[Gergie]

I've been craving since 1989 and there are times i can pull an edge on a knife in 2 minutes. The next time I can pull for 15 minutes and no luck. I am bad at times of letting my knives go to long between sharpening.

One of the things I notice is the blade is rounded at the edge when I'm having problems.

Here's a run down of my procedure. If the blades not to dull I start with a hard arkansas stone. i finish it with a stone my Grandpa used to sharpen his straight razor. It's a very smooth stone. I then have a leather wheel and a buffing wheel on a bench grinder. Which I finish it off with.

[JIM QUILICI]

One of the things I notice is the blade is rounded at the edge when I'm having problems <QUOIT>

ONE OF THE LITTLE GALS IN OUR CARVING GET TO GETHER (WAS AND IS) PULLING THE KNIFE ON THE STROP , AND WHEN SHE GOT TOTHE END WOULD ROLL THE KNIFE UP. THIS IN TURN WOULD ROLL THE KNIFE BLADE. BE SURE TO KEEP THE BLADE FLAT AND KEEP IT FLAT ALL THE WAY THOUGH ....STOP AND PULL THE BLADE STRAGHT UP WITH OUT ROLLING IT , I BELIEVE THIS WILL HELP.
JIM

[AlArchie]

Gergie, I won't claim to be an expert at sharpening, but here's a few things I have found out.

Power stropping is fine for heavier bladed tools like chisles and gouges IF you are very careful not to have that wheel bite too steeply into the blade. A light touch with the wheel at an extremely low angle (even less than looks practical) will put a fine edge on your tool.

Power stropping on thinner blades like knives is far more apt to blunt that edge you just put on with the stone, than a good hand stropping.

As Jim mentioned,when hand stropping make sure you keep the blade nearly flat, and don't roll it over till you lift the blade from the strop. This is most likely the weak point in any hand stropping. To repeat a tip I got from a barber friend of mine, that still used the straight razor to shave customers, instead of flipping the blade over the "sharp edge" at the end of each stroke, flip it over the BACK of the blade. This is a bit counter intuitive, but makes a lot of sense when you come to think about it. This makes it impossible to turn the blade too sharply into the strop when you flip it over.

I have to admit that usually I flip the blade over the edge, and try to be really carefull when I do, but when I notice myself getting careless, and the edge seems not to polish up, right, I'll switch to the "back-over" method, and the stropping will put the edge back where it belongs. You have to adjust your grip on the knife to do this, but it really isn't any more inconvienient than the other way, once you get used to it.

Al

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Jim and Al both nailed it......I try to turn my knife back edge to strop, but sometimes unconconciously don't , so I have tried to get in the habit of stopping at the end of a stoke and lifting the blade straight up.....not really a big deal because it usually only takes a few strokes to get where you want anyway............the expert in this is (among others) Rick at littleshavers, and believe he has a tutorial on his site. I rarely need to touch up a blade, when I do, I use the sandpaper.....I don't want to put a "almost" right blade on the wheel and mess it up LOL....I use the wheels if the blade is really bad or making a knife...........and a few blades still give me problems...like the Sarge knife from woodcraft.......am in process of sending to Rick, as something about that profile, I can't get right and screw it up everytime LOL

[Mitchell]

Skip the buffing wheel on knives. Instead use a flat leather strop.

Use the buffing wheel on gouges, if at all - and have a light touch.

[Eddy Smiles]

I have three or four stones, even one of those large bench stones with three grades and a built in oil resevoir. However,ever since attending a mini-seminar on sharpening at our club show a couple of years back I prefer diamond hones and finish off with a hand strop.

[Claude]

Gergie:
I do the stropping a bit differently. I only stroke in one direction, pick up the knife, and do the next stroke in the same direction, with no flipping the knife over. After I do five strokes in the one direction, I turn the knife over and do five strokes on the other side. Turn back to the first side and do four strokes on that side, then flip and do four on the other side, etc.: 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, and I'm all done and back to carving.

This is easier for me, as I can get the knife situated correctly and I am then able to repeat the stroke without changing the knife in my hand. When I do have to flip it over, I can again get it situated correctly, and then not shift for several strokes.

Claude

[Gergie]

Thanks for all the responses. That's why I love this site. I will try all your suggestions the next time I sharpen. I think the frustrating part is my attempts work one time and not the next. If I would fail every time I'd abandon my method. I'll let you know the results of my next sharpening adventure.

[AlArchie]

Gergie, one of the biggest problems with any hand sharpening or stropping is getting and MAINTAINING the proper angle between the blade and stone/strop. This, unfortuntely, is much a matter of trial and error, and then training your hand and wrist to hold that knife exactly the same each time and each stroke.

Fer-instance; I learned sharpening and stropping with a Boy Scout pocket knife......big, sort of squared off handle with the backs of several blades to get a grip on. Took me quite a while to adapt that grip to my first real carving knife, a Whittlin' Jack, with a large fairly smooth handle. Then to complicate matters, I picked up several other carving knives, each with a slightly different handle size and shape, and worse yet, add in two good hunting knives and a couple fish filleting blades. On each of these, I have to adjust my "lock-on" grip to keep the blade at the proper angle. So.......I lay the blade on the stone or strop just where I want it (both sides) and then sort of "tell" my hand that this is what it has to do . Does that make any sense?

Anyway, it seems to be a matter of adapting and PRACTICE. Sometimes I get careless (not often) and have to do a blade again, 'cuz I didn't set my fingers right for that blade, but once the error is recognized, it's usually easilly corrected.

Keep at it and you'll get consistant results. It doesn't happen overnight!

Al