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Sidearms & Scatterguns Recommend a Knife Sharpening Kit
- Thread starter WB300
- Start date
Twenty or thirty years ago a guy would set up at gun shows. He used a series of cardboard wheels impregnated with different grades of abrasives. I had him sharpen an old bayonet once. Took him about 90 seconds and it was scalpel sharp when he finished. He sold the wheels at the shows and in the Shotgun News. I was going to buy a set, but he was straight up and told me almost everyone burned a few blades when they started.
Officer proof system
www.edgeproinc.com
I have the apex with grits to 1200 stone and 2000 tapes. I don't have the time for stoning but I need razor sharp for getting the job done as a commercial fisherman. With the proper angle for the blade I can go a week with 2 fillet knives and a heavy blade for chopping. I do some chefs blades when they start to get too thick.
No heat so the temper never changes. Truly the best system I have used for perfect edges every time with the least amount of time expended.
Professional Knife & Scissor Sharpening | Edge Pro Knife Sharpeners
Experience the convenience and power of Edge Pro knife sharpeners. Our hand sharpening system for knives is the ultimate way to get precise, fast results.
www.edgeproinc.com
No heat so the temper never changes. Truly the best system I have used for perfect edges every time with the least amount of time expended.
Another vote for Wicked Edge. One of the things I like about it is my knives range from 15 to 25 degrees and it takes just seconds to change angles using the angle gauge.
i’ve seen knives destroyed by people using machines to attempt to sharpen them. No thanks. I’ll keep my blades on stones and steels.
Some blades, ive seen systems like th worksharp do fine on. But i’d never run a knife i really cared about on one of those things or anything like it.
Officer proof system
Truly the best system I have used for perfect edges every time with the least amount of time expended.Professional Knife & Scissor Sharpening | Edge Pro Knife Sharpeners
Experience the convenience and power of Edge Pro knife sharpeners. Our hand sharpening system for knives is the ultimate way to get precise, fast results.
The eleventh commandment: Know thy limitations
Aint no issue here. All my knives are hair popping sharp....when you touch your arm with them, the hair pops about 3 inches off my arm-from the tip along the entire cutting surface. All with a kitchen steel and a leather belt.
I just hate seeing advice out there that can lead a person to ruin a nice knife. With a bit of practice, any fool can get the same results as THIS fool.
I just hate seeing advice out there that can lead a person to ruin a nice knife. With a bit of practice, any fool can get the same results as THIS fool.
D
Deleted member 10043
Guest
It is refreshing to see somebody is using their kitchen knives and a butcher steel and strop to educate the masses. Barbers having been doing this too with the strop. I think for a long time. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
There are times where i’ve had a knife that i’ve lost the edge on, and sometimes struggled to find the proper angle and re-establish it; that i’ll admit. But i have to say, the steel i use is very benign....in looking at it, one wouldnt think it wouldn’t accomplish much at all. But the damn thing works. Nothing special, it came with a chicago cutlery set i got in 97 when i made the second biggest mistake of my life. No diamonds, no special nothing....just a plain jane kitchen steel.
I do my broadheads on that thing, too. Run them through a deer and into the ground, clean them up, test to make sure the tip isnt bent, then a few strokes on the steel and they are nasty sharp again.
D
Deleted member 10043
Guest
I don't pay attention to what the OP decides. I'm just in it for the trolling. @Bender is the biggest troll and I'm just leaving my mark in case he sniffs his way down this alley. Really, Milo? You consider this competition? I look at it like you got man toys and I have tools. That's all. You should know this by now. Check out the recent thread where the OP bought himself a dandy Yankee custom knife to go with his dandy six shooter. The pair will never see the light of day and if he had a dream and saw himself sitting next to Wild Bill, well, Bill would laugh and order his new friend a Sarsaparilla.
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A ceramic rod will take care of 90% of your sharpening. For more serious work, I use a 1" belt sander with belts at 400/800 grit, 30/15/9 micron and leather belts with green and black compound. I also have courser belts for reprofiling, something you can't do with a sharpening kit. Holding an angle is not an issue. Practice with a cheap knife and you get the hang of it pretty quickly.
