How do you sharpen your SAKs?

[JP]

I am having trouble keeping my knives sharp. I am using a belt sharpener and admittedly could be using the wrong grit count.

Would I do better on a stone?

Any tips n tricks to keeping these sharp?

[IMR4198]

   SAKs do dull out quickly.  I rather like the looks of the sharpeners with an angle guide.  I don't have any of course.  I have done freehand sharpening with a stone all my life.  Blades last almost forever.  I carry a small ceramic rod in my pack when I am out in the field to do touch ups. Best wishes.  G
 

[Jazz]

I use a Norton coarse, then fine stone to get the edge I want - 15 degrees per side, not the factory crappy 20 degrees. Cuts way better. Remove the burr/wire edge with a very light steeper pas on each side. Then I use an extra fine Spyderco stone, then only a couple of strop passes. I don't like a super polished edge. After that I  just use BACKWARD passes on a steel to maintain edge straightness. Saves on a lot of steel wasting.

[Luke Walker]

I use a Spyderco Sharpmaker and a leather strop with some stropping compound.

But I find that I don't have to use the Sharpmaker very often, stropping is usually enough to get the blade back to hair popping sharp. At least for everyday wear on the blade. I need the Sharpmaker maybe 2x a year on my EDC knives and strop them every two weeks or so.

What I like about stropping: you don't have to get the angle perfectly right and don't remove much material. If you don't have your blade lined up perfectly (or the last time) at 20 degrees, the Sharpmaker doesn't touch the actual cutting edge and you need more strokes (meaning removing more material) until you feel the edge getting sharper.

[Brock O Lee]

I set the bevels initially using an Edge Pro, and then maintain a micro bevel with a Sharpmaker and strop.

Since you mentioned grit, I like to finish on 600 to 1000 grit diamond stones, or the Sharpmaker medium or fine ceramics. Deburring well is key to a longer lasting edge.

I do however find that the SAK steels are way too soft, and do not hold an edge well. For that reason I carry a primary knife that I do most cutting with, typically S30V or higher carbide @HRC 60+.

I can highly recommend Spyderco's K390 if you are chasing edge retention.

[Buzzbait]

When my SAK's need to be sharpened, I freehand with a fine EZE-LAP 2x6 fine grit diamond benchstone, then move to a Spyderco 302F fine ceramic benchstone, and finally strop on charged leather. Both benchstones are oiled with Norton Sharpening Stone Oil.

But the edges on SAK's often deform instead of dulling, the soft steel rolling to one side. You can feel the rolled edge with your finger. When this happens, a honing steel is more effective than a sharpener. It realigns the edge, and doesn't grind off any material. A honing steel also takes seconds to use; much faster than sharpening. The bottom of a ceramic coffee cup will even work in a pinch.

[Dunc]

I’ve used a Spyderco Sharpmaker for years , little and often for the best results

[Singh]

The Chef's Choice 120 works really well. I run the knives through stages two and three, then follow up with a two or three feather-light passes with an accusharp hand sharpener.  It takes less than 5 minutes and I get an edge that is hair-popping razor sharp. For really dull knives I give them a pass through stage one first. I sharpen the kitchen knives twice a year and they stay razor sharp.

I tip my hat to the sharpening gurus who can hand-sharpen their knives with stones, rods,  or whatnot.  Those methods require that you hold the knife at exactly the right angle, or they don’t work worth a poop. I’m just not that steady. I need an machine.

The only things I sharpen by hand are my mora knives and scissors, because the bevel is big enough for me to follow accurately with a diamond sharpening card. Sharpening the scissors on a Swisstool Spirit is VERY easy since the bevel is so robust. All you have to do is pop the spring and that frees things up for sharpening.

[Antti Lammi]

I mainly use Victorinox Dual Sharpener to sharpen my SAKs, modtly just need little touch with it to make sharp again if its really dull i use Work Sharp Guided Field Sharpener to make it sharp again.

Only Tools Matters

[nate j]

I rarely have a SAK as my primary blade these days (still love them for the tools though).  But when I did, every time I opened a box, I liked to strop the blade on the cardboard a bit, usually just a handful of passes on each side.  Kept the blade wicked sharp with minimal effort and no need for dedicated sharpening equipment.

[Farmer X]

Every time I opened a box, I liked to strop the blade on the cardboard a bit, usually just a handful of passes on each side.

I'll give that a try. For some reason, I do okay with stropping, but sharpening never helps no matter what system I use.

[mfturner]

I use a Work Sharp, which is just a belt sharpener.  For my Vic Waiter I keep it out on the bench with a cheap 1000 grit belt for easy access.

 After spending almost 90 min cutting down boxes Sunday for the recycling pickup (can you tell we bought a lot of stuff this week?), I ran it through the 1000 grit maybe 3 passes per side moderately firmly and two more very lightly, and it’s back to the sharpness I like.  All in less than a minute.  If I have something really dull that I want to reshape or start from scratch, I’ll run each side through a 220 grit then a 400 grit belt a half dozen times per side first (if I had it I would add a 600-700 grit before the 1000 grit as well).  Otherwise I don’t go back to coarse grits and firm pressure.   While I do have finer grit belts, I am lazy and rarely bother with them.

 I use 15 deg per side for the Vic or small kitchen knives, the limit of the guides on the Ken Onion model of the Work Sharp.  And I run the belt at its slowest speed.

