The typical instruction for sharpening a knife on a stone is to push the blade down the stone edge first.
I have also seen folks who drag the blade up the stone, spline toward the person sharpening.
Also encountered folks who use a circular motion, and one Japanese guy who used a short stroke back and forth on the stone, almost like a "scrubbing" motion.
For those of us who sharpen manually with stones, what is your preferred method?
If needed in a bad way, pressure and circular grinding. As edge develops, lighter pressure, single direction, leading with the cutting edge being pushed.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time. --Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice. --ironbender
Way I was taught, was long stroke oriented on center of stone with blade @ 45degrees to stone. Fingers up, 2 fingers just above the edge, consistent pressure on the stroke away from the edge no pressure pulling toward the edge. Gradually work down the blade from one end to the other. Finish one side and then the other.
Make sure to eliminate the burr when honing.
When stropping only one direction, away from the edge always the same angle.
This......I ain't as good or as fast as this guy but once I learned his method my sharpening jigs and contraptions started to collect dust. I'm sort of bummed out because in posting these links I learned that the guy doing the sharpening, Dr. Cliff Stamp, has passed away. He was a true knife nut internet legend a few years ago.
With a brick....
"Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants". --- William Penn
I have never been satisfied with my sharpening skills. The other day I came across a paper that came with a Buck knife I bought years ago. It had suggestions for keeping your knife sharp. They suggest a circular motion without raising the blade from the stone. This makes it easier to maintain the same angle across the length of the blade. Work all the way across one side until you raise a burr on the top side. Then work the other side until you raise a burr. Then use successively fewer passes on each side. You can use successively finer stones to get a better edge. A leather strop gives the finest edge. A friend of mine is a saddlemaker and he used to use a buffing wheel to freshen the edge on his tools. Now he uses a leather strop.
[quote=RJY66]This......I ain't as good or as fast as this guy but once I learned his method my sharpening jigs and contraptions started to collect dust. I'm sort of bummed out because in posting these links I learned that the guy doing the sharpening, Dr. Cliff Stamp, has passed away. He was a true knife nut internet legend a few years ago.
Thats interesting. The idea of using a 200 grit waterstone to load what I assume is a regular Carborundum stone os a new one on me.
I vary how I sharpen a blade based on it's grind. For the Scandi knives, I use Japanese water stones. For the regular style, my EdgePro Apex system gets the nod. The convex edge knives are stropped. All knives are not the same, and can't be sharpened the same way.
Teal, have you established your angle and fully developed that? Use a Sharpie and mark the edge bevel on both sides evenly. Start with a clean stone and make a few light strokes per side and see if you are matching the angle on the blade. If so, you are in business. If not you either have to change angles on the Lansky until you match the bevel of the blade or you have to grind in a new bevel with coarse stones and continue on with that. Whatever the case, the whole point is having a consistent angle on both sides of the blade that matches your hone angle. Make sure your stones are clean. They will clog and fill with gunk and lose their effectiveness.
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
Good points there. Clean stones very important and don't change sides or grit until you are rolling a burr. I stop on 600 grit with two sessions, the second one very light, and then finish with an impregnated leather strop
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." Albert Einstein
At Khe Sanh a sign read "For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the protected never knew".
Got a Lansky - not getting near the level of sharpness I'd like with it. I need to keep working on it.
Might be I'm simply not doing enough with each stone. What's a "normal" number of passes to make?
Its like a Tootsie pop......no one knows!
Take a cue from the guy in the video sharpening the knife with a brick. Lightly cut into one of your stones at 90 degrees....like you are trying to cut it in half. This is going to cut off the old edge, remove stressed metal, and create a tiny "flat" where the old edge apex was. You can turn the knife spine up under a good light and see it. If you are my age you might need to grab some reading glasses or magnifier. Don't be scared, you won't hurt the knife.
