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Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener

Posted by jasonstone20 
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jasonstone20
Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 13, 2022 01:58AM
I am not that great of a knife sharpener. The only reason I can get decent results is that I cheat:

  1. I use micro-bevels
  2. I back sharpen
  3. I cross the scratch pattern
  4. I draw the edge through wood
  5. I condition my stones, as well as flatten them
  6. I use very low (closer to a zero-edge) angles
  7. I use a vintage Russian leather and linen hanging strop
  8. I sharpen to a high grit finish
  9. I use light pressure to sharpen
  10. I use lubrication, usually water, mineral oil, and soap
  11. I sometimes use a fixed angle system or Spyderco Sharpmaker

without these techniques I wouldn't be able to get edges that passed a Hanging Hair Test. hot smiley
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me2
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 15, 2022 12:13AM
Yea me neither.
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jasonstone20
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 15, 2022 12:53AM
Chris,
Yeah, guys like Michael Christy don't use almost any of those techniques, and he gets great results, often with edges 15°DPS and on high carbide steels with hard stones (diamonds and ceramics)
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me2
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 15, 2022 05:02PM
Doesn’t he use an edge pro? Am I getting him mixed up with someone else?
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jasonstone20
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 15, 2022 05:03PM
Chris,
No, he freehands.
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me2
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 15, 2022 06:54PM
Why would any of those things disqualify you as a good sharpener? I found some of his videos and he uses quite a few steps and such.
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jasonstone20
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 15, 2022 09:18PM
Chris,
The thing is a lot of the good sharpeners don't do a lot of the steps. I usually do all the steps, as well as using the 3Step method or plateau method, as well as appropriate stones for those steps. I also usually don't strop, which is another thing a lot of sharpeners do.
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me2
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 15, 2022 10:09PM
I wouldn’t downgrade your ability just because you do it different. To use your example Christi does half to a third of the things above on just the one video I watched. A number of YouTube sharpeners are using very expensive and specific stones. Aren’t you using a pair of Norton’s or a combo stone?
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jasonstone20
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 16, 2022 01:27AM
Chris,
I am just using so Norton Combo stones now, but I have a ton of sharpening stones. My ability wasn't really the focus of the post, sorry for the deception, but I always wondered what someone with a lot of sharpening skill used all of the above techniques and instead of taking 30-45 min to sharpen, could do the same thing in 5 min with 3Step or Plateau sharpening. My sharpening skills are barely above average, and I can get pretty good results using these techniques. I can't seem to convince anyone to give them a shot, I have tried.
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me2
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 16, 2022 03:25AM
Oh right. I see now. I just told some people on another thread that holding a consistent angle isn’t really necessary. I can’t wait to see what that brings. People believe a lot of odd things about sharpening. It’s hard to get people to switch if what they’re doing works. I need to practice some freehand sharpening. I haven’t done any in a while.
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me2
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 17, 2022 02:57PM
Is anyone getting a very sharp edge in just two steps? That or three is about my limit now.
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jasonstone20
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 17, 2022 05:34PM
Chris,
I am with the Norton IC6 Crystolon(M)/(F) India stone, but my angles are just lifting the blade barely off the stone.
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me2
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 17, 2022 10:32PM
Are they separate stones or one combo?
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jasonstone20
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 18, 2022 01:00AM
Chris,
One combo stone, the IC series.
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me2
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 18, 2022 08:05PM
I’ve been looking for a replacement for my Norton Economy stone. I’ve relegated it to water stone flattening lately. The medium Crystalon side is enough for rebeveling?
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jasonstone20
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 18, 2022 08:59PM
Chris,
Not really. I still use the newer Norton Economy or Craftsman stone (C) side for rebevelng. The IC is an M Crystolon and an F India, and the M Crystolon is closer to the F side of the Norton Economy stone than it is the C side.
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me2
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 18, 2022 09:26PM
Oh. That’s unfortunate. Perhaps I’d be better served by a coarse/fine India stone or coarse Crystalon separate stone.
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Ryan Nafe
Re: Why I Am Not A Great Sharpener
March 18, 2022 11:17PM
The latest Norton stone I picked up, about a year ago, is a combination of medium India and a soft Arkansas. It’s pretty interesting, I found it on Sharpening Supplies’ site.

For simple steel knives like basic carbon and stainless that are low alloy like 1075, 420, etc., it works really well as a general purpose stone. The medium India is a bit too fine for major angle changes in short amounts of time, but for everything else it works well. If you use the 3-step/plateau method it can produce very sharp edges without much effort at all.
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