Having a nice knife is one thing but if its dull it is useless. A dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one.
On a recent visit to a major sporting goods store that had a counter dedicated to blade sharpeners, a woman took out a folding knife from her pocket, turned on a sample grinder, and just stuck the blade directly into it. This author noticed and said, “You might not want to do that.” She pulled her knife out of the machine and the blade tip was rounded, plus the edges were beat to hell. Her husband said, “I’m glad you said something or I would have just stuck my Benchmade in there just like she did.”
Since the dawn of mankind, the most basic survival tool has been the blade. Its basic requirement is a sharp cutting edge. Surprisingly, maintaining that edge seems to be a lost art.
One of this author’s shooting mentors, Rob Virkus, was fond of saying, “There are two completely useless things in the world: an unloaded handgun and a dull knife.” When knife blades go dull there are three options: dispose of the knife, return the knife to the manufacturer for sharpening, or sharpen the blade yourself.
The first choice is typically used for only the cheapest knives or by people who don’t appreciate the value of a decent blade. The second is the mark of a user who lacks the skill, confidence, or tools to undertake the task of sharpening on their own or maybe someone who has a somewhat valuable piece with a particular edge that lost its factory grind and it needs to be restored by the maker. As a rule, if a knife must be returned to the manufacturer for something as basic as sharpening, it’s probably not intended to be a working knife to begin with.
Readers of OFFGRID tend to be a self-reliant group. We like to do things for ourselves, on our own whenever possible. In some circumstances it may be our only option. When that happens, we want to be able to keep our tools sharp — both proverbially and literally.
Repetition Equals Skill
Sharpening with any device requires a basic understanding of how the sharpener is meant to be used. Before using any sharpener, you must read the manual and understand the instructions. If you don’t know the angle of your blade grind, contact the manufacturer and find out. Sharpening at an incorrect angle will result in changing the profile of the blade.
Always start slowly and use precise, deliberate strokes. The key to a proper edge is in being consistent. Forcing the blade can damage the sharpener or the knife, and it can create a thick burr on the edge that will be difficult to remove.
Whether you are restoring a completely dull piece of steel or using the finest stone available to touch up an edge, always remember that you’re removing metal. There is a learning curve. It’s best to start out with the cheapest knives in your house, like the set of steak knives that your uncle gave you as a Christmas present 10 years ago.
SHARPENING STONES
The stone is the most basic type of sharpener available. It is quite literally a stone, just available in various degrees of coarseness or grit (from extra coarse to extra fine). These are most commonly produced from natural silicates found in Arkansas or India. Manmade versions are produced by companies such as DMT, which rely on the same principle of a flat abrasive sharpener, but use microscopic diamonds bonded to a metal surface.
Stones can be used dry or with water as a lubricant. Some manufacturers recommend water-based honing oils instead. These products work as advertised, but once oil is used on a stone or aluminum-oxide sharpener, it cannot use water again.
The major downside to natural stones is that they wear down and are prone to breakage. Their relatively low cost may mitigate this somewhat, but if you’re on the move and have one in a sheath pouch or in a pack, it may not be usable when you need it.
Secondly, most stones have no guide and the user needs to know how to gauge the angle by eyesight. As basic as they may be, stones are not ideal for a complete beginner.
MANUAL SHARPENERS
These are the most basic sharpeners on the market and include the previously mentioned stones, but in this case some of the guesswork has been taken out with regard to angles. The easiest ones to use are the “pull through” types offered by companies like Chef’s Choice. The sharpener is either mounted to a counter or held down in place with one hand and the blade is pulled through from the choil to the tip. The sharpener uses integral stones or sticks of varying degrees of grit and set at predetermined angles. A few strokes on the coarse stone will tune the edge and expose more carbide. The finer stones will refine these and result in a basic and durable sharpening job. They are rugged, lightweight, and portable.
Another variant on the manual sharpener is known as “the sticks.” The sticks form a V-shape and the knife is sharpened by bringing the blade down and rearward in one smooth and continuous motion.
By far the best one we have found has been the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpener. Spyderco is mostly known for its innovative and cutting-edge knife designs, but it was this sharpener that gave the Colorado-based company its start.
The Tri-Angle breaks down for easy storage and portability. What makes this sharpener different from all the others, in this author’s opinion, is the choice of using a plastic base. Many lesser designs use wood and the uncoated rods wear away at this much quicker than they do on a knife blade. The result is an inconsistent angle that will give you an inconsistent grind. In this day and age, people try to save money where they can, but that extra $10 or $20 savings can potentially ruin a much more expensive blade.
DYNAMIC SHARPENERS
Up to now, all of the sharpeners we have discussed are of the static type. This makes sense because we want consistency and stability in our sharpening. A dynamic sharpener is different in that the knife blade is stabilized and it’s the stone that comes into contact with it on the part of the user. In essence it’s how the majority of manufacturers put the factory edge on their knives.
The best sharpener of this type in our experience has been the Lansky system. There is a bit more of a learning curve than with the others, but it’s not very steep. The knife blade is secured in a padded clamp that has various holes indicating different angles. A stone or hone is fastened to a rod and then the rod is inserted into the hole. The hone makes contact with the blade at this angle and is moved back and forth from choil to tip on each side. It is a series of very coarse to very fine stones allowing everything from a quick touch up to a complete restoration.
Aside from the brief learning curve, we have found this system doesn’t work well with particularly long or thick blades. If the majority of your blades are shorter than 8 inches and less than a ¼-inch thick, it might be one of the better systems out there for you.
MECHANIZED SHARPENERS
There are…