LMAO, I actually know Bender, and his work is top shelf. I have a 1" Delta belt sander, ass of belts, I used it quite a bit to reprofile woodturnig tools, and can sharpen a knife with it, I choose not to. I look at my WE as more of a crutch than a toy, one I wont be giving up, ever.
But you need a snickers bar, pm your address and I will ship you a case.
Bull shit, you'd just hear not needed when X suffices.lolI have some Snap On. We got some eccentric fucks that would shit on that too.
What did I miss? Milo is a top shelf asshole. He has lived long enough to know his way around sharp things and other stuff that goes boom. I even met the bastard when some retards decided to put on a shoot a couple of years ago up north on a ranch with a shit ton of wind. It was a miserable day but fun. Especially when we used a horse trailer With literal shit on the floor and a table for registration. Good ol Wyoming way to weed out the pussies. Lmao.
Goddamnit Bender, these guys think I am a great guy, you could have sugar coated it just a bit.
I sharpen knives every am. It's all about angles and intended use for that blade. Ive tried alot of the shit mentioned in this thread. Get some Arkansas stones and a good steel, like an F. DICK elliptical.
My Mexican employees use a black pavestone paver and water, then a good steel. Their shit is sharp all day. Different angles for different jobs. If you are serious, forget all the toys.
Not shitting on anybody, just passing along what I've learned.
My Mexican employees use a black pavestone paver and water, then a good steel. Their shit is sharp all day. Different angles for different jobs. If you are serious, forget all the toys.
Not shitting on anybody, just passing along what I've learned.
Was over in the Semi Auto forum and thought: what if I click on New Posts? and it led me to this thread. You guys are a hell of a lot more entertaining than, say, the 6.5 Grendel posters, just sayin'.
Here's a legit question. Found my way to this set, which looked like a decent deal: https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Ultimate-Oil-Stone-Kit-P320C100.aspx. This set up includes an Arkansas soft and an Arkansas hard stone. No way for me to judge the quality of the products, just seems a good combination of tools given the discussion in this thread.
Separately, they also offer what they call an Arkansas Hard Black stone. Would you expect with some practice that the hard/soft set would be sufficient for most purposes (Gerber field knife, folding Benchmade for example), or is a Hard Black stone a good thing to add?
Most of what I know about sharpening knives comes from reading this thread, so looking for advice.
Thank you.
Here's a legit question. Found my way to this set, which looked like a decent deal: https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Ultimate-Oil-Stone-Kit-P320C100.aspx. This set up includes an Arkansas soft and an Arkansas hard stone. No way for me to judge the quality of the products, just seems a good combination of tools given the discussion in this thread.
Separately, they also offer what they call an Arkansas Hard Black stone. Would you expect with some practice that the hard/soft set would be sufficient for most purposes (Gerber field knife, folding Benchmade for example), or is a Hard Black stone a good thing to add?
Most of what I know about sharpening knives comes from reading this thread, so looking for advice.
Thank you.
Looks to be a great way to learn. Practice is the name of the game. The hard black would be helpful on a Benchmade IMHO.
I bought a 5-stone kit from Lansky kit. I’ve had it for a couple years and have no complaints.
now ya see, many years ago, when i was 19, i bought one of the lansky’s. fucking never worked for shit. one on one knife i had. maybe my leatherman tool....but none of the others. i bet it’s still sitting in a drawer somwhere....i will try to remember looking for it tomorrow....so i can throw it out.
The Complete Guide to Sharpening, by Leonard Lee, and a 20x jewelers loup helped me more than any sharpening jig. YouTube also has a few great tutorials on sharpening.
If you find it, ship it to me, I'll get it in the same landfill as my Arkansas stone tri hone kit, and the ceramic stick ones.
It's all about polish and angle for the work you intend to do.
I had a Lansky found it never worked for me. Might be shit stones they look to be some sort of man made ones.
Now I'm finding Arkansas stones or ceramic rods can do it for me.
I think my technique got better with practice.
Recently I asked my old aged barber if he had any left ver strops from the straight razor days.
He gave me this bad boy....
Probably the only thing ever made in the USSR worth a damn.
Now when the knives need a freshen up I just polish them on the strop.
No matter what the size of the knife that long piece of communist leather will work it from guard to tip.
