Sharpening your knife

[aunt betty]

I figure every hunter probably has a pocket knife and wants to keep it razor-sharp. Will describe the process of getting your knife so sharp it'll cut your vision if you look at the edge.

I like using the Gatco knife sharpening kit my wife bought me.
Can hone the blade's angle to perfection and can also repair nicks.


I bolt the blade into the jig and use the 19-degree slot. This slot works great on my Buck knives.
Then pull the rod out on the course stone. Those little rods extend and it took me a while to discover. Makes it easier to do the work if you know that.
I will work on one side of the blade pulling the stone at a 90-degree angle to it. Long, slow strokes with just a bit of pressure on the stone. NEVER push the stone into the blade. ALWAYS pulling it at right angles to the blade.
Work on each side of the blade the same amount of strokes.
Switch to the next less course stone and repeat this process until you get to the fine stone and then you're almost done but not quite.
At that point I use that leather strap. I'll loop one end over a door-knob or something like that and then strop the blade a couple hundred times on each side. My Buck knife is sharp enough to dry-shave.
Have cleaned hundreds of mallard ducks with that knife. I cleaned ducks for money at the club the year before last.
Sharp knife makes the work go a lot quicker.

Posted picture of my blade so you can see how it appears to be factory sharpened. That Gatco tool makes it so you don't tear up the blade while sharpening and end up with 'perfection'. I like perfect.

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[rozzo842]

I have a very similar setup.

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I always thought you were supposed to sharpen into the stone. Almost like you were trying to take a thin slice off the stone. Maybe this is the reason I can never get a knife as sharp as I want it?

[Goldfish]

What's the reason for going 90* to the blade?

Also, what is the purpose of the leather? I've never understood that

sent from a phancy fone

[DeadEye_Dan]

I've used and been a fan of Gatco for years...picked up a Work Sharp kit a couple weeks ago, waaaaaay faster and just as sharp.

[assateague]

Never been a fan of the "art" of knife sharpening. I just use one of these things:



I use them too damn much to have to worry about setting up some sharpening system. When I'm skinning hides, I will sharpen my knife once before starting a hide and once halfway through. If I had to deal with a sharpening system, I'd be there all day fucking with that thing.

[Tomkat]

I use Lansky system. Also use an old wetstone I got at a garage sale for $5 that works really good.

[aunt betty]

I saw a knife-sharpening demo on one of them educational networks that had really good graphics that showed what a dull knife blade looks like under high magnifications. It was a "cartoon graphic" (very high def.)
but it explained the theory.
It also showed microscopic pictures of razors etc.

Here is my take on it and it will demonstrate why you pull the blade and never push...
Take your hands and put them together like you are going to pray only interlock your fingers so that the tips all line up.
That's what a sharp knife looks like (kinda).

Now take your hands and interlock your fingers only tightly and bend them backwards like you are going to whack someone with a double-fist.
That's what a dull blade looks like (kinda) in theory.

Now do you understand why you pull the knife? You're trying to straighten out the teeth (fingers)...whatever.
That is also why you do it at right angles.
Think of it like you are straightening out a really effed up comb that's hard as...steel.

The strap does the fine-fine-tuning. I don't understand exactly what's going on at a microscopic level but I DO know that after you strop a blade for ten minutes or so it's VERY sharp.

If y'all ever meet up with me ask and I'll show you knives that are sharp enough to shave with. Sharper than when new.

[rozzo842]

Makes sense. I've used a old leather belt before but have always used just a little polishing compound on it and it does make a huge difference.

[The Duck Hammer]

Gatco setups are cheating. If you want a sharp knife a stone and a razor strap is the way to go.

[3legged_lab]

Hee hee.

[assateague]

[3legged_lab]

:lol:

How long does it take to be sharp again?

[assateague]

Takes me about 3 seconds.

[3legged_lab]

Takes me about 3 seconds.

let me know when you think one of the small ones will come in handy for the trapping. They make a carbon steel non-sterile blade that is pretty cheap by the 100 pack.

[assateague]

What's it called?

[3legged_lab]

What's it called?

pm sent

[jehler]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1364756866.800933.jpg

[Baysider]

What's the reason for going 90* to the blade?

