Sup anons,
Starting to get into bigger blades and need to step my sharpening game up. For my pocket knives I've been using a turn-box and finishing on a strop, but I'm thinking of investing in some proper stones to sharpen convex and scandi ground blades.
What do ya'll use?
>>768089
I'm considering pic related to reset dull edges which is the arduous task. Can finish on higher grit sandpaper (have 1000,1500,2000 already handy).
Sound ok? I'd like to be able to sharpen recurves (my Khukri), long blades 10''+ and axes.
>>768091
you won't be able to get curved parts very sharp with a wide stone, other than hat go for it
>>768089
I use the lansky kit sometimes. It's fine and all, but just learn to freehand with it, so much better.
Most of the time I just use a slice of a red brick soaked in water overnight and a ceramic tile.
Not even a poorfag, they just work well.
>>768089
I haven't sharpened my knives in about 5-8 or so years. I use them every day too. I just don't do things with them that dull them and they are made of antique tool steel. So, basically, I haven't sharpened them since I made them.
>>768152
>I haven't sharpened my knives in about 5-8 or so years.
>I use them every day too.
They are either dull as fuck and you have just gotten used to it and don't notice how dull they are or you actually don't use them for anything that requires a sharp knife.
>>768152
b8
That's literally impossible
>>768152
>I just don't do things with them that dull them
what, like, USE them? kek
With my pocket knives I touch them up regularly and usage is always light. At worst they do a bit of woodwork, usually just food/paper/card/rope that kinda stuff so t's easy to keep a keen edge.
But choppers and knives that get abused.. My khukri is suffering from a flattened apex on the tip where it gets a lot of abuse. Its' quite a soft heat treat I suppose, which is fine as it makes it quicker/easier to sharpen, but if I leave it too long it leaves me with a lot of work.
>>768174
Again, b8, very common b8 too, literally impossible to not dull your tools after a year of use, let alone 5-8 years, no matter how you use it or what steel it's made out of.
>>768174
>Learn to read a fucking map
>Your father should have told you this
Nepal =/= China
Also,
>implying you need a rockwell hardness 60 knife
There is literally no problem with a 'soft' heat treat. That's the beauty of basic tool steels - they're easy to maintain.
I owned an S90V blade and guess what it was a FUCKING PAIN to sharpen because it was so hard and wear resistant. Woe to whoever neglects to keep on top of the upkeep of a super steel.
Also,
>Don't abuse your tools
Maybe abuse is the wrong word. But a chopper is gonna chop. And chopping a chopper concentrates the wear on one part of the blade, hence, my point.
So on /out/ we get knoife threads ad nauseam, but nobody sharpens their knives?
>>768152
theres a certain point where the edge is more of a shaped point than a cutting edge. the retention of that edge is near exponentially sturdier than a true bevel. its not sharp though. the reason axes use convex and not bevels is because the convex edge is many more times robust than an angled edge, and can take the force without warping
regardless, im in the boat as the other responders, in that your knife is very dull and you dont notice
>>768089
A Spyderco Sharpmaker plus a set of their diamond rods should get you where you want to be.
>>768648
I don't waste time going up the grits and playing with half a dozen stones anymore.
Now I just use two stones and a strop.
I start with heavy strokes on a 36grit scythe stone to bring up a burr or set the bevel.
Then on to a 400-600 grit natural stone to refine the edge and I finish with a light micro bevel.
Final step is a quick polish on a 1.5" paddle strop with white/green compound.
>>768152
Can you show us the knives you made?
I just use this my knives are always razor sharp plus its got a strop (not amazing strop but it works) http://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-WSGFS221-Guided-Sharpener/dp/B009YKHZ96/ref=pd_rhf_se_s_cp_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=31QLyLa1T0L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_SL500_SR135%2C135_&refRID=1ZP1W0B18C9C2EVHYSZ8
>>768955
Edit: I also sharpen my axe my bk7 my 12 inch machete and my neck knife all the time on it.
>>768152
Butter knife?
>>768648
what are you trying to prove?
>>768940
What would you recommend to bring back a seriously dull axe by hand without too much ardour?
I've never heard of anyone starting with 36 seems very coarse but maybe thats where I'm going wrong.
>>769128
a rough file if super dull+chipped
bastard/mil file for super dull w/o chips
>>769083
that he isn't afraid to break the rules
>>768089
I don't really understand the need for a whole knife sharpening kit. I've worked in the armed forces for several years and routinely use my tools for all manners of different work, including building shelter. I've used a Gränsfors Axe, a Fällkniven Knife, two Moras and a small Gerber folding knife quite often. I also have a KH kukhri and a coldsteel tomahawk for novelty. I sharpen all of these except the folder with a gränsfors sharpening stone, two sided (coarse and fine, of course). For the folder I have a small and cheap "diamond grinder" in a plastic, folding package attached to my keychain. The only reason for the second one is that it's cumbersome to sharpen the smaller knife with the bigger, round gränsfors knife.
