Knife sharping techniqe

[NS0201]

I Am No Longer In Need Of Help Ilost Wanted To Clear Up Info. On My Knives And Tools I Use For Future References Thanks For The Help

[crashdive123]

Try looking through this thread for some good info. http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2361&highlight=knife+sharpening

[Sarge47]

I learned about knife Sharpening when I used to cook professionally for Holiday Inn. Somewhere, probably in the Survival Knife Sticky, I posted on the difference between SHARPENING a knife, & REALIGNING the microscopic teeth/maintaining the edge. Here's the recap! You SHARPEN a knife with a whet stone, or even sandpaper; you strop the blade on a "STEEL" to REALIGN the microscopic teeth. The best $10 or $20 you could ever spend is to go over to either a butcher shop, or the meat dept. in your local supermarket & tell the 1st "friendly" butcher you can find that you'd like him to teach you how to sharpen knives. Offer to pay him/her, but they may just do it for free. Anyway, that's what I'd do. Lacking that, look for a "Fine-Dining" restaurant where they're known for cutting there own steaks and talk to the Head Cook/Chef!(go during the "down time", not the rush period.) You'd be surprised how eager some of these guys are to share their knowledge.:cool:

[dragonjimm]

microscopic edge... under a microscope at say 10,000(?) magnification..the edge of you're knife looks like a comb with the teeth sticking every which way or a fuzzy piece of rope... with use you're wearing away these fine wire like teeth.
when you sharpen you're knife, you're removing the surface of the blade(this is the stuff you find in you're) stone exposing more of these hairs. by stropping or steeling, essentially you are aligning these hairs in the same direction. so basically all knife edges are serrated :eek:

Illustrated Knife magazine ran an article on sharpening methods and the author included pictures of several microscopic edges with it..

sorry you hit my geek bone:D

[NS0201]

new help read top...

[crashdive123]

NS0201 - How sharp it needs to be is going to depend on what you want to use it for. For example - I like my felling ax to be as sharp as possible, while my splitting maul is much less sharp. Same thing would apply to knives. The sharper the edge, the thinner it is.

[Gray Wolf]

new help read top...

I posted this where crash told ya to look:

Here's another very detailed Sharping FAQ, He even talks about John Juranitch and why you should not use oil or water on a stone.

http://www.knifeart.com/sharfaqbyjoe.html

[bladefrenzy]

Sorry I gotta disagree with Crashdrive123 . Thinner isn't sharper, just thinner. You can have a 25 degree per side edge and it be much sharper than a 15 degree per side edge. Thinner may cut some stuff better, but if thinner meant sharper convex edges wouldn't cut. And a vast majority of the time, a convex edge will out cut most others. I will also add there are always exceptions to the rule just like with anything else.

[crashdive123]

I stand corrected.

[bladefrenzy]

I didn't mean that in a smart a** kinda way. Hope it didn't sound like it.

I will add that you are spot on with the felling axe vs. maul. Thinner axe, thicker maul.

[crashdive123]

Nope. Not at all. Looking at alot of your posts, you seem to have quite a bit more knowledge on the topic than I do. Thanks for the correction.

[bladefrenzy]

I am told by my wife that sometimes I come off too strong and sound know it all. I 'm a knife maker and it's a passion of mine, cutting tools of all types that is. I guess maybe it's OCD not passion,lol. Sometimes I can't quiet express myself the way I intended when posting.

[crashdive123]

That's OK - the older I get, sometimes I don't hear things the way they were said....at least that's what my wife keeps telling me. I have gained a renewed interest in sharp things. I'm playing around with making some little blades from scrap and practicing tempering the metal. In the threa "Which knife do you prefer" I posted some pics of some of my knives. The lower left on the first pic are blanks that I picked up last weekend, while the lower right on the same pic are some older ones in need of some TLC.

[NS0201]

This is the suvival knife I want:

http://budk.com/sw-combat-survival/p/17%20SWHRTDR/c/6065/

[bladefrenzy]

I keep all my knives as sharp as I feel like. To me it's like keeping your car tuned up, it's easier to maintain one than to completely sharpen one when it gets really dull. IMHO that is, other prefer to wait til dull then sharpen. Whatever works for you.

Did you buy that knife already?

[Arkansas_Ranger]

I can't sharpen a knife either. :(

[NS0201]

I keep all my knives as sharp as I feel like. To me it's like keeping your car tuned up, it's easier to maintain one than to completely sharpen one when it gets really dull. IMHO that is, other prefer to wait til dull then sharpen. Whatever works for you.

Did you buy that knife already?

No... Right now I have my grandpa's(former veryday knife) going in a case and my other knives in my inhome survival kit or collection box. I keep my leatherman with me all the time and I will use the survival knife in the woods with the leatherman as a backup.

The leatherman is my heart/soul. I sometimes perfer it more in the woods then the survival knife.

[Teacher]

Mutitools (leathermen) are a God-send in many a situation in the field. I tell ALL my students to put one in thier kits if they can, even the small ones that are out now. I always carry one on my belt and a back up in my pack.

[a2tool]

It is important to suit the knife you are using to the environment you are going into.

[Rick]

It's important to hit the Introduction section and tells us something about yourself, too.

[NS0201]

I did when I first came here sarge told me too.

