Knife Sharpener

[dlbaldwin01]

Not sure where to post this question. But when field dressing my deer this year my knife was quite dull so I need to sharpen it. What kind of sharpener do you all recomend for hunting knives, and filet knives for fishing. I am looking for something fairly cheap and easier than a whetstone. Any suggestions?

[NoWake]

There's lot's of good options out there. I have many stones, a Lansky, and various other sharpeners. I use them all depending on the situation. When I read your initial post the first thing that came to mind was a "redi-edge". I got one from a good friend last year and it's a slick little sharpener. Easy to use, does a good job, is small and simple enough to keep it in your pack or pocket. I like it alot. Thank's again Tom.

[bigrackmack]

Redi-Edge gets my vote..........Mack

[adjusted3]

A lanksky system is OK. Sharpening knives is an art form. Honestly, I am not there yet but I am getting closer. I have Norton tri-stone and a wheel. The wheel I built myself with one side at 2000 grit and the other side is leather.

Here is the issue with any knife and it is not a quick process.

you need to raise the burr and make sure your angles are correct. Start out with a coarse (800 Grit) to get all imperfections out of the blade. as far as the angle, think about rasing the back edge enough to put 6 or 7 pages of notebook paper under it. it is not a lot. Hone until you have the deisired angle. once the angle is reached, from that point on all you are doing is maintaining that angle. Notice that we are starting out with heavy grit. Pull the blade, turn, pull, turn, pull and keep it up.

After the angle is made, keep working until you have formed a "tin edge" which is the burr that I was talking about. At this point, you can run your finger down the edge, and think it is sharp, but actually if you put the blade to light, you will see that the "burr" or a shiny line running down the edge. This is where most people stop.

Any "bright" spots on the edge is dents in the blade and you need to keep it up until these disapear. Once you have a fine shiny line running down the edge, then we move on to the next stone. That stone should be a 8000 grit or similar. work the blade in the same angle, and you should see filings left on the stone in the form of grey matter and that tells you that you are doing it right. The "tin edge" should move side to side at this point with every stroke. The tin edge I am talking about is the Burr... Old timers refer to it as "raising the burr"

I never said this would be easy.........

After you have done this, then take the knife to a leather belt, no unlike the barbers used. this flattens the burr to the point that know the knife is sharp. Another way, from the old timers is to strope the blade on old newspaper, the old ink had lead in it and this did the same as the leather strope.

Start to finish...I am guessing an hour or more. My dad is a wood carver of many years and I have taken away many tricks from him. Simply, what i just pointed out is the basics. We are not even talking about double angled edges, rounds, or differences between gutting knives and fillet knifes. I can tell you this...my wife was Pissed when I sharpend her kitchen knives.

One can buy a bunch of toys to speed up the processes, but the end result is just plain hard tedious work. You need 3-5 stones in various grits to get to this point.

Sorry, but to go out and buy a one size fits all sharpening system may not work.

Mark

[ST8]

If you don't want to mess with stones and don't want to spend a lot of $$$, I just got a Chefs Choice Diamond Sharpener #460 for Christmas. Bed, Bath & Beyond has some for $29.99. I have been using it over the weekend. Compact, made for left/right handed and very easy to use. Works great! I picked it out because its made for straight/serrated blades, great for hunting knives.

[glnmiller]

Chef's Choice 460, is a good way to go, gets the job done and not too expensive. I have one for my wife to use.

I like my Norton tri-stone, I can get a much better edge, but it took me years of practice and a good teacher (my dad, who was a meat cutter).

[Buckgrunt77]

I'm very impatient when it comes to sharpening knives and I have tried several knife sharpeners. I was recently told about one from ACCUSHARP and went ahead and purchased it. So far I have no complaints, I was simply amazed at how quick it put the edge back on. I picked mine up off of benmeadows.com for less than $10!

[Mightymouse]

I am no experty on sharpening knives but mine is always pretty sharp and usually sharper (sometimes way sharper) than those carried by the people around me.

I do not have a complex system by any means, nor do I have a high end sharpener. I have a cheap sharpener, the maker of which I don't even know. It has the two rods that come out in a "V" shape. You work one side, then the other. Back and forth over and over. Not very fancy but effective none the less. Now I'm not saying that I have the sharpest knife in the woods or anything but I have offered my knife up to others as the gutted deer and had them be amazed by how easy it was with a sharp knife.

I think the most important thing that I do is that everytime my knife comes out of its case to be used, it is sharpened before it is put away. If I gut a deer, the knife is sharpened before it's put back away. If I am skinning or processing a deer the knife is sharpened before being put away. If I pull it out to cut some lengths of rope, it gets sharpened. You see where I'm going with this.. I always sharpen it and I am slow and patient when sharpening. I find it enjoyable and a fun challenge to get it as sharp as it can be.

It would make sense that if you never let it get all that dull it won't take much work to keep it sharp.

