Does anyone sharpen by hand, with bench stones?

[jame]

I finally figured it out, at the precocious age of 57.

 

But how liberating it is, knowing that I don't have to screw around with special jigs, fittings, or tools anymore.

 

How many here have it figured out, or are trying to figure it out?

Edited September 10, 2017 by jame

[Glockzilla10mm]

Yes in fact and you sir have hit the jackpot with old Z here! My grandfather taught me most everything I'll ever know about sharpening by freehand! I use a combo of Diamonds, and ceramic stones of various shapes for recurves, Khukuris and such. Dang jig systems get on my nerves! The only time I ever use power tools is to do the repairs or REALLY dull stuff, and that's never my knife.

[DWARREN123]

Always have used stones then ceramic for the finish.

[deputy tom]

Yes, I use a bench stone. Going on fifty years or so. I do own a few sharpening systems but rarely use them. tom.

[janice6]

I used fixtures, Diamond stones, fine sandpaper (1500 + grit) rotary and planer rotary.   I used to use up to 10,000 Grit stones.

I was sharpening wood working tools.

I finally went to a Plywood disc with an arbor in my Drill press.

I charge the disc wood surface with buffing compound, Grit depends on type of metal and whether I'm cutting the edge or polishing the edge.

Pressure determines the rate the material is being removed.  Very light pressure polishes.  Very fast sharpening.  Don't heat the edge.

The critical angle is 20 degrees plus a smidgen.  It depends on what type of tool uses the cutter.  Chisels are 22 degrees.

For wood work I want the smoothest sharpest edge I can get.  Mirror like.  It cuts wood better.

For my Filet knives I want a very slight serration produced by sharpening stones (up to 3,000 Grit) without the edge polish.  It cuts meat better.

This is my solution and I found nothing better for me and my work.  

I never use anything else anymore.

Edited September 11, 2017 by janice6

[stevekozak]

I have a guy that comes by in a minivan. Not much personality, but that damn van is mint! 

[racerford]

Yes, I used too do that. I used to sharpen knives that had never been used in years. I just liked sharpening knives when I didn't have anything else to do. Then I got married, I only sharen knives when they won't cut well enough, and then not with a stone. I am not sure I could even find my stones now.

[OldCop71]

I've got an Arkansas stone that I'm still learning to use. I can make a sharp blade, but not razor sharp yet.

 

[JohnKSa]

I do most of my sharpening with bench/handheld stones/strops.

I finally figured it out by reading Juranitch's book "The Razor Edge Book of Sharpening".

I had sharpened using stones for years before reading the book, but my results were inconsistent.  It wasn't until reading the book that things finally gelled for me and it all made sense.

[KFC]

I can get a decent working edge, but I'm not a master. I think I could be if I invested in a good set of stones, but now I just use a Spyderco Sharpmaker. Between that and a strop, it's so quick and easy to get an edge that will whittle a free hanging hair, I'm not going to bother with stones any time soon.

Edited September 22, 2017 by KFC

[Glockzilla10mm]

On September 10, 2017 at 8:22 PM, DWARREN123 said:

Always have used stones then ceramic for the finish.

I just sit and think about how disappointed I am with Bradshaw and the Steelers...and hone...schikkk...shivkkk...with a disturbed...grin...on my face!!

[Alabusa]

I have a sat of 3 Arkansas stones that I use. That is the only way I have ever sharpened a knife.

Sent from a mental institution

[Detectorist]

Just a small bit of information. Sharpening stones need to be flattened and cleaned regularly. Probably after every sharpening. I use an 8" 'coarse DMT diamond plate.

Looks like it's on sale right now:

https://www.amazon.com/DMT-D8C-Dia-Sharp-Continuous-Diamond/dp/B0001WP1L0/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1512761821&sr=8-5&keywords=dmt+sharpening

[JohnKSa]

It is certainly true that a dished/uneven stone makes sharpening difficult and prevents one from getting the best results.  This is one reason that I tend to use ceramic stones.  They are very hard, and it's unlikely that anyone would ever manage to dish one.

That said, under certain circumstances it is possible.  I have managed to wear out one corner of a "Tri-Seps" type sharpener by dishing the middle.  That's sort of an exception because it wasn't a flat benchstone that was dished, it was the corner of a triangle-shaped sharpener.  Because the wear was all concentrated on a corner (less surface area) it took a lot less sharpening to wear it down.  The surfaces (and the other two corners) are still good for sharpening, although if you do manage to wear one out, they're pretty cheap to replace.

But a normal ceramic bench stone should last many lifetimes, even under very hard use. 

I have found that it's pretty common for an ultrafine ceramic stone to have a slightly irregular finish.  This can be an issue when one is trying to put a final finish on an edge.  After making that discovery, I now use a fine diamond hone to carefully flatten my ultra-fine ceramic stones when they need it.  Usually they're pretty close, but you can tell the effect on a very fine edge.

