Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Knife Sharpening Issue

Most of my knives will take quite a good edge very easily. A few seconds on the diamond hone, and they are as sharp as can be.

Scissors aren't usually a problem.

But some of my wife's kitchen knives just refuse to take any more than a very mediocre edge. They came from the factory quite sharp in some cases, but just won't respond to either the diamond hone or to a fine stone on a Dremel tool.

Are some knives just too soft? Or is there something I'm missing??

is it a hollow grind?

Soft blades will take an edge readilly, just won't hold one. Could be the kitchen knives just aren't the best quality, or it could be your angle is too great. I use a diamond steel on my kitchen knives and they sharpen up fine. Just don't use a lot of pressure on the knife or steel.

I've never seen a kitchen knife with a hollow grind...you have to sharpen them so much you'd likely wear off the edge. However, I'm sure they're out there.

denton;
As a self confessed knife nut, I think I have almost every sharpening device known and drawers of knives for different uses.

For our kitchen knives, I've found that some are indeed softer than the average decent quality hunting knife. For instance the Wengers are noticably softer than Victorinox/Forschner.

On the softer steels I use greater angle when I put a bevel onto the blade, as a smaller angle will only roll over resulting in confusion as to which side of the blade one should use to cut the veggies with.

I try to play with individual steels and install the thinnest or smallest angle bevel that it will support without rolling over.

I use an 8" diameter leather covered wheel, loaded with polishing compound and turning at 1750rpm for the final edge polish or stropping on most of our knives and it seems to work fairly well.

Hopefully that was some use to you, good luck with your sharpening.

Regards,
Dwayne

Out-source to a pro...it's only about $3 a knife.

You may be using the wrong angle and not touching the edge.
Or there is so much thick material that your not removing enough material to sharpen them.

When I get a knife that won't respond to a diamond file, wet stone, ceramics, or steel, I drag out the mill (single cut) bastard file, and draw the blade of the knife across the file until an edge appears. From there a wet stone or steel will raise the egde.

Because you are only working a small section of the blade you have to overlap your pattern - so it takes some practice, but you'll quickly get a feel for it. I consider it a method of last resort, but, I'd throw the knife if wouldn't hold an edge, so nothing is lost.

Yep heat a blade by grinding and you ruin it fast, a file is the best way to go if you need to remove a significant amount of material.

Spot

After years of mediocre success on a few hunting blades, and several kitchen knives - when the others were razors - it occured to me, I can file a saws chain, mower blade, or rotary chopper to an edge, so why not a knife?

It was then I realized the folly of most other "coarse" methods.

Most kitchen knives are made to work with a "wire edge", unlike hunting knives. You basically get the angles right and finish it off with a steel that restores the wire edge. As it starts to feel like it isn't as sharp as it should be, use the steel again to restore the edge. Most people don't bother sharpening them until the cutting angles need to be restored using something coarser than the steel provided with the set. I bought a large "butcher's steel' from a restaurant supply house years ago and it still restores the edge to my wife's (cheap) Chicago Cutlery and Wolfgang Puck knives if I touch up the edges with a few strokes each time we unload the dish washer.

Using diamond hones, etc., will often wear metal off of the edge without really sharpening it. I will add a caveat: there are a lot of different alloys in the wide variety of knives that are sold for household use and it may take a while to figure out what is the most effective method to restore a satisfactory cutting edge...

Paper wheels here, much like the leather wheel mentioned.... its the only way to go. Will sharpen a CHINA JUNK knife to a razors edge in less than a minute....

I've only a packable steel for pack hunts in case I have to touch up. Beyond that I have no clue where all my other sharpening crap is hiding these days....

I will use a file, or even a grinder with lots of water, for really coarse work. Such as when a friend managed to break a half inch off of his wife's favorite chef's knife and wanted it resurrected.

Some of Momma's favorite stainless steel kitchen knifes resisted my sharpening attempts when I used the Arkansas stone and the butcher's steel. I think the Stainless steel is actually harder than the hone steel.

But I have yet to meet the knife which will not sharpen with the Lansky sharpening kit. The Lansky is fool proof and easy as pie to use.
http://lanskysharpeners.com/LKCPR.php

Was just looking at the Lansky system in the store today. So they really work weel?

