Knife sharpening

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jul 2021 at 11:53am
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Do men's sheds offer knife/tool sharpening lessons? I know some offer such a service but perhaps they offer lessons too?

I know this thread is in the context of fishing but if there was a general knife sharpening class somewhere, that would put them on the right path and in contact with others who can show them the light.

I use anything from wet grinders, files, stones, sandpaper, strops. Just depends on the application and none of them apply to kitchen or filleting knives because I gave up years ago in protest at how much abuse the knives were subject to by others who took a sharp knife for granted. So I don't sharpen anything that is not in my ultimate control. It's almost heart-breaking otherwise.

On a somewhat off-topic note, I have been collecting used-up or obsolete chainsaw chains in case I wanted to revisit knife-making but can't see it happening so if anyone wants them to make a blade from, they can have a big box of 'em.

I'm hoping if people look at that last video I posted, they'll see how well the relative newbie did with a stone and might get keen on trying it. But it's not for everyone (even if would like to see those skills retained and rebuilt amongst the community), whereas the Lansky system is practically foolproof.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jul 2021 at 12:02pm
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Originally posted by Steps Steps wrote:



A big secret in keeping knives sharp, and little work in doing so is do not let them get any blunter then the edge has just gone

AMEN to that Steps. Almost any cutting edge for that matter. If the edge goes off too often then the angles or materials are wrong for the application or edge is being abused.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kitno Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jul 2021 at 1:50pm
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I bought a Lansky sharpening system about 18 months ago. Good timing as it was just before lockdown. I was a complete novice at sharpening knives and had no clue where to begin. After a few attempts with hardly even a pass mark I began doubting the system I'd bought. I decided to watch some utube videos using the Lansky. The tips I gained were the changing point for me. I can now confidently say I can sharpen a knife to a reasonable standard.
I done quite a few for friends now and some turn up looking like they've been used for troweling concrete. They're alot of work but can be saved. No more blunt knives in our kitchen.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Crochet Cast Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jul 2021 at 2:10pm
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Quite a good YouTube Video
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Phantom Menace Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jul 2021 at 3:24pm
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Thanks all.  

I figured knife sharpening would be an interesting topic :) 

I knew the basics of sharpening ... I have struggled to get a consistently correct angle in the past hence the question re various "systems". 
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Catchelot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jul 2021 at 4:30pm
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The bloke on this web site is a great filleter, with his knives are an adaptor that fits on the steel for the perfect sharpening angle.

Check it out...

"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Cousteau
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote The Tamure Kid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jul 2021 at 10:06pm
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Originally posted by MB MB wrote:

Originally posted by kingiFiddla kingiFiddla wrote:

https://youtu.be/uEDyYJJ6f9M?t=799

Have to say those videos are the best tests I've seen on YouTube.

good thread, guys. 

The one thing I didn't get in that guy's vid is the last bit where he apparently tests the ability of the edge each tool created to stay sharp after running through wood.
Isn't that down to the steel used in the knife's blade, rather than the tool? I often read or hear about a particular brand of knife's ability to "retain its edge" (not that its retention ability it depends on how you sharpen it...)
I have a Spyderco, which I find easy to use and seems to deliver good results. In the video it did a great job in the first sharpness test from blunt, but then sucked at the retention test - which is a bit alarming if the test is a valid one? 

Steps, you need to make a video re stones - you have a lot to teach, but I can't process technical instructions like that without pictures. Getting the correct angle seems critical, but freehand it's not easy. My poppa was a freezing worker at Westfield, and we have one of the giant turning stones they used at the works, so he would be spinning in his grave to hear me I just can't get how to sharpen by hand!!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Marligator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jul 2021 at 10:48pm
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Al that link does not seem to work.

Originally posted by Catchelot Catchelot wrote:

The bloke on this web site is a great filleter, with his knives are an adaptor that fits on the steel for the perfect sharpening angle.

Check it out...

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Fish Addict Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jul 2021 at 11:04pm
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Originally posted by Marligator Marligator wrote:

Al that link does not seem to work.


Works for me Vance.  It does say page not found but if you click on one of the topics they seem to display OK.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Fraser Hocks Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Jul 2021 at 8:19am
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Good discussion lads. I'm a firm believer that if you can't shave the hairs off the back of your arm with a knife, then it's not a knife just a bar of steel.