[trax]

ns0201, if you're gonna lay out a hundred bucks for a knife, I'd suggest you find someone with experience sharpening. We can all tell you what angle to hold the knife at, or what stone to use, but know what? We aren't there with the knife in our hands. I don't mean just take it to some old shop and pay some guy. Find someone (cooks are good) who will show you, then you'll know. Then when you're out in the middle of nowhere, you won't have to pack a computer along to check our advice.

[crashdive123]

I did when I first came here sarge told me too.

I don't belive Rick's comment was pointed in your direction. Also, good advice from Trax. Seeing and doing is a much more valuable learning experience than reading and guessing.

[Rick]

Sorry. I was following A2tool's post. That was his first so I asked him to Introduce him (her) self.

[NS0201]

Oh, ok.

Thanks but I really don't plan on buying a $100 knife ANYMORE.

Survival knife: Shopping around for a new one

Swiss Army knife: It's in my house kit.


Hammer knife thingy: Also in my house kit.


leatherman: I use hunting and hiking

pocket knife: In my draw incase i ever need it.

But the problem with going to a chef is the same problem I have with carring my knife around on my belt sheath. I am 13...Since I live in the city(That's why I say almost when carring my knife around, I don't carry it around in the city or school) It's hard to have a chef say yeah here's how you do it.

[Gray Wolf]

But the problem with going to a chef is the same problem I have with carring my knife around on my belt sheath. I am 13... It's hard to have a chef say yeah here's how you do it.

That may be due to insurance/law suit concerns.

[NS0201]

That may be due to insurance/law suit concerns.

I now through my stones in the collectiong box and but a handheld slide through sharpener for 3 dollars

[trax]

ns, the survival knife you showed said it retailed for just under a hundred, that's why I said what I said. Didn't realize you're that young, must have missed it in your posts. Make some calls around, there might be a shop that does sharpening, I've found small engine/lawn mower repair shops often offer it as a service. Carry the knife down in a box, no one's going to bother you. If you tell the guy that you're interested in learning how to do it right and want him to show you, he'll probably be flattered and happy to share some expertise. Ceramic rods are good too though, you won't do any harm with them anyway.

[NS0201]

EDIT: I now use a slide through hand held I bought from walmart

[pgvoutdoors]

I learned about knife Sharpening when I used to cook professionally for Holiday Inn. Somewhere, probably in the Survival Knife Sticky, I posted on the difference between SHARPENING a knife, & REALIGNING the microscopic teeth/maintaining the edge. Here's the recap! You SHARPEN a knife with a whet stone, or even sandpaper; you strop the blade on a "STEEL" to REALIGN the microscopic teeth. The best $10 or $20 you could ever spend is to go over to either a butcher shop, or the meat dept. in your local supermarket & tell the 1st "friendly" butcher you can find that you'd like him to teach you how to sharpen knives. Offer to pay him/her, but they may just do it for free. Anyway, that's what I'd do. Lacking that, look for a "Fine-Dining" restaurant where they're known for cutting there own steaks and talk to the Head Cook/Chef!(go during the "down time", not the rush period.) You'd be surprised how eager some of these guys are to share their knowledge.:cool:

A great idea, chefs are very willing show off their skills!

[bladefrenzy]

NS0201 if I may make a suggestion. That knife you posted is a recurve, even some hardened pros would have a bit of a time sharpening a recurve. Also, that is a Smith&Wesson knife. I am sure if you really want that particular knife you could shop around and get it for like $35. Smoky Mountain knife works sells a ton of stuff like that.
With that said, I would check into some Kabars and Ontario knives. For the price of the one in your link you could probably get 2 of those, especially if ya get em from some of the knife forums. The Kabar Becker knives should be out in a few months, killer deals on awesome knives!!

I think you might be more pleased without a recurved edge for your first real hard use knife. Not trying to be bossy, but I remember when I was shopping around for one of my first fixed blades and it was hard to decide, especially going on looks. Hope this helps. Later, Steve

[Ole WV Coot]

ns things have changed since I was 13 and it ain't for the better. I have carried a pocket knife since I can remember. From the first grade until now, almost 60 years later. We fought like dogs & cats but nobody even thought about cutting someone and when I was in high school we took shotguns on the bus, put them in our lockers and rabbit hunted in the bottom after school. Nobody got shot or threatened, we grew up with both and they were for hunting and cleaning game. Sometimes I am kinda scared to answer some questions young folks ask me, don't know what I can tell and what I can't. I even caught it from the wife and daughter in law for showing my 17yr old grandson how to make a simple block to break an elbow. If you have a stone get you an old junker knife and a black marker. Mark your edge each side of the blade, won't have even a 1/4" and stroke the blade, look at it to see if the marker is coming off even. If that's good for a hunting knife back off to 1/8" and do the same thing. When you can get a decent edge on a junker, it don't have to hold it just for practice then you do the same with yours. Follow the lines on yours, just takes practice and get a decent piece of steel, K-Bar for the price is good, lots are personal choice. I carried a k-bar in the 60s and I can shave with it, including the false edge. Give it a try.:D

[bladefrenzy]

Good advice Coot.

[tonester]

how and what do you use to sharpen a convex grind? is it the same as sharpening any other grind? i used the search box but couldnt find anything on it.

[Tony uk]

how and what do you use to sharpen a convex grind? is it the same as sharpening any other grind? i used the search box but couldnt find anything on it.

Im not too sure tonester, However i managed to find this site

http://home.nycap.rr.com/sosak/convex.htm


It looks pritty good for the question you asked