Knife Sharpening - Make it Sharp

Some problems people may have sharpening knives may be keeping the blade angle correct and leaving the edge to rough. You can get a edge guide to help keep the blade at the correct angle. Or use one of those knife sharpeng kits that comes with a bevel. If you need the edge to be razor sharp, you need to hone or polish the blade after using the courser stones. You also need to make sure you remove the burr that forms along the edge of the blade.

If the knife is be be used for cutting things like rope, you can leave the edge unpolished because the edge will have micro-serrations that will cut through fiborous material better.

Two schools of thought are the stone should be lubricated and others say no. I feel that you should use oil on the stone to help float the particles of steel off the stone and help keep the stone from clogging up. Most stones come with a course side and fine side.

To sharpen the blade, place the stone on a smooth surface and have enough light available to see well. You can use a edge guide to help keep the blade at proper angle. I now just lay the blade flat on the stone and lift the back up till the shadow between the edge and stone is gone. It seems to help keep the factory edge somewhat close. I know, this is like using kentucky windage at the shooting range. With this method you need to really pay attention to the angle as you draw the blade across the stone.

You should draw the blade away from you for safety reasons, but I pull the blade toward me so I can watch the angle. Use enough pressure to ensure you are removing steel. Keep alternating the blade from one side to the other equal amounts of time till you feel the edge has regained its sharpness then move to the smoother side of the stone to finish up. You can use your finger nail to feel for the burl along the edge, try to remove this also.

If you are just cutting stuff, this may be all the sharpening you need to do. If you need the blade to cut like a razor read on.

If you need to get razor sharp you must hone the edge after the intitial sharpening. This can be accomplished with increasingly finer stones, ceramic rod or strop. The purpose of honing is to remoe the micro-serrations so you can cut with less drag of the blade. You can get a blade sharp enough to shave with like a razor. Always keep touching up the blade with the honing stone to keep the edge sharp. When this no longer helps, start the sharpening process again.