 grit sandpaper on a computer mouse pad then a leather strop with a bit of compound to finish. Can easily do several deer, or an elk without even feeling the need to touch it up. Amazing blade.

[twoSevenO]

I use the Lansky for my traditional edged knives.

My hunting knife is a full tang fixed blade Falkniven F1. Has a convex edge. Takes some practice, but I use 1500 grit sandpaper on a computer mouse pad then a leather strop with a bit of compound to finish. Can easily do several deer, or an elk without even feeling the need to touch it up. Amazing blade.

been thinking of getting one of these for a while. They look like fantastic knives! Very good reviews on youtube and all around.

[twoSevenO]

I've tried them all ceramic sticks, carbide draw, lansky sharpener.... Always go back to the stones.







The dumb method is a lost skill. Trying to explain the value of lost skills to the "# I won't it now mentality" is a lost cause. Wow a scratch on the blade, worse yet you might break a fingernail or cut yourself.

Why bother saving some lost skills when the times have changed. Who needs a master wagon-wheel builder anymore? I'm sure it was a great craft to be skilled in 200 years ago. Nowdays no-one needs it.

And if you have a nice knife of course i'd rather go with a method that doesn't scratch it if its available to me ..... not to mention the time savings.

If you want to sharpen with stones, for nostalgic purposes, that's fine. But there is no evidence that your hand method with stones can produce a better edge than some of the modern methods out there.
Again, if you're good at it .... it's great. Some of us just don't have the time to invest to become good with stones, so we take the easy/fast way out :)