Another perk to this is that I always know my knife is sharp and ready to go. I slacked in camp back in 07, shot a buck and used the knife but didn't sharpen it afterwards. Few days later I shot a doe and had to gut it with my "dull" knife. It was amazing the difference I felt, could have been all in my head but it was enough to remind me to keep my knife sharp.

A sharp knife is a way better, more effective and safer tool than a dull one.

[Macker13]

I use the little pocket sharpener that Rapid River Knife sells.

[Laid Back 57]

Not sure where to post this question. But when field dressing my deer this year my knife was quite dull so I need to sharpen it. What kind of sharpener do you all recomend for hunting knives, and filet knives for fishing. I am looking for something fairly cheap and easier than a whetstone. Any suggestions?

Check this contraption out.Don't own one ,so I can't give any kind of opinion,but looks interesting. www.warthogsharp.com

[dlbaldwin01]

If you don't want to mess with stones and don't want to spend a lot of $$$, I just got a Chefs Choice Diamond Sharpener #460 for Christmas. Bed, Bath & Beyond has some for $29.99. I have been using it over the weekend. Compact, made for left/right handed and very easy to use. Works great! I picked it out because its made for straight/serrated blades, great for hunting knives.


I think I may start out with this one the price is right and if it doesn't work then I'm only out 30 bucks. Thanks for all of your advice everyone I will start simple and maybe work my way up to some of the other systems you mentioned.

[jme]

The Lansky is what works for me since I could never get a good edge using a whetstone. Actually, I have a Smith's - it's just like the Lansky.

[swampbuck]

I think I may start out with this one the price is right and if it doesn't work then I'm only out 30 bucks. Thanks for all of your advice everyone I will start simple and maybe work my way up to some of the other systems you mentioned.

I use a chefs choice also.

[fishnpbr]

I am no experty on sharpening knives but mine is always pretty sharp and usually sharper (sometimes way sharper) than those carried by the people around me.

I do not have a complex system by any means, nor do I have a high end sharpener. I have a cheap sharpener, the maker of which I don't even know. It has the two rods that come out in a "V" shape. You work one side, then the other. Back and forth over and over. Not very fancy but effective none the less. Now I'm not saying that I have the sharpest knife in the woods or anything but I have offered my knife up to others as the gutted deer and had them be amazed by how easy it was with a sharp knife.

I think the most important thing that I do is that everytime my knife comes out of its case to be used, it is sharpened before it is put away. If I gut a deer, the knife is sharpened before it's put back away. If I am skinning or processing a deer the knife is sharpened before being put away. If I pull it out to cut some lengths of rope, it gets sharpened. You see where I'm going with this.. I always sharpen it and I am slow and patient when sharpening. I find it enjoyable and a fun challenge to get it as sharp as it can be.

It would make sense that if you never let it get all that dull it won't take much work to keep it sharp.

Another perk to this is that I always know my knife is sharp and ready to go. I slacked in camp back in 07, shot a buck and used the knife but didn't sharpen it afterwards. Few days later I shot a doe and had to gut it with my "dull" knife. It was amazing the difference I felt, could have been all in my head but it was enough to remind me to keep my knife sharp.

A sharp knife is a way better, more effective and safer tool than a dull one.



:yeahthat:

The ceramic V shaped sticks are all I have used for a long time. They aren't real good for really dull knives but if you touch up a blade after every use they are awesome, and easy to use. I have several that have a coarse and fine stick and are of different angles. My knives are scary sharp.

[multibeard]

I found the RADA knife company sharpener a few years ago.

http://www.radamfg.com/Category.asp?SRCH_CATEGORY=Cat06

With it I was able to get an edge on a dexter boning knife that I had never could get to hold an edge since I bought it back in the early 60's. It is simply tow carbide disks that cut a totally knew edge on the blade. There is a bunch of steel shavings left on the base of the sharpener after the knife is sharpened.

I find them at flea markets in the summer time but they can be ordered directly from the company. They run 6 or 7 bucks. There line of kitchen knives can not be beat.

[jjc155]

In the field I have a redi edge that I use. At home I have a Chefs Choice electric three hone sharpener, not cheap but should last forever (for me atleast). Gets knives scary sharp. Cut my finger real bad last year after sharpening my chefs knife and didnt even feel it until I noticed that it was bleeding, then it hurt like hell:lol:

J-

[boomer_x7]

FYI any sharpener thats a quick sharpener ( one that uses 2 rods ect.) causes nicks and uneven edge developement over time.

[dougdad]

I like my redi-edge also, its fast simple and does a real nice edge.

[TrekJeff]

There are a few different makers of the vise, gauge, stone method. I like my Lansky. If you ever wanted to screw up the blade of a knife, just give me a wetstone and tell me to sharpen it.

Since I bought the Lansky set up, I can now shave with my once butter knife Buck blades. The secret that I have learned with them is to put a double angle edge on. If you are honing on the 27 setting and get a nice edge, take it to the 30 and give it about ten light passes. This gives you an excellent working edge and one that is easily touched up with a steel when in the middle of a job. Then when you put it back on the Lansky, your time sharpening is nil...I'm sure there are other opinions, but for the price, it's hard to beat.