Thread: can i use my barber hone to sharpen a knife

Now I ain't too sure what you think it means, and p'raps I wasn't quite clear either, but me mate was wanting to cut Coarse Matting material. He asked me the universally stupid question in relation to my habits, "Do ya have a knife on ya?". To which I replied, "Yes! Why haven't you?"....He knows they're going to be sharp, but it still took him by surprise at just how sharp I keep my knives.


Mick

Ha! The workings of my mind--notwithstanding their primitive nature--are too inappropriate for even the most contemptible of internet scalawags. I'm referring to SRP members, of course!

mick what do you use to keep your knifes shavign sharp

Lansky Deluxe kit. I've added a Sapphire finishing stone to the standard five stones in the kit, as well as a fine serrated knife stone. I need to get the coarse serrated knife stone one day. I rarely use the blue sapphire stone, but it is a great polishing stone after the 1000 grit ceramic that's in the kit.
I've just finished doing three knives for a neighbour, just 10 minutes ago. They were in a shit state, looking more like knife shaped bits of steel bar, than knives. I had to breadknife two of them before I could put them to the stones. I did that on the bench belt sander with a fine belt, put a basic bevel profile back on using the sander, then went through the stone progression in a 3,2,1 order. Three swipes up and back on one side then the same for the other. Then two swipes up and back, flip and repeat, then one. Move down to the next stone and repeat, providing the bevel is properly re-set on the first stone. His knives came up with edges that were far better than they ever left the factory with. Despite the poor state they were in when he handed them to me.
Gatco is another brand that has a good system, and the thing with all these is that you clamp the blade in a jig guide and choose which angle will best suit the knife/job. Slide the guide rod into that slot, and with a little care on your part, the guess work is taken out of knife angles. Makes it a lot easier to get the job done. Gatco has a few extra angle choices offered, Lansky offer less angles but have a kit with one extra hone (not that you can't add to the Gatco) and wicked edge have a great system that is out of my price range, but seems to be the best one out there. Lansky and Gatco are half the price of a Wicked Edge, but if you can afford it, get the best you can find.


Mick

+1 for the Lansky Pro set use mine a lot on my knives!

+1 on the Gatco. Use mine regular, even my boss has me sharpen his knives with it!! Great kit.

i looked and i think a lanskey delux is commign up soon. wicked edge is more than im willing to spend for a knife sharpener.

You won't regret the Lanskey Deluxe mate. That's the one I have and it puts a bloody great edge on all my, my friends and my families knives.


Mick

Sorry to go off topic a tad, but I realized I hadn't used my Guanxi Chinese 12k stone to sharpen a razor in more than a year. I figured I didn't want the thing to go to waste, so I tried a knife on it. It reminded me of an Arkansas stone in the way that you could really feel the cutting happen with some pressure bearing down on the blade. There was definitely some sharpening happening and the blade was mirror polished. From the few strokes I tried on it I think it's worth more looking into. Just thought I'd raise it up the flagpole if anyone was interested in putting their 12k to more use.

It would put a nice polish on a finished edge. I never gave it a thought myself, but I might have to try it now too.


Mick