Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Knife sharpener suggestions

I need something to sharpen my knives. I have seen the newfangled belt sharpeners and everything else.Any ideas? I use them for deer and skinning trapped varmints and the ones in the the kitchen too. Is there one for general use that works on all of them?
Thank you
224TH

Prepare for a blizzard of devices and techniques but the two sided coarse and not so coarse stones at the hardware store will do it all.

A 6" DMT medium. Any stones will work but a DMT will stay flat and lubs and washes with just water.

Dmt aligner and/or spyderco sharpmaker

Stones and such do the job, but I want something quick, inexpensive, and hard to screw up. The mouse pad and sandpaper method (drag the blade backward over sandpaper on a mouse pad or writing paper pad) quickly puts a very sharp edge on almost any knife. Sandpaper readily available from auto supply stores in 400, 1000, 2000 grits.

After using most sharpeners on the market, I have settled on the EdgePro. Consistent results, knife after knife.

I can highly recommend the Worksharp tool. Very fast. The Hunter's Hone makes for fine, quick work in the field to keep the edge crispy.

"...Choctaw with some Apache -she can sharpen a dull knife and slit your throat and take your scalp and hand you change before you can get your machine out of the box, lol. and do it while she is watchin tv sitting on the couch with her cat "big mikeie" watchin here...just sayin, it's a god given tallent! joe"


http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=308798

+1 for the EdgePro and include a semichrome loaded strop.

Sam, which edgepro do you have? I've got a couple of S30V blades now that are a booger to sharpen. What grits do you use?

Eric,

I have the Edge Pro Apex. The stones I use to touch up my S30V blades, when they are still in good shape, would be to start with the 320 grit, then a 400. After that, I use a 600 grit, and finish with a 1000 grit.
On some knives, mostly dead animal processing blades, I will take the really high grit tapes, say up to 2000 grit. I have tapes up to 6K, but have never used those. yet.

Thanks I'll check it out. The kids were just asking today what I wanted for Christmas.

I got a chuckle from all of that. But I sharpen similar to your wife and I am just a white boy and my Granddaddy always had dull knives! I learned watching Youtube. Now my friends think I have God given sharpening ability which makes me laugh!

Your wife is better than me though. I can't get a knife really sharp on one of those two sided silicon carbide stones from the hardware store. I have to finish it on my Arkansas Stones to get where I want to be. Sounds like a new challenge! IIRC silicon carbide is pretty close to diamond in its ability to cut hardened material so that is why it works on almost any steel, and it is cheap.

Been using a Japanese water stone for several years now.
Am actually on my second one, as They wear fairly quick.
I bought a leveling stone with the last one, to keep it trued up.

They remove metal fast, and need constant flushing too keep them working.

Virgil B.

Edge Pro for me as well.......

Freehand sharpening is the best method once you learn.
DMT medium and fine diamond stones is all you will ever need.

I couldn't disagree more that freehand sharpening is best. I will give you that it is an excellent skill. A precision cutting tool is best with a precision generated edge. I worked for sometime at GE in the cutter grinder shop sharpening tools, got fairly good at it with both machines and by hand. But when it came to a long lasting edge it was always best done on a machine. Consistency is key and a machine/jig is going to provide greater consistency.

After doing sharpening free hand on large bench stones for over 50 years, Boise loaned me his Edge Pro for a test. I was and still am pretty good at free hand sharpening. But as noted above, I also found a fixtured edge waaaaaay better than a free hand edge.
I do carry a small, fine, hard stone and an small impregnated leather strop along in the field for touch up (although I have yet to need to use them in the field).
I prefer the Edge Pro, but also have a Work Sharp.
The W.S. is for most kitchen and filet knives.
The E.P. is for the custom hunters, skinners, tactical, etc.
JMHO
Tim

Not my woman RJ, just stole the information from RimfireCentral and left her be.

Another Edge Pro Apex user here. I also use the little Lansky Crock sticks for light touch ups w/o screwing up the primary bevel too much.

I recently got a Worksharp belt sharpener. Expected it to be a toy, but I'm compressed with how well it works.

http://www.worksharptools.com/knife...work-sharp-knife-and-tool-sharpener.html

I have a nice set of Japanese water stones. I use them for my Scandi grind blades.

The Scandi grind is like a built in angle finder------------like an Edge Pro built right into the blade. Pretty ingenious, and surprising that it's not more universally used IMO.

true enough, but you can sure screw up the front 1/2 inch of the blade, if you don't pivot the blade when running across the stone. The entire Scandi edge has to make contact with the stone.

I might be missing something, but what makes a one sided bevel any easier than and two sided bevel for holding the angle by hand????? One side without a complete plane is not any better than two.
There are some who are very competent hand sharpeners, and I do pretty good at that also. Just have learned to like and appreciate the improvement with a fixture.
jmho
Tim

If you're referring to a chisel grind, like Emerson uses, I think it's a case of very effective marketing. Clearly it's less effort (and cost) to produce a blade with one grind instead of two, and it also eliminates the risk of two grinds not having symmetry. Life is easier for the end user too, having to only sharpen one side of the blade instead of two, so there's less chance of messing things up. Everything seems like Shangri-La.................until trying to make a straight cut.

But if an expensive uber-tactical folder has such a grind then it MUST be the correct answer right?

The Scandi grind doesn't have the Emerson tactical sex appeal, but I'll take Laplander brilliance for a knife I actually USE for all the cutting in the non "mission critical" life I live.

As mentioned, a scandi grind is ground on both sides, a chisel grind is just one. Either way the angle is built in for freehand sharpening. I've only used Charlie May's scandi grinds but have come to really like them. Super easy and fast to sharpen on a DMT.

Charlie's scandi grinds turn out razor sharp...I think the cutting edge ends up being a finer angle than a standard flat or hollow grind with a bevel.

Google "Razor Sharp Paper Wheel Sharpener". You would not believe how sharp these make knives. I couldn't ever hand sharpen that great. Mostly because of practice and I bought some other sharpeners that work good but this is just plain awesome plus it doesn't break the bank. I read all the reviews and figured what the hell if it doesn't work I'm not out of that much but it works.