OT, but I need the advice

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gunslinger586	OT, but I need the advice	Lead	[-]
Posts: 1869 (05/24/08 10:46 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Tags : None I couldn't think of a better place to ask so here goes. I cannot sharpen a knife to save my life. I have used oil stones, wet stones, even those wonder sharpeners demonstrated at gunshows but to no avail. I tried sharpening my wifes kitchen knives this morning and actually made them worse.Any tips guys? Is it something obvious I'm missing? Help!!!!
HoosierDaddy		#1	[-]
Posts: 5133 (05/24/08 11:06 AM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	The whole secret is to get the angle right. After that the rest is a piece of cake. I just pretend to slice a piece of the stone off. I use a carborandum stone that has two sides. One coarse the other a bit fine. I use saliva to wet the stone and then slice away. When you get the angle right you need to "close" the edge. A microscopic view of the edge will look like a saw blade with one side curled up(the wire edge). You have to lightly remove the wire edge and "pull" the saw teeth together. Sometimes I use a steel for that. Ash Iron Construction
texraid		#2	[-]
Posts: 326 (05/24/08 12:57 PM) Forum Co-host Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	HoosierDaddy wrote: The whole secret is to get the angle right. After that the rest is a piece of cake. Approximately 20 degrees.
Skeyed		#3	[-]
Posts: 3827 (05/24/08 01:10 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	That is right, angle. I am sure all the knives you have tried to sharpen are not that poor of metal. The best thing I have found is a stone that doesn't use oil, just enough water to keep the pores cleaned as you go alone. The old sand stone "grind stone" is hard to beat.skd
eli griggs		#4	[-]
Posts: 363 (05/24/08 09:43 PM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Here's a tool that will work well, though you only need the three stone set for good edges. Shop around for a better price. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&partNumber=41170&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults/[i] If you're really interested in sharpening ANY manual edge tool you might own, Look to Leonard Lees' "The Complete Guide to Sharpening." This book is as good as it gets in sharpening information and Lee is easy to read. [i] http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32991&cat=1,46096,46109&ap=1 Cheers "Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not." ~ Thomas Jefferson ~ WANTED - Lee Loaders - .223, 6.5 Swiss Mauser, 7.5 Swiss, 7.62x39, 7.62x54r, .308 Win, .303 Brit, 7.7 WANTED- Turkey and Goose feathers for fletching arrows
m1 talker		#5	[-]
Posts: 5863 (05/24/08 11:07 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Every attempt to sharpen a knife by me has led to it being worse off than before I tried. And yes, I have several sharpening kits, including one I paid nearly thirty bucks for fifteen years ago. When I was a kid, my dad had a big hand cranked grinding wheel. The wheel was over a foot in diameter and the lower part of the wheel was in a trough that held water. It was a big wooden affair with a seat on it. Dad would sit in the seat while I would crank the wheel and he would sharpen all the knives, axes, chissels, block planes, lawn mower blades and whatever. I remember the neighbors would bring over their items tha needed sharpening also. So once or twice a year, it was a big neighborhood event where everything got sharpened. And guess who powered that wheel with the hand crank while all this was going on? Now it would be considered child abuse if anybody noticed the blisters I wore on my hands from all that cranking. Now I just take my knives to a guy in town who charges a dollar per knife to sharpen them. He may take a couple of days to do it, but they come back so sharp, you could shave with them. Curt
cmw0081		#6	[-]
Posts: 468 (05/24/08 11:30 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I got some little thing made by Smiths. It is a diamond/steel plated thing. It all fits into the handle/case. It pulls out and then the case becomes a handle and you have a course side and a fine side. It was only $20 at Gander Mtn and I can sharpen good knives shaving sharp in a hurry with it! No need for oil. Just clean with water, or pretty miuch whatever you have. I guess sharpening is all in the technique though. I was in the Boy Scouts and we learned how to sharpen knives very well!