I get good, durable edges with my single stone. I do not know of a single Swedish military, hunter or general outdoorsman that sharpens his knives with several stones. They might, if the situation is dire, machine-sharpen a knife beforehand to get a rough grind to work on.
Why do people feel the need for a whole kit? What are the actual gains from it? Is it because of the different grinds? And why the strop? I can, if I want, get a knife sharp enough to shave with my stone, although I generally consider it unecessary.
>>771734
what rules is he breaking? he never said he was underage
>>768089
Just bought a 420/800 stone, and a 1000/6000 stone along with some green stropping compound. I really beat the piss out of my bush knives and wanted to cover the whole range, from reworking the blade geometry and getting out chips/nicks, to putting the mirror finish on it. I'll probably get a nagiri stone here after awhile.
>>769128
Rough file --> Mill Bastard file --> Axe stone --> Strop
Just be careful with those files, as they can really take a lot of metal off.
>>772992
Is it because of the different grinds?
Yes. You can basically rennovate a knife with 2 or 3 stones. The strop will make sure you can shave more than once. But I agree that you don't NEED it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwZVzuq9wqY
>>772992
>Why do people feel the need for a whole kit? What are the actual gains from it?
They like the way a polished edge cuts. Once you use a blade like that, nothing else will seem sharp.
>I can, if I want, get a knife sharp enough to shave with my stone, although I generally consider it unecessary.
There are varying degrees of sharpness. Shaving hair is the first step. Anything less is a manlet. Cutting paper, but not shaving is king of the manlets.
>>773350
You need a much coarser grit than 420 to rework a blade. You will end up wearing out the stone and having to spend an afternoon rubbing it on a sidewalk to get it flat again.
>>774236
recommended grit for bringing back a dull knife / reshaping edge geometry?
240? lower?
>>774236
I've got a stone grinding wheel for horking off metal like that. You're right though that 420 is probably going to need to be re flattened after I profile my Esee6. I'll almost certainly pick up a 200 stone in the near future.
I think I'll probably go ahead and get a 24 inch camp axe as well to do the grunt work though. No sense fucking up my bush knives when I can use a proper hatchet for whacking.
>>768089
I use two stones and a strop on my knives.
Sigma Power Select II waterstones in 1000x and 3000x, an Atoma 140 plate for keeping the waterstones flat, and a suede bench strop with 30 micron CBN emulsion.
I use SPS-II stones because they simply cut faster than any other sharpening stone available.
I use coarse particulate abrasives (10-30 micron) of CBN or diamond on suede to strop because they create a convex micro-bevel that gives an apex with very high push cutting sharpness but without the loss of slicing aggression typical with stropped edges.
>>774369
>mirror edge mora shot
fucking saved
>>774373
Not just a Mora, a Companion MG I ordered reground to FFG, so it's ~0.080" at the spine and ~0.010" behind the edge.
>>774236
>>773862
But why do people feel the need to have razor-sharp knives? If I had a straight razor to shave with, sure, but the purpose of my knives are not to shave. I woodwork and do other camp-related things. For all practical, applicable purposes I can make my knives just as sharp as when professionally ground, even laser-sharped from a high end knife maker.
It feels like it's more of a "Haha, look how sharp I can get my knife!" rather than something that actually has an applicable point. I don't cut paper with my knives. The only knife I have that I have that sharp and would like to have that sharp is one of my kitchen knives.
>>768089
came here to say, great post idea.
Everyone can use knife sharpening guidance.
>>768152
>I only use my knife to cut apples on the trail
>>774533
>But why do people feel the need to have razor-sharp knives?
Because they like the way a sharp knife cuts.
The line between sharp and dull is shaving hair.
If it can't shave hair the burr has not been sufficiently removed, or the edge was not set properly.
After that point there are many degrees of sharpness.
Polished edges are basically a requirement for woodworking.
>>774648
>The line between sharp and dull is shaving hair.
If it can't shave hair the burr has not been sufficiently removed, or the edge was not set properly
By this I mean that if a knife cuts paper but not hait then it is not sharp. What is cutting the paper is actually the burr, which will soon degrade and leave the knife feeling "dull" again.
By telling people that your knives are sharp, then in the next sentence say they are not capable of cleanly slicing a sheet of paper you are contradicting yourself.
