Sharpening your knives.

leupold90

Like that from new. I never used or sharpened it.

nightrave

Great post! By the way - is there a place in Dublin to buy a ceramic waterstone? I need to sharpen my VG10 kitchen knife

Deise Musashi

Not sure about Dublin?

Axminster or Dick do King Watersones?

What knife do you have? VG10 is top steel, Global maybe?

If you have no luck I can sharpen it up for you, just drop me a PM if you like.

Tackleberrywho

Deise Musashi wrote: »

Not sure about Dublin?

Axminster or Dick do King Watersones?

What knife do you have? VG10 is top steel, Global maybe?

If you have no luck I can sharpen it up for you, just drop me a PM if you like.

We need to grow up and learn how to do it ourselves though

.243

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

I'd love to be able to sharpen a blade well in the quickest way possible.

tack if you want to sharpen a blade well theres no way around it,it cant be done quickly,

Tackleberrywho

.243 wrote: »

tack if you want to sharpen a blade well theres no way around it,it cant be done quickly,

That's a relative point, to how sharp the blade is in the beginning.

Obviously a dull damaged blade that was paring insulation off bull wire will take longer to sharpen than a blade dulled by cutting meat which is sharp in 3 or 4 strokes of a steel.

I have been practising Deise Mise's techniques and the more I practice the faster I can do it

Always quicker ways of doing everything

nightrave

Deise Musashi wrote: »

Not sure about Dublin?

Axminster or Dick do King Watersones?

What knife do you have? VG10 is top steel, Global maybe?

If you have no luck I can sharpen it up for you, just drop me a PM if you like.

You would (will) laugh, but it's an Ikea knife
Thought about getting myself one of those and try to sharpen it. Couldn't find anything like this in Dublin so will have to order online...

Deise Musashi

Always quicker ways of doing everything

One of the quickest ways would be convex sharpening on a slack belt sander, watch the heat build up though!

Thos Ikea knives are decent steel and look a good shape and size.
You might find the Fallkniven stone a bit small for a knife that size.
It is intended to be used for touch ups in the field rather than full on sharpening.

A bench stone is generally used for larger knives, you need a bit of room to do the blade.

Have you tried the Halfords wet and dry backed by a mirror or piece of plate glass?
Use edge trailing strokes so you don't cut the paper.

You can get oilstones in most hardwares, just wet them with water rather than using oil. If you had an old stone that's had oil on it then you will have to continue using oil.

You can also get ceramics, waterstones, diamond plates etc. from Axminster

http://www.axminster.co.uk/sharpening-grinding-and-polishing-dept206829_pg1/

or lots of other places online.

Any questions feel free to ask.

nightrave

Deise Musashi wrote: »

You can get oilstones in most hardwares, just wet them with water rather than using oil. If you had an old stone that's had oil on it then you will have to continue using oil.

You can also get ceramics, waterstones, diamond plates etc. from Axminster

http://www.axminster.co.uk/sharpening-grinding-and-polishing-dept206829_pg1/

or lots of other places online.

Any questions feel free to ask.

I'm kinda new here in Dublin. Could you recommend me a hardware stone in city center?
P.S. While reading, I thought that VG10 is pretty hard so the only suitable sharpening equipment should be ceramic. Correct me if I'm wrong (obviously)

Tackleberrywho

Granite is easy get.
Any headstone man can supply;)

Deise Musashi

I thought that VG10 is pretty hard so the only suitable sharpening equipment should be ceramic

It really depends on the heat treat of the blade, generally if a maker has gone to the trouble of using VG10 laminate, he's going to take advantage of the hardness that blade can take.

I would expect this knife to be up around 60 rockwell.

Wet and dry will work, as will ceramic (the unglazed ring on the bottom of a mug for example), diamond plates like Aldi and Lidl have every so often, and then you can get in to DMT, Chosera, Shapton, EZE_Lap and all the exotic Japanese natural stones...:D



Something along the lines of this will put a decent toothy edge on. The coarser grits are good for setting the edge and repairing chips and dings. Follow that with stropping on finer grit wet and dry (there's a table comparison of different grit standards in previous posts), and if wanted polish with autosol on a leather belt.

