Favourite Sharpening Methods?

[Tom D]

I tried an experiment the other day, I was sharpening 3 of my work knives and all the kitchen knives. These days I use the Worksharp Guided Sharpening System, this one:https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tdQ2ShewPn0 for years I had a water stone and whilst good it was messy, and slow and also it tended to loose its shape eventually which gives uneven results. The Worksharp looks gimmicky (see video) but it’s actually well built and well thought out. I also use an Eden double sided leather strop with diamond paste. This claims to be able to resurrect a dull knife without the need for any grinding.

So first of all I tested each knife for sharpness by slicing paper and shaving hair, then tried the strop on its own, it kind of works but on my EKA pocket knife it didn’t really work, I guess it was too dull. I then went through the whole process testing again after each stage of the process. Coarse diamond (if needed), fine diamond, ceramic rod, coarse strop, fine strop. Each stage really does make a difference, the strops really do bring a sharp blade (painfully shaving sharp) to effortlessly shaving sharp. I don’t think the strop on its own is much good however unless the knife was already pretty sharp, but the strop really does work at the end of the process.

I know Sharpening is a subject that gets a lot of discussion going and wondered what others experiences are. Also I’m intrigued as to whether anyone uses a steel? They still seem popular with butchers..

 

[Selous]

Work sharp Ken Onion for me because I’m lazy and like a wicked edge! I do still use jap Waterstones on my Scandi grind blades

 

[slider]

Worksharp, standard edition, because i'm useless with anything else!

 

[ss03947]

Watched a few vids on utube/web & decided to make my own. I'm using diamond files & finish off with 1000/3000 water stones & get a excellent result.

You can adjust to any angle you want, I can also sharpen scissors, & I made a special jig for Opinel blades.

 

[roryh]

I do have a set of Lansky stones but the guide went astray long ago. I like the look of the worksharp though. How long from dull to shaving? (if the wifes out, the dogs fed and the kids warned that is)

 

[Tom D]

The Worksharp above, ie the manual one not the belt sander one, is pretty quick, 6 strokes a side on the fine followed by the ceramic hone and then the strops is usually enough. If it’s really dull then maybe more. It’s way quicker than a water stone.

 

[zambezi]

for years I had a water stone and whilst good it was messy, and slow and also it tended to loose its shape eventually which gives uneven results... Also I’m intrigued as to whether anyone uses a steel?

For my scandi grind bush knife I use Japanese waterstones. The trick I learnt to avoid the erosion of the stone' laminar surface is to buy two stones. I chose 4000 and 6000 grit stones [the latter gives a pleasing mirror finish]. At the end of any sharpening session, the last thing I do is offer the two stones up to each other and gently lap the working faces. If you do it after every sharpening, it takes seconds and very little waste material to restore completely flat faces.

For my deerstalking gralloch knife which has a concave profile, nothing beats the Ken Onion belt solution followed by a leather strop.

For butchery, the steel is king for a quick edge on what is effectively a secondary bevel edge on standard kitchen knife profiles.

 

[mchughcb]

I have been using edge pro apex and wicked edge. For most jobs ill use the wicked edge. I can reprofile a knife starting at 200 diamond then 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1600 then strop. Haven't failed to get anybody's knife shaving sharp yet.

 

[Rasputin]

I have the work sharp field one and it’s feally good makes my opiniel shave sharp but struggles with a bigger blade. Very handy out in the field.

 

[ChesterP]

For my scandi grind bush knife I use Japanese waterstones. The trick I learnt to avoid the erosion of the stone' laminar surface is to buy two stones. I chose 4000 and 6000 grit stones [the latter gives a pleasing mirror finish]. At the end of any sharpening session, the last thing I do is offer the two stones up to each other and gently lap the working faces. If you do it after every sharpening, it takes seconds and very little waste material to restore completely flat faces.

For my deerstalking gralloch knife which has a concave profile, nothing beats the Ken Onion belt solution followed by a leather strop.

For butchery, the steel is king for a quick edge on what is effectively a secondary bevel edge on standard kitchen knife profiles.

I do exactly the same thing. If it's just a gentle edge polish I go straight to a 4000 or a 6000 grit water stone and then a leather strop to finish.

For the occasional straightening of an edge, a few wipes (quite literally) using a Lanskey fine grit 8" ceramic sharpening steel does the trick...best tool I've ever used for the job and cheap too! If more people learned to use one of these it would save them a small fortune on fancy electric sharpeners (unless of course they also use them regularly for chisels etc).

 

[zambezi]

I do exactly the same thing. If it's just a gentle edge polish I go straight to a 4000 or a 6000 grit water stone and then a leather strop to finish.

Agreed...