Sharpening tips.

[captain spaulding]

Well I used my Lansky sharpener for the first time last night and I must say I am fairly happy with how the first run went. The first victim was a old Spyderco Delica Clip It (plain edge). I had no idea what angle to use but figured 25 degrees would be a good place to start. In a nutshell I ran the coarse stone, medium stone, and fine stone. The Spyderco turned out pretty dang sharp. Next up was an old Benchmade. It too got sharpened at 25 degrees which I am thinking now should have been less. I also sharpened the serrations on the Benchmade. The Benchmade got sharp but no where near the same sharpness of the Spyderco. I assume this could be one of many reasons. First is I just did not sharpen it correctly. Second is the blade material is harder which means I should have sharpened it more. Lastly the angle was incorrect.

Either way I am happy to get into the sharpening aspect of things and would like any tips I can get from  the experts here. Also how do I get the tip of the blade back to that original.............Pokeyness.  Thank you in advance. 

[Ashley]

I'd use the 20 if it was me. 

Also BM steel and me fight. I can't get a BM sharp at all hardly. Takes a lot of time and patience that I don't have.

[Sparky415]

The best tip I learned is to 'colour in' the edge with a sharpie, it will show you where you are taking off metal 

[tattoosteve99]

Patience and a waterstone.

[dks]

Try to put some colour on the edge with a marker. That way you can see by whether it rubs off if you are using the right angle.

Also keep an eye out for any burr forming (you will feel on side of the edge being rough). You need to remove it to get the best possible edge.

start hard with the rougher stones, and use a softer touch as you use the smoother ones.

It is allways harder to sharpen a blade the first time you do it.
and bear in mind that some blades will never get a decent edge.

[captain spaulding]

Thank you all for the great info.

[asupernothing]

Practice Practice Practice.

It took some time to get used to, but now I can freehand my 915 back into shape silly fast. You just need to find the right angle to complement the steel, shape, and task.

[Potassium Hydroxide]

For getting a tip again, you can try grinding the back of the tip (the spine portion).  The tip would be a bit more stout but it would be pointy.

[captain spaulding]

For getting a tip again, you can try grinding the back of the tip (the spine portion).  The tip would be a bit more stout but it would be pointy.

Thank you. 

[Beerplumber]

I take it your digging the lanskey? I was asking for a spyderco sharpmaker and got the lanskey instead. Now that I've used it I'm all about it. With a little patience the lanskey can produce such a wicked edge. I'm going to pick up a SE medium grit hone (she got me the fine one) and one of the blue sapphire ones too. So many different hones available I love it.


Stay multi my friends

[captain spaulding]

I take it your digging the lanskey? I was asking for a spyderco sharpmaker and got the lanskey instead. Now that I've used it I'm all about it. With a little patience the lanskey can produce such a wicked edge. I'm going to pick up a SE medium grit hone (she got me the fine one) and one of the blue sapphire ones too. So many different hones available I love it.


Stay multi my friends

I have a Blue Sapphire hone on the way.