Community Sharpening Journal

[RustyIron]

Even when holding knife + magnifier + phone, we can already see stuff.

That's a pretty edge, and the pics came out nicely, too.

[Ramonade]

Nice photos, thanks for posting.
Are you free hand sharpening?

Regards,
FK

Thanks FK, thank you too RustyIron.
Yes, I went back to basics ! After buying a Work Sharp precision adjust and then the 4"stone adapter and using my venev stones on it, I wasn't really impressed.
There is almost as much play in the angle (just a few degrees) than with my own hands. In addition, steels like s110v or Maxamet are kinda hard to sharpen on it cause putting the stone on the knife makes me use too much pressure even when trying to go light

[FK]

Ramonade,

I agree on the Work Sharp Precision Adjust, two friends have them and after trying, was not impressed.
You have steady hand, the final bevels are nice in the photos.

I also use the blue plastic wedges to establish bevel angle when hand sharpening, available on Amazon site and inexpensive.

Search Amazon:
Wedgek Angle Guides 10 to 20 degrees for Sharpening Knives on Stone, Blue

Regards,
FK

[Ramonade]

Ramonade,

I agree on the Work Sharp Precision Adjust, two friends have them and after trying, was not impressed.
You have steady hand, the final bevels are nice in the photos.

I also use the blue plastic wedges to establish bevel angle when hand sharpening, available on Amazon site and inexpensive.

Search Amazon:
Wedgek Angle Guides 10 to 20 degrees for Sharpening Knives on Stone, Blue

Regards,
FK

That's a nice angle guide, most often they are really really bad. I use a marker on my thumb and index and the spine of the knife to keep my angle, and follow the natural curve of the blade. However, some shapes are pretty hard to do so on ! The native 5 is my favorite knife, and favorite to sharpen for it's simple constant curve lol.

I would like to try these guides, but they sell them for 34€ here, I find it really expensive (the price of the 600 grit DMT I just bought )

[TkoK83Spy]

I think people rush it and use too much pressure with the Precision Adjust. I've had very even, very sharp edges come off of mine with all the knives I've used. If you're rocking the unit or the clamp is moving a bit while sharpening...you're using too much pressure.

[Ramonade]

I think people rush it and use too much pressure with the Precision Adjust. I've had very even, very sharp edges come off of mine with all the knives I've used. If you're rocking the unit or the clamp is moving a bit while sharpening...you're using too much pressure.

I guess it's just time for adjustment in my case then. When freehand, I sometimes do several sessions for just one edge, and pretty long ones .

I'll keep going at it. I'll admit that I got a perfect mirror edge on my regular Para 3 and the venev dog series stones.

My issue is mostly with the Gritomatic 4" stone holder, the hole for the original rod is wider, wich induce more wiggle. I did think of a trick : plugging the hole with paper to let it move but not wiggle as much.

Next one needing some help is my Kizer Sliver. I'll use the Precision Adjust for it, since it's recurve it'll be easier, I'll take extra care and time !

[TkoK83Spy]

I've been tempted by that stone holder as well, but it seems that being a bit larger and likely a little heavier, it possibly could throw off the balance of the unit a bit.

I like free handing on my DMT Diasharp diamond stones to hog off more material quicker, then I set up the Precision Adjust to fine tune the edge if I feel the need. Then touch up on my 3D printed Sharpmaker base a buddy here made for me.

A nice little system that works very well for me, nothing super expensive and none of the systems go to waste!

[Senfkarte]

It was time to sharpen my back lock Manix. It still had its factory grind. I am not sure what the dps is now, but it is lower than before. Not the prettiest job, in terms of the scratches, but it is sharp. Shaves clean, splits hair. The bevels are not perfectly consistent over the whole edge, but the bevels are even on both sides. That's enough for me.

Since the knife was in my working clothes, some grit and grime made it way into the knife. In the past I just rinsed it out but never was able to catch every piece of dirt, since some of the grit was magnetic. So I also took it apart and removed everything, that has no place in a knife.
Now it's ready for the next use.

