Knife sharpening difficulties

[A K]

For years, I have never been able to get a sharp edge using a whetstone.

Especially with Swiss army knives.

Can someone help me?

Thanks, Andy

[FromTheRafters]

A K used his or her keyboard to write :

The angle is paramount.

[Fred McKenzie]

Andy-

Stainless steel just does not take a sharp edge. If it does when sharpened, it loses the edge quickly.

Rather than a whetstone, I use a sharpening tool. It won't do much for stainless steel, but wears the blade more evenly than a whetstone. There are a variety of tools available at your local hardware store.

Fred

[Vic Smith]

Swiss Army knife blades are stainless steel I think. Anyway, cut into the stone at about 30 degrees, alternating the sides of the blade. You can hone the blade on leather. I used my boots. Should be something on Youtube. I think the main issue people have is maintaining the same angle, but there's nothing to do about that except practice or use an angle gizmo. I could shave with my pocket knife. Stainless steel take 10 times longer to sharpen, so don't use stainless steel blades.

[A K]

Thanks. It's a shame that they used S.S.

I found this.

I decided to see what my bench grinder could do.

The edge is not pretty but it is definitely sharper.

Andy

[hubops]

I use a little diamond sharpening stick on the kitchen knives - just a few strokes on each side - works for me. John T.

[Frank]

There are plenty of youtube videos and instructions on line for sharpening these knives.

I also cannot get the edge on my Swiss army knife like I can on my Buck hunting knives which you could shave with. It appears to be all in the types of steel used.

[Hawk]

As noted, SS is difficult. I use the same sharpening procedure with knives as I do with my plane and chisels. A four step process through the increase of grits (I don't use stones). The first step with the lowest grit is avoided if I keep them sharpen, otherwise, a very dull blade will start with it then move up until i get that nice razor sharp edge.

[A K]

I will look into getting one.

This is the sharpener I use.

The Cuisinart knife shown takes a very good edge.

Sign on paper cutter refers to itself.

I cut myself badly on that blade.

:-)

Andy

[rbowman]

They aren't cheap but there are guides for several different tools. Smith's makes a similar type that is cheaper.

For a budget approach, the Smith's Pocket Pal is cheap and handy:

Lansky has a few different varieties:

One scheme is a clamp that goes on the blade with guide rods to maintain the angle. That works fairly well for larger blades. Then there are the crock stick types. Mine has a V shaped carbide cutter for roughing out the edge, plus the rods. The idea is keeping the blade vertical going down the angled rod is easier than maintaining an angle on a stone or flat diamond sharpener.

I was feeling lazy the other night and the Fiskars was closed to hand. They work too.

Most of those will give you a serviceable edge. They might not be sharp enough to shave the hair off your arm but I don't need hairless arms.

[Thomas]

I always run a sharpie marker down the edge. You can then see you are doing the correct angle. Sharpie equals sharper.

[rbowman]

That does work well, even better with a magnifier.

[Bud Frede]

They normally use Sandvik 12c27, which is a very high-quality stainless steel. It tends to be pretty easy to sharpen, but doesn't hold an edge as long as some other steels. (Heat treating affects this as well - it's not completely the steel.) It is easy to work, is corrosion-resistant, and takes a mirror finish.

There are a lot of ways to sharpen knives and lots of tools to use to sharpen them. Everyone has their own preference and it's hard to make a recommendation. You pretty much have to just try a few and see what works for you.

I agree that the problem people have with whetstones or bench hones is maintaining the proper angle. Many years ago I had a few small plastic wedges that can with a hone that you laid on the hone and then put the knife on to get you started with the right angle. The wedges came in a few different angles for different types of edge. I just learned from there and now the right angle just "feels right."

Some stainless steels, like some non-stainless steels, are hard to sharpen and some are easy to sharpen.

The Sandvik 12c27 I mentioned above is one of the ones that's easy to sharpen. I'd recommend it for someone learning to sharpen. Yes, you'll need to resharpen it more often, but that's a good thing when you're learning.

I currently like VG-10 for a general-purpose knife steel that will take and hold an edge well. Spyderco uses this steel in a number of models.

[Bud Frede]

The US-made Buck knives are heat-treated really well. They really know how to get the most out of the steel that they use.

Some of the Buck pocketknives used to be made by Camillus. They weren't of the same quality as the knives that Buck made themselves, but they were still quite good, and had the same lifetime warranty.

At some point they started having knives produced in China. They're good quality for Chinese knives, but I don't think they're nearly as good as the US-made knives.

I have a US-made Buck 722 Spitfire that I really like. It's one of the "special editions" that uses a different steel than the 420HC most US Buck knives use. The steel is S30V and it takes and holds a superb edge. It has the little "BOS" symbol etched on it to show that it was heat-treated by Paul Bos.

[Bud Frede]

+1 :-)

[Frank]

Had not looked at my Bucks blade info and found this:

My Folding Hunter and Pathfinder were made in the time period 1967-1972

My Folding Hunter 1104 is apparently rare but type steel is not mentioned.

[Jim Joyce]

My first and only knife was the popular Trim Trio.

[rbowman]

Do you know what a 110A is? It's old and I can't remember when I bought it but most sites only mention 110. I've got a 50th anniversary with the 50 in an anvil so that's an easy one to figure out.

The 110A is a custom model. I broke the tip off trying to pull a staple out of a fence post so it's about q quarter inch short after I reshaped it.

[rbowman]

Thanks. I was reading the number as 110A but the inverted V make more sense. 1988 would be about right for when i bought it.

At least I can remember when I bought the 2014 anniversary edition :)

[A K]

That Smith model is almost identical to what I have now.

I have used the Lansky's in the past and they are good.

I think the problems is with the stainless steel that Victorinox uses.

I have used my sharpener on a dirt cheap kitchen knife and gotten a better edge than I got on the Victorinox knife.

It just will not hold a good edge after it leaves the factory.

I will never buy another one.

Andy