Try my hand at free hand sharpening

[Spats McGee]

I’ve got some decent DMT stones on the way. Double sided coarse/fine and fine/ultra-fine. Also got that base coming as well. I intentionally got 6” x 2” so I can strap them to my Sharpmaker to do quick microbevel touch ups.

I think you're really going to like having a stable base to work on. I've also heard good things about DMT stones. Think you could let us know what you think about them after a few uses?

 

[SteadyD]

I think you're really going to like having a stable base to work on. I've also heard good things about DMT stones. Think you could let us know what you think about them after a few uses?

Will do

 

[JohnKSa]

One thing to keep in mind with diamond stones is that they almost always need a bit of a break-in. Especially the fine ones, at least in my experience, are a bit rough right out of the box and want to be used a bit before they really settle in at the advertised grit.

 

[SteadyD]

All of mine have benefited from a break in.

 

[DMW1116]

I have not found diamond stones to be terribly useful except as finishing stones for the final edge. They give an incredibly aggressive edge even at the green DMT 1200 grit. For changing bevel angles I found a coarse India or water stone to be faster and not wear out the stone nearly as fast.

 

[Spats McGee]

Since @SteadyD is being such a good sport about my posting in his thread, I'm going to keep on keeping on.

I got hit with a bout of insomnia about 1 a.m. today, so I played video games for a while, and then sat down to do some sharpening. It was a pretty good day for it, if I do say so myself. I took my BM Sequel and Spyderco Native 5 back to the stones. Both still had pretty good edges, but I had accidentally (but only slightly) rounded the tip of my Sequel using the Gatco. That was bugging me, so I started with the 300 grit Ultrasharp plate, made the tip sharp again, then worked both knives. I used the aforementioned Ultrasharp to set the bevels, then moved on to my 400/1000 grit water stone for polishing. I'm still not getting them razor sharp, but they're passable, and I didn't have accidentally re-dull either of them today. That's good for me.

I forgot to take any pictures at home, but I did carry my Native to the office, so here's a picture of that. (Yes, there's still hot pink Sharpie on it. I missed that. Yes, there are scratches on the blade, but I knew as soon as I decided to sharpen it myself that scratches were a possibility. Besides, it's not exactly a collector's item.)


I'm not sure if you can make it out, but I took a close look at both the bevel and scratch pattern, and it's pretty good .... for me.

 

[DMW1116]

That’s a respectable job freehand sharpening for anyone. My chefs knife got a round of stone treatment yesterday but doesn’t look that even.

 

[JohnKSa]

I have not found diamond stones to be terribly useful except as finishing stones for the final edge. They give an incredibly aggressive edge even at the green DMT 1200 grit. For changing bevel angles I found a coarse India or water stone to be faster and not wear out the stone nearly as fast.

New diamond stones are typically much coarser than advertised. After some sharpening, they break in nicely and the better ones will then match the advertised grit level reasonably well.

If your diamond stones are wearing out fast, try using lighter pressure. Diamond stones last a very long time if used with light pressure and heavy pressure isn't needed for them to be really effective. And, when they do finally "wear out" I've found that they can still be used when less aggressive coarseness is required. I don't know that I've ever completely worn one out, but I do have a couple that started out as coarse and are now very fine.

I generally find just the reverse is true as far as their use. I use diamond stones almost exclusively for initial sharpening/getting the edge geometry right. For finishing the final edge I use ceramics almost exclusively.

I forgot to take any pictures at home, but I did carry my Native to the office, so here's a picture of that.

Much better consistency on the angle. I can't see from the picture if you're getting a good bevel all the way down to the edge--that would take a lot more magnification.

 

[SteadyD]

I picked up a cheap jeweler’s loupe on Amazon for like $15. That definitely helps examining an edge.

 

[Spats McGee]

.....Much better consistency on the angle. I can't see from the picture if you're getting a good bevel all the way down to the edge--that would take a lot more magnification.

I think I am, or am at least improving in that area. I've been using reading glasses & the magnifier on my phone, but I do need to pick up a little better magnifier of some sort.

 

[SteadyD]

I got my DMT stones and took another stab at the 8CR blade I uglied up on a prior attempt. I used a shallower angle than my previous attempt so I could get a burr faster. I used their coarse, fine and ultra fine grits. I ended up with a blade that would easily slice paper into little curly cues and after stropping would shave hair, but not easily or cleanly. It’s better for sure, and I did a much better job holding the angle, but it’s still not where I want it.

The DMT stones are much better than the worksharp stones. I used pull strokes in my right hand for one side and left hand for the other so I could see what was going on.

 

[DMW1116]

Looks sufficient to me.

 

[SteadyD]

I just finished up a kitchen knife and got it sharp enough to cut waves in paper, but not as smoothly as my KME or Wicked Edge. I suspect some of it was simply because this knife is very thin behind the edge, but also perhaps because the stones are smoothing out a bit with the break in process.

So far my post-sharpening stropping has been on strops that haven’t been loaded in a long time so I may put some fresh diamond paste on them for my next attempt, which will be a blade with 9CR18MOV.

 

[Spats McGee]

I got my DMT stones and took another stab at the 8CR blade I uglied up on a prior attempt. I used a shallower angle than my previous attempt so I could get a burr faster. I used their coarse, fine and ultra fine grits. I ended up with a blade that would easily slice paper into little curly cues and after stropping would shave hair, but not easily or cleanly. It’s better for sure, and I did a much better job holding the angle, but it’s still not where I want it.

