Knife sharpening

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Originally Posted by p38arover

Can I take it that some of you are chefs?

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Ron the knife you have cuts on what is known as a whisker.
The blade is originally sharpened on a stone to get the correct angles on both sides, this leaves a whisker of fine metal in the centre of these 2 ground angles.
This whisker is very sharp but breaks away after short use, that's why a butcher regularly uses his steel to get back the whisker of fine sharp steel to cut with. You will notice they use the steel on both sides of the blade, this type of sharpening is used on relatively soft metal knives, stainless steel, etc.'
A hunting or heavy skinning knife is made of much harder steel, usually Rockwell rating around 62, a good knife will have the test dent where the blade was tested for hardness. In this case the knife is usually sharpened with a gauge to hold the blade at an exact angle to the stone where it is worked a number of times (depending on condition of edge) on one side, then turned over to be worked to the same number as the other side. This is done till a whisker can be felt with the tip of your finger from both sides, when this stage is reached a sharpening strop is used to remove the whisker and finely sharpen the edge. This type of edge will hold it's sharp edge for much longer than a knife that uses the whisker to cut, a few wipes on the strop will remove the whisker and will resharpen the very fine edge. Until it needs a stone again, best stones are Arkansas stones. I have a Buck hone gauge which I use to sharpen my hunting/skinning knives, I can skin a couple of goats or pigs before the knife needs a touch up on the strop, get yours sharpened by a pro and get him to show you how to restore the whisker with a steel, best of luck, Regards Frank.

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Originally Posted by p38arover

Can I take it that some of you are chefs?

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I am, at least until i get qualified in something else :confused:.

Also different brands of knife are made of varying hardness of steel as Frank said above, my set is of German F dick knives which i find very hard, i have added some Trident items which seem a little softer. while i was in the UK i bought a set of Victorinox knifes and they were harder still, stayed sharp longer but harder to sharpen once the edge was lost.
I found the Tridents a good compromise between the other 2 brands.

Check out Tormek whetstone sharpeners on YouTube. What I like is the repeatable bevel angle, so you are not removing very much material with each sharpening. :D

Years ago on the farm, we used to do mulesing, a practice I had to learn to do. So we bought the tools, mulesing shears and knives. I also had to learn how to sharpen these, and as maybe you can imagine, its critical to do it right.

A couple of pointers from another farmer, dads experience at sharpening and away we went.
The knives are very much like a razor blade on steroids, and the shears aren't much different.

I did all my sharpening at the kitchen table with a large stone we bought, but never had a strop to use.
I always found, and still do, it easier to do one side than the other, but I generally managed to get it right. I used to spend a couple of hours doing these tools every night, and it was suprising how long each lasted before needing to be re-done.
I've watched many a bloke use a steel, and it seems no matter how hard I try, I cant seem to get it.

As others said, useing a stone takes time and patience.

you can use the back of a leather belt for a strop. They are usually unfinished like the front side.

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Originally Posted by pannawonica

Check out Tormek whetstone sharpeners on YouTube. What I like is the repeatable bevel angle, so you are not removing very much material with each sharpening. :D

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I hadnt seen these before but yesterday my brother and i were in London and American store in Melbourne and he bought one of these ceramic wheel stones that appear to work very well.

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Originally Posted by loanrangie

I hadnt seen these before but yesterday my brother and i were in London and American store in Melbourne and he bought one of these ceramic wheel stones that appear to work very well.

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Did he get the machine and jigs to go with it ? I ordered mine after going up the club for a sufficent quantity of beer and winning the raffle.:D

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Originally Posted by pannawonica

Did he get the machine and jigs to go with it ? I ordered mine after going up the club for a sufficent quantity of beer and winning the raffle.:D

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Are you two talking about the same thing?

Some very good advice here..as some have said , I was always told that a steel is only for finishing the edge & touching up during use . Any old double sided stone will do the job quite well for the layman . Given a little practice most people can get their knives sharp enough to do a good job . Butchers etc will need a better edge and the finer points take years of practice & better gear .Have a go yourself , you will do well enough for your own needs .

I've got a collection of 15+ folding and fixed knives, and the tools I use are as follows:
General duties- Spyderco Sharpmaker sharpening system. Easy, fast, and consistent. Image so you get the idea. Uses varying grits of ceramic stones.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...014/05/905.jpg

For re-profiling a bevel, or grinding out chips, snapped off tips etc, I use a KME sharpening system. I use this with diamond or ceramic stones.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...014/05/906.jpg

Whether you are sharpening a chisel, a pocket knife, chefs knife or a pair of scissors, you need consistency of the sharpening angle, PLUS reducing grit of the sharpening compound.
Once I've used either of the sharpening systems to get an edge, I usually finish up on a paddle strop using a green hone compound to bring the edge right up. Finish on un-treated leather and you've got a mirror polished edge on a blade that will shave, and even tree-top a hanging hair if you want it to.

There is some crazy 'super steels' out there, but if you are patient, you can get amazing sharpness on the cheapest knives- you just need to touch them up on a strop more often. I've personally given myself a straight-razor shave using a $10 opinel carbon blade. I've got shaving sharp off a 10 'hunting knife' from a dodgy camping shop.

So yeah, my 2cents. Keep sharpening dudes!