How Do I Sharpen That Fighting Knife?
Posted on September 18, 2007
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Finding a good sharpener for your fighting knife is not that hard to do. There are two steps involved that leads to your decision. The first step is to look your knife blade over and decide what level of sharpening it needs. Then, determine the best type of sharpener for you to get this job done.
There are three levels of sharpening for every fighting knife out there. All blades fall into one of these categories.
The first category is the most severe. Is your fighting knife chipped, has the tip snapped off or is it so dull that slicing butter would be a challenge? You need to take a look at a course grit stone and warm your arm up for a long ordeal of sharpening.
The second category is where 95% of all knives fall. The blade is just dull and needs a good working to get it sharp again. That’s it. What you need for this job is a medium grit sharpening stone, rod or steel.
And finally, this is for the perfectionists out there or those desiring to do a kidney transplant with their collectible knife. You are that person who strives to have a razor sharp edge; that kind of edge you can use to roll up your sleeve and shave your arm. This can be achieved with the fine grit stone.
What is the best sharpener for me?
Most of you pretty much have an idea of your level of expertise when it comes to sharpening.
If you are a beginner, or have never sharpened a knife in your life, I can only recommend a quality sharpening system. All of these devices come with a nice little instruction book to teach you how to assemble the sharpener and then how to use it.
Now, if you like the idea of placing a stone on a flat surface and manually working the blade over, you of course are going to want to look at a sharpening stone. I personally sharpen the majority of my knives with a stone, especially my fighting knives.
Last but not least, you have your sharpening steels. These require a bit of practice to get used to but work nicely and quickly for blade touch ups.
For you Spyderco lovers out there, read about Spyderco Ceramic Stone Grits for a bit more information on the subject.
~ Cole
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One Response to “How Do I Sharpen That Fighting Knife?”
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Hi, Cole. I’m one of your K&S affiliates. Just thought I’d say hello and respond a little.
For shaping the secondary bevel of most knives and for putting a sharp but rough-ish “working edge” on them with no skill required, or for quick sharpening away from home, I like carbide-V gadgets. I get very good results with the Accusharp. Also, Smith’s makes pocket-sized ones with a coarse carbide and a fine ceramic side. (I see that you sell all those.)
I get good results from stones, too. On the Smith’s tri-hone for example, I use water instead of that oil. If you use the oil on a stone, you can’t use water after that, and I figure I may not always have the oil around.
For a final polish, I use a wood-mounted strop loaded with either Permatex valve grinding paste (for more agressive slicing) or green chromium oxide compound (for a more refined polish). Any chance you’ll get some strops to sell?
Speaking of sharpening, I have a link to a video of a man with a rather unusual approach at the URL below. I’d definitely say “use with caution.”
http://knifeblabber.officeweasel.com/e107_plugins/links_page/links.php?cat.5
Also linking to this blog entry on that page, if that’s OK. Happy sharpening!