Also, what is the purpose of the leather? I've never understood that

sent from a phancy fone

leather or a strop has been used for a long time to polish the edge of a blade. The finer the polish on an edge of metal to straighter and sharper the edge actually is. Without it very small chips will be in the blade. Many too small to see but they make a difference in cutting. Typically an abrasive paste is applied to the strop when sharpening. I do this as a final step to all of my carving tools. For the rest of it I didnt get any system or high dollar stones. I got a scrap piece of granite from a counter top maker and buy the 3M abrasive film with the adhesive on the back. I start with a 500 grit and go up to a 15,000 grit before hitting the blades on the strop. A dull blade is dangerous when carving or anything really.
Thanks for the write up Betty.

[jarbo03]

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

[aunt betty]

"Polishing" was the word I couldn't find when I needed it. When you strop, you polish the edge, and harden it as well.
The engineering term is "cold work". When you do cold work on steel, it hardens the material where the work was done.
Bending, hammering, stretching, and polishing are all forms of cold work.

[Baysider]

Oppositely grinding or heating a blade will weaken it by releasing the carbon from the steel. That's why those rotary sharpeners are junk. They make the edge brittle. My carving chisels will shave the hair off my arm.

[aunt betty]

Oppositely grinding or heating a blade will weaken it by releasing the carbon from the steel. That's why those rotary sharpeners are junk. They make the edge brittle. My carving chisels will shave the hair off my arm.

Not very many people understand the heat treatments of steel and how cold work affects it.
Grinding on a good blade that's hardened ruins the original heat treatment. (as you know)

[aunt betty]

My grandfather was an old hillbilly coal miner. I loved him.
Him and his old-timer friends would sit around shaving sticks and carving tooth picks. They'd have contests to see who could sharpen the sharpest point. Having a really good, sharp blade is how you win and I'm pretty sure anyone who uses one of them grinders or them double-steel pocket deals like pictured above...is going to lose.

You don't get a good edge fast.
AT, you know better. 3 seconds...rofl.

A really good blade is HARD to sharpen and takes a while. If you can get a quick edge...it goes away just as quick.
That's why people treasure them old Case knives. Very high quality that stays sharp for a long time.

[assateague]

I do agree, to a point. But I use a knife far too much. When I'm skinning at around 4 hides a day, for weeks at a time, sharpening 3 times per hide, I'm not going to spend 20 minutes sharpening a knife. That'd be silly.

[Rick]

I do agree, to a point. But I use a knife far too much. When I'm skinning at around 4 hides a day, for weeks at a time, sharpening 3 times per hide, I'm not going to spend 20 minutes sharpening a knife. That'd be silly.

There it is for those of us who actually put our knives to work. I'd get a lot less use out of a knife if keeping it keen weren't so quick and easy.

[Flightstopper]

You only need a knife so sharp. Anything beyond that is just so you can say you can do it or to win toothpick whittling contest.

[Tiler_J]

You only need a knife so sharp. Anything beyond that is just so you can say you can do it or to win toothpick whittling contest.

So basically pointless. I have to agree. My buddy's FIL made a big deal out of how sharp he gets his knives at deer camp a few years ago. The next day we were skinning out a deer and he managed to cut himself three times. It was sharp! He bled almost as much as the deer.

[The Duck Hammer]

I do agree, to a point. But I use a knife far too much. When I'm skinning at around 4 hides a day, for weeks at a time, sharpening 3 times per hide, I'm not going to spend 20 minutes sharpening a knife. That'd be silly.

I can re-sharpen my knife in less than 20 seconds. (In reference to the knives I skin hogs with.)

[The Duck Hammer]

You only need a knife so sharp. Anything beyond that is just so you can say you can do it or to win toothpick whittling contest.

So basically pointless. I have to agree. My buddy's FIL made a big deal out of how sharp he gets his knives at deer camp a few years ago. The next day we were skinning out a deer and he managed to cut himself three times. It was sharp! He bled almost as much as the deer.

I have cut myself a few times with my knife but I will take that over forcing a semi sharp knife through whatever I am cutting.

[Tiler_J]

You only need a knife so sharp. Anything beyond that is just so you can say you can do it or to win toothpick whittling contest.

So basically pointless. I have to agree. My buddy's FIL made a big deal out of how sharp he gets his knives at deer camp a few years ago. The next day we were skinning out a deer and he managed to cut himself three times. It was sharp! He bled almost as much as the deer.

I have cut myself a few times with my knife but I will take that over forcing a semi sharp knife through whatever I am cutting.

Not disagreeing with needing a sharp knife, but do you really need one sharp enough to circumcise a gnat? I don't think you do. Unless you are into that kind of thing.