The how to knife sharping guide

Ok over the next 3 weeks i will be writing on my own knowledge of knife sharping and i will be chatting to some experts to get their opinion. I for years could put a sweet edge on a knife with a stone but could never use a steel. Why? because i never knew steels don't sharpen knives! they clean up and straighten the edge. the end result is a knife that cuts well again, but the difference of sharpening and straightening and edge is important. I had always tried to sharpen my knives with a steel and got poor results. More on this later.


So this will discuss the central elements of sharpening, and then go on to sharpening angles, hones, sharpening systems, the latest fads in edges (e.g., chisel grinds). This will show you how to get a burr and grind it off to end up with a sharp knife.

When many hunters try to sharpen a knife, the knife actually gets duller! If it's any consolation, I have been there too and steals where a headache for me for years. The best way is to study sharpening fundamentals, and then use some kind of sharpening system that pre-sets the angles. That way, you can begin by learning how to raise a burr, feel for the burr, and then grind it away, without having to worry about keeping the angle consistent as well. When you understand how to sharpen, then you can get rid of the rig, buy some flat hones, and learn how to sharpen freehand.
so i will be covering these areas.

1.    Sharping Fundamentals  -

a.    Get a sharp edge

b.    Angle?

c.    What stone?

d.    Oil or water stone?

e.    How fine should the stone be?

f.     Important notes on grits!

g.    Stropping

h.    Using a steel

2.       Freehand tips and tricks –

a.       Why does my knife go dull so fast?

3.       Sharpening Differently Ground Blades –

a.       serrated blades

b.      The Moran (Convex) edge

c.       The chisel-ground edge

4.       Overview of various sharpening systems –

a.       Clamp-on sharpening guides (Razor Edge, Buck, etc.) –

b.      Clamp-and-Rod rigs (Lansky, Frost, etc.)

c.       V-type sharpeners (Spyderco Triangle, etc.) –

d.      Other miscellaneous

Freehand sharpening, and its wondrous advantages!




 The Fundamentals of Sharpening

- Getting a Sharp Edge

Here's a short review of the sharpening process. If this section is confusing . Many of the subjects in this section (e.g., stone grits) are explained later

You grind one edge along the stone edge-first until a burr (aka "wire") is formed on the other side of the edge. You can feel the burr with your thumb, on the side of the edge opposite the stone. The presence of the burr means that the steel is thin enough at the top that it is folding over slightly, because the bevel you've just ground has reached the edge tip.

 If you stop before the burr is formed, then you have not ground all the way to the edge tip, and your knife will not be as sharp as it should be. The forming of the burr is critically important -- it is the only way to know for sure that you have sharpened far enough on that side. Once the burr is formed on one side, turn the knife over and repeat the process.

So, you've sharpened one side only until you felt a burr along the entire length of the opposite side, then you move sides and repeat the process. 
Do not follow the directions that come with many sharpeners, of the form "Do 20 strokes on one side, then 20 strokes on the other". You go one side only until the burr is formed; if that takes 10 strokes or 50 strokes, you keep going until you get a burr, this is an art and all steel and stone are different. Only then do you flip the knife over and do the other side.

Having raised a burr, our job now is to progress to finer stones, in order to make the edge smoother and remove the burr. So now we run the blade along the stone from end to tip, this time alternating sides with each stroke. Move to a finer stone, and then do it again.

Sometimes, the burr is turned directly downwards during sharpening, and since it is very thin and razor sharp, it seems like an incredible edge. This is called a "wire edge". But being fragile, it will break off the very first time you use the knife, leaving you with an extremely dull knife. If you seem to be getting good sharpening results on your knives, but they are getting dull very quickly with little use, you may be ending up with a wire edge. If that's the case, you'll need to be careful and watch out specifically for a wire edge; you should try progressing down to finer stones, try double-grinding the edge, and give the knife a quick stropping once you're finished (all these terms are explained below). If your knife is fading fast as you're sure it's not because you left a wire edge, steeling between uses may be what you need. My last few strokes on the stone become progressively lighter, to avoid collapsing the edge and raising another burr.

On a badly-worn or damaged edge,start with a medium (300-400 grit) stone, then move to a fine (600 grit) stone, and then sometimes finish on an extra-fine (1200 grit) stone for more polished edge. However, once the knife is sharp try tore-sharpen before it gets too worn down. In that case, start on the fine stone. But be sure to read the important notes on grits later

Lastly, you may use a leather strop on the knife.

On other sharpening systems, the same fundamentals as laid out above still apply. For example, on a V-type sharpener, I'll start by sharpening one side only against the right-hand stick until a burr forms. Then I move to the other stick until a burr forms. Only after I've raised a burr from both sides will I follow the manufacturer's directions and alternate from one stick to the other between strokes.

- What Angle?

The smaller the angle, the sharper your knife will feel. But the smaller the angle, the less metal that's behind the edge, and thus the weaker the edge. So your sharpening angle will depend on your usage. A surgeon's blade will have a very thin, very low-angle edge. Your axe will have a strong, thick, high-angle edge.

Something like a razor blade will having an angle of around 12- degrees, and it's chisel-ground so that's 12-degrees total. Utility knives will have angles anywhere between 15- and 24- degrees (30-48 degrees total). An axe will have something around a 30-degree angle.

For double-ground utility knives, a primary edge of 15-18-degrees, followed by a secondary grind of 21ish-degrees, works well. Don't be obsessed with getting the exact right angle; rather, make sure that at whatever angle you've chosen, concentrate on holding it precisely.

See also the sections on convex edges and chisel-ground edges.