Thread: Knife honing help

Hope this is the right place to post this and i know it's not razor related but ,up till i learned how to hone a razor i thought i was pretty good at getting a good edge on a knife. now that i know what sharp really is i have realized that i don't know how to get a decent edge on a knife. Any body have any tips/lessons for me? How does one keep the bevel even on a knife? I have the stones but don't know how to use them (at least on a knife).

Good post, and I was actually thinking that myself...I tried to put an edge on my EDC Kershaw, and no idea how to get an hair splitting edge....

Alot of guys are using lansky and kme systems. You lock the blade in and move the stone at an adjustable angle. The kme is awesome but expensive! With these systems you can get a blade that is polished like our razors and will seriously whittle a hair.
What I do with my Benchmade Adamas, used my dmc8 raised a burr on one side then took to the other. Then I went to an Arkansas stone I have and worked that to get most of the dmc8 scratches out then a block strop I have for my wood carving tools. When it starts to dull I do a few passes on the stop or the ark, sometimes both. It's not a mirror and I guess I don't know if it will shave but it's sharp for my edc needs. I use it for everything. I have taken knives to an 8k level and found, what for? Yea the bevel is neat and shinny and that's about it. Yes it was crazy sharp and would certainly shave hair but for what I need a knife for it wasn't worth the time.
As far as keeping bevels even by hand, that takes patience and practice. Sharpening by hand will give you a convex edge unless you have the afore mentioned systems. Nothing wrong with convex edges it is just a product of hand sharpening. I wouldn't go higher than 1k for most practical stuff. But we like our edges so if you want to then take your time and go through a progression.
I'll add lansky systems are not really expensive the kme however.... dig deep. Plus I believe there are just about endless options for stones for either set up. Hope this helps tintin.

Edge Pro. Free hand honing is for people who don't want perfect. I want perfect.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Edge Pro. Free hand honing is for people who don't want perfect. I want perfect.

I knew I was forgetting ONE! They make beautiful edges.

I bought a sharpening device like this at Lowes. Its not perfect but it does a fine job for a knife. I too was wanting to sharpen my knife after learning to hone. This is what i found. My pocket knife is sharp now and it dont take much to bring the edge right back. BTW, its called Smith Sharpening Kit. Buy on-line cheaper.

I never will make my money back on my Edge Pro, but I regularly use it to hone kitchen, hunting, and EDC knives for friends and family. They tend to be thrilled and surprised at how well a properly honed knife works.

A guy that was allowed to hunt on my family's farm ended up shooting a doe that he did not want, so he gave her to me to skin and process for myself. I asked him if he wanted the loin or beer or whatever to make it up to him. My brother told him, "let him sharpen your knife for you."

A couple weeks later I was sitting in a tree stand early in the morning and got a call that a large buck had been hit on the highway near the opposite end of the farm and had run into the cornfield. By the time I got there, the deer had already been field dressed by the guy whose knife I had sharpened. When he saw me, he held up the plain old Buck knife and said in a seriously awed manner, "I didn't know a knife could do that!"

I like to make things sharp and especially like it when people are happy with the things I made sharp for them.

On YouTube there is a video, home made knife sharpener. System similar to these mentioned. Not sure how well it works I didn't watch the video.

while i was looking at the youtube videos i found this one https://youtu.be/k3SbEWFSA8s pretty amazing system (they have different models depending on your needs and the amount you have to spend). not sure which method i will end up using. Was kind of hoping for a simpler (and cheaper) fix.

I had a lansky set for a long time and it worked well and was fairly inexpensive. The one I had required a bench vice to hold the knife holding mechanism which was an inconvenience but not huge. As stated Smith makes the same set up.
IMO if you take your time doing it by hand is fine. Consistent results take time of course but as with razor honing I find it's relaxing.