[metaphoricalsimile]

Hmm, that's odd how the bevel turned out a bit wonky like that. I've done a chef's knife, Z Cut, various folders and a couple fixed blades without any issue. I'm puzzled how that happened!

My guess would be that the knife itself has a slightly uneven grind.

[TkoK83Spy]

Finally finished up on the Cruwear Delica. Hoping a fresh edge will maybe help with edge retention??

I free handed it on the DMT Diasharp stone. It already had some pretty high and thin bevels but wanted to give it a new scratch pattern and bring up some fresh steel. Curiosity got the best of me and set it up to the Precision Adjust to see where it was at. Set it at its lowest setting of 15dps and I was wasn't hitting the apex after a few passes, so I'm guessing it's around 13-14dps?

If you zoom in, you can see I'm not quite as good on the clip side as a the show side when it comes to freehand sharpening. Not quite as pretty, but it's very sticky sharp off the Coarse side of the stone and a few passes on the strop that was recently loaded with fresh BRK green compound.

I'm hoping this will help its performance a bit, as I had positive results doing the same with my Cruwear Shaman vs the factory edge. The Delica SHOULD be a better slicer now!

[vivi]

12 strokes, 6 per side alternating on a 260 grit diamond plate, one stroke per side fine sharpmaker rod corners at 40 degrees. hair popping sharp but toothy.

[Ramonade]

Finally finished up on the Cruwear Delica. Hoping a fresh edge will maybe help with edge retention??

I free handed it on the DMT Diasharp stone.[...]

Nice job ! I think that a lot of us sharpening people have a biased towards one side, as we often do with the heel or tip.
I'v permitted myself to quote to ask you : What do you think of DMT diasharp stones?
As I said earlier in the thread, I ordered a fine to try this brand. The feedback from the stone is a bit "mushy", the texture of the scratch pattern is not really clean and it feels like the stone gets clogged up really fast, like one or two passes.

I've only sharpened two knives on it at the moment, so I guess it needs way more time to break in ?

[TkoK83Spy]

Finally finished up on the Cruwear Delica. Hoping a fresh edge will maybe help with edge retention??

I free handed it on the DMT Diasharp stone.[...]

Nice job ! I think that a lot of us sharpening people have a biased towards one side, as we often do with the heel or tip.
I'v permitted myself to quote to ask you : What do you think of DMT diasharp stones?
As I said earlier in the thread, I ordered a fine to try this brand. The feedback from the stone is a bit "mushy", the texture of the scratch pattern is not really clean and it feels like the stone gets clogged up really fast, like one or two passes.

I've only sharpened two knives on it at the moment, so I guess it needs way more time to break in ?

Thanks! Yes, us sharpening junkies are an odd bunch! I struggled quite a bit a few years ago, but received many tips and tricks from some great people here on this forum. Started to get better and decided it was time to attempt some reprofiling free hand...now I absolutely love it! I started off with the CBN stones on the Sharpmaker but found that still took way too long and I wasn't getting the greatest results. I'm in the crowd that believes the Sharpmaker is more like a SharpKeeper...it's really not made for reprofiling, but great for touchups.

I really like this stone I have here. A lot of times I'll use the Coarse the side just for a new scratch pattern and to set the edge. Amazes me how quickly it seems to work on any steel I've tried, many times only taking 10 minutes or so for a hair popping edge.

The Extra Coarse side of this stone is an entirely different animal. When I first got it, it was so coarse that when using light pressure, the blade was bouncing around on the stone!! I decided to sharpen some cheaper knives I didn't care as much about to help break it in. The Coarse side was good to go from the start.

