Sharp Knives.....

[toddyboman]

How do you sharpen your knives????

Not to hijack Shaun's post but this sounded like a good post after reading TBOWS post.

So lets hear how you guys sharpen. What do you use? What tips and techniques can you share with others that work well for you?

I am not that good so I am looking forward to everyone's responses.

Thanks

[wtnhunt]

Depends Todd. I guess I am just so so at sharpening knives, I can get them pretty sharp though if I take my time.

Couple weeks ago I sharpened 3 or 4 knives with my chefs choice electric, got them all sharp enough to shave using just the medium stone and the stropping wheel, about 3 passes on each side on each. Got a bit frustrated when I was caping out my deer a couple weeks ago and did not have a sharp enough knife handy to do the job like I would have liked to so I got the sharpener out the next day. I kinda dulled the knife I used on my antelope after breaking my saw and did not sharpen any knives after gettng back like I should have. I lost my caping knife in Wyoming too, missed not having it when caping out this deer.

If I have time I will still use the lansky, and sharpen by hand, basically follow the simple instructions that came with the set, to be honest I would have to look at the directions to even remember which angle it is that I use for my knives. Hand sharpened they seem to hold an edge longer than they do with the electric. Usually start with the medium stone there and go on to the fine, rare I have to use the coarse stone.

[TBow]

Like most, I am still in the learning process of sharpening knives and cutting edges (as I have been for over 40 years).

There's a few things I have learned:

1. Try to take your knives / cutting utensils into the field in a sharpened state. Don't wait until you get that big game animal down in the woods before you decide to try and put an edge on it/them.

2. Before you put any sharpening device to your knife, try and determine the status of the blade in order to understand why it's dull and what exactly will it take to return it to a finely honed edge. It may just be that the edge has curled requiring a few light swipes with a minor sharpener to put the edge back on center. Or if the blade appears to have been drawn across a hardened device such as a stone at a right angle or if there are nicks in the blade and the edge is truly dulled or damaged, then a more intense process may be required such as with an electrical grinding device or the like back at home or in a shop.

3. When you're in the field and processing your game, don't wait for the knife to get dull. Keep it sharp by periodic swipes on a hand held sharpening device such as with a diamond stick. If you wait for the knife to get dull before trying to correct the blade's sharpness, it will take a much longer process to correct it, or may require a more substantial process as you may only be able to practically achieve at home in the shop. Another suggestion is to carry two knives and keep alternating them while handing the dull knife to your onlooking buddy who didn't want to get his/her hands all bloody by field dressing. They can do the sharpening thing while you whittle away with a fresh blade on the downed game.

I used to use those "draw-type" sharpeners which catch the blade's edge in a 'V'd device which actually strip pieces of metal from the blade. I no longer use them as it is my opinion that they will eventually damage the blade from it's original state.

I will admit that I used to own a wet stone and tried tirelessly to get an edge, but I wasn't very good at it and soon gave it up. I should actually try and find that stone to try and resurrect my attempts at it again.

I've been using a butcher's steel to touch up and maintain most of my knives, but it's pretty much accepted that a butcher's steel type device won't sharpen a dull knife, it will only maintain the true edge of an off-center blade. Again, fairly well accepted is the angle of the knife to the steel's centerline, at 22-1/2 degrees. If you watch the countless video's on the internet about using a butcher's steel, you soon realize that not everyone uses it the same. Some draw the blade towards them, some push it away from them while others pull the blade away from them. It's up to you to see which method works best, but keep in mind that the drawing of the blade towards you has it's perils as any slip and you could be whittling your fingers or thumb up on the hand that's holding the handle of the steel. A true butcher's steel is impractical to take into the field as it's rather long. There are a number of butcher steel-type devices that use various materials such as diamond grit or ceramics that are far more portable and many are collapsable or folding in order to fit in your pocket of field pack. They'll work fine for "touch-ups".

I like the theory of the Lansky-type sharpers as they use a jig to maintain the angle of the blade to the stone and take the human factor out of that aspect of it. I do not however own a Lansky device more because of procrastination than anything else. Patience I think and a smooth hand is the key to using them, but I'm not so sure as to how field functional that type of device is. I would assume that they are more for using back in camp or at home, but others may be able to speak to that from experience.

Knife blades are also configured in many shapes and come in a multitude of steel types and other materials which will affect their edge retension and the ease (or otherwise) of the ability to sharpen them. Some of the other members here, like "hammerforged" (Ross) can speak to a greater degree on those aspects of blade design and materials and the benefits and drawbacks of each far more than I.

TBow

[GWSmith]

Knife blades are also configured in many shapes and come in a multitude of steel types and other materials which will affect their edge retension and the ease (or otherwise) of the ability to sharpen them. Some of the other members here, like "hammerforged" (Ross) can speak to a greater degree on those aspects of blade design and materials and the benefits and drawbacks of each far more than I.

TBow

Some of Hammerforged's work...

Cant say I know exactly what the Blade is made from...But I Know....Ross makes a Wickedly Sharp Knife...

