Ways to get a good sharp edge

Ernie Swanson

Ernie Swanson

SASSY PINK LUUNCHBOX KNIFE MAKER
I was thinking that I am going to have to get good at sharpening knives.

Once I get things going I am going to offer knife sharpening and of course all my knifes will have free sharpening for the life of the knife!!

I was thinking about buying this system here
http://www.lanskysharpeners.com/LKCLX.php

Is it any good??

Also what are the ways some of you sharpen?, if you dont mind sharing!!
 
Ernie, dont forget the old sand paper and mouse pad trick. Gets you a shaving sharp edge. Thats what I used before getting the my first grinder. It works...give it a shot. Diamond stones work wonders too!
Ernie Swanson said:
I was thinking that I am going to have to get good at sharpening knives.

Once I get things going I am going to offer knife sharpening and of course all my knifes will have free sharpening for the life of the knife!!

I was thinking about buying this system here
http://www.lanskysharpeners.com/LKCLX.php

Is it any good??

Also what are the ways some of you sharpen?, if you dont mind sharing!!
Click to expand...
 
Ernie.

I use the stones from my Lanky kit to sharpen but the jig is a PITA IMHO. If the spine of every knife had parallel sides it may work better but I'd go with something else if I we're you. With a distal taper the jig will not grip the blade properly and will want to twist off.

Sharpening on the belt is quick and easy and will easily produce a shaving sharp edge. I still finish the old fashioned way though by hand on stones. Then strop on a leather strop loaded with white jewelers rogue. This takes you from shaving to hair popping.

Paper wheels seem to be getting quite a following these days although I've never used them.

My knives are hair popping and will push cut newspaper but I've yet to be able to whittle hairs.

Some things to keep in mind- The thinner the edge the quicker to sharpen. I've never tried to sharpen any of the Super Steels but ATS-34 is no problem to sharpen by hand with good edge geometry.

If you want to learn to sharpen by hand the key is repetition. Get some junk knives and stones and practice practice practice. Sharpen it up. Test. Dull the edge on the side of the stone and start over.

-Josh
 
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I had one of those Lansky systems for years and was never able to get it to perform. I have an Edge Pro Apex, and it works really well once you're used to it. However, all of my handmade knives are sharpened on the slack belt of a belt grinder. I set the edge with a 150 grit, move up to 220 and 400 grit, and then a dull 600 grit with white rouge. I then either buff on a cotton wheel for a more polished edge or on a leather strop.

--nathan
 
I have a DMT Aligner that works great on smaller blades, but anything over 1/8" thick pushes the limits of the blade clamp's abilities to hold the blade. After running through the diamond hones, I use an ancient honing steel to put the final edge on, and the resulting edge will shave a troll's beard.

For larger blades I use the belt grinder.
 
I tried my brother's Lansky system. He almost didn't get it back because i wanted to throw it against a brick wall and then smash it with a hammer. It frustrated the daylights out of me. Personally, I prefer to stick to using the slack belt on my KMG followed up by my Spyderco Ceramic Files.
 
Sharpen - I use the bader to raise a burr , then go to the paper wheels.

to resharpen - just the paper wheels.

I wouldn't ever have the patience to take a knife with no edge , and put an edge on it with a lansky or edge pro.
 
Once you have a sharp edge, strop on a leather strop, belt, ect, charged with green chrome rouge. For even better, yellow rouge. Then you can the hair off a gnats butt.
 
I would not buy the Lanskey. I have one and did use it for a while and it was ok but I had to modify it.

You can buy a little 1x36 belt sander prolly for 30 bucks and a 120 belt for the initial bevel and 220 for fine tuning and then finish with a leather belt with white compound. Go from no edge to hair poppin in about 15 minutes.
It does require some practice though.
You can prolly get all this for the price of the lansky system.
 
Paper wheels are the bomb! Before using them, I thought sharp was slicing paper, or picking at your thumb print. After using them, I found out that paper can curl if cut thin enough!

And I can go from a very very dull edge to hair popping sharp in just a couple minutes (under 5 usually)
 
Ok, Ernie. If, and I know you are just starting, you don't have a $750 belt sander...Diamond Hones are the fastest way to establish an accurate edge on a new or badly damaged blade edge.

Got to Lowes and buy one of those triangle 3 grit systems or one of the big flat ones. The bigger the better. Although you can use sandpaper stuck to a hard, flat surface to do the same thing. You just have to make sure it can't move using contact cement or something. And sand paper is cheap.

Just keep in mind that with hand sharping, patients is the most important thing. So to take your time, be patient and keep a consistent angle as you work.

Then I'm old school, I use a HARD/fine oil stone to put the finish edge on. Super light pressure and smooth alternating stokes.

You can actually go to the auto parts store and get some 2000 grit wet/dry paper and use it for finished edge, but a stone does a better job for me.

As was suggested, I would drag out all those dull kitchen knives from the back of the drawer and practice on them first.

Oh, and tape up the blade at the grind line, cause you ARE going to scuff it. LOL

It's the question I get asked the most, "How do you get a knife so sharp?" If you take the time to learn how to hand sharpen now, when you are in the field or standing with a potential client and they ask can you sharpen this thing, you can! And right there in just a couple minutes. It's well worth the effort to learn.
 
Thanks eveyone!!

I will try to find some diamond stones around here!!

I have a bench grinder and paper wheels on my list of things to get:D
 
I've got Norton coarse, medium, and fine India stones, a Oachita stone, a paper wheel, a leather strop and green rouge, and have used the slack belt on my grinder, but I find it easier to get the working edge I want with cheap EZ Lap diamond stones. I have one that is hand held and has a leather sheath that I roughed up and load with the green rouge, and I have a bigger bench model that came glued to a board. I glued some scrap leather to the other side of the board and load it with the rouge. I work up a burr, take it off with light pressure at a slightly higher angle, and then strop a few times on each side. This eaves an edge that will easily shave and push cut newsprint, but won't fillet the letters off of the newsprint.

I can polish the edge and get it to "hair whittlin' " sharpness, but I've found, for my useage, that a polished edge, while great for showing off, isn't the best for cutting most things. It doesn't cut as easy and doesn't last nearly as long as a slightly coarser finish.

As was said before, the thinner a blade is behind the edge, the easier it is to sharpen, and the better it will cut as the edge wears.

Todd
 
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I've watched Newt Martin take some old funky 2x72 belts, sharpen edge up and 0.01 seconds later you bleed just looking at them :eek:

BC
 
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