Don't under-estimate your sharpening skills

[CountryBoy19]

Ok, I know I'm speaking the the choir here but had to post my experience.

For years I carried cheapish knives, mostly because working on the farm I would lose them long before they broke or wore out. A 440C S&W was the one I most recently carried until I got my Benchmade about a year ago.

Anyways, I never could get any of my knives razor sharp. I just always assumed I sucked at sharpening.

Until a couple weeks ago I went to sharpen my Benchmade (154 CM blade) with my Gatco sharpener. It's just a pocket knife so I didn't really care much about having a razor sharp edge, just wanted to touch it up. Well, it came out with a razor edge with very little effort... I was pretty surprised.

So I thought what the heck, may as well try to sharpen my Shun kitchen knives (VG-10 blades) that desperately needed a touch-up. These aren't just any kitchen knife, these are top of the line Japanese kitchen knives that cost a pretty penny and had a fantastic edge on them from the retailer. Anyways, 20 minutes work and sure enough, razor sharp again... maybe not quite as sharp as the original edge but I think that's pretty hard to attain. Kershaw quit offering free sharpening on the Shun knives because they can't even get the edge back to original sharpness so I'm confident that I can't. But I got it pretty close; close enough for my uses.

So the take-away lesson is this. If you always thought your sharpening skills sucked don't chalk it up to that. It is very likely your blade material sucks. Try sharpening quality blades and see how you do...

BTW, I always thought 440C was an ok blade material and my friend told me I was being ridiculous and needed a 154CM knife. He was right, I don't even know where that S&W knife is anymore...

 

[shibumiseeker]

The only blade I could never get sharp enough to shave was a Tekna Diver's knife.

 

[Reuben Cogburn]

The best way to get a good edge is to start with a good knife.

 

[CountryBoy19]

The only blade I could never get sharp enough to shave was a Tekna Diver's knife.

Just go ahead and crash my party why don't ya?

 

[shibumiseeker]

Just go ahead and crash my party why don't ya?

Well, since you just cost me $180, I will.

Your post got me thinking about the knife I had before the fire so I looked it up and they are still making them but instead of the $45 I paid in 1985 they are $110, AND they make a titanium version for $200, which then led me on to titanium dive knives (because I love titanium) and I ended up ordering two different ones. All because you got me thinking about the only knife I could never sharpen well.

 

[jbombelli]

The only blade I could never get sharp enough to shave was a Tekna Diver's knife.

LOL.

That makes TWO of us. I had one of those Tekna dive knives in the early 80's, and could not get it shaving sharp to save my soul.

I've never had any real problems with any other knives, unless the bevel angle sucked in the first place and I didn't feel like taking the countless hours to reprofile it with stones.

I have a TOPS Blue Otter that needs a thinner edge right now, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

edited to add: to the OP - there's nothing wrong with 440C stainless steel. I've got a Benchmade 180 Outbounder in 440C, and it's armshaving sharp.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Well, since you just cost me $180, I will.

Your post got me thinking about the knife I had before the fire so I looked it up and they are still making them but instead of the $45 I paid in 1985 they are $110, AND they make a titanium version for $200, which then led me on to titanium dive knives (because I love titanium) and I ended up ordering two different ones. All because you got me thinking about the only knife I could never sharpen well.

Lol, sorry about that... it's just money...

 

[jkwparrott]

Does anyone else use a strop when sharpening? I am a leather worker and always use a strop instead of a stone for sharpening my leather knives. One day I was sharpening my pocket knife and thought that I would try the strop after I had a nice edge on the blade. It gets the blade razor sharp and they seem to keep an edge longer than un-stropped blades.

I just use an old raw leather belt, no oil or finish of any kind, then rub jeweler's rouge into the leather and strop away.

 

[grunt soldier]

yes. no blade is truly sharpened unless it's finished on the strop

 

[Titanium_Frost]

Well, since you just cost me $180, I will.

Your post got me thinking about the knife I had before the fire so I looked it up and they are still making them but instead of the $45 I paid in 1985 they are $110, AND they make a titanium version for $200, which then led me on to titanium dive knives (because I love titanium) and I ended up ordering two different ones. All because you got me thinking about the only knife I could never sharpen well.

I love you too, man.

 

[vitamink]

So then what are the best knife sharpening tools? I need to sharpen some stuff but i want to do it right.

 

[bdybdall]

I've tried Arkansas stones, soft Oua****as, India stones. Right now, I use a DMT sharpening jig with different grades of diamond stones. It works great for any knife that the jig fits. I also keep Crock Sticks in a kitchen drawer to touch up kitchen knives (I'm not as fussy about them). I always strop a knife after sharpening. It doesn't really remove metal, it just removes the microscopic wire edge left over from sharpening.

 

[old man Bill]

For the past 45 years I have used the Spiderco sharpening system. It comes with two sets of aluminum oxide/ceramic "crocksticks" and it will absolutely get the job done. I can shave the hair off my fore arm with my military machete and also sharpen an Exacto better than when it was new. Pinking shears (my wife's not mine I swear), serrated knives, pruning shears, axes, etc. It will make scissors better than when they were new as well. The one important thing is, don't drop the sticks on a hard surface, they will break. I have 3 sets, the first I bought at the Indiana State Fair 45 years ago and they still work. They're getting a little pricey but they will out last you if you take care of them. AND....they are cordless.
Bill