[JowiiYoyo]

I am having trouble keeping my knives sharp. I am using a belt sharpener and admittedly could be using the wrong grit count.

Would I do better on a stone?

Any tips n tricks to keeping these sharp?

I struggled with sharpening for a long time and the best tip i recieved was to bring the stone to the knife. It made it a lot easier for me to both find and keep the right angle while sharpening. Like in the picture. I now own a small "gardening" sharpening stone and use it to sharpen every blade i own. And a scrap piece of leather to strop. Dont underestimate stropping.
Hope this tip helps you as much as it has helped me. Good luck friend.

[zenostoic]

This has worked fine for me. Great for touch-ups.

[Kraken]

   I use the Spyderco Sharpmaker on my SAKs when I need to touch the edge up. I find that the default medium and fine stones work great to get the edge back, followed by stropping. When I use the Sharpmaker, after each stone, I run the blade through the edge of a block of scrap wood (an old piece of 2x4, a paint stir stick, a piece of kindling or even a pencil)  which helps to knock the burr off before moving on to the finer grit stones. I lightly drag the blade through the block about 3-4 times until I can't see any more color coming off the edge. I find that doing this reduces the number of passes needed on the stones. I do it again before stropping the blade. For stropping, I like to use Tormex compound on the suede side of the strop and leave the smooth side of the strop clean. I've also used Flitz metal polish as a stropping compound to good effect. Although I have a stropping block that I set on my workbench and a couple of paddle strops, I have also used an old leather belt that works great.
   I find that I usually only have to strop my blade rather than sharpen it on the stones, in order to get the edge back, during normal use. I find that 10 strokes on each side of the strop, suede first, then smooth, is all it takes. If I’m at work and don’t have access to my regular strops, I’ll use the edge of a flap on a cardboard box to strop my blade and it works in a pinch. I’ve also used the bottom of a ceramic coffee mug.
   As for free-hand sharpening on stones, I don’t have much experience. I’m too chicken to attempt it on my EDC knife, so I bought a used Spartan off everyone’s favorite auction site and use that to practice on. I don’t know if I’ll ever make the jump to free-hand sharpening full time, but it's a skill I’d like to acquire, just in case.
   Hope this helps; there are as many ways to sharpen as there are SAKs, and in both cases, it’s all about personal preference. Enjoy the journey!

[cbl51]

I carry an Eze-Lap, model L I think it is, in my wallet with most of the red plastic handle cut off. If my SAK needs a touch up, I just give it a minute on the hone. I use the small circle method of honing, that way you don't loose contact with the stone and the angle reminds constant. This is the way I learned to sharpen a pocket knife when I was a kid, and been doing ever since.

If there's anyone on this forum living in my part of Texas, I'll be glad to make a video on how to sharpen your SAK with no gizmos or jigs, and it will cut great. All you need it a small pocket stone. Or the bottom of a coffee mug.

[EMZ]

When the blade on my EDC Vic is dull, I... uhmm... well...  just buy a new one! 

[AzteCypher]

That's a good excuse to buy more.   

[IMR4198]

   When the EU Surprise Box makes its way to the Netherlands, that would be a very good way to dispose of all the old dull SAKs.  Put them in the Surprise Box for someone who likes to sharpen things.  Best wishes.  G
 

[BPRoberts]

Smith's makes a 3-in-1 that's great for small/soft steel. It works similarly to the Sharpmaker or other rod sharpeners (with a pull through and a small diamond plate as a bonus). You can't adjust the angle, but if you just need to work something basic like an SAK it's a great budget option at ~$20 vs the ~$100 for the Spydey.

[Farmer X]

When the blade on my EDC Vic is dull, I... uhmm... well...  just buy a new one!

I do something similar: I just grab another one from the carriers box or roll. It's worked well enough so far.

I've said before, and will say again, that my sharpening skills are...lacking. I've tried a pull-through sharpener, a Tri-Hone, and a Lansky Turnbox. Oddly, I have had better luck stropping carbon steel. If I can't get someone to show me how to freehand sharpen in person, I'll probably break down and buy a guided system.

[Swisster]

Work Sharp Field sharpener is less than $30 online and can do it all quickly and easily       

[IMR4198]

  I like the looks of the Work Sharp.  Should be easy to keep an angle and there is a large sharpening surface.  Looks like you could keep your fingers safe as well.  Best wishes.  G
   
 

[G-Dizzle]

A SAK is one of my favorite knives to sharpen because it takes an edge so well. You can really use anything, and if you keep it stropped it’s not that hard to keep sharp. I have heard of and/or tried a car window, bottom of a coffee mug, leather belt, depending on how much sharpening is needed. I don’t remember how effective some of those methods were, but it can be done. I use either a spyderco sharpmaker or the worksharp field sharpener traditionally.

[Farmer X]

Work Sharp Field sharpener is less than $30 online and can do it all quickly and easily

The angle guide would be helpful. I'll do my best to get ahold of one of those. Thanks for the suggestion!

[SteveP]

I’m another happy Vic Dual Sharpener user. Though I freely admit that I have zero other sharpening experience. But the Vic keeps my blades sharp enough for me.

[hsherzfeld]

I use the Lansky guided-angle system, but it’s not perfect. The asymmetrical grind of SAK blades means that the guide rod angles are slightly different for each side, so it’s difficult for me to get good symmetrical bevels.