Just throw a 400 grit belt on a belt grinder and go for it. Then run a light stone on it, then strop it on leather til it's shavin sharp. Maybe 15 minutes tops
I've owned about every knife sharpener there is. Lansky, Spyderco Sharpmaker, Ken Onion worksharp, Wicked Edge Pro, Edge Pro Apex, who knows how many generic horrible ones, etc.
For kitchen knives I use the Ken Onion Worksharp and then maintain with the spyderco sharpmaker. For many years, decades.... I used a Lanksy with diamond coarse, x-tra course stones to make quick work and then the natural arkansas stones for finishing. You can buy the 3 stone standard Lansky kit and add the coarse and xtra-course diamond stones and still spend under $100 and the results are better than most people need. Lansky, unfortunately like most things has reduced quality over the years, the old clamp used to be much thicker and more solid than the new ones, you can flex the "ears" where the stones go easily now. This is still what I'll throw in the truck going hunting etc. It's not fancy but it works and there's really nothing to go wrong/break.
I can tell you while the Wicked Edge pro gets amazing results, better than any other sharpener I've used, it's also $1100 these days and it still has shortcomings in the clamp. I honestly rarely use it now that I'm not using a knife daily for work. In almost all these systems the clamp is the weak point. Some blade shapes/grinds they work great, other blades they don't work well at all. If you have to have the best, and love the idea of being able to easily spend another $1000+ on accessories to use with and $1100 knife sharpener, Wicked Edge is your jam. The Wicked Edge is probably the easiest for someone with no skills to get amazing results fast. It's a 25lb 6mm with a 6oz trigger, basically no technique/form required.
The Edge Pro can also give amazing results but it's much closer to free-hand than most like and unless you use it all the time the results aren't great because it's hard to keep a consistent angle with no clamp. You not only have to worry about the blade staying flat on the sharpener table but you have to worry about it rotating. Guys have gone crazy installing magnets to hold the knife down, grinding custom "spacers" to keep the blade from rotating etc. These are the opposite of the Wicked Edge, the only thing that requires more technique/form is sharpening freehand. The only real benefit I see to the Edge pro is if you use it enough to get good technique, it will work with about any blade, and it's fast to use because you're not messing with a clamp. It's not bad for larger kitchen knives where most put the same edge on all their knives and the spines are usually flat, but the smaller the knife, the harder it is to use.
The Ken Onion is nice but I only use mine for kitchen knives or badly abused blades to set the edge back, I don't feel it's angle is very repeatable, too much slop/flex in the system and it can get thin blades really hot really fast. Like any powered tool if you are not careful it can round a sharp tip off in a single pass. I love having one though, it makes sharpening a ton of kitchen knives super fast and painless that would take literally days to do by hand. You also have to be okay with the fact that the only edge you can put on a knife with the Worksharp is a convex edge because of the flex in the belt.
Spyderco Sharpmaker it's great for maintaining an edge, but if you have really dull/damaged blades it takes too long to remove enough metal. You can get diamond stones for it, and some places will sell very coarse ceramic stones that fit it as well. If I was buying one of these today I think I'd get try the worksharp ken onion angle set. You get more angle options (15, 17.5, 20, 22.5, 25), diamond plates and ceramic for $60 and replacement plates are $8. The Spyderco you only get 2 angles (15, 20 deg), 2 ceramic stones, and it's $75, if you want diamond you'll drop another $60.
The only one I've seen recently I'd like to try is the new worksharp precision adjust model that has diamond stones. $120 is pretty cheap and it seems like a significant improvement on the lansky budget option, and spare stones are only $8 which is nice because if you do a lot of dulled blades, you end up replacing the diamond stones fairly often, and for example Lansky is $25 a pop.
For kitchen knives I use the Ken Onion Worksharp and then maintain with the spyderco sharpmaker. For many years, decades.... I used a Lanksy with diamond coarse, x-tra course stones to make quick work and then the natural arkansas stones for finishing. You can buy the 3 stone standard Lansky kit and add the coarse and xtra-course diamond stones and still spend under $100 and the results are better than most people need. Lansky, unfortunately like most things has reduced quality over the years, the old clamp used to be much thicker and more solid than the new ones, you can flex the "ears" where the stones go easily now. This is still what I'll throw in the truck going hunting etc. It's not fancy but it works and there's really nothing to go wrong/break.
