Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Stephen L. Corley on December 6, 2013 at 7:55

This is where I get all of my sharpening supplies. Orders over $60 ship free. Orders over 2lbs. ship Fed Exhttp://www.chefknivestogo.com/sharpening-stones.html

Permalink Reply by Stephen L. Corley on December 6, 2013 at 8:10

Steve, I've been setting up on the stove. It has the flat glass top. One thing that helps is to rest my head on the vent. It helps to hold the rest of me still.

Steve Hanner said:

Ouch is right!, you know where you do this and the angle you sit or stand at is all pretty important too. I remember Stephen talking about that early on. I find I have to stand to control it and get the right touch.

Jack Haskins, Jr. said:

Glad to hear about the 320.  I may have to get one for my Edge Pro.  I don't have a DMT for lapping.  I have the 140 grit diamond stone on CKTG but it is heavy like the DMT stones.  I always put my water stones on top because it's easier to control the pressure.  BTW, I dropped one of my DMT stones on my bare foot.  ouch!  I recommend steel toe boots whan using DMT stones. lol  Or maybe a little more coordination. :)

 

Jack

 

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on December 6, 2013 at 10:08

Stephen, I get a lot of sharpening stuff on CKTG also.  From the sites I've seen they have the 3 most important things.  GREAT selection, GREAT quality and GREAT customer service.  In addition to that when I (and others) have emailed the site owner (Mark) with a question he answers it promptly and also usually posts the questions on their forum so others can give their input as well as others possibly benifiting from a question and answers.  A t first I thought their prices were sort of high but after shopping around I find while the prices aren't cheap, they are very competative. 

I'd like to get a picture of you sharpening a knife. I'm getting a mental picture of you sharpening on your stove while resting your head on the vent cover  but I think a picture is needed. :)

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on December 6, 2013 at 20:33

I guess I should go back and check the site for what I need. I am so late on everything today with that pesky snow! I appreciate the advice as I will be doing more after Christmas (sharpening) so I should probably be sure the stone stays flat. I don't need any complications starting out!

Hmm Sharpening pictures... I like the sound of that, Well they say a picture is worth a thousand words! If I ever  get it set up and I can get a pic, to post it here.... I will do that!

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on December 6, 2013 at 22:10

Steve, if you contact Mark at CKTG and tell him exactly what you have, what you think you need and even let him know any financial info he will give you a good idea of what he thinks you need (and why).  If you can't get everything in one order he would advise you on what is most importantt or what to get first, setera, setera.  Not only is he knowledgable in sharpening he deals with a lot of people and I think he can suggest anything from a beginner's setup to adding to what people already have.  He's a very helpful individual.  He may even post your question on the forum to get advice and opinions from others.  If you wouldn't want him to do that let him know (if you email him).  Another guy to ask is Ken Schwartz.  He is partners or something on the site and is very knowledgable and helpfull as well.  He actually makes several types of sprays.  M ost of them are pretty expensive but they work.  A good idea would be to get a bottle of something (a spray) and split it between two or three people.  A bottle of CBN is about $45. He has some polycrystaline diamond spray that is higher.  It definately produces great results though.  Who cares if you only get to eat 4 days a week. lol  THere are less expensive diamond sprays on the CKTG site also.  Some of the diamond sprays are $20 for the same size bottle.  Of  course these things are not required to get a knife very sharp.  But, if you use this stuff you'll have the sharpest knife at the annual family reunion. lol  I'd bet all of my neighbor's money on it.  lol  When it comes to these sprays deciding which ones to buy (if you wany any) is about as hard as deciding which stones to buy.  I t's like the search for the ultimate perfect edge starts all over again.  :)

So you can gather info until after the holidays to decide if you need anything.  I  do need to add this.  These super high grit products won't do anything at all for anyone until their ability is high enough to control things like angle control and consistant pressure during very light strokes. I would recommend a beginning sharpener not even consider getting any abrasive anythinng under 1 micron for a strop.  Even that may be too high of a grit to begin with.  I bought sprays a year or two ago and thought I had wasted my money.  Now, after lots of info gathering and practice I am getting great results from grits as low as .25 micron.  I  just got some .1 micron spray about a month ago.  On a good day it refines a .25 micron edge even more. Does that edge open a package better or faster or easier than after stropping with a 6 micron strop?  Nope.  The edge is sharper or smoother or whatever but it's difficult to actually feel the difference in most EDC pocket knives for every day cutting.  I bought some glass at Lowe's today and have some leather coming in the mail.  I'm going to make a 3 or 4 strop set mounted on glass for flatness and very high grits.  I know I need help but I don't care. lol I think there are worse ways to waste money. :)

PS: I'm sorry I get so long winded.

