New stoner. Shaptons on their way. For Pocket knives and fixed blades.

[Toothpick]

Shapton 500, 1000, 2000 on their way. I have very limited experience sharpening by hand via stones. Very limited is to say that I have all of 10 minutes experience on one of my dads old stones. But one time back in 2002 this old lady told me I should be an architect because I have very steady hands. Why architect and not surgeon…I don’t know. But I think I get it. Scrape the blade back and forth across the stone until it’s sharp. I can do that!

Anyway, @David has graciously agreed to provide me with 24/7 text support for my new endeavor. He doesn’t know it yet, but he did.


So here is what’s on the way. Never mind the toothpicks. I didn’t pick this name by random ya know….

 

[Legion]

Shapton glass stones are pretty good, and about as easy to learn on as anything.

Have a read through this thread...

Knife Sharpening Thread

Prompted by a conversation I was having with another member, I thought we could have a thread where people could share tips, sharpening setups, ask questions, or just throw up rambling, meandering thoughts about knife sharpening. Which is mostly what I'll be doing. Judging by some of the...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[Kyle89]

I think the record for "most toothpicks stuck in a beard" is around 3000-4000. Should almost get you there!

 

[David]

But I think I get it. Scrape the blade back and forth across the stone until it’s sharp. I can do that!

Jason’s kitchen knife a week from now…

 

[Toothpick]

Jason’s kitchen knife a week from now…View attachment 1719453

You saw what happened when I attempted to use a grinder on a nice fixed blade
That’s probably not far off

 

[Legion]

You saw what happened when I attempted to use a grinder on a nice fixed blade
That’s probably not far off

I hope it wasn’t the knife I’m thinking of….

 

[Toothpick]

I hope it wasn’t the knife I’m thinking of….

The Randall? No, not that. I‘ve been afraid to touch that edge.

 

[Tanuki]

1000, 2000... gonna be shiny!

 

[Toothpick]

2 out of 4 showed up today. But now I work the rest of the week. Probably will be next weekend before I give it a try.

 

[Toothpick]

Everything arrived. I flattened the stones easy peasy with the Atoma. That was actually pretty fun. I could probably do that for a living. Just grind stones down. Weird but…whatever.

I took my Benchmade to the 500, 1000, 2000. I carry the Benchmade Bugout every day. Some folks might think “nooo practice on something you don’t mind screwing up!”. But Benchmade offers a lifetime re-sharpening for free. So I figured if I really screw it up I can simply send it back to Benchmade for a free re-sharpen. Something I can’t do with any other knife I own. So screw it, I went at it.

Not for a very long time. Maybe spent 20 minutes on all 3 stones combined. Including flattening. So it was a quick session. But, the knife will cut. It’s not shave my arm hair sharp but it is sharper.

So I ordered a sink bridge because it’s impossible to sharpen without one with my setup. On the side of the knife with the belt clip it won’t lay flat on the stone unless I have the stone propped up on something. So I think the sink bridge is just what I need. Gonna wait until that comes in to give it another go. This next time I’ll really take my time and get the burr and progress through each stone until I can slice tissue paper! Or a cardboard box……

Very thankful my personal sharpening guide @David is readily available for questions

 

[Legion]

Everything arrived. I flattened the stones easy peasy with the Atoma. That was actually pretty fun. I could probably do that for a living. Just grind stones down. Weird but…whatever.

I took my Benchmade to the 500, 1000, 2000. I carry the Benchmade Bugout every day. Some folks might think “nooo practice on something you don’t mind screwing up!”. But Benchmade offers a lifetime re-sharpening for free. So I figured if I really screw it up I can simply send it back to Benchmade for a free re-sharpen. Something I can’t do with any other knife I own. So screw it, I went at it.

Not for a very long time. Maybe spent 20 minutes on all 3 stones combined. Including flattening. So it was a quick session. But, the knife will cut. It’s not shave my arm hair sharp but it is sharper.

So I ordered a sink bridge because it’s impossible to sharpen without one with my setup. On the side of the knife with the belt clip it won’t lay flat on the stone unless I have the stone propped up on something. So I think the sink bridge is just what I need. Gonna wait until that comes in to give it another go. This next time I’ll really take my time and get the burr and progress through each stone until I can slice tissue paper! Or a cardboard box……

Very thankful my personal sharpening guide @David is readily available for questions

Please check your mail box. I'll be sending you all my hard Arkansas to do from now on.

