Community Sharpening Journal

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Cool story so tell us more about the strop green Chrome Oxide or something else like a diamond spray?

[vivi]

I sharpened an old case knife today. An engineer came up to me and said "I heard you're good at sharpening knives". I replied "I'm ok". And he said "well I can't do it worth a **** so check this out" and gave me and old 2 blade carbon steel Case knife that really took me back to the times where those knives were highly sought after. It's strange watching someone observe your technique and ask questions, despite me knowing the answers and volunteering any and all information about basic sharpening along the way. One of the blades was a clip point basically and one had a tip like a Borong (some of you will know what knife I'm talking about already), and I had to spend extra time on the tip as well as the surrounding belly as it was very dull. All I had with me on the dredge was my DMT coarse and a 3 micron strop, which in my opinion is more than enough for anyone's needs. This is one of those guys that thinks shaving sharp is extremely sharp (99% of the world). While the Borong-like tip was a PITA to sharpen properly it came out well. Simple carbon steel takes a great edge.

Those Case Carbon V folders do sharpen up nicely. If that's the ~4" model I found one of those in my local gun shops bargain bin for $10, and figured why not? Scrubbed out the rust, oiled the pivots, and gave each blade a good edge. Pretty stout knife for a slipjoint.

[Pelagic]

Vivi, that case knife wasn't a 4 inch model. Probably more like 2.5-2.75" blades. I liked it though, I used to have one that was similar many years ago.



Same ol stuff. I promise I have other equipment, but lately the DMT Coarse (325) and my 3 micron strop have been doing all the heavy lifting. Yesterday I had to let the captain borrow my knife to cut a strap. Of course, after making the cut the blade of my CS Broken Skull made solid contact with a chain from a come along. I shook my head as I observed the edge damage. Given there are countless scenarios on a dredge where a knife blade can be easily damaged (it's truly hard to avoid), some people just don't treat knives well at all. I don't have a before picture, but the edge was blunted and partially rolled badly enough that I knew one sharpening wouldn't completely fix it. I'm usually not particularly hellbent on fixing all edge damage and prefer to use the knife and let future sharpenings take care of the imperfections.

CTS XHP takes a great edge, quite easily. I have not stopped this knife yet. After 5 minutes on the stone, it is treetopping hairs 1/4 inch above the skin. The last 20 passes or so were extremely light pressure, using only the weight of the blade.



Upon taking one light pass on the strop, there is a small burr in the belly of the blade, indicated by the vertical scrape mark on the strop. On the other side, same thing. I managed to deburr the flat portion of the blade, but the belly is tricky on this model. It's helpful seeing weaknesses in your technique that can be focused on next time around.



You can see the edge damage here. Working the belly perfectly is the most difficult aspect of sharpening. Getting a perfect bevel on a native is one thing, but a K2 would be much different.

Next time I'll use something different. You guys have me wanting an Atoma 400.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

I say go for it with the Atoma. The 400 is very interesting to use when you first put the blade to the surface you feel more resistance than you expect. After the first pass thought the plate has already broken the steels skin and it is easy grinding from there.

You would not believe how fast it will put a bur on a S90V military.

I am going to order the 140 and the 1200 today I am really keen on the idea of thinning now that I feel the performance of my test knife wich is ugly as Frankenstein for now.

If you want any close up or USB Microscope pics of the Atoma 400 plate let me know will post some for you.

Thanks to you and Vivi I am enjoying free hand sharpening it is much faster than guided systems and fun to learn.

My Buck110 is allot like the broken Skull difficult to get the re-curve but the tip was more challenging had to sharpie the blade to get it right thankfully the Atoma 400 does not need many passes on 440C to make a bur.

[vivi]

Today was sharpening day. Went through my entire collection and touched up any knife that didn't feel freshly sharpened. Still have my Waterway on deck for a reprofiling job, but among my completed knives I've got my Police 4.

I ground it about five minutes per side on my DMT X Coarse, then used one stroke per side back and forth with light pressure to refine the burr. Got it to where it could cleanly shave and I couldn't feel a burr with my fingers. Then I did a few freehand strokes on a medium Spyderco bench stone, using a slightly more obtuse angle. I did about 3 strokes per side. Finished by stropping once per side to check for a burr, and everything looked good. One of the sharper edges I've put on a knife lately....K390 sharpens up so nice.

[Pelagic]

Thanks to you and Vivi I am enjoying free hand sharpening it is much faster than guided systems and fun to learn.

Freehand sharpening is quite fun. It's often my moment of "Zen" after a long and hard day of work. I get to forget everything else and focus on one thing. It's honestly a stress reliever.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Looks really good Vivi.

I just pulled the trigger and ordered the Atoma 140 and the 1200 from Chefknivestogo too big of a chance of counterfeit or getting ripped off for plates only on either the bay or the river. Received my last order from them very swiftly as well.