You can get a sharp edge out of a file or 120grit stone. People use finer stones to get a more polished edge. Polished edges cut by "pushing", instead of "sawing". Like you would use a chisel or a plane.
The sharper a knife is, the less force you have to impart to get it to cut. Less force = finer control and greater safety.
>>774664
Entirely correct, I would only add that being able to make cuts with less force also significantly improves edge retention.
>>774238
I would not go lower than 240, starts taking way too much material off.
>>774238
The choice of grit should mostly depends on how large a surface area you will be grinding.
For setting new edge bevels or fixing visible.edge damage, a 240x waterstone (ideally a Sigma Power Select II) is a great choice.
For working a primary grind, I use a 90x silicon carbide oilstone loaded with 36x silicon carbide from another stone.
Pic related primary was thinned that way.
>>773350
Update. It turned out that Nipponrese labeling fucked it up, it was actually a 220/800 stone and a 1000/6000 stone.
I took my Esee 6 from beat to shit and chipped to mirror polish shaving hair sharp in a half an hour.
Then I sharpened all my cooking knives. The stones do great work but if you aren't using a green stropping compound (applied to the back of my leather belt) and stropping that knife you are truly missing out on the best that edge can get.
In all the set is about 5lbs and will absolutely be worth packing if you plan on being out doing a shitload of carving/cutting/edge work. One thing to note though, I have to rub the 220/800 stone on the 6000 grit to build a slurry, it will only form that shitty black grit when applying the knife blade so a nagiri stone is probably a good call. However you can get an effective slurry just by rubbing the stones. Also helps to keep them level/flat.
>>776303
I would seriously recommend trying a diamond or CBN paste abrasive instead of green compound for stropping. Even a 6 micron DMT DiaPaste would be miles better than green compound.
I personally use 16 micron CBN most of the time.
>>776508
If these can be applied to a leather belt and used exactly like the green compound then I say go for it. I have no experience with the various types of stropping compounds, so you guys would probably know better. Whatever your flavor though strop the knife it really does do wonders.
>>768089
Norton Silicon Carbide medium/fine
Norton Fine India stone
Syperco Ceramic Medium, Fine, Extra Fine
>>779121
>>779121
I own all the Spyderco ceramics and I would go Sigma Power Select II 1000x -> 6000x -> 10000x every time in preference to everything after the India F, personally.
Still, if you prefer to keep using the stones you have, I would coat them liberally with mineral oil while using them. It really helps prevent the stones loading.
>>768624
for the record, I do.
for stainless pretty much sandpaper up to 1500 at most starting from about 100. Usually finish up with a few pulls across a rough glass surface.
carbon steel. Just wetstones grading up and up. If you want deadly sharp lose the strop and just get finer stones to finish with. strop works for general use well enough but you're basically bend breaking metal in the end with it and will never have an optimum edge if you're looking for that.
>>784104
Strops used with compounds and with moderate force don't work that way.
The particulate abrasives remove any remaining burr by abrasion and not by plastic deformation.
If you don't believe me, feel free to Google the Science of Sharp blog where a guy with an electron microscope proved that pasted strops work through abrasion.
Also, if what you believed was true, it would be impossible to maintain straight razors using strops because they would destroy the extremely thin, fragile apexes of straight razors trivially.
The typical mistakes people make with stropping are using too much force, using strops with too little pliability, and using compounds that are waaaaay too fine.
You dont have to sharen the ontario ranger tfi
I use this.
>>785730
I wouldn't use a powered sharpener all the time, I would maybe use it to profile a blade but then I would use hand tools to maintain it
where do i start with sharpening? I have a tiny ass kershaw cinder, a spyderco ukpk and looking to get a mora for bushcraft. never sharpened any of them.
also can anyone recommend a mora under $50
>>788122
If you get the dif grade belts, than there is nothing wrong with it. If you only use their like 220 and 7k grit belts, than god no.
>>774549
OP here, thanks bro, /out/ gets good content but loads of floating turds [gear lust armchair autist threads]
as an update to OP I ended up ordering an
Ice Bear combination water stone, 250/1000 grit.
Will post another update once I've had a shot of it.
>>774664
question re resetting an edge: best way? just work one bevel at chosen angle at low grit until burr appears and then go from there? or?
>>788132
from my limited experience I really like the lanksy turnkey kit,, it's pretty much all I need for my basic pocket knives (opinel, sak, sodbusters, spyderco ukpk that kinda thing)
If you have convex or scandi ground blades a stone is much easier.
>>788797
turn box, rather, pic related..
>>788717
You are still removing more metal than necessary each sharpening, even with high grits or leather belts
