I use 60-100 grit sandpaper on the flattest surface I can find, but a diamond lapping plate would be better. It’s on my wishlist…
2 Likes
That’s what I ended up getting. I bought the Trend Double Sided Diamond Sharpening plate. It has 300 grit on one side and 1000 on the other. I purchased mine for sharpening bench chisels and hand planes. It works very well for both flattening my stones and sharpening. Then I have a series of whetstones and I finish off with a Shapton 16000 Glass plate for a secondary bevel.
diamond plate (like atoma) imo is the best thing to have for flatting stones.
But to be honest, if you only use the backside of the stone for the flat side of your knife, and the top for the bevel. it should take years before you need to flatten your stone.
if got an atoma 1200, and have used it side by side with a atoma 140. I don’t notice a huge speed difference when needing to remove a lot of material. But the 140 leaves a little to deep of scratches imo. Taking extra time in the following steps to polish out. That I’d recommend getting the 1200 over the 140.
the 1200 works really fast. I wonder at what point the difference between deeper scratches from larger diamonds vs less deep scratches but more from smaller diamonds even out in sharpening speed… especially since diamonds leave quit the deep scratches anyway…
We always have used a piece of sandpaper to sharpen chisels, works fine. Lay it on a flat and pull the tool.
I was asked to teach an evening grafting class at the community college years ago. The fee was $25 a head/adults. That bought everyone a brand new in-the-box Felco red handled knife.
I started off explaining how sharp the knives are and not to mishandle them. Five minutes into our introductions, there was a particular neighbor lady, a smart one on most occasions, who stands up cradling her upturned hand towards me.
Yep, the blood was pouring down her wrist. The cut was clean straight down her left thumb pad. I think she was more embarrassed than hurt. Always felt bad for her.
What service do you use?
I’m dealing with a bit of a disaster with a Tina knife…I ruined the bevel thinking I could improve it myself, so I took it to a local sharpening guy who looked at me cross eyed when I asked him about maintaining single bevel blades after he just turned the Tina into a double bevel blade. Looking to have the knife completely redone, so looking for someone who is actually familiar with these knives.
2 Likes
Ouch. I feel you there. That’s a lot of steel wasted.
I paid a guy to sharpen a beveled knife many years ago, he kept the bevel but made the edge extremely uneven. That’s when I decided it was better to teach myself. It took several hours for me to fix that ruined knife but I fixed it and I still have it.
3 Likes
Send it to me and I can sharpen it for you.
1 Like
The place I used closed up last summer. The owners retired. I was really shocked when I tried calling them and got a message about their retirement.
I sharpen my own .
But Barkslip has recommended…
“the art of sharp”
.
Looks cool! Are they back open? Looks like they had new owners coming in, anyone use them since? Their website doesn’t seem to go anywhere.
I tried getting in tough with the person at " The Art of Sharp" several times and they never returned any of my messages. So I never used them and was leery of using companies you have a hard time reaching them and them not returning my messages.
Here is the service I used. The site says they are opening back up since they moved.
They did an excellent job with all my knives and mower blades.
I agree it’s definitely worth putting in the time and getting the equipment to learn how to sharpen. There are definitely tricks to it, but it’s not rocket science. Once you have the basics down, you can sharpen just about anything. And your tolerance for dull knives will go way down.
1 Like
I should start a specialty service sharpening grafting knives.
Anyway, I learned to sharpen from my Dad who was a long time wood worker. We sharpened everything by hand. Chisels, plane irons, lathe tools etc. I also sharpened broad heads and anything else.
At that time we used Arkansas style oil stones. I have since given up on that type and now I only use Japanese style waterstones. I much prefer waterstones over oil stones.
I never sharpen anything other than lawn mower blades and such with mechanical devices. It’s always possible to take the temper off of a blade with the heat of friction.
These days it’s much easier to learn to sharpen because of youtube. Anyone can do it.
You really only need 2-3 stones and maybe a strop and you are in business.
I use shapton stones but there are many others that are much cheaper.
3 Likes
I’ll have to get a set of water stones sometime. I “get it” on how much better they are as a sharpening system, but I like using my Arkansas stones, for sentimental reasons as much as anything. Except of course when I’m tackling a harder steel and it’s taking forever…
1 Like
To me the only thing better about water stones is they cut faster.
1 Like
And I think that’s a big benefit. I would argue it makes for better results for the average user. If it’s cutting faster, you’re less likely to get tired and/or impatient and start making big mistakes. But then again, it’s not a race.
For reprofiling new blades of the M2 High speed steel I use,
I bought a cheep ~$50 ,harbor freight 1x30 belt sander , an add on angle guide.
And a assortment of good ceramic belts. A leather stropping belt.
Wish it was variable speed, but it’s not.
One has to be careful, making quick passes ,not holding it in place, making sure to not overheat the steel .
It has been a game changer, compared to reprofiling by hand .
Many of the steel blanks I use have no edge at all so a lot of material needs removed.
For my personal knives, that are already profiled and sharp, I just touch them up by hand at the beginning of grafting season , a few minutes with 2000 grit and a leather strop = shaving sharp.
Hope to make some nice knives for sale in coming years.
A winter project.
1 Like