Need help sharpening knives

[cschwanz]

Ill admit it. I'm terrible at sharpening knives. I've tried using stones but just cant be consistent enough holding the angles to do any good. Knives come off the stones duller than they go on sometimes. I have literally bought new knives to not worry about sharpening another one, haha.

Need some recommendations for a knife newb to be able to get a decent edge on a blade. Nothing serious, just want a good sharp edge on my knife when i go to clean game. Ive tried a couple of the little hand held diamond edge cutters, but they seem cheap and don't seem to work. Whats a guy got to do to get a good edge these days?

 

[grunt soldier]

a easy way for you to learn is to get a spyderco sharpmaker. it's simple easy to use and comes with a dvd explaining everything step by step

 

[ISP 5353]

Lots of good systems are available, but like grunt soldier said, the Spyderco sharpmaker is a winner at a pretty good price.

 

[cordex]

Sharpmaker is what I use too. It works best on knives that already have a decent edge geometry as even the "medium" stones are pretty fine and won't remove much steel. There are more aggressive stones available but they are pretty expensive.

I've had some knives - particularly cheap pocket knives without much of an edge - that I dragged across the Sharpmaker for a long time with no detectable result. On the other hand, every decent blade I've used it on has ended up shaving sharp.

 

[M67]

I gave up stones a long time ago. Stropping on sandpaper and convexing the edge is the only way to go

 

[tradertator]

Also a Sharpmaker fan

 

[jmdavis984]

I'll put in my 2 cents for the Lansky sharpeners. The stones are rather narrow, but it is easy to use and can be used to re-profile if necessary. The sharpmaker won't do that.

 

[cschwanz]

I really like the looks of the Sharpmaker. May be going on the Christmas/Birthday list if I dont just outright buy one myself first.

 

[Mr. Habib]

I've had really good success with one of these. Razor Sharp Edgemaking System - Products

 

[chezuki]

I use a Sharpmaker and love it. I added the coarse diamond and ultra fine stones and it will take a very dull knife and bring it to a mirror polished razor edge. As stated, you aren't going to do any re-profiling or repairs with it though.

 

[Mosinguy]

How do you use a Lansky-type sharpener? I have a Smith's that is exactly the same but I have the same problem as the OP, my knives come out of the clamp duller than before.

 

[tnrick55]

i could show you but i can't tell you.

 

[buckstopshere]

How do you use a Lansky-type sharpener? I have a Smith's that is exactly the same but I have the same problem as the OP, my knives come out of the clamp duller than before.

What I did to get my knives razor sharp was I took the smiths out, walked it over to the trash and proceeded to pick up my sharp maker and put a razors edge on my ESEEs and spyderco's.

 

[grizman]

Wicked Edge

 

[Lammchop93]

Sharpmaker is the way to go for you. I also sucked at sharpening knives. I bought it on Amazon for about $45, and now all my knives will slice the hair right off my arm.

 

[vitamink]

I just got my spyderco sharpener, i'm using a very dull esee and i can't sharpen that thing to save my life. I was able to sharpen a cold steel push blade which was nice.

 

[tom1025]

The best way I have found to sharpen a knife is use it until its dull. Once its dull I stick in a draw and go buy another.

 

[grunt soldier]

Jeff mark your edge with a sharpie marker. then run it over the stones a couple times and see where the sharpie is gone at. that will tell you the angle you need to set the stones at. more than likely the esee is above a 40 degree angle and needs to be re-profiled a bit to get it where it should be. One of my Izulas was at almost a 50 degree inclusive angle ( 25 degree's per side) the sharpmaker only does 40 and 30 (inclusive) angles. just take your time and try not to get frustrated. sharpening even on a sharpmaker takes time and practice. Once you set the angle though it will only take a few swipes on the stones to get your blade sharp.

just take your time, use the coarse stones and only the corners (non flat side) and do 30 strokes per side. then move over to the fine stones and do 30 strokes per side. make sure to take extra care to verify that the blade is straight up and down. not at a angle.