Steve,

Thanks for posting the knife sharpener link here, and thanks to Adam Archer for the video.  iKC is so busy it is hard to find time to go searching for stuff you haven't seen or don't know exists.

Gonna have to check out Northern.

I have one of those. they work great, especially for people like me who are really bad at hand sharpening.I may have to try one of those sharpeners that Adam did the video on. they look like they would work good also

Found this article form Gun Digest, thought it was pretty good with some great photos 

http://www.gundigest.com/wp-content/uploads/USN-Sharpen-a-Knife-and...

Jan,

That's a really great link that you posted - the one from Gun Digest. A wealth of useful information. Thanks for posting it. I'm sure that I will reference it many times in the future.

And, you're right...There are some great pictures, too!

LOL, The Russians didn't eat peas off their knives did they?

I have a WorkSharp. They do work and should work on a knife of any size. Don't give up on free hand sharpening. Have you watched youtube videos on knife sharpening? If so, which ones?

John,

The hardest thing is maintaining a sharpening angle free hand, especially when you switch hands for the sharpening stroke on the other side of the blade, or you turn the knife over in the same hand to sharpen the other side.  I prefer free-hand sharpening because there is less equipment involved (like using one of those "systems" such as a Lansky).  So, I purchased a dial angle finder that I lean against the blade to get the angle I want.  The stroke is still free hand, and there is still the chance of error, but since you can check the angle at the beginning of each stroke there is less chance of error.  Plus, the ole hand/eye coordination kicks in and your hands/wrists begin to have "memory" of how the knife should look at a particular angle.  Takes a while.

I might get a Work Sharp, though.  Sharpening knives for family and friends takes a long time free-hand on bench stones due to the nicks and gouges I see by the time they give the knives to me to sharpen.  I would still finish the blades free-hand because I have some nice stones that put a keen edge on blades.  

So yeah, a "power" sharpener like the Work Sharp would be acceptable.  The problem I see with it is getting used to what grit to use.  It will take some practice on throw-away knives because even a moderate grit will take a lot of steel off in a hurry.  Plus, getting some of the grit off the new belts is advisable to help prevent ruining a good blade by taking off too much steel before the belt is broken in.

John,

I use the diasharp cards.  Size of a credit card, so I can have a set that doesn't take up much room.  Like Howard said, though, it takes practice.

https://youtu.be/Duwt8oMZRaA 

Try this method. It works. I was having problems getting knives sharp off Arkansas stones. After finding this video, my knives were scary sharp. When I purchased my Sharpton stones I used the same method and got the same good results. I have learned to adjust technique depending on the blade shape. 

A lot of free hand sharpening is muscle memory, holding your knife at the same angle from start to finish. 

Some things are just too good to not share.  On sale on EBay at this time

You may want to try putting a convex edge on your knife.https://youtu.be/Lb2b2FzSS74

https://youtu.be/GqYfDnEHpTQ

You could also try sharpening on a mouse pad with sandpaper.

This last summer I started convexing the edges of some of my knives. I was surprised at how easy it is to get a very sharp edge. I just took a chunk of 2x4, cut up the thickest mouse pad I could find and glued a piece to each side of the 2x4, and stapled some sandpaper over the mousepad. I used 1000 grit on one side and 2000 on the other. Very effective, very cheap, and super simple to replace the sandpaper when it's used up. Just pop a couple staples and staple a new piece on.

I've found that with this method I don't have to be near as precise with keeping a steady angle.

I popped off the sandpaper on one side to get some pictures for somebody that was asking a couple days ago.

I had success with convexing up until recently it is user friendly and gets a nice edge . Then I bought an Edge Pro and a jewellers loupe and really started to make progress . Yes it did seem expensive , but only until I had added up how much I had spent on knives . The Edge Pro puts a much neater edge on to my mind and it is easy to polish that thing up to VERY sharp ! The only thing I would change is if I had known about it I would have bought an Edge Pal rather than an Edge Pro, mainly because they are made to order by my friend Thomas Lofvenmark !!

John,

The edge Pal and the Edge Pro...similar products?

I have found this is good for getting used to keeping your angle . It takes time and practice but with time you can freehand no problem.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Messermeister-Knife-Angle-Guide-for-Sharpen...

Jan this is the website for Thomas Lofvenmark's sharpener , EdgePal there are some similarities I am sure . Can't say that I know enough to say which is best , but I do like the look of this machine .

http://www.edgepal.com/english-5444885

There you go Jan from the man himself !!