I have used mine on everything from my every day carry 1.5 inch Buck Gent to 12 inch kitchen knives. You can get the Lansky with diamond stones for sharpening the really hard stuff. But the regular kit is a little cheaper if you do not need the diamond.

I have found nothing better than the Lansky for restoring an abused or neglected knife.

For every day sharpening, I can often be caught stropping a knife across the base of a ceramic coffee mug. I love ceramic as a honing agent. Many places sell the "Crock Sticks" which are ceramic hones, and they will sharpen any steel. I have never purchased one, because, Hey there is always a coffee mug around somewhere.

The Lansky works on some knives far better than others. I had a similar set years ago and it did only a fair job on kitchen kinves. A kitchen knive has a more gradual angle to the edge than a hunting knife, the blade is much thinner, because it's designed for a different purpose entirely. However, the Lansky may have a provision for cutting this angle. But they're slow, IMO.

You can sharpen about any blade if you hold the angle of the stone consistently. It will take longer if you don't hold it at the proper angle, but it still will sharpen.

Once the rough work is done on a blade if it's needed (a third cut file is great for this) a fine stone and then buffing rouge on a cloth wheel has worked for me. I would never use a file on a hunting knife, and probably wouldn't on a kitchen knife, but then, if that was the only way to establish the cut, why not?

The absolute ultimate in stones is a Japanese water stone. It's about 5000 grit on one side, and 1000 grit on the other and you have to soak it in water before using. It makes a slurry when you sharpen with it that is the best thing I've seen for fine edges.

As mentioned, a wire edge is fine on a kitchen knife because it grips the frequently kinda slippery stuff, like tomatoes, for example, that a kitchen knive usually cuts. A razor edge is fine as well, especially on knives used to cut only vegetables. (Yes, there is such a thing.)

I tie flies and scissors need to be sharp to do fine work. People who attempt to put a razor edge on scissors will probably ruin the scissors, as that's not what scissors are designed to do. They cut by shearing and the angle of the blade is more acute. The rough edge left by a half-round diamond stone grips the thread and other materials and cuts like a charm.

I get my knives sharp enough, but not like a pro.

Also, the starter unit out of a halogenic light is an outstanding ceramic stone. They vary in the fineness of the ceramics, but they're free, if used.

Well, I'm learning a lot about sharpening knives!

For the wife's hard to sharpen kitchen knives, a steeper angle against the diamond hone and a firmer touch turned the trick. They are now pretty decent.

My basis for comparison is a Merle Seguine hunting knife, 1095 carbon tool steel blade. That takes a beautiful edge with almost no effort.

someone here, can't remember who turned me onto the Edge pro

I'm grateful they did.

this from a kid in HS that his pards used to send their pocket knives and hunting knives home with me to sharpen for them.

only had a couple of stones in those days.

never had much use for a dull knife, I keep several pocket knives handy, so I can have a sharp one and sharpen when I have time.

the cool thing bout the Edge pro is you have different angles you can set it for, depending upon what type of blade you're sharpening. I'm guessin the Lansky is similar

If you are serious about cooking invest in expensive knives. I use Wusthoff, initially very pricey but cheap in the long run as they will last many lifetimes.

As some others here do, I make knives. I also sharpen them for other folks. When I come home with a box of knives from a kitchen, I put a 220 grit belt on my machine and make a pass on each side of the blade, maybe two. Now, a bur should arise, where the metal actually broke and rolled off the edge. The last pass will fold the burr over to the opposite side. A couple passes on the leather wheel on my buffer, and the burr should straighten and make a sharp knife. Some knives just sharpen right up. I can sharpen Dexter Russel kitchen knives pretty quick. Others just don't get sharp. A fellow knife maker has said that sometimes a burr just doesn't form. It just breaks off. You can only get these knives 'so so' sharp. It's the type of steel, the temper, or both. It's nothing you can fix.

I'll mention too that some knives take a lot of effort to sharpen because of the steel, but they stay sharp longer. I thought I'd pass out before I established an edge on the first D2 knife I made. I'd worn the stone and myself down to nothing and it was still dull. It's no match for a Zircon belt on my grinder, but someone with a stone would have a heck of a time if they let it get dull. I get knives back to sharpen before hunting season, because D2 knives get sharp and stay sharp, but guys use them and don't touch them up.