I can tell you while the Wicked Edge pro gets amazing results, better than any other sharpener I've used, it's also $1100 these days and it still has shortcomings in the clamp. I honestly rarely use it now that I'm not using a knife daily for work. In almost all these systems the clamp is the weak point. Some blade shapes/grinds they work great, other blades they don't work well at all. If you have to have the best, and love the idea of being able to easily spend another $1000+ on accessories to use with and $1100 knife sharpener, Wicked Edge is your jam. The Wicked Edge is probably the easiest for someone with no skills to get amazing results fast. It's a 25lb 6mm with a 6oz trigger, basically no technique/form required.
The Edge Pro can also give amazing results but it's much closer to free-hand than most like and unless you use it all the time the results aren't great because it's hard to keep a consistent angle with no clamp. You not only have to worry about the blade staying flat on the sharpener table but you have to worry about it rotating. Guys have gone crazy installing magnets to hold the knife down, grinding custom "spacers" to keep the blade from rotating etc. These are the opposite of the Wicked Edge, the only thing that requires more technique/form is sharpening freehand. The only real benefit I see to the Edge pro is if you use it enough to get good technique, it will work with about any blade, and it's fast to use because you're not messing with a clamp. It's not bad for larger kitchen knives where most put the same edge on all their knives and the spines are usually flat, but the smaller the knife, the harder it is to use.
The Ken Onion is nice but I only use mine for kitchen knives or badly abused blades to set the edge back, I don't feel it's angle is very repeatable, too much slop/flex in the system and it can get thin blades really hot really fast. Like any powered tool if you are not careful it can round a sharp tip off in a single pass. I love having one though, it makes sharpening a ton of kitchen knives super fast and painless that would take literally days to do by hand. You also have to be okay with the fact that the only edge you can put on a knife with the Worksharp is a convex edge because of the flex in the belt.
Spyderco Sharpmaker it's great for maintaining an edge, but if you have really dull/damaged blades it takes too long to remove enough metal. You can get diamond stones for it, and some places will sell very coarse ceramic stones that fit it as well. If I was buying one of these today I think I'd get try the worksharp ken onion angle set. You get more angle options (15, 17.5, 20, 22.5, 25), diamond plates and ceramic for $60 and replacement plates are $8. The Spyderco you only get 2 angles (15, 20 deg), 2 ceramic stones, and it's $75, if you want diamond you'll drop another $60.
The only one I've seen recently I'd like to try is the new worksharp precision adjust model that has diamond stones. $120 is pretty cheap and it seems like a significant improvement on the lansky budget option, and spare stones are only $8 which is nice because if you do a lot of dulled blades, you end up replacing the diamond stones fairly often, and for example Lansky is $25 a pop.
Really?? I have a KenOnion, tons of stones....but I did grab a Wasabi a fee months ago....super easy and fast to get to shaving sharp....I'm using their diamond stones you had to pay extra for....fuck soaking stones in water....then I strop it after
I was killing time in bass pro the other day and came across it. It was just the standard $50 one, not the elite with the case and the extra stones. I figured I’d try it for $50 and it works amazingly. The clamp has some flex but really no more than the wicked edge and doesn’t seem to be an issue if you use light pressure. All in all I’m impressed and give it a grade A on the chinesium grading scale. I had already decided to send my Sharpmaker down the road and was debating on the wicked edge too since I never use it and I think it sealed the deal that I don’t need it at all.
I saw the bench top one they sell too which I had never seen before that works somewhat like the Sharpmaker and I kinda want one of those now as well.
Welp.
I just went thru this thread and will have to say that not one mofo here knows what a sharp knife is.
To whit.
You're using things created by other people that didn't know what a sharp knife is.
Oh, you can get a knife sharp with a Lansky, but only if you spend about 5 times the amount of time you have spent on it so far.
With the coarsest stone, when you are actually ready to step to the next finer stone, your knife should be AT LEAST as sharp as a razor blade.
Yes it is like that....you rushed and it didn't work out for you.
You take the knife and drag it from elbow to wrist and the hairs should not be merely shaved off, they should POP, as in they fling outwards and not just lay on the knife blade and none are on the blade at travel end but your arm is as smooth as a freshly shaven face.