A toothier edge can be good in the kitchen, it will grab and start a cut easily on tomatoe skin for example. A more refined and polished edge may slide a little before falling through the same tomatoe

Tackleberrywho

Whats the best edge for cutting through fur/hair/skin? Toothy?

I understand your tomato idea, a bit like my Gillette Mach 4 Turbo

nightrave

So you think this one would be enough for start?

Deise Musashi

That's one I have, I just used it as an example though. They do the job, as do the set of three I get in Lidl for a fiver. If you do go with diamond plates, use very little pressure.

The abrasive needs to do the work, pressing harder doesn't help, in fact it can lead to your diamond abrasive "sticking" on your knife and tearing out of the nickel used to bond them to the plates.

You could end up with baldy plates that are no use.

Also, the first two or three times you use these plates they are very aggressive. After this they are broken in and will with care work for years.

Lots of people think they are worn out when that initial performance wanes.
This is normal, using a well worn in or lapped plate is better than a fresh one, more consistent!

Whats the best edge for cutting through fur/hair/skin?

It's largely down to how you prefer your knives to perform. I usually try to pierce a hole with the tip of whatever knife I am using, then skin from the inside out. Saves cutting through hair and dirt, silicates etc. that would dull my edge.

For Deer, I would like to try the "golf ball" method of skinning, it'd save lots of wear on my fist as I use that more than knives when skinning!

Tackleberrywho

I do most of my skinning with my fists, but on occasion I have a cold carcass that skin is harder to remove and requires a blade.

I'll buy one of those diamond sharpeners this week

Deise Musashi

I have been sharpening a few kitchen knives for a member here, just want to show lads how knives can be resurrected even if very dull.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENsaSbtBevE

I'll have another video in a while showing more of the sharpening itself. Back to the Grindstone!


*120-10000 grit grindstones!

243Xpress

Nice Work.......

Ronnie Beck

Cool.

No more foraging for bracket fungus anymore:D.

Cheers for the tips. Never heard of using the car abrasive before. Made a crooked canoe knife there during the summer. it will do wonders for it.

Took so many hours making it but could never get it proper sharp. Going straight down to get one tomorrow.

Deise Musashi

Autosol or Peek are good!

Rub them in and let 'em dry, then strop away.

For a crooked knife a bit of dowel or brush handle with past on it might work well inside the curves?

I've never stropped on fungus but I hear it's good?

Thin suedy leather and proper compounds for me, it works!

Mauser 308

Amazing results, Wow

Deise Musashi

Second part of that set, showing the Edge Pro in action, some stropping tips and more paper cuts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLYEfGfAsak

Grizzly 45

Plus 1 ..Well impressive.Would you ever think of doing a course or hands on demo for knife sharpening Deise?Be plenty of folks intrested in that I think...I would be anyway.:D

Deise Musashi

That's part of why I video the sharpening I am doing, just to show lads how I go about putting an edge back on.

If there is anything you want to see let me know, or if your ever down this way drop in and we can do some work on waterstones, or whatever you prefer to use.

Ronnie Beck

Deise Musashi wrote: »

Autosol or Peek are good!

Rub them in and let 'em dry, then strop away.

For a crooked knife a bit of dowel or brush handle with past on it might work well inside the curves?

Ye you've given me lots of ideas i'm gonna try out. Just had 360 sandpaper on a brush handle before. gonna try make a good strop for it too.

I've never stropped on fungus but I hear it's good?

Thin suedy leather and proper compounds for me, it works!

Its all i've ever used so nothing to compare it with but it seem to work pretty well. Ist good in that you dont have to buy anything but you have to keep replacing them. gonna make a few like you described earlier at some stage.

Here is some guy making one if anyones wondering, same idea as the leather: http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=pgp1apsQhXE

Can you put up a glossary of the Knife terms(strop, bevel, honing, sharpening etc.)you use, at the beginning of the thread. (found it a bit confusing at first).

Thanks again.

remi243

Great post deise and very interesting to see how you go through the different stages!! I'd fancy one of the edge pros myself but I see it's mostly corse to medium stones as an option would it be difficult to source compatable Dimond stones for finer finishing? And deise would the same system you used in the vids work on fish filleting knives? As they are fairly thin and flexible ?

Deise Musashi

I'd fancy one of the edge pros myself but I see it's mostly corse to medium stones as an option would it be difficult to source compatable Dimond stones for finer finishing?

