I can't sharpen a knife with a stone worth a darn, alternatives?

shotgunshooter3

Hey guys, I have a confession: I can't sharpen a knife using a whetstone, diamond, cement, car door, etc... To save my life. I don't know if I can't hold a steady edge or what, but I just can't seem to pull it off. What is a decent alternative for the sharpening impaired like me?

breamfisher

Lansky or Gatco knife sharpener where you clamp the knife into a sharpening guide is one.

jbp-ohio

Me either.... I use a Lansky sharpener. It keeps a constant angle, but it is still time consuming. Stiil need to strop. Leather would be better, but cardboard will do...



Thought about one of the fancy Chef eletric sharpeners...

SirGeorgeKillian

Avoid anything with a motor. Find someone who can teach you. Trust me, if it is easy enough that I can do it, you can do it.

Sent from my Motorola Atrix 4G via Tapatalk

Fisheadgib

I've got several different sharpeners and they have different applications. With my hunting knives and my nicer pocket knives I use a Lansky. If you have good concentration and a steady hand you can do as well with just a stone but with a Lansky, just about anyone could turn a butter knife into a scalpel with little effort.
I bought a chef's choice vibratory sharpener a while back for my fish cleaning and kitcken knives but it's too slow. For my fish cleaning knives I use a carbide scraper type sharpener as it will sharpen a dinged up edge very fast. The drawback is that they wear away at the blade quite a bit with every use and your knives wear down pretty quick but most folks around here use commercial knives that aren't real fancy.

wolf049

breamfisher wrote: »

Lansky or Gatco knife sharpener where you clamp the knife into a sharpening guide is one.

:that: Get the one that comes with the diamond stones, it works better for your harder steels.

Avoid those motor driven sharpers like the STDs. They will destroy a good hunting knife in a heart beat.

For my Leathermans and the like that I really have diffacult time using the Lansky system, I use the sharpeners that have two ceramic rods placed in a "V" and you just drive the blade across to sharpen.

I still use a stone and free hand to touch up a blade.

Jermanator

I use a Chef's Choice for all of my kitchen knives and it works great for that purpose. My pocket and carry knives get tuned up on some sort of version of the Lansky.

jgunpilot

Try an Edge Pro:

ilove22s

if you go to your local gun shows you will usually see several vendors using various methods.

i got one of the Lanskys sharpeners and they work fine. as long as you dont have a long blade that is or you need to move the clamping mechanism.

Slanteyedshootist

Smith's has a really handy pocket sharpener. Works really well. I always have one with me.

http://smithsedge.com/products/product.asp?id=46&cid=4

Big Chief

Electric Can Opener

Buford

I use a Gatco kit. It gets them razor sharp.

DoctorWho

The metal the blade is made of has much to do with how easy it is to sharpen, and also how long it will hold an edge too.
Harder metals are harder to sharpen, softer metals sharpen easily but do not hold an edge under heavy use.
I cheated many times with knives I really needed for serious use by taking those 4 or 5 knives to be sharpened by a knife maker, not as expensive as it may sound.

Gene L

Get a good, flat stone. Diamond for a rough edge, a waterstone for a fine edge. The angle you hold the blade doesn't matter so much so long as you hold it over and over. Just keep plugging, and then finish the edge with a crock stick.

There's a guy at the flea market who sharpens knives, using a buffing wheel and rouge to finish. He knows what he's doing. I take my kitchen knives to him once a year, plus special blades, like my 1870s kukri.

JerryBobCo

Ask Linefinder. He's good at it, and even likes to do it.

1965Jeff

I run the butcher shop for a larger grocery store chain where knife sharpening is a way of life, we sharpen knives for our customers free of charge & I imagine most other chains will help you as well. Having one of the local meat cutters help you get started sharpening your own will save some growing pains.

BigDanS

Knife sharpening really isn't that hard, but there are some helpful techniques. I like to keep my knives sharp enough to shave my arm hair, as a test.

You are basicly sanding a fine grit over the edge of the blade and the finer the grit the finer the edge. Also, you have to get to the point of polishing at the end with 600 to 1200 grit.

Trick # 1 mark the edge with a black non permanent marker. If you are holding the edge at the correct angle you will polish away the marker.

Trick #2 Look down at the edge and reflect it in a stong light. If you can see light reflecting off it when it is verticle / perpendicular to the light, those are flat spots that need to be ground with a rougher stone. You can start with 200 grit or so to get out those flat spots. 200 grit will sharpen your edge like a mini serration and must be smoothed out with 600 to 1200 grit for polishing.