Grow up and get some Japanese water stones.
4000 grit to start (not a typo, 4 thousand grit to start).
Then 6000 grit.
Then 8000 grit.
Then 10,000.
Then 12,000.
You have to soak these bitches in water for at least 20 minutes and then liberally wet them as you're using them.
Go learn some *real* traditional Japanese sharpening techniques....not that fake ass spewtube bullshit, the real way to do it.
Don't even think of saying your (X) whatever machine can get it just as sharp....it's BS, you know it, I know it.
NOTHING comes close to a real Japanese water stone.
That's why they have been in use for thousands of years and are still in use by anyone that knows what sharp is.
www.grizzly.com
I just went thru this thread and will have to say that not one mofo here knows what a sharp knife is.
To whit.
You're using things created by other people that didn't know what a sharp knife is.
Oh, you can get a knife sharp with a Lansky, but only if you spend about 5 times the amount of time you have spent on it so far.
With the coarsest stone, when you are actually ready to step to the next finer stone, your knife should be AT LEAST as sharp as a razor blade.
Yes it is like that....you rushed and it didn't work out for you.
You take the knife and drag it from elbow to wrist and the hairs should not be merely shaved off, they should POP, as in they fling outwards and not just lay on the knife blade and none are on the blade at travel end but your arm is as smooth as a freshly shaven face.
Grow up and get some Japanese water stones.
4000 grit to start (not a typo, 4 thousand grit to start).
Then 6000 grit.
Then 8000 grit.
Then 10,000.
Then 12,000.
You have to soak these bitches in water for at least 20 minutes and then liberally wet them as you're using them.
Go learn some *real* traditional Japanese sharpening techniques....not that fake ass spewtube bullshit, the real way to do it.
Don't even think of saying your (X) whatever machine can get it just as sharp....it's BS, you know it, I know it.
NOTHING comes close to a real Japanese water stone.
That's why they have been in use for thousands of years and are still in use by anyone that knows what sharp is.
Japanese Water Stone - 8-1/8" L x 2-7/8" W x 7/8" T - 8000 Gr. - Grizzly Industrial
<h1>D1071 Japanese Water Stone</h1>To achieve a surgically sharp edge on your tools, nothing works faster or better than Japanese water stones. <p>The abrasive slurry produced on top of the stone cuts aggressively and polishes the blade as it sharpens. <p>If you've never tried sharpening with...
www.grizzly.com
Diamond is mo’ better.Welp.
I just went thru this thread and will have to say that not one mofo here knows what a sharp knife is.
To whit.
You're using things created by other people that didn't know what a sharp knife is.
Oh, you can get a knife sharp with a Lansky, but only if you spend about 5 times the amount of time you have spent on it so far.
With the coarsest stone, when you are actually ready to step to the next finer stone, your knife should be AT LEAST as sharp as a razor blade.
Yes it is like that....you rushed and it didn't work out for you.
You take the knife and drag it from elbow to wrist and the hairs should not be merely shaved off, they should POP, as in they fling outwards and not just lay on the knife blade and none are on the blade at travel end but your arm is as smooth as a freshly shaven face.
Grow up and get some Japanese water stones.
4000 grit to start (not a typo, 4 thousand grit to start).
Then 6000 grit.
Then 8000 grit.
Then 10,000.
Then 12,000.
You have to soak these bitches in water for at least 20 minutes and then liberally wet them as you're using them.
Go learn some *real* traditional Japanese sharpening techniques....not that fake ass spewtube bullshit, the real way to do it.
Don't even think of saying your (X) whatever machine can get it just as sharp....it's BS, you know it, I know it.
NOTHING comes close to a real Japanese water stone.
That's why they have been in use for thousands of years and are still in use by anyone that knows what sharp is.
Japanese Water Stone - 8-1/8" L x 2-7/8" W x 7/8" T - 8000 Gr. - Grizzly Industrial
<h1>D1071 Japanese Water Stone</h1>To achieve a surgically sharp edge on your tools, nothing works faster or better than Japanese water stones. <p>The abrasive slurry produced on top of the stone cuts aggressively and polishes the blade as it sharpens. <p>If you've never tried sharpening with...