[hammerforged]

Tbow brings up quite a few points in determining how to and when to sharpen an edge. One of the critical points though is what type of work will the particular edge be used for? Butcher's steels are used to set up a wire edge on knives that will be used for cutting meat - thus the name "Butcher's Steel". A wire edge can be used for cutting vegetables and fruit but not very proficiently as the acid in the fruit and vegetables will remove the wire edge and leave you with a dull knife. for cutting fruits and vegetable I first set up a sire edge on a butcher's steel and then strop the edge on a leather strop to remove the wire edge but maintain a sharp edge for the task at hand. In the shop I have taken a page out of Bass Pro's book, anyone who has ever been in a Bass Pro and has had a knife sharpened by them will know what I am talking about. They use cardboard wheels set up on a bench grinder to sharpen knives in the store. Cardboard is very abrasive and disipates heat very well. I have 2 types of wheels that I use, one is set up with a coating of silicon carbide dust (the same stuff that is used in the rock tumbling kits that most of us played with as a kid, the black powder). I just coat the wheel with Elmer's glue and then roll it in the silicon carbide to get an even coating. let it dry and then run it on the grinder to sling off any loose grit. this wheel is used to re-set an edge that has been damaged or to set a new edge on a knife that I have just finished. The other wheel is used for stropping the blade, this wheel has slits cut into it every 1 1/2 inch around the circumference of the wheel, 1 inch deep from the edge of the wheel. these slits help to dissipate the heat when stropping the blade. This wheel gets loaded with Jeweler's rouge as a stropping agent. Most bench grinders come with a tool rest that can be set at any angle to the wheel, I recommend using the tool rest until you are comfortable eye-balling the angle. Also remember to place the knife edge down when using one of these setups. Edge up makes for a very nasty and maybe deathly result. For a knife that will be used for field dressing I like an edge angle of 18 to 20 degrees. A stainless blade will be harder to touch up in the field depending on the heat-treat method employed in the making of the blade and the hardness that it has been drawn back to. Buck knives are notorious for being hard to sharpen, this is due to the extreme hardness that they are drawn back to. I prefer a Rockwell hardness of 58 on my Stainless blades, this gives you good edge retention but also allows the edge to be touched up in the field. Hardness is a little more difficult to determine in a Damascus blade, it depends on the mix of steels used in the make-up of the blade, but the knifemaker knows his steel and knows the parameters he or she has to work within. I prefer a mix of 1084 and 15n20 for most of my Damascus, the 1084 is a high carbon steel so it takes a wicked edge, while the 15n20 has a high nickel content which adds some slight rust resistance and is a bit harder so adds to the edge retention. 15n20 is commonly what sawmill blades are made of, this and L6. all of my Damascus blades are made with the goal in mind of ease of use in the field, I have had customers tell me that when they have finished field dressing their animal all they had to do was strop the blade on the leg of their brush pants to bring it back to hair-popping sharpness. I don't know about that but I do know that for all the knives I have made for the competitors in the Iditarod I have never had one fail on them edgewise or otherwise. Just my 2 cents.

[m gardner]

I use a lapping plate setup with 180 wet or dry paper to get the angle I want on the blade. Then I hand grind the edge (slow speed bench grinder) with a soft fine P.V.A. wheel (won't overheat the metal) until a wire edge forms. I grind with the wheel rotating away from the edge. I then have a mirror finish on both sides. Then I strop it to get the wire off. Shaves and stays sharp. I put the blade under the hide of my buddy's elk at the backbone and just pushed it to the tail and he was amazed. Just got through re-doing my two knives from the beating they took this year. Takes very little time. One is a Buck 110. I have a little carbide scraper I made at work I use to touch it up in the field because it is very tough stuff. A dirty elk hurts any edge though.

Mark

[hammerforged]

I use a lapping plate setup with 180 wet or dry paper to get the angle I want on the blade. Then I hand grind the edge (slow speed bench grinder) with a soft fine P.V.A. wheel (won't overheat the metal) until a wire edge forms. I grind with the wheel rotating away from the edge. I then have a mirror finish on both sides. Then I strop it to get the wire off.

Mark

Yet another great way to do it, the P.V.A. wheels are great for this as are Scotchbrite wheels.

[redkneck]

Great thread here! I gotta save this one and absorb all the good info for later. Like posted above, I learned a long time ago, if the knife aint already sharp, you can put away the "steel".

[RangerClay]

For my knives with not so great steel I use one of these and it will hold an edge for a while. It works well on my deer butchering knives.

For my good knives I use my Lansky sharpening kit. After using this then taking my knife to a strap I can shave with it. Lansky sharpeners take a while but they are awesome!

[hungry hunter]

The Smiths Diamond hone in course and fine, there are too many ways and ideals on the proper way and angle to sharpen a knife, I do know a dull knife is dangerous. two cents worth

[m gardner]

The Smiths Diamond hone in course and fine, there are too many ways and ideals on the proper way and angle to sharpen a knife, I do know a dull knife is dangerous. two cents worth

I think you'll find so many ideal ways to sharpen a knife because the steels vary in hardness and toughness and the use you put it to will determine how you put the edge on. When you find a way to sharpen your favorite knife that is best stick with it.

Mark

[Shaun_300]

I picked up a Lansky on the weekend and got the knack of it rather quickly. A few guys in the camp have basically the same setup as me, and watching them helped quite a bit. A couple of my knives were fairly sharp but not razor sharp so I used the fine hone and then used the ceramic extra fine hone to finish them. I think the ceramic hone is the key, it puts an edge on them like you wouldn't believe. There was a few knives mom had from the kitchen that were really dull, the back side of the blade was about as sharp as the cutting side. For these I used the coarse to start and worked my way down to the ultra fine. Good and sharp now! I've sharpened probably 6 or 8 knives so far, the lansky works great! I sharpen most of my knives at 20 degrees, my fillet knives at 17 degrees. I don't have much hair left on my hand from checking the sharpness. When you can take hair off with a light draw of the blade, or slice a piece of paper in half by just touching the blade against the paper and gliding it through, it's SHARP!