Something else I ordered is what they call a rock hard felt block for deburring with all the burr discussion thought you guys might not know about it since it has not come up in any of the recent conversations. Might be worth checking out looks like it is only used at the very end of sharpening.

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/harohadefebl.html

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Thanks to you and Vivi I am enjoying free hand sharpening it is much faster than guided systems and fun to learn.

Freehand sharpening is quite fun. It's often my moment of "Zen" after a long and hard day of work. I get to forget everything else and focus on one thing. It's honestly a stress reliever.

Yeah I get that. Agree 100%

[Pelagic]

Looks really good Vivi.

I just pulled the trigger and ordered the Atoma 140 and the 1200 from Chefknivestogo too big of a chance of counterfeit or getting ripped off for plates only on either the bay or the river. Received my last order from them very swiftly as well.

Something else I ordered is what they call a rock hard felt block for deburring with all the burr discussion thought you guys might not know about it since it has not come up in any of the recent conversations. Might be worth checking out looks like it is only used at the very end of sharpening.

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/harohadefebl.html

Wow, that is really cool (and cheap!). I always enjoy learning new things. I'm really interested in your thoughts on the Atoma 140 when it arrives. And I swear if I owned a DMT 1200 plate I'd mail it to you so you could do a comparison versus the Atoma 1200. I always hear Atoma has a much more uniform diamond distribution but I also hear that the DMT 1200 and up don't suffer from having random diamond clusters scattered on the surface.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

I have to admit I very much like the 400 and 600 Atoma the uniformity and the feedback I can feel are very satisfying. It is like using a good tool, like a Snap On or a Matco Wrench you know you have quality in the hand while using it.

After doing allot of reading on this site and listening to other people discuss sharpening including Big Brown Bear and his videos on Atoma I had to make a decision either go with a little less expensive DMT products where reviewers all over the internet say the same thing about the stones not being uniform and all the other negative stuff.

In order to avoid a disappointment I chose to spend a few extra bucks each and buy the Atoma Stones and have absolutely nothing to complain about.

These stones are so uniform when you run your finger tips across them with water you can feel the texture it is closer to a file than typical plated diamonds. In fact it even feels like a file when in use. Pretty neat.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

By the way I also found this excellent review of Atoma on YouTube by a guy named Cliff Stamp he clearly explains differences between Atoma and DMT and some other points of interest. Guy seems pretty knowledgeable.

https://youtu.be/BUdcFoRNE1M

[vivi]

Yep Cliff is one of the guys that went out and tested all the theories he heard instead of accepting them as axioms. Very knowledgable guy. His old review website was pretty cool. http://cliffstamp.com/knives/reviews/reviews.html

[Pelagic]

"A guy named cliff stamp"

Hahahaha. That made my day. Check out his videos and website. He's kind of a legend.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Lol yeahhh,

What do you guys think of Murray Carter have any of you purchased his instructional DVD’ on free hand knife sharpening? Is it worthwhile? I see he has a deal going right now for the basic and advanced sharpening along with 2 water stones for $50.00

[Pelagic]

I've never watched a tutorial or read any books on sharpening. I've seen YouTube videos and read forums, but I'm pretty much self-taught after my father showing me the basics in the early 90's. Resources like that may be a big help to some, but they aren't necessary in my opinion.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Thanks I missed out on having anyone teach me in person, that must have been great. I am learning from you Vivi and others and practicing but want to learn more so was wondering about this guy I like his utube videos but figure they are just a lead into sales which makes sense. Okay just convinced myself ordering and will let people know about it here.

[Pelagic]

One thing I've continuously practiced is switching hands and becoming competent with my left hand. I like having the blade facing me at all times so I can constantly observe the apex making contact with the stone. Another reason for using this technique is angling your scratch pattern toward the tang of the blade becomes easier. By angling your scratch pattern backwards essentially, you get more aggression with your pull slices, just like how saw teeth are usually angled for cutting on either the push or pull stroke. The sharpmaker essentially does the same thing, given you pull the blade towards you as you make your downward passes.

[vivi]

I taught myself based on books and forums. I had been sharpening for years the first time I saw a video.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Ok found it and Vivi you might want to hold off on that DMT and get an Atoma take a look at this video roughly 7 minutes in, cliff describes sharpening carbides and the difference between DMT and Atoma. https://youtu.be/BUdcFoRNE1M

[vivi]

Ok found it and Vivi you might want to hold off on that DMT and get an Atoma take a look at this video roughly 7 minutes in, cliff describes sharpening carbides and the difference between DMT and Atoma. https://youtu.be/BUdcFoRNE1M

I've seen that one before. Still planning to go with DMT. The 11.5" Extra Coarse continuous surface for $60 seems like it'd be great for finishing up my edges.