Knife Sharpner for an idiot

[cj]

+1 on the Sharpmaker. Not the cheapest, not the most expensive, but it works well and is easy to get the hang of using.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Hammurabi]

I have a Horn Spyderco with AUS 8 blade and I think I've killed too many cardboard boxes.

Can you help me out with a fool proof way to sharpen this? Or is there someone I can send the knife to?

First of all cardboard dulls knives very quickly. If you cut a lot of cardboard you need to learn how to sharpen your knives.

A sharpmaker will work just fine. You trusted spyderco to make a great knife for you; why not trust them to know how to keep it sharp? I know firsthand that the stones and system of the sharpmaker are very high quality.

If you give in to despair you can send the knife to me and I'll sharpen it at no cost.

buy a cold steel knife never needs sharpening...

A knife that never needs sharpening defies physics. Cold steel sells many knives that are a great value for the price but in the end they're all made from ordinary flat beveled steel.

[shingman2345]

I was having my bathroom finished in ceramic tile a while back and I got of hold of some of the left overs and decided to try it on one of my knifes. This stuff works good on knifes and is cheep. If you can find a contractor thats putting some in a house see if he will give you a peice. It does the trick! Also here,s another trick-The coffee cups that you drink out of are made of ceramic ,turn them over and start sharping. Does a good job!

[cj]

I was having my bathroom finished in ceramic tile a while back and I got of hold of some of the left overs and decided to try it on one of my knifes. This stuff works good on knifes ....

Note that if you do this (and yes, it does work...those sharpening sticks you can buy, or even in the Spyderco Sharpmaker kit, are just ceramic), the big key is keeping a consistent angle that you're sharpening at.

That's the main point of the Lansky/Smith/Apex systems which use a rod attached to the stone, with the blade fixed: consistent angle. The Sharpmaker takes a similar approach by fixing the angle of the stone, and expecting that you can keep the knife vertical the whole time, thus once again keeping a consistent angle.

[chuckE]

Well, I finally had another go at the Lasky.

This time I used all of the stones but at a 25 degree angle. By the time I started with the Medium stone, I hit the knuckle, (not sliced) of my pinky on the blade and drew blood.

I finished it off with the super fine stone and I think I got a working sharp edge. I think it could be sharper, but this'll do for now. Thanks again for all your advise and help everyone.

[Aggie91]

Another thing you have to remember when using a Lansky (I have one & they are great) or any type of sharpening system, is that you HAVE to get the bevel (new angle) all the way to the edge of the blade.

How do you check this?

1) as you sharpen, watch the shiny , new "flat" area that the stone is making . . you want that to go all the way to the edge of the blade.

2) After the shiny , new "flat" area is visually all the way to the edge of the blade, you are almost there.

Now I will try to verbally set this up:
Assuming you are setting at a table, with the knife handle towards your left & the sharp edge of the blade facing away from you.
Your lansky is set up to sharpen the upwards/top edge, (i.e.: Lansky stone facing down towards the table to as you work the knife)

You need to take a finger and run it lightly on the underside of the blade from the spine past the edge in one smooth light pass. (this is the side opposite of the lansky) Do NOT run the edge from the handle of the knife towards the tip!!

What you are feeling for is a "roll over" of the edge, or a "rough" section right at the edge. When you feel that, you know that the new bevel has gone all the way to the edge of the blade (and "rolled over"). If you do not feel this rough roll over, keep working. After it is rough/rolled from the handle to the tip, flip the knife & do the other side.

Congratulations, your new bevel is all the way to the edge of the blade! Now start with the progressively smoother stones working the same way (with less & less "roll over" as the stones get smother) If you do this, you can get almost ANY knife to "hang" 1/2 way thru a hair as it is shaving.

As noted above, the flatter the angle, the less durable the edge . . think fillet knife blade -vs- a chisel. The fillet will be "sharper, but it will dull lots faster!

Hope this helps!

[retsupt99]

Heck, when I saw your thread title, I thought it was a trade offer....I was thinking, hey, I need a sharpener, and I've got way too many idiots at work...

So was I...

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To the OP...

I've tried various sharpeners down through the years...sometimes it works, sometimes certain knives just don't cut it.
For the few times I've needed to have a quality knife sharpened, I just go to a professional...pretty reasonable...while you wait (under an hour)...OMO

[REDTAIL]

Get a smokey mountain knife catalog it has every type of sharpener in it. look them up on line and ask to be sent their free full line catalog

[dairycreek]

+1 for Lansky's sharpeners.

So simple even I can get a pretty good edge on my tools.

[Thumper]

I have the Lansky system and the Spyderco Sharpmaker.

I have the best results with the Spyderco Sharpmaker.

[Paco]

I bought a Lansky after reading this thread and it does the trick. The neat thing about it is you can buy the lower or mid range model and then add individual sharpeners to complete a good set, or just buy the expensive one and be done with it.

[Beans]

Has anyone used the FIRESTONE brand sharpener?