Knife Sharpening Q's

O' Clarkii Stomias

Landlocked Atlantic Salmon
Forum Supporter
I picked this up last year and threw it in my gear bag. Great for camping and riverside lunches. The knives are pretty impressive for the price.

 

mcswny

Legend
Forum Supporter
I picked this up last year and threw it in my gear bag. Great for camping and riverside lunches. The knives are pretty impressive for the price.

Yeah that looks like a great set up. Case and everything.
 

mcswny

Legend
Forum Supporter
Welp. I just pulled the trigger on the Ken Onion Work Sharp. I'm not typically a "gadget guy" but I'll report back.
I have a full set of mid-price whetstones that have just been gathering dust in my garage since I had a kid and the thought of sending my knives out to get sharpened at $10-$12 a blade (not even counting my pocket knives) was the deciding factor. Hopefully I can figure it out good enough and will be worth it.

More to come.
 

nwbobber

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
I think if you want to learn to sharpen on a stone, the easiest to start with is a good oilstone. A set of a soft and hard Arkansas stone will get things sharp enough for most. Finding the angle is simple. Take a sharpie and get the area next to the edge black. Then start at a low angle and see what part of the black is being worn off. Adjust until you just hit the edge. Have your stone on a solid surface so it doesn't move and move over the stone as if you were slicing off a shaving. Lay a finger on the side of the blade so you can develop a feel for the angle, as you are trying to learn to keep this constant. When you can rub the backside of the edge and feel a burr developing along the entire length of the edge, turn it over and do the other side. After both sides are done move to the hard Arkansas or finer stone. When finishing an edge I gradually lighten up on the pressure, and will take fewer strokes before turning over... last thing I do is take one light stroke on each side.
I have oil stones, diamond stones, and water stones. A beginner is better off with a stone hard enough to keep its shape. Waterstones are awesome after you develop the skill to keep a consistent angle, but can be frustrating if you frequently get off angle and gouge into them... they are pretty soft. Diamond stones are expensive, but use water to keep the metal from clogging the surface. Oilstones require metalworking oil to keep the metal particles in suspension and prevent clogging of the stone.
The steel is used to maintain the edge. As you use a knife the edge will get rolled over. If you look at it with a microscope you would see a little hook bent over to the side. The point of the steel is to unroll that hook and get the edge pointed in the right direction. Take the steel at approximately the angle you used to put the edge on the knife and drag it off the edge on both sides. Imagine the hook and what it would take to straighten it. You do the opposite as you would do on the stone. On the stone you move like taking a shaving, on the steel the opposite.
Some steels are actually hones, and have diamonds in them. I wouldn't recommend those except for those airbnb knives. You want to maintain the shape of your knife, and it's easy to grind hollows into the knife that you don't want.
 

mcswny

Legend
Forum Supporter
This dual sided stone works great on my pocket knives:

The diamond side removes metal and fixes dings, the very fine ceramic side puts a nice edge on.

I am tempted to get the KO Worksharp for my kitchen knives. I use a cheap tool with carbide and ceramic Vs for those now.

I'm still a skeptic, but i guess not a big enough skeptic to drop $140 🤷‍♂️
I'll let you know how I feel when it gets delivered on Tuesday-ish.
 
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Evan B

Bobber Downey Jr.
Staff member
Admin
I'm still a skeptic, but i guess not a big enough skeptic to drop $140 🤷‍♂️
I'll let you know how I feel when it gets delivered on Tuesday-ish.
Shoulda just came over and test drove mine :ROFLMAO:
 

DanielOcean

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
PNW Fly fishers come to my rescue again. Thank you all this did the trick. I am 39 years old and now know how to sharpen a knife. The results of after just 5 minutes of messing around is astonishing. The more I do it the more I, "get it". You have to trust the sharpener whole heartedly. Took some pictures of the unboxing and a couple knives.
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BEFORE
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Tinkering and messing with it to understand it.
Getting ready and reading the instructions like @Evan B instructed1672944639936.png

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DanielOcean

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
One note: Please wear safety glasses when doing this. I felt a small something hit my face. That's the point I stopped and tossed a pair on. This is just a mini grinding wheel essentially.
 

mcswny

Legend
Forum Supporter
BEFORE
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Well that's an odd place to store a knife :unsure:
 

DanielOcean

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
Awesome, I'm excited. I have so many knives to sharpen.

Anyone know if it works on scandi grinds?
I would be excited for sure. You got the more expensive Ken Onion but my 100 dollar Amazon gift card only gets me this base model.
 

Evan B

Bobber Downey Jr.
Staff member
Admin
I want to try mine for my lawnmower blade
 
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