Trick #3 I sharpen each side with an even number of strokes to make sure I match. Five on the left then five on the right.

Trick #4 Use enough pressure with 200 grit to get an edge back , but when polishing with 600 to 1200 grit, move lightly. Once you have a sharp edge you simply keep it polished sharp.

FWIW.

D

U T

http://www.basspro.com/Smiths-TwoStep-Knife-Sharpener/product/10210330/-1269311

This thing works pretty good. It won't sharpen as good as someone that knows how to use, and has the patience with a stone, but it works for me, for all my guttin and skinnin, and the price is right

NN

jbp-ohio wrote: »

Me either.... I use a Lansky sharpener. It keeps a constant angle, but it is still time consuming. Stiil need to strop. Leather would be better, but cardboard will do...



Thought about one of the fancy Chef eletric sharpeners...

I use the above because I'm lazy; though for years I did it with a stone by hand.

Six-Gun

I, too, use the Lansky sytem. Works great and hadly requires any thought.

NyGunowner

I am of the opinion that every man ought to know how to put a razor edge on a knife. I read and learned and can. I'm also lazy, and like the Lansky croc stix a lot. 4 stick system, really works. It won't do as well as a diamond stone followed by ceramic followed by a strop and compound,, but in 45 seconds, ya get 90% as good a job with far less potential drama.

minnesotashooter

It doesn't get much simpler than a Spyderco Sharpmaker!

jbp-ohio

NyGunowner wrote: »

I am of the opinion that every man ought to know how to put a razor edge on a knife. I read and learned and can. I'm also lazy, and like the Lansky croc stix a lot. 4 stick system, really works. It won't do as well as a diamond stone followed by ceramic followed by a strop and compound,, but in 45 seconds, ya get 90% as good a job with far less potential drama.

Theres a bit of an art to sharpening with a stone. My oldest brother can do it. He can also put an edge on a Bear Razorhead or Snuffer broadhead that will take hair off if you even think of getting it near your arm. He's had many pass thru's with a 55# recurve..

When he does my broadheads, I put a little car wax on them and leave them in the quiver. The ones he did 5 years ago, I could pull out now and they are still wicked sharp....... Sigh, I need to find a place to hunt again. Like Orchid's blooding of his pre-64. I have a '60 Grizzly and '65 Kodiak I would like to take a deer with. They are my favorites and the only ones that survived my unemployment stint...

Kodiak



Grizzly... Also need to shoot more, when I get tired (like at the end of a 3D course) I short draw

Bigslug

The Lansky's are good. You might also look at Spyderco's Tri-Angle. Not quite as sophisticated and lacking the variability of the Lansky, but faster. All you have to be able to do is hold the blade straight up and down.

bullsi1911

I have a lansky kit somewhere that I have used with success, but I usually just use a diamond stone and leather to hone the blades.

Bakerman

go to the waldo Flea Market and look for the knife sharpening guy.
http://www.waldofarmersandfleamarket.com/Waldo_flea_market_website/Home.html


It is an alternative.

Big Chief

Bakerman wrote: »

go to the waldo Flea Market and look for the knife sharpening guy.
http://www.waldofarmersandfleamarket.com/Waldo_flea_market_website/Home.html


It is an alternative.

Just don't speed in Waldo FLA, big speed trap.

mkk41

Made a lot of friends , and beer money sharpening KaBars for Marines I was stationed with. You'd be surprised how many did serious damage (with infection) trying to shave hair off their arms. And then they'd blame it on ME!

Learned young how to use a stone. Hold it firm and steady , and make like yer trying to shave the stone. Too low an angle will give a sharp , but weak edge that won't hold up. Usually a 15 degree per side is what most info says for best combo of sharpness and duribility.

To restore the proper angle , I like a good 11x2-1/2 Norton India stone. http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Norton-Combination-India-Stone-P69C25.aspx

Followed by a good hard Arkansas. http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Hard-Translucent-Arkansas-Bench-Stone-P50C25.aspx

Keep the stones WET with good stone oil , or you'll clog the pores and the stone will be useless. If using a diamond block , use plenty of water for the same reasons.

For the truly uncoordinated who can't hold an angle , use something like this. , http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/DMT-Knife-Sharpening-Guide-P11C16.aspx