Sharp pointy cutty things

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I hate knife sharpening. I mean, I hate it with a passion. You have to remove material (which you can never put back) from your favorite  knife and keep the right angles on the blade and still produce a good edge. I swear, every time I sharpen my own stuff I cringe when I have to go cut something because all I can think is ‘geez, now I’m going to have to sharpen this thing again’.

Obviously, some metals are better for knives than others. Stainless steel has the edge, so to speak, for maintenance but carbon steels win for holding an edge. Unfortunately, given the nature of the world that you and I are preparing against,. stainless blades tend to dominate. Sure it would be nice to have everything made out of that nice blend of carbon steels so that they cut wonderfully and sharpen easily…but the future is going to be full of days where being able to wipe down your metal tools with an oily rage at the end of the day is just not gonna be in the cards.

Lansky makes one of those sharpening tools that keeps the blade at the same angle every time and I know quite a few folks who love that setup. I’ve only fiddled with them and for a guy who grew up using the old-timey methods it was a bit…difficult. What I use nowadays is one of those three-stone deals. Lansky and Smith both make them, I use the Smith simply because thats the brand of stone I’ve used since I was old enough to start accidentally slicing myself with dull knives.

See, it’s the dull knives that cut you. You use a dull knife, you start to use more effort than normal to make the cut, something slips or gives way and -whammo- QuickClot and a trip to the ER for some mattress stitches. If something is supposed to be sharp, keep it sharp…it’s actually safer than using a dull tool.

YouTube is full of knife sharpening how-to videos and if any three of them agree on the technique and materials…well..I haven’t seen ’em. I put some oil on the softest stone, spread it around, and start like Im trying to slice off long strips of the stone…one side, then the other, repeated a buncha times….then switch to the next hardness of stone and lather, rinse, repeat. Some folks like to finish up with ceramic sticks or a strop…I don’t usually go that far. The test that I’ve read about to determine if the edge is good is to pull the blade across a fingernail..if it just slides across, thats bad. If it bites and drags into the nail, thats good…means you’ve got the microscopic little ‘teeth’ just the way you want ’em.

Someday they’re going to have adamantium knives that will never need sharpening but until then…ugh…shhhhhhk, shhhhhhk,shhhhhhk,shhhhhhk, over and over, as you slide the blade across the stone.

6 thoughts on “Sharp pointy cutty things”

  1. For carbon steel rust-proofing I use a product called Eezox. It’s good on firearms too. It’s a very thin water displacing agent that has lubrication properties too.

    There have been tests (you can find them on the internet) where folks have coated sheet steel in different “rust inhibitors” and subjected them to salt spray for a number of days. Eezox usually came out on top or close to it.

  2. I must be the exception to the rule, I have a big three stone setup from my cooking days and I love sharpening knives.

    I do *not* love slicing bunches of green onions while talkin to coworkers and not paying attention. That was my only (knock on wood or poly cutting board) trip to the ER for blatant sharp thingie stupidity.

  3. For your larger tool blades (axes, shovels, hoes, etc.), I’ve had good luck with the Speedy Sharp knife sharpener. It works on knife blades too, just take care on getting that precise angle and you are golden. Also throws sparks off a ferro rod like a champ.

  4. Can’t find the book just now, but according to a guy who had a business supplying/sharpening knives for the meat packing industry, stainless holds an edge over carbon steel by 3-1, IIRC.

    Neat book. Cover shows him shaving himself with a double-bitted axe!

    Most important thing he covers is that you MUST hold the angle that you sharpen at with a guide, to get repeatability. Without a guide, you get a wavy, rounded profile that doesn’t cut well, and goes away fast.

    I’ll look for the book later today.

  5. Wicked Edge Precision Sharpener – check it out on youtube. Sort of expensive until you compare it to the $ you have invested in your knives. It has the ability to put a durable 25* edge on your camping knife to hack sticks into kindling and to put a 15* edge on a caping blade and everything in between. Blades can come out scary sharp, and its fast – sharpening both sides of the blade simultaneously using two stones.

    My only problem is that after touching up the kitchen knives, I cut everything thin – translucent slices of onion and really thing slices of London Broil … drives my wife up the wall1

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