Sharpeners

Gliden07

Gliden07

Well-Known Member
What are you guys using to sharpen with?? I love my Lansky but it takes forever! recently I've been using a 400G belt on my 2X72 and then finishing on strop. Would like a system that was a little more accurate.
 
Send Vadim and email at Knife Grinders Australia. He is a world of knowledge. I had a Wicked Edge, fantastic bit of kit but then went to a Tormek with CBN wheels , water cooled and set up via an app to within .5 degree accuracy. Blades then finish on diamond coated slow running paper wheels . Everything slices a Rizla paper now and mirror edges .
 
I have a set of Japanese Water Stones for when I am not in a hurry. When I need to go faster I have a Work Sharp Guided Sharpening System. NOT THE TINY BELT GRINDER THINGY. It’s a manual type diamond stone system. Check it out. For $60 I do not think you will find a much better system.
 
Chris Railey said:
I have a set of Japanese Water Stones for when I am not in a hurry. When I need to go faster I have a Work Sharp Guided Sharpening System. NOT THE TINY BELT GRINDER THINGY. It’s a manual type diamond stone system. Check it out. For $60 I do not think you will find a much better system.
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Was looking at those stones the other day to recommend to customers as they look like they can replicate 17 and 20 degrees well.
 
Gliden07 said:
What are you guys using to sharpen with?? I love my Lansky but it takes forever! recently I've been using a 400G belt on my 2X72 and then finishing on strop. Would like a system that was a little more accurate.
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Try the diamond hones for the Lansky. Using the extra coarse diamond hone cut my time down considerably. Now I start on the belt and finish with the Lansky.

I may try that Work Sharp Guided system though. The Lansky works well for smaller blades, but struggles with larger ones. Can never have too many tools, right?
 
I put my initial edge on new knives with a 220 woven glass belt. I bought it by accident once upon a time. It's the "other" trizact belt. Turns out it makes a fantastic sharpening belt. I've been using the same one for about two years now. I use that until I get a full length burr, then I switch to a 600 grit j-flex that is probably just as old and worn out as the 220 belt. It only takes a couple of passes until the burr looks like a wisp of foil that falls off with each pass and makes a new one. Then I strop on a leather strop that is glued to a board, loaded with green chrome compound.

For regular sharpening, if the edge just needs a touchup I only use the old worn out 600 grit belt. If the edge has nicks or flat spots I cut a new edge on the 220 and then proceed as usual. I seriously doubt there is any grit left on the belt. At this point I'm pretty sure I'd get the same result flipping the belt over and using the backing material.

I used to absolutely love using waterstones. Nowadays I absolutely love sharpening a knife in two minutes and moving on.
 
“I used to absolutely love using waterstones. Nowadays I absolutely love sharpening a knife in two minutes and moving on.”

I still have my water stones but rarely use them. Like you I thought they were a pleasure to use but found the diamond stone more efficient when sharpening many knives.
 
I keep DMT diamond hones in the shop, but my favorite "by hand" method of sharpening is the Norton Fine India stone. Now that I've said that..... I honestly can't remember the last time I use a hone or stone to sharpen..... it's just so darn easy and simple to flip the grinder switch and done in 30 seconds. :) I'm a big advocate of convex edges, and spend a lot of time teaching clients how to sharpen convex edges with hones/stones. With a convex, it's freehand or nothing....the clamps, jigs, etc. simply can't help with convex edges.
 
EdCaffreyMS said:
I keep DMT diamond hones in the shop, but my favorite "by hand" method of sharpening is the Norton Fine India stone. Now that I've said that..... I honestly can't remember the last time I use a hone or stone to sharpen..... it's just so darn easy and simple to flip the grinder switch and done in 30 seconds. :) I'm a big advocate of convex edges, and spend a lot of time teaching clients how to sharpen convex edges with hones/stones. With a convex, it's freehand or nothing....the clamps, jigs, etc. simply can't help with convex edges.
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Ed, if I sharpen with a convex edge (I am guessing on a slack belt) can that edge be touched up in the field with a stone or something if I am cleaning multiple deer or something?
 
Every knife I make gets the 2x72 edge - first with a Silicon Carbide 220 grit- then to a 400 then a 600 smooth Trizact ( Like John mentioned)
Finish with stropping. If it is requested by whoever is getting the knife- I use my KME system and go through all of the stones (140-1500) then polish with a 2000 grit sapphire and 1 micron paste on a stop.
This gets things Jack the Ripper sharp.

This image is just with the 2x72 belts

IMG_20191120_085721__01.jpg
 
On a somewhat unrelated note I can get a pretty decent edge on my belt grinder when I decided to switch to stones I underestimated just how much of a hard time I would have getting used to them it’s really kicked my rear until recently have started to slowly get the hang of it
 
I guess I need to get more comfortable on the grinder for putting the final edge on my blades.
I spend anywhere from 30-45 minutes on hand sharpening. Of course that’s just me. I’m sure i’m not the most efficient sharpener ;)
 
Daniel Macina said:
On a somewhat unrelated note I can get a pretty decent edge on my belt grinder when I decided to switch to stones I underestimated just how much of a hard time I would have getting used to them it’s really kicked my rear until recently have started to slowly get the hang of it
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Daniel, it may help you to cut an angle guide and place it on your stone with a rubber band. Touch your knife to the guide each time to help keep a consistent angle which is paramount on a stone. All you need is an angle cut wood scrap. Once you develop muscle memory it gets easier. They sell them on amazon but its cheaper to make them.
 
Ed, if I sharpen with a convex edge (I am guessing on a slack belt) can that edge be touched up in the field with a stone or something if I am cleaning multiple deer or something?
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Yes you can. The key is understanding/learning how. Usually we are taught the sharpening motion is as if you are trying to take a very thin slice off the stone/hone. With a convex edge, you do just the opposite.....you "drag" the edge backwards, and with the way the body naturally moves and the arm rolls doing that motion.....you pretty much automatically create a convex edge.

What I've found over the years is different steel types require different methodologies on the belt..... for Carbon/alloy steels, it really simple..... a worn 400 grit belt........sharpen on a tight slack belt area of the belt, with just the weight of the knife, and the edge going into the rotation of the belt. To a "ragged" edge. On using type knives I leave that "ragged" edge, because it's actually more efficient on things such a game animals. If it's a colloector piece I run the edge, once each side, on a pink no-scratch buff and give it that "scary" sharp edge.....that way clients can impress their friends by shaving their arms. :)

With stainless the process is more in depth..... you're dealing with steels that have a "target" hardness for each variety, and if you're not pretty much dead on, sharpening is next to impossible. If your "target hardness" is correct, you often have to leave what I consider a large flat on the edge prior to sharpening..... if so, that means usually starting with 220, or possibly 180 grit, and then going through pretty much all the grits to your finishing (I finish at either 800 or 1200 on stainless, depending on the type (the more chromium, the finer I finish with due to brittleness compared to carbon/alloys steels).
 
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