...When you say the knife wont lay flat on the stone on the clip side.... Um. Explain what you mean there. If you are trying to thin or polish the blade and need a little more hight you can put one stone on top of the other with some rubber draw liner or something in between to stop them skating around.

One stone should be plenty thick enough for a normal sharpening angle though.

 

[Toothpick]

Please check your mail box. I'll be sending you all my hard Arkansas to do from now on.

...When you say the knife wont lay flat on the stone on the clip side.... Um. Explain what you mean there.

Please read carefully…I said “for a living”. So go ahead and send them but I will be charging for this service.

I was trying to sharpen with the stone on my kitchen counter and the clip on the knife was resting on the counter and raising the knife enough the blade edge wouldn’t lay flat on the stone. The stone was thinner than the knife I guess. But I rested the stone on the sink divider and no issues. Thus…the reason I want the sink bridge.

 

[Legion]

Please read carefully…I said “for a living”. So go ahead and send them but I will be charging for this service.

I was trying to sharpen with the stone on my kitchen counter and the clip on the knife was resting on the counter and raising the knife enough the blade edge wouldn’t lay flat on the stone. The stone was thinner than the knife I guess. But I rested the stone on the sink divider and no issues. Thus…the reason I want the sink bridge.

Weird. What angle are you sharpening the knife at?

As I added in an edit above, you can stack the stones for height if you have something rubbery in between.

 

[Toothpick]

Weird. What angle are you sharpening the knife at?

As I added in an edit above, you can stack the stones for height if you have something rubbery in between.

Fudge, I didn’t even think of stacking them. I just thought “ok, how do I make this more difficult“. IDK what angle. 15? 40? I’m just going to town.


You probably can’t tell crap from these photos but the stone is thin and the knife with the belt clip isn’t much thicker. So my angle probably was a bit off. But I’d still feel more comfy without having to worry about it.

 

[Legion]

With that knife you probably want to lift the spine so the edge is contacting at about a 20 degree angle. Holding that consistently for each stroke is what takes the practice.

 

[duke762]

I'm a stone stacker from way back. I'd stack my oil stones to get a good, repeatable, position and let muscle memory take over. As long as it's stable, all is good, Or a stone holder would may help. Remove any variables you can. For best results, do not skimp on room for a smooth honing stroke or the ability to get a comfortable, controlling, grip.

Extremely nice hones! I expected a much higher price that that, good choice, good score! ....Oh, don't forget. Have a ball learning!

Free hand knife sharpening is getting to be a dying man skill, to be replaced by contraptions.....

 

[Toothpick]

With that knife you probably want to lift the spine so the edge is contacting at about a 20 degree angle. Holding that consistently for each stroke is what takes the practice.

Benchmade puts an edge on it at 15-17 degrees. 30-35 inclusive. Perhaps I just have to put a whole new angle of sharpening on this knife.

 

[Toothpick]

I'm a stone stacker from way back. I'd stack my oil stones to get a good, repeatable, position and let muscle memory take over. As long as it's stable, all is good, Or a stone holder would may help. Remove any variables you can. For best results, do not skimp on room for a smooth honing stroke or the ability to get a comfortable, controlling, grip.

Extremely nice hones! I expected a much higher price that that, good choice, good score!

No muscle memory yet as far as I can tell. I’ve used my dad’s old stone once or twice but not enough to be like “yeahhhh let’s sharpen!!!”. It was more so enough to be like “hmm, this seems tedious. I’ll just buy a new knife”.

 

[Legion]

Benchmade puts an edge on it at 15-17 degrees. 30-35 inclusive. Perhaps I just have to put a whole new angle of sharpening on this knife.

OK. If benchmade is doing 17 try to stick with that. If you go up to 20 it's not the end of the world, you'll just make a micro bevel. Eet will still cut. The main thing is trying to keep whatever angle you are using as consistent as you can.

 

[Toothpick]

OK. If benchmade is doing 17 try to stick with that. If you go up to 20 it's not the end of the world, you'll just make a micro bevel. Eet will still cut. The main thing is trying to keep whatever angle you are using as consistent as you can.

I wish I would have been in to this stuff when my dad was alive. He could sharpen his knife on his whetstone like a surgeons scalpel. He sharpened on a whetstone way back in Vietnam when he was 17 through the end of his life. 50 years or so. No care at all for the angle, or stone he was using. Just all muscle memory and going until it was sharp. I still have his stone but no idea what grit it is and I’m positive it’s completely un-flat