How do you sharpen your knives?

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SniperStraz

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Hello all!
Just wondering how everyone else sharpens their knives. Do you use a stone, a ceramic plate, or some nifty sharpening system.

I use the Lansky system. It works pretty well but takes a while to get a really nice edge. If I'm out in the woods I have a little pocket stone with a coarse side and a sharp side.
 
I just use a fine stone with a little water like my grandfather showed me thirty some years ago. I also wash the stone off after every use.
 
I have an electric water stone. Works great. I think I bought this at Walmart about a hundred years ago for $9.00. Of course the old standby, hand-held stone with a bit of oil or water on it works great in the field.
 
I use the Lansky system a lot. With patience and some careful thought about the blade bevel geometry it really does do a nice, precise job.

I also like the Spyderco Sharpmaker for an easier and pretty decent sharpening system.
 
I'm curious about the "stones" comment. When you guys use stones do you use anything as a guide or do you just make free-hand strokes?
 
I free-hand it with my stones, and try to hold it at an angle that "feels" like I'm attempting to slice a fine layer off the top of the stone. Of course, the idea with a stone is to not let the knife get very dull to point that the blade needs angle restoration. If I'm feelin' a bit frisky, I follow up with a leather strop and diamond paste.
 
I tried using stones for years and finally broke down and bought the Spyderco Sharpmaker. Worth every penny. I only regret not doing it sooner. Also, the ceramic stones that come with it are very handy for other jobs. I recently cleaned up the sear on my Marliin 25 with them, for example. Also, they can laid flat and be used like a traditional stone if you have a need to. IMO, that is a big advantage over the systems that use round rods.
 
I have used a Spyderco Sharpmaker for several years and I really like it.
However, I still on occasion go back to my bench mounted Medium India and Hard Arkansas stones.
With practice,the stones are a great way of sharpening and I really think the process can be learned if one wants to do it.
I really can't say what virtues are necessary to "stone sharpen" but I really think that there is none better.
Practice maybe??
 
I use stones and ceramic and for super hard steel I use a hard felt or hard muzzelin wheel with a polishing compound on a bench grinder. It depends on the type of steel that I'm dealing with.
 
I found a very cool gadget at a sportsman show last year, called the Hunter Honer. Here is a picture with a few of my favorite knives

sany0868.jpg


I was at this show and the guy was talking about how great a sharpener it was. I had a Leatherman wave with a pretty dull blade with me. He took about 20 seconds with it and it was sharp enough to shave your arm bald. It does not remove metal, just places it back where it was when it was ground. I still use a Lansky system for profiling really messed up blades, but after that, the hunter honer does an incredible job.
 
Uh,...I am probably gonna get flamed here,...but I pretty much use the bottom of one of gazillion ceramic coffee cups around here, free hand,...and occasionaly the side of the cast iron lid from the bean pot to smooth things out......

I own a couple of good stones, a couple of fine diamond sharpeners,..and various other little gadets that work too,...but,..the coffee cups work,..and I can usually FIND one of them pretty quickly. :)

BTW,...I use my knives every day for something,..if nothing more than cutting a piece of twine or a rope. And I hate dull blades.
 
I have a Norton waterstone. Just the 220/1000 grit. Puts a great edge on my knives, I also have a "strop" with MDF and some of that green compound stuff that helps keep them sharp.

I really want to get some of the DMT diamond plates. Waterstone maintenance is a PITA
 
Sharpen : Bader BIII with 220 grit , then 400 grit , then either a worn 600 grit loaded with rouge or off to the 8" paper wheels system.

Resharpen: worn 600 grit loaded with rouge or the 8" paper wheels system
 
I use a large DMT DuoSharp primarily with coarse and fine sides. If I feel like it, I do a final touch up with a the green extra fine DMT. Also use cermic rods for touch up as well.
 
Freehand with a DC-4 stone, a combo stone with ceramic on one side (fine) diamond plate on the other (medium).

Touch-ups with various grits of sandpaper, only up to 1000 grit.
 
I have a set of graduated grit ceramic stones that do most of my sharpening work which is all done freehand. I use them dry and clean them with an eraser when they load up too much.

If I want a finer edge, when I'm done with the finest ceramic stone I have, I strop using aluminum oxide powder on a piece of scrap leather.

If I need to completely reprofile an edge, I used a diamond stone for that because it's so much faster.
 
thunder173 said:
Uh,...I am probably gonna get flamed here,...but I pretty much use the bottom of one of gazillion ceramic coffee cups around here, free hand,...and occasionaly the side of the cast iron lid from the bean pot to smooth things out......

I own a couple of good stones, a couple of fine diamond sharpeners,..and various other little gadets that work too,...but,..the coffee cups work,..and I can usually FIND one of them pretty quickly. :)

BTW,...I use my knives every day for something,..if nothing more than cutting a piece of twine or a rope. And I hate dull blades.
Click to expand...

Thunder, I had never though of this, but I just tried it and I'll be damned, it works!
 
.I am probably gonna get flamed here,...but I pretty much use the bottom of one of gazillion ceramic coffee cups around here, free hand,
Click to expand...

Nope, you won't hear a negative peep. We've had a couple of threads on all the "stuff" laying around that someone that knows how to freehand sharpen can use. Look at the frosted top of your car/truck door window glass for a handy fine sharpener. ;)

If you want to learn patience, SM recommends the back of a notepad. That paste board has enough mineral content to put an edge on a knife if it isn't too far gone.
 
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