Afraid to sharpen..

[Django]

When I first got my Ocelot, it was so sharp that I promised never to let it get dull. Now, when I went to sharpen it, I realized that I REALLY didn't want to ruin the beautiful grind that came from the factory. After using the sharpmaker, my knives usually have this polished looking grind, but I find this factory grind much prettier.

My dilemma is: should I keep my promise and occaisonally sharpen the knife to prevent it from getting too dull, or should I leave it, wait til it NEEDS to be sharpened, and then sharpen it? This is my first VG-10 knife, and I am used to the S30V of my Chinook II being stubborn to sharpen. Can I restore it to factory sharpness on my sharpmaker easily? How easy is it to sharpen VG-10?

Any suggestions would be helpful, thanks guys. :spyder:

[JaM]

I am interested in this too. I dont have a sharpmaker (yet), but use a wetstone for sharpening. I am not too scared to use it on my Salt1, but I am a bit scared for the VG-10 blades I have... So any info will be appreciated by me too !

[d.g.g]

DJ and Jam - Welcome!

If a big lazy dummy like me can sharpen a knife on a Sharpmaker anyone can. I like it better than a whetstone because there is less chance of scratching up the knife. Also it is really easy and doesn't cost too much.

Guess what Spyderco started out selling first, knives or knife sharpeners?

Once your knife is sharp it only takes a minute to touch-up the edge. After you use the knife for a while you will know when it needs a couple of passes on the Sharpmaker rods. I try never to let my knives get "dull". It takes too long then for a lazy person like me to bring them back to decent sharpness.

Did I mention the Sharpmaker comes with a good DVD and a little booklet that make the process very easy.

You can do it I'm sure. If you really are worried about scratches then put some tape on the blade. The blue stuff you use for painting works best. It comes of easily and can be reused.

Here is a link to one of the better discussions about knives and their sharpening. It has pictures which are great for me.

http://forums.egullet.com/index.php?showtopic=26036

If you really want "pretty" then you should learn how to use a hone/strop. Very easy, even for me!

http://www.drsharpening.com/leatherhone.html

You put a little Chromium Oxide (CrO) on the leather and the whole blade will sparkle!

[rycen]

skip steps 3 and 4.

[gull wing]

There are some who have real SKILL at sharpening a knife. I don't, but keeping a knife sharp is much easier than getting one sharp after it's dull. I touch up my knife every other day on the sharpmaker, sometimes every day.
When I really ruin the edge profile by hard use , I reprofile on my Edge Pro. This tool is great, as you can leave a course edge or polished, depending on which waterstone you use.
Look, if you use a knife it will get dull, so use it and sharpen it. The two tools I use are the best combo for a sharpening clutz as I am.
VG10 is easier to sharpen than S30V.

[Senate]

Spydercos come out of the factory with a special sharpening that produces micro-serrations (see http://spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/index.php?item=6) and you can't bring that exact same aspect back with a sharpmaker. BUT after finishing the last step with the whites, it's possible to pass the blade again 1 or 2 times on the browns to give it some tiny teeth.

[uhiforgot]

It is much easier to KEEP a knife sharp than to let it get dull before sharpening again. No blade will hold its edge forever, and so far as worrying about ruining the factory grind, if it's dull then it's already ruined. Also, VG10 takes an edge a bit easier than S30V, but still should be KEPT sharp.

Think of it this way: You buy new socks and it feels great when you first put on that brand new pair. If you take the time to turn them inside-out, use fabric softener, and dry on a low heat, you can get that same feeling every time you put them on for a REALLY long time. But slack off a few times and you will never be able to bring those socks back to their former glory.

Same goes for a blade: Would you rather have a blade that WORKS like it's brand new out of the box every time you reach for it, or wait until you can't stand it anymore before you are FORCED to sharpen it?

