Razor edge knife sharpening, page 1

Here is a short video showing the tools I use to get a razor sharp edge on my knives.

If you watch your angles, and use the right tools, you can get a long lasting razor sharp edge.
Vital in survival, a sharp knife can save your ass.

media.abovetopsecret.com...

edit because embed code not working

[edit on 5-9-2009 by imd12c4funn]

reply to post by imd12c4funn

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you go through a lot of work there. I usually just use a whet stone and a honing stone.
I don't keep my knife extremely sharp, it only needs to be so sharp to cut skin.

I might try the leather belt idea though.

Nice work. Stones have their place in the hands of those that know how to use them. Personally I use the DMT diamond stones to sharpen my chisels and plane irons. However, I attach those tools to a honing guide to keep it consistent which enables me to shave ribbons of wood with my jack plane.

For the average Joe who wants a sharp edge on their knives I would recommend the Spyderco Sharpmaker with an assortment of rods. To maintain an edge in the field I just use a little Gerber hand held ceramic sharpener or a small folding DMT pocket stone.

I know of some knifemakers and collectors who use the Wicked Edge. www.wickededgeusa.com...

or the Edge Pro www.edgeproinc.com...

to create or maintain a proper edge. These tools are a little spendy but will give you a perfect edge every time including the complex edges on Kitchen cutlery. Especially, if you have a lot of knives.

Not to spoil the party but that video was awful! first he uses a gazillion stones and other items (some homemade), he doesn;t tell you what angle to set your blade at, whether to lucbricate the stone or not, how many passes, etc. Then he refers to "honing" his edge with a piece of leather. that's not honing, it's "stropping".
There are many very good videos out there on knife sharpening that do a much better job of explaining what you're trying to do. For example:



I do appreciate the thought in what you posted, it Is an extremely important skill particularly in a survival situation.

[edit on 5-9-2009 by Asktheanimals]

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
Not to spoil the party but that video was awful! first he uses a gazillion stones and other items (some homemade), he doesn;t tell you what angle to set your blade at, whether to lucbricate the stone or not, how many passes, etc. Then he refers to "honing" his edge with a piece of leather. that's not honing, it's "stropping".
There are many very good videos out there on knife sharpening that do a much better job of explaining what you're trying to do. For example:

YouTube Link

I do appreciate the thought in what you posted, it Is an extremely important skill particularly in a survival situation.

[edit on 5-9-2009 by Asktheanimals]

It may have been as you describe, but different angle for different knives.

I use all those when starting with the worst blades.

If it is simply dull, I don't use the course stones.

I also figured those curious would find ample examples of degrees to angle the edge for knife types.

I was demonstrating using a skinning knife, which has a lot thicker blade than say a pocket knife, thus a bit more difficult to bring to a razor edge.

With a pocket knife (for example), I use a circular stroke when sharpening.

Not too popular as I have not seen this application so far after viewing other techniques, but find that compared to traditional sharpening strokes, it has some advantages, at least for me.

One is safety working with small stones or rods - or using my home-made insulator sharpener instead of rods.

I felt the relevent point was to show my tools to fine the blade and the import of honing to extend the life of a sharp edge.

Also, it gives a few ideas such as home-made sharpening and honing tools.

Plus, as I expected, it got a few of you to investigate other sharpening techniques and to research what angles suit different blades.

Kind of creates an interactive role for those interested in knife maintenence.

One thing I did not mention but may have been noticed is that the knife I demonstrated has had the blade toned to eliminate reflection which otherwise could give away your position should a light source hit your blade.

If you really have an axe to grind, maybe I'll make a very detailed axe sharpening video.

reply to post by imd12c4funn

---

Hey man, I'm sorry I was kinda harsh on your video - it didn't occur to me
that someone might get off their butts and make their own.

I might suggest that if your going to make video keep it basic so morons liike me can take if point A to point B.

Really sorry, I was being a #$#$hed. You gave a good explanation with your text. thanks, it was very informative.

Good stuff in here. Sharpening is an art...one that can take decades to perfect.

As a knife collector I own and have used everything including Lansky, Spyderco Sharpmaker, Norton and my current favorite the Gatco Diamond stone sharpening system.

I still use the Norton 3 stone system on my kitchen knives but when I want a pocket scalpel I reach for Gatco diamonds.

I should add that if you have top end knives with say D2, S30V, VG-10 steel you need diamond hones. These steels are hard and will just eat away natural stone.

This guy has a really good set of instructional videos:











[edit on 9/7/2009 by kinglizard]

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