The DMT stones are much better than the worksharp stones. I used pull strokes in my right hand for one side and left hand for the other so I could see what was going on.



View attachment 1068178 View attachment 1068179 View attachment 1068180 View attachment 1068181 View attachment 1068182

Outstanding!

 

[SteadyD]

My next attempt was on the Civivi Praxis. Btw, it’s an excellent knife with a swedge and high hollow grind. Blade steel is 9CR18MOV. It started crazy sharp as I had used a guided system previously, so I cut the edge off on a 100 grit diamond stone. I actually cut it off too much and made a lot more work for myself than I needed to. It wouldn’t slice paper at all, just mangled it when I managed to actually get it to dig into the paper.

I actually had raised a very good edge after progressing through the coarse and fine stones and then I sort of undid some of my efforts on the ultra fine, so I raised a new burr and made sure it was apexed properly. It came off the stones slicing paper smoothly and kinda/sorta shaving a few hairs with effort. I put some fresh compound on my strops and after progressing from 5 micron down to .5 micron it had a mirror polish and was actually shaving hair, although not as easily as my knives done on the Wicked Edge or KME. It does give me some hope, but I still have a ways to go. I did a much better job of maintaining a nice even bevel and I lowered the angle but I have no idea by what amount.

The magnified bevel image was prior to stropping.

 

[Spats McGee]

@SteadyD, that's some very respectable sharpening. You're doing better than I am, for sure.

 

[SteadyD]

Today I sharpened a Fox Knives Baby Core in M390. As with my previous knife, I cut the edge off of this one before starting. It turned out as well as my Civivi Praxis despite being a more difficult steel to sharpen. I kept the bevel even with the original grind and after stropping could shave hair, but not super smoothly. It still isn’t where I want it though, and the magnification on my jeweler’s loop isn’t sufficient to show me what is going wrong at the edge. I want to be able to easily shave hair off of the stones and then be screaming sharp off of the strops.

Btw, the unevenness of the bevel towards the tip is how it came from the factory and I just wanted to maintain the same angle while evening it out on the other side. The big belly gave me a challenge in addition to the steel type. I think I will do something a bit easier for my next effort. Perhaps another knife in CTS-BD1N.

 

[SteadyD]

@SteadyD, that's some very respectable sharpening. You're doing better than I am, for sure.

Are you using a strop yet? If not, you’re leaving a lot of sharpness on the table. They make a big difference for sure!

 

[Spats McGee]

Are you using a strop yet? If not, you’re leaving a lot of sharpness on the table. They make a big difference for sure!

I'm not. I keep thinking I'll buy an old belt and make one, but it's been impossible to find one. I've hit about 25 garage sales and Goodwill 2x. I found one old belt, but Mrs. McGee claimed it. She needed a new belt and really liked the one I found at GW for $2. She gave me her old belt, but it's really too narrow for stropping.

 

[rust collector]

Good leather belts are somewhat of a rarity these days. Here is a $13 option that worked for many barbers over the years, and the second link is to a paddle strop made in Ukraine that has worked well for me. https://smile.amazon.com/Straight-R...&qid=1648468219&sprefix=strop,aps,106&sr=8-15 https://smile.amazon.com/BeaverCraf...g&qid=1648468524&sprefix=strop,aps,106&sr=8-6 The nice thing about stropping is that it is less dependent on exact angles or technique.

 

[SteadyD]

I'm not. I keep thinking I'll buy an old belt and make one, but it's been impossible to find one. I've hit about 25 garage sales and Goodwill 2x. I found one old belt, but Mrs. McGee claimed it. She needed a new belt and really liked the one I found at GW for $2. She gave me her old belt, but it's really too narrow for stropping.

You could always just grab a $15 flex cut strop. You’ll like it.

 

[SteadyD]

Significant Breakthrough!

I sharpened a knife in BD1N and off the stones it felt a lot stickier so I had my hopes up. Stropped it and it was making wavy cuts and shaving easily! This is the quality of edge performance that I want. This also reinforces my thoughts that BD1N takes an amazing edge. Now I just need to work on always making the bevels aesthetically pleasing.

I should also point out that I mangled this knife with various practice efforts and slightly rounded off the tip previously. So, riding the high of my success, I put the spine on a coarse stone and brought the tip back as well.

 

[AzShooter1]

This thread gave me a lot of good information. I don't have too much trouble sharpening my small knives but I'm into leather work and need a sharp Head Knife.

I started using a fine diamond stone to get them sharp. Lots of passes and then switched to a medium fine and ultra fine 8000 grit stones.

My Head Knives will easily cut wavey lines in 10 ounce leather. For me, that's pretty sharp but I have a long way to go and have learned a lot from what I've read here.

 

[DMW1116]

I haven’t tried BD1N but I did a head to head test with BD1 and CPM S110V and wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference if it had been a blind test. I haven’t noticed it getting unusually sharp but it certainly sharpens with less effort.

 

[SteadyD]

This thread gave me a lot of good information. I don't have too much trouble sharpening my small knives but I'm into leather work and need a sharp Head Knife.

I started using a fine diamond stone to get them sharp. Lots of passes and then switched to a medium fine and ultra fine 8000 grit stones.

My Head Knives will easily cut wavey lines in 10 ounce leather. For me, that's pretty sharp but I have a long way to go and have learned a lot from what I've read here.

What brand stones are you using?