The stock stones from Edge Pro are cheap and go up to a decent fine grit, their grit ratings are different from the ones used in Japan or different again from grit ratings for wet and dry paper for example. Edge Pro also do polishing tapes designed for finishing fibre optics, mounted on a glass blank they give a very nice polish.

Chefknivestogo do a chosera stone pack for he edge pro going from 400 to 10000 grit, I have the 3k, 5k and 10k stones and they leave a nice finish!

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/chedpro7pa.html

Being waterstones they wear, so I like to use diamond plates that stay flat and last ages. I bought 1x6 stones by Eze-LAP and mounted them to Edge Pro blanks myself.

http://eze-lap.com/hunting_fishing_outdoor_use/diamond-stones/

After 1200 grit Diamond I will either strop on my big leather strop, or polish with Choseras/polish tapes/strop I made for Edge Pro.

would the same system you used in the vids work on fish filleting knives? As they are fairly thin and flexible ?

It works well on fillet knives, boners and slicing knives as the blade is supported by the table. Just the edge overhangs so you are not relying on the blade's stiffness to hold contact with the abrasive.

If I were to buy again, I would be happy enough with the Edge Pro Apex basic kit, and source diamond stones from DMT or Atoma or Eze-Lap.

Polish tapes, Cubic Boron Nitride, Chromium Oxide, etc. are nice to haves.

I would get the Drill collar clamp and Angle Cube again also, nothing like repeatable accuracy in a system like this.

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/edgepro.html

I went with the Pro. version as it has a clamp system for doing scissors, if I ever figure out how to do those convex Japanese hairdresser's scissors! :eek:

http://www.edgeproinc.com/

Deerspotter

Brilliant videos, brilliant thread. Well done and thank you. It is generous contributions like this that make this forum the best forum on the web. A++

Granite Head

Deise Musashi wrote: »

If I were to buy again, I would be happy enough with the Edge Pro Apex basic kit, and source diamond stones from DMT or Atoma or Eze-Lap.

Polish tapes, Cubic Boron Nitride, Chromium Oxide, etc. are nice to haves.

I would get the Drill collar clamp and Angle Cube again also, nothing like repeatable accuracy in a system like this.

Great post Deise - often revisited by me.

I was hoping to get a knife sharpening set up for my knives (mainly scandi grind and two convex grind folders, along with the usual array of kitchen knives).

Would the Edge Pro Apex basic kit be sufficient? What other items would you include from Edge Pro if you were ordering again?

Also when you got your Edge Pro were you hit with custom duties?

Deise Musashi

Would the Edge Pro Apex basic kit be sufficient?

Yes, it's a very good kit. Depending on the level of finish you want to get you may want some of the higher grit stones. The only trouble with the stones is that they wear and leave a gritty slurry around the table. This can scratch up the sides of your knife. You can tape the sides or just get diamond plates and use those instead. No flattening needed and a long service life

What other items would you include from Edge Pro if you were ordering again?

I got the pro kit, all the stones, glass blanks, polish tapes, diamond stones and chosera stones.I would buy less doing it again if anything! The gadget itself with DMT/Atoma or Eze-Lap diamonds and a large strop is all you really need. I love the angle cube and the drill stop collar, both do basically the same job but the angle cube lets you set an exact angle, or match an existing one.

scandi grind and two convex grind folders, along with the usual array of kitchen knives

The convex edges are better done on a mouse mat with wet and dry paper abrasive, matches the contours better. The Apex will sharpen everything else bar very hooked blades like kerambits or some of the Spyderco knives (Harpy and Civilian).

Currently I am looking for a motor for my belt sander, it'll let me convex knives quickly and then either finish on the edge-pro or do them entirely up to leather stropping on the sander.
Convex is very good on kitchen knives, especially softer western steels. Japanese knives often have asymmetrical or totally one sided chisel edges, so Edge Pro is still the best bet there.

Have you tried the mouse mat and sandpaper methos on your kitchen knives? It works well and is easy to maintain and touch up on a loaded strop or fine grit paper. Good for camp knives and larger cleaver type choppers as well, with a thicker angle used to handle the forces involved.

iTom

Well done Deise Musashi that is +1 post for all the time and effort you have put into it.
You should do some classes on this could be a nice little earner for you.