Sharpening suggestions for a complete rookie.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I'm partial to the Spyderco sharpener

Yep the Sharp maker is a top bit of kit

[Benner]

I'm partial to the Spyderco sharpener

Yep the Sharp maker is a top bit of kit

And it is certainly on the list. 

Would like to be able to sharpen freehand first though.

[Roadie]

I had a go at sharpening my F1 today using the sandpaper and mouse mat technique, and i managed to not make it blunter! It did infact come out sharper than it started which i was quite pleased about, i have no doubts that other people can make it sharper but for my first attempt at it i was quite impressed.

I'd like to get a stone like that one you've got Ben, i do have an old fashioned wetstone that i can do SAK blades on fairly well but other style blades i'm not so good at as its quite a narrow one. So a wider one would be handy!

[Benner]

Its a handy bit of kit, and for the money I am quite pleased.    I got the DC4 which is the larger of the 2.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Yep the F1 can be a bit hard to sharpen, to be honest I just used to strop my first F1, (hardly used your one Ryan )

[Roadie]

Yep the F1 can be a bit hard to sharpen, to be honest I just used to strop my first F1, (hardly used your one Ryan )

Stropping....that the one with a leather strip and some sort of compound?

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Yep the F1 can be a bit hard to sharpen, to be honest I just used to strop my first F1, (hardly used your one Ryan )

Stropping....that the one with a leather strip and some sort of compound?

That be the one, me old china

Although you can do it with a mouse mate, leather belt, palm off your hand ect

[Roadie]

Yep the F1 can be a bit hard to sharpen, to be honest I just used to strop my first F1, (hardly used your one Ryan )

Stropping....that the one with a leather strip and some sort of compound?

That be the one, me old china

Although you can do it with a mouse mate, leather belt, palm off your hand ect

Woo! All this reading is paying off, i got something right!

[jzmtl]

Just a quick note, do not press hard on the diamond stone when sharpening. Light pressure will do, let the diamond particles do the job of cutting. The particles are bonded with nickle (I think), and if you press too hard you'll actually knock them right off.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Learning is overrated, I stoped my schooling at 11, and it ain't dun me no 'arm

[Biru]

Have any of you had any luck with those V-sharpeners such as Smith's or Gerber's? I bought a Smith's and it put what I think is a reasonably good edge on, but to be honest, I've ruined as many good edges as I've sharpened.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Have any of you had any luck with those V-sharpeners such as Smith's or Gerber's? I bought a Smith's and it put what I think is a reasonably good edge on, but to be honest, I've ruined as many good edges as I've sharpened.

The only V sharpener I've used is the Sharpmaker mate, sorry

[Roadie]

Learning is overrated, I stoped my schooling at 11, and it ain't dun me no 'arm

No, none what so ever......

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Learning is overrated, I stoped my schooling at 11, and it ain't dun me no 'arm

No, none what so ever......

I rest my case

[jzmtl]

Oh another thing I heard about diamond sharpeners (which I don't know if it's true or not) is you should not use them on soft steel, as they cut too well and dig right in, and get dragged off.

Have any of you had any luck with those V-sharpeners such as Smith's or Gerber's? I bought a Smith's and it put what I think is a reasonably good edge on, but to be honest, I've ruined as many good edges as I've sharpened.

Stay away from the ones made of carbide, they literally scrape bits off your blade to make them sharp. The ceramic rod ones can put on an okay edge, but the problem is if your current edge angle is higher than the sharpener's, you'll keep hitting shoulder and never touch the edge.