I have a few fixed blades that came with a convex edge, but I haven't used them enough to dull the edge.  I don't know if a convex edge is getting more popular or that I just noticed a bushcrafter or two re-profiling their knives to a convex grind.  A convex edge is great for chopping, but for kitchen (slicing) knives, I think the standard grind is better.  I put a primary and secondary bevel on kitchen knives.  As was stated by others, a convex edge is a little more forgiving since it is recommended to use a spongy mouse pad under the sandpaper, and the sandpaper will sort of wrap around the edge ensuring contact with the very edge.  The leather strop and sharpening compound is also "softer" than a bench stone, and you get a keen edge pretty quickly.  I don't know what the convex guys do about nicks and gouges.  1000 & 2000 grit sandpaper isn't gonna cut it, so to speak, to get rid of nicks.

"Dont sound like much but to me this is a big step forward in free hand sharpening."

For 30 years I couldn't sharpen a knife. Now, for the past 13 years I've been steadily getting better. Keep at it. You'll steady get better. 

Thomas,

Thank you for the overview.  I agree that there are no bad edges, just that some are better for some tasks than others.  Convex edges are great for axes, hatchets, and knives that do some chopping because a convex edge is the strongest edge for hard work.  But, as you say, a flat grind is better for whittling or other tasks.

Great information Thomas , thanks .

The great thing about using super steels is you only have to sharpen them every 6 months. The draw back is, after 6 months of not sharpening a knife that perfect edge is rather elusive. 

Hi all!  I have about 10 blades.  I keep 6 very sharp by taking them to a sharpener company down the street.  I asked for and got a Spyderco Sharpmaker.  I am interested to learn more about blade angles and how to sharpen hard steels. 

I have never been able to sharpen a knife free hand.  Maybe if I had put in hours upon hours of practice I could have learned.  However I just don't have that kind of patience.  I used a Smith's handheld two sided pull through sharpener to keep my EDC pocket knife reasonably sharp.  However as I began to acquire more and better knives such as a set of Case kitchen knives for my wife and my Colonial Bushcraft knife, I needed something better.  After much study and research I ordered a KME Sharpening System.  As a first test of it and me, I tried it out on an old cheap nothing very dull Chinese knife.  I was able to get that knife hair shaving sharp.  I've since used it to get several knives hair shaving sharp, including a couple of my wife's Case kitchen knives, my custom knife of 01 tool steel, my daughter's Colt pocket knife, and lastly just yesterday both of my Rough Rider EDC knives of 440A stainless.

So however long I go between sharpening, I'm sure I will be able to make  a knife hair shaving sharp.

Charles, that's cheating. lol 

Yep, Stephen, ever chance I get!  LOL  But it sure is sweet when one of my knives just glides through what ever it is I am cutting!

I finally got a sharpie to find my mistake. Also, I'm very impressed with my black Arkansas stone. 

Well Historian David Clarke has done it again!  Check out the early Grindstone information and enjoy! http://www.queencutlery.com/uploads/Early_Cutlery_Grindstones_3-25-...

Oops.  I didn't look where I was posting this - turned out to be the Queen Cutlery site.  Found that you posted the David Clarke information over here in "Knife Sharpeners", Jan, so I moved my comment over here where it belongs.

Thanks, Jan.  Great information, especially for me.  My father-in-law purchased some Potter County Pennsylvania mountain property back in the '60s.  It is a mountainous area by eastern standards.  Most of Potter county is up and down with relatively few flat areas.  The property was intended as a "hunting camp" as there were/are plenty of deer and turkey. 

However, early inspection of the property showed signs of quarrying - shallow, almost insignificant quarrying of flagstone.  One of my brothers-in-law, along with a local native of Potter Co. got interested in trying to sell this "Pennsylvania Bluestone flagstone in the late '90s, as it is harder than the Arizona type of flagstone.  So they bought a stone cutter and worked the quarry for a time until the bottom fell out of the flagstone market.  

So, this article says that some nice hard (and soft) flagstone (sandstone) was found in the 1800s in the UP of MI (Grindstone City) that made excellent grindstones when cut and shaped into wheels for grinding knife blades.

I am wondering if the guys working the quarry on the property ever had the flagstone analyzed for content of silica, etc.  It is a very fine-grained sandstone, and might make excellent benchstones - since carborundum ruined the grindstone business.  Now, there doesn't seem to be any of that hard Arkansas stone for fine work, but maybe a coarse or medium benchstone material might be just lying there waiting to become a natural benchstone.  It won't compete with Norton benchstones, but might be a "cottage" industry to make a buck here and there.

Skimming back as I travel around finding new groups and interests as the knife bug bites ... I like the look of that KME system Charles, not cheap, but it looks like it will be very effective. And of course your own testimony of not being that good, and now getting them hair shaving sharp is a good endorsement.

allanm

One thing I like about the KME is the degree of adjustability.  It is marked in one degree increments from 17 to 30 degrees.  And you could even work in half degree increments if you wanted by positioning half way between degree marks.

That would be nice to learn direct from a master in an apprenticeship - good for him