Iv had a Lansky knife sharpening kit for quite a few years and typically get good results. I'd love to see those YouTube videos your talking about Kitno, might help me sharpen up (blatant pun intended 🤭) my skills.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Fishb8 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Jul 2021 at 8:34am
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I don't profess to be anything but a rank amateur at knife sharpening but I do like a sharp knife and use a diamond stick and that does a decent job.
I take it everywhere I go as you can't be sure that motels or AirBNBs will have sharp knives. I also take one of my own knives, too.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Fraser Hocks Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Jul 2021 at 8:55am
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So true Fishb8. Me and my wife are on holiday on Waiheke at the moment and the house we have rented, I can't tell which side of the knifes are meant to be the edge. Always surprises me how many people use knifes that are so far from sharp, there not a knife anymore.

Luckily I brought my filleting knife, and a couple of small folding knifes. I reckon the rolling pin is sharper than the knifes in this place 😁
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Jul 2021 at 3:27pm
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Originally posted by The Tamure Kid The Tamure Kid wrote:

Originally posted by MB MB wrote:

Originally posted by kingiFiddla kingiFiddla wrote:

https://youtu.be/uEDyYJJ6f9M?t=799

Have to say those videos are the best tests I've seen on YouTube.

good thread, guys. 

The one thing I didn't get in that guy's vid is the last bit where he apparently tests the ability of the edge each tool created to stay sharp after running through wood.
Isn't that down to the steel used in the knife's blade, rather than the tool? I often read or hear about a particular brand of knife's ability to "retain its edge" (not that its retention ability it depends on how you sharpen it...)
I have a Spyderco, which I find easy to use and seems to deliver good results. In the video it did a great job in the first sharpness test from blunt, but then sucked at the retention test - which is a bit alarming if the test is a valid one? 

Steps, you need to make a video re stones - you have a lot to teach, but I can't process technical instructions like that without pictures. Getting the correct angle seems critical, but freehand it's not easy. My poppa was a freezing worker at Westfield, and we have one of the giant turning stones they used at the works, so he would be spinning in his grave to hear me I just can't get how to sharpen by hand!!


As he says it could be user error. Would need to do many tests on each knife to weed out the anomalies/outliers and get more reliable results.

I'd like him to do the exact same tests but with knives made of quality steel and compare the results.

Also note, he's very receptive to suggestions and often will do a series of tests along the same theme, as a result of being educated by commenters and supporters and their suggestions.

He goes to great lengths to answer questions too so perhaps it's worth asking him or other viewers on the video to come up with why the Spyderco results were so off.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Jul 2021 at 7:15pm
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Been away  so catch up on a few comments above..
I'm a firm believer that if you can't shave the hairs off the back of your arm with a knife, then it's not a knife just a bar of steel.
 Totally agree. But keep in mind one can put a 'razor sharp edge on even the mildest of junk steels.. Keeping that edge is knife skills , with angle of edge and the correct steel for the final use Wink


 And very well illustrated by this comment

The one thing I didn't get in that guy's vid is the last bit where he apparently tests the ability of the edge each tool created to stay sharp after running through wood.
Isn't that down to the steel used in the knife's blade, rather than the tool?


Getting the correct angle seems critical, but freehand it's not easy.

Do that with say a scaple or cut throat razor and you will screw it even thu they are very hard steels..but have very fine angles edges. Down to around 12 or even less degs
 A quality working knife like a filleting knife.. with around 22 degs at the tip to curve and 30/35 where the main chopping is done...hell I have chopped heavy 12/24v automotive wire with nil effect.
 Also think chistles...Wink


Steps, you need to make a video re stones - you have a lot to teach, but I can't process technical instructions like that without pictures.
 M8 I have never taken a selfie let alone a movie/video. If someone whats to step up and do the filming/ maybe editing yep.. I would also like to do one filleting snapper/ ky /trevs type fish, recreational style (comms the 'wasted meat goes to fish cakes etc... rec filleting doesnt waste and if any good, get over 1/3 the caught weight nps.

Yes thats where the jig (Lansky)ltype sharpeners come in...and I have said before, get that burr full length  one side before moving to the other.
Cant get the picture in your head?
 A working knife will be about 30/35 deg angle with a very flat narrow cutting edge on a stone.. draw it on paper..

ok lets go to the wet dry sand paper (use wet to flow the metal build up off the paper) on the but of warehouse yoga pad.Now when you draw the knife backwards on the sand paper around 30 degs with the sponge pad under it you get a curve, rather than a flat edge on a flat stone...and if you vary that curve a few degs each way you still get your edge.. heaps user error tollerance due to the curve Wink
 Draw that edge on bit of paper.. its sort of bull nosed right?
Now look at each think about it which edge ( the 'bull nosed convex, or the flat edged on a stone is going to wear/ snap off 1st.. or put another way.. last the best.?