When flattening a ceramic with a diamond hone, do not press hard--it will just wreck the diamond hone.  The diamonds are harder than the ceramic and they will cut it even with light pressure, it just takes time.  If you press hard, it breaks the diamonds off.

Lately, I've been playing around with stropping as a way to put a final edge on a sharpened knife.  It doesn't require quite as much attention to technique and sharpening angle as using an ultrafine ceramic to finish the edge.

Here are some of the things I've learned from my experimentation.  This is from a post I made on another forum.

Stropping is quick and effective way to finish off a decent sharpening job when you're sharpening freehand. It's difficult to maintain the perfect angle to the stone to get a polished edge just with stones when you're free-handing, but if you can get a decent edge on a knife then you can polish the edge with a strop (and proper technique) and get a good result. I'm not saying it duplicates what you can achieve with a sharpening system that rigorously maintains the blade angle during the entire sharpening process, but you can get a very nice polished edge and much improve the overall sharpness of the blade.

Making your own strop and charging it with a stropping compound.

A paste metal polish (I'm using Flitz) on leather (smooth or rough side--I'm using mostly smooth side) or on cardboard (like a notepad backer--not box material) makes a pretty good strop. It doesn't have a lot of cutting power, but it does a nice job of putting a polished edge on the knife.

If you're going to use a liquid/paste polish on cardboard, get a nice, thin, even coating on it with your finger and then let it dry completely before using it. Otherwise the cardboard will have a tendency to come apart very quickly. You can easily recharge a cardboard strop with a liquid polish using the same method you initially charged it with. The cardboard will eventually start breaking down--it's disposable after all. 

Flexcut Gold is a much more aggressive stropping compound that can be used on cardboard or rough side leather. In fact, when freshly applied, it actually cuts more than it polishes. You can easily see the abrasion striations it creates if you use it on an already polished edge.  If a person is doing most of their sharpening with fairly coarse stone, then something like Flexcut Gold is a good choice for stropping because it is aggressive enough to work on a fairly coarsely finished edge.  You certainly don't want to go from a coarse stone to something like a green polishing compound or even a paste metal polish on a strop because it's not going to take enough metal off to polish a coarsely finished edge.

Flexcut is harder to apply to the strop (they say it's like a crayon, but it's more like a really hard chalk), and if you use it on cardboard, it's even more difficult to reapply once it's stopped cutting/polishing. If you're going to use it with cardboard you need to figure that once you've applied it, then you use it until it's not cutting like you want it to and discard it. Trying to reapply it over an area of cardboard that's already been used is not worth the trouble. You might be able to clean the used area with a white plastic eraser and then reapply the Flexcut after it's clean, but I think that's more trouble than it's worth. Fortunately cardboard is usually free if you just keep your eyes open for suitable scraps.  I've found that using a couple of drops of rubbing alcohol on the end of a bar of polishing compound can make it easier to apply.

Soft/compressible/flexible strops vs hard strops.

Leather and cloth strops tend to be soft/compressible/flexible. If you're going to use a strop in this class, you need to pay attention to how much pressure you're applying to the blade. If you push hard, you can actually defeat the purpose. What happens in this case is that the strop material sort of "rebounds" after the blade passes over it and as it rebounds, it swipes across the cutting edge and dulls it. Don't press hard when you're using a soft/compressible/flexible strop. The nice thing about compressible strops is that you can be a little sloppier with your edge angle to the strop and still get a decent result. The compressibility molds to the blade which means you don't have to get the angle exactly right.

If you're using a hard strop, like notepad backer cardboard, then as long as you are reasonably careful with your stropping angle (angle of the blade to the strop) then you can press harder. The material won't rebound and therefore you don't have to worry about it dulling the edge. Just be aware that the harder you press on a cardboard strop, the faster it will wear out. I'm not saying you SHOULD press hard, just that you can get away with a little more pressure using a hard strop.

[Batesmotel]

I bought a set of Bob Kramer stones for my kitchen knives. Fantastic edge. One of my instructors in culinary school was almost afraid of them. 

[Mr. Black]

I have always been far too lazy to do the stone thing.   I know I can master it but I've got a thousand other things to do.  

Last winter I bought one of the work sharp ken onion edition sharpeners and have never looked back.    

You can see how brutally abused the Henkel kitchen knife was in the first picture.   5 years since last sharpening.  I brought that knife into hair shaving spec in less than 15 minutes taking my time.  

 

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

I do for all of my quality pocket knives.  For field work and the kitchen I use a Work Sharp.  It's like iron sites, you should be competent with the basics.  I've got a SharpMaker and a set of the Spyderco Bench Stones and a Norton Water Stone for razors.