Whetstone Knife Sharpening: A Dying Art?

[Dad_Roman]

I bought one of those Ken Onion belt sander/sharpening things. It okay for massive reprofiling of a blade.
For fine sharpening I like the V ceramic rods.

Likewise. Graduated from Whetstones to Diamond stones and like to finish on Ceramic Rods.

 

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

A long time ago I worked for Alamo Lumber and Ready Mix. I've found some pretty good sharpening stones in the gravel pile. A long skinny piece of sandstone will do a fair job of putting an edge on a work knife.

Alan

 

[Texasjack]

...and never, ever put a good kitchen knife in the dishwasher.

Amen!

And, after 25 years of marriage, I still have to check the dishwasher for knives my wife insists on putting in there.

 

[Texasjack]

Motor driven tools accomplish the same damage to knives as dremel tools do to guns.

Oh, man! A neighbor, an elderly veteran from the early part of the Vietnam War, called me one day and asked me to help him with a pistol. I went to his house and he showed me a small, stainless .380 that he had bought for his wife. He thought it wasn't as shiny as it should be. (I guess he thought it should be like a nickel plated gun.) He tried to polish it by hand (with Brasso, I seem to recall), but got nowhere. Then he broke out his trusty Dremel tool! Oh, yeah, it had gouges and marks ALL over it! What a mess! I spent a whole day with a buffing wheel working to get it close to where it was before he started scooting that Dremel tool over it.

 

[Wudidiz]

Being old and stuck in my ways I suppose I’ll stick with the water stones and horse butt strop. I found that I can get plenty sharp edges if I don’t chase burrs on the bevel. I mark the bevel with a black magic marker to help find my angle and count equal strokes for each side and stone. Other than that, I use alot of water on the stones, especially 400-100 as they are very porous and permeable. I found that toothpaste works best for me as a strop dressing. A little dab’ll do ya.

 

[jrbfishn]

I use stones and belts. Each has it's use. The trick is to learn how and when to use both.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

 

[leVieux]

I still sharpen my hunting and folding knives with whetstones. I enjoy the process and results. I’ve been doing it that way for over 50 years. I like a wet 800-1000 grit then finish usually with a 6000. When I was a kid we used a pedal grinder stone for the heavy stuff and whetstones were common for the knives. Are the new electric sharpeners better? Maybe I’m missing something.

No electric I’ve ever seen is “better” !

 

[pronstar]

I use Global knives, Japanese blade have a different angle than most.

Global recommends Minosharp by name, so that’s what I use.

It’s idiot-proof for the most part.
Works great.
Same principle as others - coarse, medium and fine grit stones.

 

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

A few stones from the years.

A pink Arkansas and a Missouri, Black Arkansas below and a small carborundum I had as a kid.

Ceramic rod from a big fluorescent light (38 spl case for a handle.

My grandfathers oil stone

a great grand uncle's oil stone

I found this in an old house we lived in a while back. It was broken in two places. I glued it back together. It's sandstone.

My father's oil stone.

Various stones (rocks) that I've picked up to use for an edge.

Knives, like guns, are tools. Knives are likely our oldest tools. Knives are subject to a lot more abuse than most guns during the course of their work.

Someday we can have a knife thread (probably already have one)... I've got knives. Lots of working knives and some that will never feel a stone.

Alan

 

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

I've got a bunch of other stones and diamond hones. I've got one that I carry in my wallet the size of a credit card.

Alan

 

[Axxe55]

No electric I’ve ever seen is “better” !

rather apparent you know nothing about the Tormek knife sharpeners that many custom knifemakers use.

 

[Texasjack]

I don't know any custom knife makers that use a Tormek, but it's very popular with some woodworkers for sharpening chisels and lathe tools. Tormek is apparently made with green painted gold and platinum, with diamond bearings - at least according to the price for one. There are lots of cool tools for knifemakers to spend their money on.

 

[Wudidiz]

A few stones from the years.

A pink Arkansas and a Missouri, Black Arkansas below and a small carborundum I had as a kid.
View attachment 348224




Ceramic rod from a big fluorescent light (38 spl case for a handle.

View attachment 348225

My grandfathers oil stone
View attachment 348228

a great grand uncle's oil stone
View attachment 348229

I found this in an old house we lived in a while back. It was broken in two places. I glued it back together. It's sandstone.
View attachment 348230

My father's oil stone.
View attachment 348231

Various stones (rocks) that I've picked up to use for an edge.
View attachment 348233

Knives, like guns, are tools. Knives are likely our oldest tools. Knives are subject to a lot more abuse than most guns during the course of their work.

Someday we can have a knife thread (probably already have one)... I've got knives. Lots of working knives and some that will never feel a stone.

Alan

Those stones are awesome. Your grandfather’s oil stone has seen a few blades in it’s time. It’s great that you kept them all.

 

[Axxe55]

I don't know any custom knife makers that use a Tormek, but it's very popular with some woodworkers for sharpening chisels and lathe tools. Tormek is apparently made with green painted gold and platinum, with diamond bearings - at least according to the price for one. There are lots of cool tools for knifemakers to spend their money on.

how many Custom Knife knife makes do you know personally

 

[etmo]

how many Custom Knife knife makes do you know personally

and more than just knife makers, talk to pro sharpeners. One of the many reasons you buy a Tormek T-8 is because it can run all day, every day.

It's a pretty simple business. They have a sharpening line with 3 Tormeks. Each Tormek station has a diamond wheel, but with a different grit. The diamond wheels last a crazy long time and never change their radius. That way, you take the knife, put it into the jig at exactly the angle you want, and just move the jig from one wheel to the next.

With such a setup, an experienced user can go from dull to pretty darn nice in just a few minutes (of course depending on the edge to begin with). Keeps the customers happy and the profit margins high.

 

[baboon]

I'm still learning the angle and pressure for whetstone sharpening but wasn't satisfied with the Langsky sharpeners I had years ago.

As an apprentice meat cutter I was taught lay a nickel on the stone then put the back of the knife onthe nickel. It won't work for all knives, but it was perfect for my work knives.

Diamond coated steels are nice to use, followed by a steel. Steel actuall come in different coarseness too.

 

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

As an apprentice meat cutter I was taught lay a nickel on the stone then put the back of the knife onthe nickel. It won't work for all knives, but it was perfect for my work knives.

Diamond coated steels are nice to use, followed by a steel. Steel actuall come in different coarseness too.

I'll bet that gives a very fine edge, and one that you learn to keep your fingers away from!

I'll pass that trick on to my oldest son. He has taken on the role of meat processor in our family.

Alan

 

[baboon]

I'll bet that gives a very fine edge, and one that you learn to keep your fingers away from!

I'll pass that trick on to my oldest son. He has taken on the role of meat processor in our family.

Alan

It worked with Forschner Knives that I used my whole time cutting meat. Different knives have different steel which may change everything. I was given a Chicago Cutlery knife & it was a hard knife to put an edge on but it lasted longer.

​

 

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

I don't know what he uses. I'm sure he'll give the sharpening thing a try. That boy (he's 40) can break down a hog or a deer or a steer in nothing flat. He's got a knack for it.

Alan

 

[baboon]

I don't know what he uses. I'm sure he'll give the sharpening thing a try. That boy (he's 40) can break down a hog or a deer or a steer in nothing flat. He's got a knack for it.

Alan

What kind of saw does he use? A proper breaking saw is nice a band saw is better. boning out everthing is a lot of work.