HoosierDaddy		#7	[-]
Posts: 5136 (05/24/08 11:35 PM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	My Scoutmaster and my grandpa both taught me. Ash Iron Construction
BobM14		#8	[-]
Posts: 408 (05/25/08 12:49 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Yepper, Hoosierpappy. I see you Indianians use the "Illinois Method"..... Although in the civilized world we use a light oil instead of spit. But like you said, ya have to keep the angle right, and I also go at it like I'm trying to slice a "thin layer of the stone" and work each side. If a fella has the feel for holding the right angle, working the blade in small circular motions, gradually moving from tip to bottom on both edges while holding the angle, will leave an edge that will last a bit longer. At least it seems to hold true on this side of the "border". Abe Lincoln probly took that technology back over to Indiana when he was visitin some ole pals.... Armed Infidel
beanstrung		#9	[-]
Posts: 4475 (05/25/08 08:12 AM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	HoosierDaddy wrote: I use saliva to wet the stone... Which begs the question, "What does carborundum taste like?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- What part of "shall not be infringed" don't you understand? Joel 3:9-10
Highpower		#10	[-]
Posts: 904 (05/25/08 09:55 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	m1 talker wrote: Every attempt to sharpen a knife by me has led to it being worse off than before I tried. And yes, I have several sharpening kits, including one I paid nearly thirty bucks for fifteen years ago. When I was a kid, my dad had a big hand cranked grinding wheel. The wheel was over a foot in diameter and the lower part of the wheel was in a trough that held water. Wow! Talk about déjà vu all over again.... That description fit me like a glove, right down to grandpa's old hand crank grinding wheel. I still have several flat stones, triangular stones, fancy "guide rod" stones, ceramic sticks, etc., etc. With all those tools I could dull a perfectly good edge on a knife blade in a matter of seconds. It's a gift - what can I say? Then one day, on my way to a local gun show I gathered up a few pocket knives to take with me to get sharpened by the guy that is always set up there at a table. The experience is always the same. Drop off your knife(s) and come back in a couple of hours, and maybe I'll get to them.... It seems there are an awful lot of people share my same "gift". Then - I noticed something on his table that I had never seen before. He had bags of the special cardboard wheels that he used on his grinder to do the sharpening there. The bags also had some other stuff thrown in there to make a complete kit. Several companys make them, similar to this: http://www.sharpeningwheels.com/ I was always looking for a way to purchase some knife sharpening "talent" (since it didn't come naturally) so I bought one of his kits, thinking I could destroy a good knife even faster with this set up. Then I asked him for any "pointers" in how to use this product - fully expecting to receive a severe verbal thrashing for daring to ask such a question. I was the only one standing at his table at the time, and to my surprise, he told me to come around to his side of the table and he would give me a quick lesson. He quickly went over setting up the wheels and how to maintain them. He told me to hold the blade vertically in front of the wheels (edge down) and to tilt the spine of the blade toward me slightly (about 1/8") to get the angle. He went over raising the "burr" on the edge (checking with a strong light source) and polishing that off with the other wheel. All in all, about a 5 minute lesson. I got back home and set up the wheels on my grinder thinking about how badly I was going to screw this up. Following his instructions I gingerly put one of our kitchen knifes to the wheels, hoping to get something beyond "butter knife" sharpness. Afterward I put the edge to a piece of newspaper and prayed to be able to saw though the single sheet. I was stunned when the blade slid through the entire page like a scalpel! Haven't looked at another stone since.... I know many folks can make razor blades with a stone. Unfortunately, I'm just not one of them. --------------------------- He who lives by the sword, should go out and get a really nice sword.
cmw0081		#11	[-]
Posts: 469 (05/25/08 11:14 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Lansky, Smiths and probably some others make things that come with a clamping device and guide rods so its impossible to sharpen them wrong. I've used a Lansky before and it worked pretty well.
reddogge		#12	[-]
Posts: 4667 (05/25/08 07:53 PM) Host Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I guess I'm one who can sharpen knives by hand without any problems. I use a double sided Arkansas stone and oil and just use my instinctive angle built into me to slice off a slice of the stone. I also use a nice piece of heavy leather as a strop. The angle of 20 degees has been mentioned but I'm not sure what mine is just I keep it the same all of the time and it works for me. My friend at deer camp has a Lansky system and it will make a knife scary sharp but it is a royal PITA to use. For kitchen knives a good ceramic stick system will do a creditable job or I use the old butchers steel. "What happened? What the HELL happened?" Jake Holman "The Sandpebbles"
high speed cruise		#13	[-]
Posts: 2160 (05/25/08 08:12 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I always use that yellow cheapie thing for scissors and knives from Wal-mart. I just carry it along too and sharpen the knife DURING the deer gutting process. GREG Oh ya: one really FUN thing to do is sharpen your knife in FULL VIEW of your newest girlfriend RIGHT BEFORE taking her hiking or for a park walk. Bonus points scored if she is from another country's capital city (preferrably a socialist/gun banning country).....causes a stare! Hmm....come to think of it, with the same sort of GF, put your sidearm on before going out or let her see you with it on before putting on your coat....the expressions are priceless. LOL Last Edited By: high speed cruise 05/25/08 08:15 PM. Edited 1 times.
m1 talker		#14	[-]
Posts: 5867 (05/25/08 08:43 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	And you are the one who is having problems with finding decent women! What are we going to do with you Greg, my boy? Curt
NC Cruffler		#15	[-]
Posts: 210 (05/26/08 09:56 AM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	My Grandfather's advice: "Never buy a dull knife. If the guy that made it can not sharpen it then neither can you." Dave Dave Green, NRA Life Member since 1973
maxima2		#16	[-]
Posts: 518 (05/26/08 10:07 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I use the Lansky system and follow that up with a leather strap. It's easy to get a good sharp edge on every knife I've used it on.