Okay the object of the game now is to make that flat disappear by bringing the two planes of your bevel angle together so that they meet. Do an equal number of passes on each side, say 10, 20, whatever and each time you flip the Lansky check to see your progress under the light. You will see sections of the edge "going dark". Once the flat is completely gone you are done with the grinding part. The edge "going dark" is your cue that you are finished as opposed to a burr that you feel for. The other way works but it is more work and I much prefer and get better results this way. You have brought the planes together while minimizing the burr that you have to get rid of later. The knife is going to be pretty darn sharp at this point, should shave even from a fairly coarse stone. You can move up to a finer stone now but remember with it you are just polishing the edge you already created. Concentrate on creating a clean sharp edge with the coarser stone first because if you don't make the knife sharp with it, all you have after a stone progression is a polished, dull knife.
The same principle applies whether you sharpen by hand scrubbing back and forth, with circles, or use a jig. You want to make that flat disappear.
Last edited by RJY66; 08/16/21.
"Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants". --- William Penn
I used one for a long time and got good results but haven't in nearly a decade since I learned how to sharpen by hand from watching the guy in the video and maybe a couple of others. Bought an India stone, a bottle of mineral oil, and a pack of knives from the dollar store and went to town.
IF someone gave me a jig now I'd re-gift it, but many if not most prefer to go that route. Regardless of what you use, you have to sharpen all the way to the edge which I think the poster I replied to was probably not doing. Gotta make that flat disappear, raise a burr, whatever. You can't just guess and get anywhere.
Accurate bevels? Nice cosmetically, but irrelevant to cutting stuff. Consider a chisel or a plane blade which is beveled on one side and flat on the other. Serious woodworkers make them razor sharp.
Obsession with angles keep people from learning how to free hand sharpen. They know no one can hold a perfect angle and believe that to be a requirement. It isn't. Bringing two planes together to an apex and getting rid of what burrs you created in the process is.
Last edited by RJY66; 08/17/21.
"Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants". --- William Penn
A belt can be used, but it should have a solid backing and typically you should use stropping compound, so it would probably become dedicated. It can be used in a pinch without compound, but I'd just as soon recommend newspaper with a solid backing for the one off situations. Probably easier to just get your hands on a 2 to 3 in wide strip of leather and attach it to a backing permanently.
Got a Lansky - not getting near the level of sharpness I'd like with it. I need to keep working on it.
Might be I'm simply not doing enough with each stone. What's a "normal" number of passes to make?
Teal ,
A small tip on the Lansky , they have a little ''slop'' when the control rod passes through the hole letting the rod move slightly up&down . I put a paper towel over or under the rod to keep it on a more consistent stroke . The slop likely doesn't matter much but I figure 'why not' .
PRESIDENT TRUMP 2024/2028 !!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Bristoe The people wringing their hands over Trump's rhetoric don't know what time it is in America.
I sharpen quite a lot of knives because i forge and make my own. I invested in a set of diamond stones. These are completely worth the investment. It sure takes a lot of work out of the job.
I lay the knife down with the spine facing away from me and raise the spine til i find the angle i want. then bring the blade edge towards me. I go till i can feel a burr on one side, then flip and place the other face on the stone, blade towards me.
When im sure that i have the angle along the complete edge, i will switch to a finer grit.
Got a Lansky - not getting near the level of sharpness I'd like with it. I need to keep working on it.
Might be I'm simply not doing enough with each stone. What's a "normal" number of passes to make?
Teal ,
A small tip on the Lansky , they have a little ''slop'' when the control rod passes through the hole letting the rod move slightly up&down . I put a paper towel over or under the rod to keep it on a more consistent stroke . The slop likely doesn't matter much but I figure 'why not' .
And make sure that the blade is very tight in the clamp so it does not move. I bought my Lansky at a gun show in the early 80s, and have sharpened many knives and 100s of broadheads with it.
I vary how I sharpen a blade based on it's grind. For the Scandi knives, I use Japanese water stones. For the regular style, my EdgePro Apex system gets the nod. The convex edge knives are stropped. All knives are not the same, and can't be sharpened the same way.
+1
I use an Edge Pro Apex as well.......best money spent in a long time!
I used one for a long time and got good results but haven't in nearly a decade since I learned how to sharpen by hand from watching the guy in the video and maybe a couple of others. Bought an India stone, a bottle of mineral oil, and a pack of knives from the dollar store and went to town.