They clean up very easily using a rubber eraser on either side. It's a wonderful stone, though expensive (I believe it was around $90 US?? Don't quote me on that though)

As you can see, Vivi has helped turn me into a coarse edge junkie, which is perfect for my line of work. I'll sometimes micro bevel on the Sharpmaker Browns or Whites to switch things up a little. I never thought sharpening would be my favorite part of the hobby, but it definitely is!

[Ramonade]

I bought the DMT DiaSharp Fine (only one side) for 30€, it was a pretty good deal ^^. The double-sided ones have really various prices, one day it's the higher grits that cost a lot, the next it's the opposite...

I'll keep working that stone with cheap knives until the feeling changes then!

I'll try the rubber eraser to clean it and see if that changes the feeling a bit.
I did put it under water, rub a bit with my hand and then dry directly, but it did not change anything. That might just be the way this fine stone feels ! I'm used to crip stones like the 600 from work sharp (or the venev ones, but they're different).

I join you on the fast cutting of these stones. Having such a large surface and a good diamond coating makes any knife disappear if you're not paying attention.
(Note : we should always pay attention, I personnally stop and watch closely approx. every 2 passes)

[Wandering_About]

Got the 400 grit version from the last batch, and was waiting for the 1k and 3k since I first used the 400. Was fortunate enough to get both that I wanted. Didn't get a chance to use them today, but hoping to give them a little work tomorrow.

[Ramonade]

BBB just makes me think of Big Brown Bear
Are these classical japanese whetstones ?

Little update here : First knife sharpened on my DMT Diasharp Fine. It is a 14C28N blade, but kinda thick and IMO the heat treat seems weird, even tho the wear resistant is on par with other blades in that steel, the feeling on the stone is abnormal.

Here is some 1cm snaps of the edge after this. I fully sharpened and deburred on that stone.




I'm certainly gonna make a McGyver's style mount for this stone, because the little pads are not high enough. I did use a small Pine piece that was lying there and 2 screw for now, but it's really not pretty .
The grind lines are not that even, I was searching for my position for a long time. However, the bevel is pretty flat and it cuts pretty darn well (for the given geometry).

[Archimedes]

This is an excellent thread. I went through sort of a sharpening journey in my life. I started sharpening knives seriously around 20 years ago. I have tried too many sharpening systems to even list. I got so into sharpening I would take large Busse fixed blades and spend hours literally creating the finest mirror polished edges ever. I remember some Busse blades I did back then that were absolute works of art. Convexed edges you could see yourself in. I really enjoyed the process. There is something very relaxing about just focusing on sharpening a blade to absolute perfection. I also got my folders to insane mirror edges.

After all that I found I preferred really rough toothy edges. Now all I use is diamond stones or lower grit belts. Not crazy low but certainly more abrasive. I like the rough edge as it is like micro serrated and I find for most of the cutting I do it just works better.

[Wandering_About]

BBB just makes me think of Big Brown Bear
Are these classical japanese whetstones ?

You are correct to think of Big Brown Bear. These are two of his super vitrified diamond water stones. I've got a lot of mileage on the 400 grit but sadly since that post I have spent entirely too much time at work and have yet to put the new ones to use

[Ramonade]

Woh, they must be reaaaally good if it comes from him. That man knows how to get anything sharp ! And I mean, sharp !

Edit : Just saw there's a new video of OUTDOORS55 about sharpening :
I love this guy's videos, haven't watched it yet but I bet it's gonna be cool.

EDIT 2 : Darn it, this guy made a video on the exact same sharpening stone I did the knife in my previous post

[vivi]

touched up the yojumbo today after using it to break down a lot of really big cardboard boxes.



this has been my setup since reprofiling it. Set an edge around 14-15 degrees with a 260 grit diamond stone, then refine the edge so I can't feel a bur on either side and it will shave. Then one stroke per side on the corners of some freshly cleaned fine sharpmaker rods.

It'll pop arm hairs but has the coarse microserrated feel when I run my nail down the edge. Very versatile cutter.

In other news I finally killed a bottle of BKF, which I only use for cleaning my sharpening equipment.