-Jeff

[silverback]

Touch it up on a sharpening steel.
If it starts to get dull, touch up on the whites.
Only occasionally you'll need to use the grey stones, and of course you'll achieve razor sharpness again.
You can do it. :D

[RLR]

Here's the tip - because I just finished putting a polished edge on my BM210 - the toughest little bugger to sharpen:

FREEHAND

1) use a 200 grit stone and circular motion to get out the factory toothiness (microserrations), just grind away, don't worry too much about pretty, just accurate angle of your choice. I like a thin edge, that's why the 210 was a bear.
2) use 500-600 grit, again in circular motion, to get the big scratches the 200 grit left behind. Now you work more precisely, looking at the edge, making sure the two sides meet at the edge exactly. This is actually a great user edge, but it's not pretty. I can shave at this point.
3) use 1000 grit, traditional strokes (like shaving a piece of the stone) and polish out the haziness. Switch to 4000 and really take your time, feeling the irregularities (you will) and get the edge almost mirror smooth.
4) strop (leather belt charged with jeweller's rouge glued to a block of wood) and strop some more. After a few minutes, you'll have a mirror edge. If you can shave with it now, you're done, if not:
5) use 8000 grit and increase the angle a hair, and make 2 light passes per side. DONE!!!

Now my stuff:

200 and 600 grit is a NORTON Oil Stone
1000 and 4000 grit is a NORTON Water Stone
Strop - I made it
8000 - Aluma-ceramic (like the white sticks on the sharpmaker) small benchstone.

If I can do it, so can you, BUT - practice on a beater first. Once you figure out how the angle of the blade against the stone feels in your wrist and fingers, you're good to go.

:cool:

[Django]

Thanks guys. I have two more questions. If I sharpen my knife now, in almost factory sharp condition, it will only get sharper, but take off the factory looking edge?

Is it possible for it to actually seem duller, because it is taking off the micro-serrations that the factory edge creates?

[RLR]

There is magic in a factory Spyderco edge out of the box. They FEEL sharp, to the fingertip, everything. I cannot replicate this "feeling" but I do think my edge are just as sharp (albeit polished). It's magic. No other company comes close to it, not BM, William Henry, no-one...

[Django]

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I've decided to go through the white edges and flats. It's noticeably getting sharper. I'll keep you guys updated on how it goes. Next is whether or not to strop it. For some reason, my knives SEEM sharper before I strop them, but afterwords they seem to cut better. The burr that stropping removes assists a little with cutting, almost like micro-serrations, does it not?

[uhiforgot]

Thanks guys. I have two more questions. If I sharpen my knife now, in almost factory sharp condition, it will only get sharper, but take off the factory looking edge?

Is it possible for it to actually seem duller, because it is taking off the micro-serrations that the factory edge creates?

There is magic in a factory Spyderco edge out of the box. They FEEL sharp, to the fingertip, everything. I cannot replicate this "feeling" but I do think my edge are just as sharp (albeit polished). It's magic. No other company comes close to it, not BM, William Henry, no-one...

There was a thread on here not long ago that will definitely be of interest to you both. It's a bit of a wordy read, but well worth it.

http://spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19620

-Jeff

[ront]

I was just getting ready to post that thread Jeff. It was a good read and I have been working at sharpening some of my knives with the method posted by Texas guy.

Ron

[Django]

So basically if I want the "toothy" edge, I shouldn't strop it after I finish on the white stones?

[rycen]

If you like the factory edge I wouldnt spend a lot of time on step 4.The more time you spend with the whites the more polished the edge will become.

[Django]

Ok, I'm almost done with the white edges, and I don't think I'm going to strop it after the white flats.

EDIT: Right now, I just did the fingernail test, and the knife is BARELY passing on the left edge, but doing great on the right edge.... :confused:

Edit again: I'm almost done with the white flats, and the knife passes the fingernail test everywhere except it barely sticks at the half inch before the tip. I think I need to improve the way I curve the blade up to sharpen the curved part.

[Stryke]

d.j.j :)

thanks for those links , improved my sharpening a lot .

tried stropping with nothing more than an old t-shirt on my finest wet stone . :rolleyes:

My delicas as sharp as it`s ever been , and the hairs on my arm just fell out at the sight of my Native 3 , sharper than out of the box I think :) :eek:

[ront]

Django, I don't think I see it mentioned here yet. Use a black felt tip marker and darken the edge on both sides of the blade. Now as you sharpen the blade, take a look at where the black marker is being ground off. If the very edge of the blade is still black, then you are not sharpening the edge. This is a very good way to see exactly where the blade is touching the stone.

Ron

[Django]

Yep, I've known of that trick. Thanks for sharing :)