Thread: Knife Sharpening 101 help

Like Hirlau, I have sharpened all of my knives since I was around 8. I can get a pocket or fixed blade knife sharp enough to shave the hair off my arm. I was given a Gatco system ( similar to Lansky) a while back. I like it. I REALLY like it when sharpening a new knife as you can set the bevel for what you want and keep it at that same bevel. For my kitchen knives I use a big old Norton Tri Hone. I get 'em sharp and the missus either A. cuts herself and gripes, or B. Cuts something on a plate and then gripes because it won't cut. Oh well.

An 18 degree bevel is a great user and will hold up well. That is also real close to what I learned to sharpen my knives before I got the fancy system that removes the guesswork.

As mentioned above, you just kind of "learn" what it takes to get your blades where you want them. You can tell where the edge is by the feel of it on the stone and the sound most of the time. Most times for a pocket/everyday knife, you don't want a polished edge. It's better to have and edge with some tooth to it to help it get through every day chores a bit better. Some of the new stainless steel knives are a bear to get an edge on. I carry a carbon steel knife from the 1920s and have a Buck 110 made in '72 with the hardest stainless steel blade I've ever messed with. Both will get sharp and both sharpen differently. I don't use a stone over 1K on a using knife. You can get one plenty sharp by finishing there. You can go higher on the grits and I guess the sky is the limit but try cutting a sisal rope with a razor and see how long it takes. You'll be there a while, whereas if you have a bit of tooth or roughness left over from a 1K or so stone, it'll rip right through it.

I have not messed with straight razors until recently. After messing with a shave ready razor, I just thought my knives were sharp.

Now I'm learning how to sharpen a razor and I will say THANKS to all the tutorials and videos and those that made/wrote/contributed.

@Wullie, that's some good advice, I will play around with Sharp vs toothy sharp. see which I like.