IF someone gave me a jig now I'd re-gift it, but many if not most prefer to go that route. Regardless of what you use, you have to sharpen all the way to the edge which I think the poster I replied to was probably not doing. Gotta make that flat disappear, raise a burr, whatever. You can't just guess and get anywhere.
Accurate bevels? Nice cosmetically, but irrelevant to cutting stuff. Consider a chisel or a plane blade which is beveled on one side and flat on the other. Serious woodworkers make them razor sharp.
Obsession with angles keep people from learning how to free hand sharpen. They know no one can hold a perfect angle and believe that to be a requirement. It isn't. Bringing two planes together to an apex and getting rid of what burrs you created in the process is.
I’m totally with you
Website : New website coming soon thanks for your patience
I used one for a long time and got good results but haven't in nearly a decade since I learned how to sharpen by hand from watching the guy in the video and maybe a couple of others. Bought an India stone, a bottle of mineral oil, and a pack of knives from the dollar store and went to town.
IF someone gave me a jig now I'd re-gift it, but many if not most prefer to go that route. Regardless of what you use, you have to sharpen all the way to the edge which I think the poster I replied to was probably not doing. Gotta make that flat disappear, raise a burr, whatever. You can't just guess and get anywhere.
Accurate bevels? Nice cosmetically, but irrelevant to cutting stuff. Consider a chisel or a plane blade which is beveled on one side and flat on the other. Serious woodworkers make them razor sharp.
Obsession with angles keep people from learning how to free hand sharpen. They know no one can hold a perfect angle and believe that to be a requirement. It isn't. Bringing two planes together to an apex and getting rid of what burrs you created in the process is.
I won a contract on the Hibernia project in Newfoundland in 1992... On the Terra Nova in 1997... The White Rose in 2000... ETC ETC All to say: Cliff was a good friend of mine. We agreed to disagree on less things than most. You are simply wrong...
You can no more tell someone how to do something you've never done, than you can come back from somewhere you've never been...
I used one for a long time and got good results but haven't in nearly a decade since I learned how to sharpen by hand from watching the guy in the video and maybe a couple of others. Bought an India stone, a bottle of mineral oil, and a pack of knives from the dollar store and went to town.
IF someone gave me a jig now I'd re-gift it, but many if not most prefer to go that route. Regardless of what you use, you have to sharpen all the way to the edge which I think the poster I replied to was probably not doing. Gotta make that flat disappear, raise a burr, whatever. You can't just guess and get anywhere.
Accurate bevels? Nice cosmetically, but irrelevant to cutting stuff. Consider a chisel or a plane blade which is beveled on one side and flat on the other. Serious woodworkers make them razor sharp.
Obsession with angles keep people from learning how to free hand sharpen. They know no one can hold a perfect angle and believe that to be a requirement. It isn't. Bringing two planes together to an apex and getting rid of what burrs you created in the process is.
I’ve used everything from whetstones to lansky type sharpeners to the Ken onion worksharp belt system. I can get a good edge on all of them but I do have my favorites.
For kitchen knives the worksharp is fast and easy. I don’t like it for nice knives or field knives, although it does work well. It will scratch your blade sides, take a bit more material off than you want, and creates a convex bevel that may be a bit harder to touch up with a stone.
For pocket and hunting knives I really like the Spyderco Sharpmaker, although it is kind of expensive for what you get. Add the diamond or CBN stones and use light pressure. It is one of the only systems that will sharpen serrations (if that’s your thing). It is probably the easiest manual system to learn. I use it for all my folders and outdoor knives.
Plain flat stone also works, within the limit of the users skill. I usually have a small dmt diafold or similarly handy for field sharpening.
I have achieved good results with the lansky type systems, but I don’t like them, as they are pretty labor intensive on the setup. I have never used the kme, wicked sharp, edge pro, etc. they all have their fans.
If all my sharpeners were gone and I had to start from scratch I would buy the Sharpmaker with diamond rods plus two diamond stones. A large double sided bench stone (C/F) for chisels, plane blades, general use, and a small double sided diafold (C/F) for field touchups.
