In my adventures I have seldom been without a knife of some sort in my possesion and probably more than one.A dull knife is a dangerous tool requiring extra effort to accomplish the job . The keys to a sharp blade are having the proper tools to maintain the edge,and keeping a consistant angle as the blade crosses the stone.It has taken me a while to develope a 'feel' for sharpening a blade freehand on a two sided Arkansas whet stone. I also use a Lanskey knife sharpening system to shapen knives this rig has a jig that clamps onto the back of the knife blade and guide rods that allow the user to get precicly the same angle every pass of the hone.If you have a stone you can do it start by looking at the edge of the knife see any chips,dings,or damage? if so that has to get cleaned up,then start on the coarse side of the stone and add a few drops of oil lay the blade on the stone and draw it across the stone like you are trying to take a thin slice off it keep taking the blade across the stone both sides of the cutting edge. stop and look at the edge of the blade frequently.now turn to the fine side of the stone add oil,and finish honing the blade keeping the same angle on the knife.as the knife starts to get good and sharp you will notice a wire edge form along the cutting edge as you sharpen each side side of the knifes cutting surface this will eventually break away if you have a strop put the final polish on the edge. your friends will be asking how you got your knife so sharp ! C.R.Crochet, WI, entered 2015-01-23 |
