Thread: First non-razor sharpening!

Hey all,

So I am fairly proficient at honing razors, but decided to try sharpening other tools. So I first took a "stab" at sharpening my pocket knife. It was fairly sharp, so I decided I didn't need too coarse of a hone to start.

Here's what I did:

Used a 3M 15 micron (about 1000 grit) micro-abrasive sheet on my surface granite plate, didn't need to stick it down or anything, the water suctioned it on. I did a bunch of back and forth diagonal strokes on each side and checked the edge every so often to see how the scratches on the bevel were being affected. The 15 micron paper left a really smooth finish on the bevel, not mirror, but very evenly buffed. I checked the edge on my thumbnail, and it grabbed a bit, not as much as a razor would off of the 1k, but enough. I then did a bunch (maybe 20) of X pattern strokes back and forth just to reverse any damage (if any) done by the TNT.

So I then took it to the 5 micron paper. I did the diagonal strokes on each side at first (probably about 30 times) and then did about 20 X strokes on each side.

The result? The razor got pretty sharp actually, and it felt pretty sharp on my thumb. Razor sharp? Hell no, but I'm quite proud of the result. It yielded a pocket knife plenty sharp for anything I would need it for. The bevel was fairly even (a wide bevel though) and was nicely polished. I'm sure the bevel wasn't a crisp "V" and was convexed, but it's sharp all the same. Hey, I'm no master knife sharpener.

I tried the same method on an old extremely dull kitchen knife, except I started on the DMT's to create the bevel. Long story short, I got a very even narrow bevel along the entire length, and it was very sharp. I even tried cutting an apple with it, and it worked out very nicely.

Oh, the pocket knife and the kitchen knife both shaved arm and leg hair!! It took a bit of pressure, but it still cut it.

I then tried my hand in sharpening an old chisel that was rusted. I took it to my DMT D8C first and removed all the rust using the DMT. That didn't take too long, maybe 10-15 minutes. I then proceeded to sharpen the bevel side of the chisel. It was really convexed, and I wish I had some sort of grinder or whatever you would need to create a hollow-grind in the chisel. So I worked away trying the best I could to keep the same angle. Before long I had a nice bur/wire-edge along the entire length of the edge, which I was pleased to see! I sharpened the flat, underside, of the chisel with a couple of strokes, and lightly drew the edge of the chisel over a plastic cup to remove the wire-edge. I then took it to the DMT 600 then 1200 grits. I finally finished on the 5 micron micro-abrasive paper. The wire edge at this stage was very fragile and rubbed off when I touched the edge.

Result? I got the chisel pretty damn sharp! Sharper than my pocket knife actually. It had a nicely polished (surely slightly convex since it was my first time) bevel and was pretty sharp.

Long story short, it was fun to try my hand in sharpening something other than a razor, and now I want to sharpen more!!

If you enjoy honing razors, look around the house and see what else you can try sharpening. You might just enjoy it! Thanks for reading my long-winded post....

Originally Posted by StraightRazorDave

Hey all,

So I am fairly proficient at honing razors, but decided to try sharpening other tools. So I first took a "stab" at sharpening my pocket knife. It was fairly sharp, so I decided I didn't need too coarse of a hone to start.

Here's what I did:

Used a 3M 15 micron (about 1000 grit) micro-abrasive sheet on my surface granite plate, didn't need to stick it down or anything, the water suctioned it on. I did a bunch of back and forth diagonal strokes on each side and checked the edge every so often to see how the scratches on the bevel were being affected. The 15 micron paper left a really smooth finish on the bevel, not mirror, but very evenly buffed. I checked the edge on my thumbnail, and it grabbed a bit, not as much as a razor would off of the 1k, but enough. I then did a bunch (maybe 20) of X pattern strokes back and forth just to reverse any damage (if any) done by the TNT.

So I then took it to the 5 micron paper. I did the diagonal strokes on each side at first (probably about 30 times) and then did about 20 X strokes on each side.

The result? The razor got pretty sharp actually, and it felt pretty sharp on my thumb. Razor sharp? Hell no, but I'm quite proud of the result. It yielded a pocket knife plenty sharp for anything I would need it for. The bevel was fairly even (a wide bevel though) and was nicely polished. I'm sure the bevel wasn't a crisp "V" and was convexed, but it's sharp all the same. Hey, I'm no master knife sharpener.

I tried the same method on an old extremely dull kitchen knife, except I started on the DMT's to create the bevel. Long story short, I got a very even narrow bevel along the entire length, and it was very sharp. I even tried cutting an apple with it, and it worked out very nicely.

Oh, the pocket knife and the kitchen knife both shaved arm and leg hair!! It took a bit of pressure, but it still cut it.

I then tried my hand in sharpening an old chisel that was rusted. I took it to my DMT D8C first and removed all the rust using the DMT. That didn't take too long, maybe 10-15 minutes. I then proceeded to sharpen the bevel side of the chisel. It was really convexed, and I wish I had some sort of grinder or whatever you would need to create a hollow-grind in the chisel. So I worked away trying the best I could to keep the same angle. Before long I had a nice bur/wire-edge along the entire length of the edge, which I was pleased to see! I sharpened the flat, underside, of the chisel with a couple of strokes, and lightly drew the edge of the chisel over a plastic cup to remove the wire-edge. I then took it to the DMT 600 then 1200 grits. I finally finished on the 5 micron micro-abrasive paper. The wire edge at this stage was very fragile and rubbed off when I touched the edge.

Result? I got the chisel pretty damn sharp! Sharper than my pocket knife actually. It had a nicely polished (surely slightly convex since it was my first time) bevel and was pretty sharp.

Long story short, it was fun to try my hand in sharpening something other than a razor, and now I want to sharpen more!!

If you enjoy honing razors, look around the house and see what else you can try sharpening. You might just enjoy it! Thanks for reading my long-winded post....

depending on how much you really enjoy sharpening, you can get a booth at gun shows on the weekend, and offer sharpening services

It was the exact opposite for me. I had been shaving my arm with knives for years and my first strait shave was with a Sabatier parer. I figured if I could shave with knife, a razor would have to be an improvement. And it was, big time.

It's fun to put those stones and hones to wider usage, Dave. Just do not do what I did when I first decided to hone my pocket knife to "razor" sharpness. I had a habit prior to sharpening it that way of opening the largest of the three blades (it's just a small Buck #310n) with the thumbnail notch just a bit and letting it click back into place while it was in my pocket.

I did that same thing after honing the knife to "razor" sharpness and opened the blade too far catching my finger a bit when it clicked back into place. It was a near painless cut but bled a decent amount and "learned" me not to fidget with the knife like that any longer.

Chris L