Steve Hanner said:

I guess I should go back and check the site for what I need. I am so late on everything today with that pesky snow! I appreciate the advice as I will be doing more after Christmas (sharpening) so I should probably be sure the stone stays flat. I don't need any complications starting out!

Hmm Sharpening pictures... I like the sound of that, Well they say a picture is worth a thousand words! If I ever  get it set up and I can get a pic, to post it here.... I will do that!yo

Permalink Reply by Stephen L. Corley on December 7, 2013 at 8:27

Jack, if we sat down and had a philosophical discussion about sharpening, we would disagree on a few things. That's only natural, but I do believe we would agree on most, especially how people who get so obsessed on refined edges need help. lol I don't guess there is any help for just plain crazy.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on December 7, 2013 at 9:06

Never a problem Jack, I enjoy reading the ramblings of your mind and like Stephen it is quickly becoming an obsession. I always tried to sharpen my knives but as I have said the results I obtained after just a few short tries is amazing. I can't wait to see if I can even become half-competent! 

As far as investing in additional pieces, I no doubt will. I am thinking this is a logical extension to knife collecting.

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on December 7, 2013 at 9:12

I would like it if people could get together in the same room.  At least that way when we have different opinions about something we could show each other why we have an opinion.  What often happens then is one or the other or both will have more info and our opinions may change because we learned something.  But we are limited in communication ability.  That's ok though.  This is a lot better than nothing.  I've learned so much on forums that I'd never have learned otherwise.  I'd probably have more money without forums. :)  Or I would have spent it on something other than knives and sharpening stuff.   lol

Stephen L. Corley said:

Jack, if we sat down and had a philosophical discussion about sharpening, we would disagree on a few things. That's only natural, but I do believe we would agree on most, especially how people who get so obsessed on refined edges need help. lol I don't guess there is any help for just plain crazy.

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on December 7, 2013 at 9:25

New sharpening stones were a necessity after I got my first knife with a blade steel that would stay sharp longer.  My old Arkansas stones wouldn't cut enough steel at all.  They were old and clogged I'm sure.  But I didn't know stones needed to be flattened back then.  So everything I learned seemed to cost me more money :)  I don't mind.  I'm enjoying this hobby. I just wish I had started it 25 years ago.  I could have benifited much more when I was working.  Now I get knives sharper and look for stuff to cut.  Curtains, the couch, MY FINGERS!  My Dad got me a hatchet when I was about 13 years old and sharpened it for me.  For some reason he was surprised when he saw that I had done some pretty good chopping on our fence. lol  Seemed like the natural thing to do to me. lol

Steve Hanner said:

Never a problem Jack, I enjoy reading the ramblings of your mind and like Stephen it is quickly becoming an obsession. I always tried to sharpen my knives but as I have said the results I obtained after just a few short tries is amazing. I can't wait to see if I can even become half-competent! 

As far as investing in additional pieces, I no doubt will. I am thinking this is a logical extension to knife collecting.

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on January 10, 2014 at 22:52

I have a 4k and 320 Shapton glass stone on order.  I got the 4k to use with my 8k on straight razors.  That's why I ordered it but I'll use it on knives more.  The 320 I ordered because I need a coarser bench stone.  I have other stones to cover the grits between the 320 and 4k Shapton glass stones.  However, I may get a 1k later to fill the gap between  320 and 4k.  Then I'll have a set of Shapton glass bench stones.  I'll have a 320, 1k, 4k and 8k.  I think that progression will work.  What I really need more is a finer grit for razors.  I'm leaning toward a Naniwa 12k.  It seems to be popular to razor honers.  I love new toys and am looking forward to getting them.  These stones and a Spyderco Dragonfly2 with a super blue blade (on pre-order) have put a hold on any more sharpening toys for a while.