Same principle of angles, fine for razor, steep for working knife applies to a chainsaw. General chainsaw angle is around 30 degs.. chop down most wood like pine etc nps.
 Then go to cut manuka , purri , gum jarra... hard woods.. not as type (balsa wood is a 'hardwood',  they are just hard bloody woods...Do so with a fine angle on the chainsaw blade and it will go blunt real fast tying to cut deep in before the next tooth comes along.  Now put a edge on 35/38 degs, you have a more 'bull nosed edge, hardr the snap off. chip, but takes smaller chip also..

. My poppa was a freezing worker at Westfield, and we have one of the giant turning stones they used at the works, so he would be spinning in his grave to hear me I just can't get how to sharpen by hand!!

 And with all due respect, this is where the myths come in.

 Those guys ( I worked at in Westfeild in school holiday as a kid)  guys where on piece money and time.. So was always a balance between as much time on the line as possible with little as possible on the water wheel stone. They will say the hollow curve created by the wheel peeled the meat of better... nope just a edge real quick,  and back in the line.. just the finest touch of the blade on a bone.. edge breaks back on the wheel.. which made knife skills paramount..
 See where this goes?

 oh side note a hint.. your braid scissors stop cutting braid.. put a few cuts into a bit of 1200 or finer sand paper.. then try the braid again.Thumbs Up

Oh and in case many dont know.. you can sharpen knives(espec carving knife) machetes, axes for left and right handed... one edge is longer than the other... like a chisel.. which is one of the reasons a chainsaw wil cut thru a log in a curve, rather than a straight drop.


If you are local..or passing thru.... and a few ppl have dropped in over the yrs, including several forum members, to be shown how to, over a fresh ground espresso or beer.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Jul 2021 at 7:28pm
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Great offer Steps. Members would be mad to not take you up on it.

If we want to talk chainsaw chain sharpening, this could get even more interesting, but a bit off topic as I've not seen many people fillet with a chainsaw, although I did see one guy doing it with a top-handle...after a few beers.

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jul 2021 at 8:48am
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If if someone could also do a video at the same time?

Chainsaws, scissors, knives even handsaws.. the edge is pretty much the same.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jul 2021 at 10:54am
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Steps, regarding chainsaw chain, there might not be any point reinventing the wheel:

I don't use the standard raker gauges though, rather a digital angle finder (DAF) if I have to or base it on feedback in the wood.  What I like about the DAF is setting up chains accurately in advance for specific wood types.Big difference between pine and puriri, for example.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2021 at 10:20am
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In the 70s /80s my cousin working in the timber industry contracting to fell trees..
Spent a bit of time with him in the evenings while he sharpened/ maintained his chain saws.
My own use of chainsaw isa very much home stuff. I never got the hang of 'free hand sharpening, much like guys above with knives and stones..
Cousin had professional chain sharpener that the chain was feed thru link by link and depth, length of each tooth and the edge angle was consistent to make quick straight cuts thru trunks.

Back in the 80s I brought a solid chain sharpener set up that clamps on the bar, then clamps each tooth, set the depth the lenth of the tooth and the angle, then feed each tooth thru.
When at the Field day chatted to some guys.. they where surprised at the unit I use.. at 1st they thought it was modern one off trade me that apparently  give bad results due to inaccraces and flex.  Once the knew it was solid cast old schoolish one thumbs up.

 yeah Puriri, gum, manuka if not right angle, depth and tooth length very quickly cause curved cuts, blunted up and get alot heat into the chain and bar, which is not good for the chain teeth ...even going back to pine the chain never seems to hold its edge again... get everything right and goes well.
Sharpen by hand or even just 'put the edge back on' a couple times in a row messes a good cutting chain up.
I dont enjoy chainsaw sharpening as I do with knives... even the garden spade, torpedo howe..
Putting a convex edge on these makes a huge difference over the std file.. espec the torpedo how clipping solid weeds.

The meat slicer, I leave that to the wife.. she used to manage run delis, so well got head hunted couple times.


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jul 2021 at 11:34am
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Probably the best learning opportunity I had on chainsaw filing was being down to one chainsaw in the middle of nowhere and lightly cooking it (straight gassed) to the point it would still run but radically de-powered. With just a few days left to the job I had to suck it up and push on. If the chain wasn't kept in perfect condition, there's no way that gutless saw would pull it.
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