Knife sharpening

the scudd

Well-Known Member
hi, just wanted to know if anyone can recommend a foolproof :eek: method for sharpening a knife,i,ve got a lansky system but to tell the truth i don,t seem to get on to well with it,can anyone help.thanks the scudd
 
Hi Scudd,
unfortunately it depends on the blade profile. Scandi grind is easiest with water-stones, flat grind with a secondary bevel is more difficult & convex grind is best done with wet & dry glued to a mousemat. I'd suggest having a look on Bushcraft UK or British Blades as there's lots of info on there about sharpening different blade profiles to a scary edge. You will want to get a leather strop as well to finish the blade to a shaving edge.
Hope this helps! :confused:
 
Scudd

i posted this in the top tips section and have just copied and pased it to here , this way is quick and easy .

i read this idea the other day somewhere and found it was a very fast way to sharpen and it gave a razor sharp edge to my frost knifes, so i thought i would post it .

i stapled some 1200 & 1500 grade wet/dry sandpaper to a peice of 6"x12" floorboard (one on each side) . i then followed what bevel i had on the knife (25 deg ) by eye and drew/passed the knife over the paper twenty times alternating and turning the knife each pass. i repeated the process then with the 1500 paper and finished off on an old leather belt with stroping compound .

the edge was very very sharp you could have shaved with it (bald patch on my arm & chest will prove this) i have a landsky sharpening system but this was much much quicker and gave a sharper edge .

my knifes had resonable edges on at time so did not require using lower courser grates ,if knife has no bevel or very blunt start with lower grades from 400 and work up .

i fully gralloched two fallow last week after the deer the knife (mora frost) still shaved the hairs on my arm.

regards...neil
 
Hi Scudd, don't take this the wrong way but, have you read the instructions with the Lansky? The reason I ask is, the system is really quite good, if a little hard on knives, and ideally suited to people, myself included, who find it hard to use stones free hand. I use the lansky from time to time and a good oval steel to touch up during work. I am doing an experiment at the moment by using a £8.99 frost knife for all my gralloching, butchery and gamebird prep for a whole season, at present its holding up very well. I will write a review at the end of the doe season. Best wishes, JC
 
ANother vote for scandi grinds and whetstones. So long as you keep the stone flat, and are mindful of keeping full contant of the bevel on the stone they're pretty reliable and no problems about getting them razor sharp every time.

Only thinkg I'd like about them is to be able to touch them up with a steel - so quick. Getting stones then strop out is a bit of a hastle sometimes, not to mention need a flat/hard/dry surface which makes it hard in the bush
 
u-tube

There are some good u-tube videos regarding knife sharpening.It's all very well to read instructions on how to do something but a video demo is very helpful especially if you have something a bit un-usual like a fallkniven convex ground blade.

fraser
 
I had this exact conversation with my brother at hunting camp this past weekend. I hand sharpen knives and do it well. My father also sharpened knives well; to the point where you could shave with them. My brother admitted he didn't have the "knack". When he handed me his knife, a Buck knife, I told him that the first requirement is a good knife blade(something the Buck lacked) and the next was practice, practice, practice. A good selection of stones and some thoughtful practice will get the job done. ~Andrew
 
knives

if you go to a stone mason where they do grave stones you can usually pick up a bit of YORK stone this is usually quite fine and all you do is put water on it to get a good edge on your knife after you have removed the old one on a rough stone but make sure you alternate each side of the blade at the same angle . if you know what you are doing with a knife you can get away with a finer angle if you split the ribs and H bone you need abit bigger angle as a fine one will chip or bend over and need a steel to straighten the edge again . Trial and error on this one though ,as ten people sharpen a knife different all with the same results at the end
 
LANSKY

I use the lansky (the one with the 3 grades of stone).
I find what ever the amount of passes you make with the courser stone,you double the passes as you go down to the finer grade.
I don't use the fine grade stone.I find the medium grade stone best as it leaves a slightly rougher finish and cuts better.
 
I use the Lanski and must admit, I find it very user friendly indeed.

Just need to train the Missus on it so she can do them.... :lol: :lol:
 
I use an oval carborundum composite steel on my filleting knifes and on my buck knife and they always come up razor sharp,trick is to do them little and often to maintain the edge.
Neil
 
a few quick passes with the bench grinder ! :evil: Actually I only do that my in-laws' knives, because they abuse by chopping onto stainless steel or granite worktop. No point in spending time putting a good edge on if that's what's going to happen to them.
 
Mat said:
they abuse by chopping onto stainless steel or granite worktop. No point in spending time putting a good edge on if that's what's going to happen to them.
that drives me insane - people get a bit tired of me having a go but what is the pint in a sharp knife if you go and flatten the edge on a harder surface... Wooden chopping boards all the way!

And Hard Arkansas stones are IMO the best stones out there for the final grind (before the strop that is)
 
Yeah, well, maybe next time I'll tell my dad about the knife abuse when the mother in law is in the same room - light the blue touch paper and run :evil:

I've got a Fallkniven DC3 which has a diamond coated surface and a ceramic on the other side for finishing off. Quite pleased with it though the 2 sides separated after I dropped it :oops: Still, nice and compact if it's something you want to take out with you.
 
Tesco's sometimes have cheap diamond 'steels' at about £10. Lean hard on them for really dull knives following the angle of the blade then just allow the blade slide down the steel to fine hone it. Since I bought a diamond steel all my stones became redundant.
Best bet is to ask your local butcher for a five min' demo on knife sharpening, then all will be revealed.
Another point to note is that some really hard technical stainless steel used for knives(Puma) is blue murder to sharpen, soft carbon steels like that used on Opinels is a dream to make razor sharp.
 
Nick Fahey said:
this is a cracker


Not sure, that anyone has checked this out. This is an awesome and fool -proof sharpener. (I am not affiliated with this product).
I got put onto it when in NZ by a knife maker there, it is the bee's knees.
 
Nick Fahey said:
Nick Fahey said:
this is a cracker


Not sure, that anyone has checked this out. This is an awesome and fool -proof sharpener. (I am not affiliated with this product).
I got put onto it when in NZ by a knife maker there, it is the bee's knees.


I like the look of it, pretty fool proof buy all accounts! :p
 
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