Jack

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on June 24, 2014 at 20:08

Since my last post I have obtained the 320, 1k, 4k and 8k Shapton glass bench stones. These stones do provide a great set. T he 2k is considered a perfect average stone providing a bit of toothiness. I would like to have the 2k bench stone. I am pretty familiar with the results because I have every grit in Shapton glass between 500 and 16k for the Edge Pro. TIhe 1k is definately toothy and the 4k is definately smooth IMO. But the Spyderco fine grit is about like a Shapton glass 2k so I'll keep using it for now. Nothing wrong with that because Spyderco makes some GREAT stones IMO. I love the fine and UF stones. I do wish they were 3" wide though. I have now ordered the 16k Shapton glass stone. I won't have it for about a month though. When you have to wait that long you almost forget about it. But the price makes up for it. I'm very curious about the results because after using the 8k now I like to use the Spyderco ultra-fine stone on the edge epex. The 8k already puts a very nice finish on the bevel and the Spyderco UF can't improve on that. But the very hard ceramic UF stone really seems to refine the edge apex. Can't wait to see how it compares to the 16k. I have the EP size 16k and it does a really nice job and I'm looking forward to the 16k stone free hand. This will be a slightly convex bevel of course. The 16k on the EP puts a really nice mirror finish on the bevel. A stone that smooths a bevel that nicely should also put a very smooth edge on the knife when you want a smooth edge. Most of the time I like a smoother edge rather than toothy. Better for my EDC needs anyway. Personal preference is all. Looking forward to using it on my straight razor also. I have used my Spyderco fine and UF stones on my straight razor prior to stropping and surprisingly I've had decent results. However, my razor honing skills aren't that great. My razor edges will shave ok but don't have the "shave ready" edge referred to by the experienced straight shavers.

I figured I'd share my 16k Shapton glass order. Maybe it will speed up the shipping progress. lol

Here's a question since I mentioned straight razors. As I said I can shave ok with the razors I hone. When honing I use my arm hair to test the edge. When it pops the hairs it's about as sharp as I can get it. That sounds ok but the problem is my knife edges cut arm hair just as good. And I would NEVER attempt to shave my face with my knives like Murray Carter does. And since I have shaved with a razor I bought that WAS shave ready and I could feel a definate difference in that edge and my edges. I assume I just need more practice with razors. Since I don't need to worry about maintaining a consistent angle on razors (like you have to with knives) I am thinking my problem is I haven't developed "the touch" required for the ultimate edges. Does this sound accurate to anyone who hones razors? I can remember when I was getting knife edges very sharp and I now can feel that they are now sharper. I'll try to explain. One year ago my knife edges were very sharp. Easily slicing into phone book paper, shaving arm hair in one pass, whittling hairs, etc. Now, I can feel that they are just a bit sharper or "more refined". Especially on the smooth edges compared to the toothy edges. The "more refined" sharpness makes no difference when using my EDC knives. The difference in sharpness is just so small that when cutting open a box or whatever both do well. But when cutting when the ultimate sharpness is required (like shaving) I can get that level of sharpness as much on my knives as I can on the razor. My razor needs to be sharper. I know this. From my experience in knife sharpening improvement I'm assuming nothing will help me with razors except practice and experience. I've already gotten so much advice and I have good stones so what else can it be? Still, any more advice anyone has is appreciated. Getting a knife edge as sharp as it possibly can be has never been a need I have. It's just a challenge and a goal. Just for the fun and satisfaction of it. But, the razor is actually used on my face and it doesn't need to be any uglier. lol

Jack

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on June 30, 2014 at 12:46

I'm trying to post a reply by cutting and pasting into the text box but it's not working. I attached a file to see if that works.

I just added the reply and clicked on the attached file.  It downloaded it to my tablet.  I'd need to open it and read it.  This s stupid.  I have problems with typeing in the reply field (like now), cutting and pasting into the text box, and a couple other things when on this site and using my tablet. I have similar problems when on another site also.  I've tried different browsers (Firefox now) with no help.  Anyone please let me know how this worked.  My reply is almost two pages of typed junk. The problem now may be the amount of text.  I don't know.

Does anyone else have problems in this forum when on an Android tablet, phone, etc.?

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• aaa_Temp comments.docx, 8 KB

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