Sharpening steel

[offdalip]

What is the best tool for sharpening kitchen knives, CRKT knives, Wallmart machetes/axes or Japanese swords??????  

[Ryder]

Large variety of items there..if you have a real japanese sword by all means take care of it and research the proper stones and how to sharpening it.
for kitchen knives we have a electric two stone sharpener that we run our inexpensive knives thru. For a columbia river knife trader knife I use a lansky sharpener....tedious but gets it sharp. For the machete and cheap hatchet I use a file and then a large stone that is hand held and stroked on the blade. I also have sharpened a better quality machete sized tool with my lansky set up and got it seriously sharp. My cold steel kukri is somewhat dangerous to the uninitiated user.

So...I first get my angle of edge established with files of various grades then use stones either held with a lansky type holder or if you have the touch and have practiced a stone that you move the knife across. I normaly use oil on my stones to carry away the stone and metal chips. For a quick sharpen on frequently dulled cheaper knives I use the electric powered sharpener that establishes an angle that should be the same on both sides of the blade.
In my stashes and other kits I always throw in some sort of sharpening stone.

These are some of my ideas....who has some other ideas?

[opsec]

I've done my homework on this one and my conclusion is the Duosharp Plus from DMT are the best. One word of warning about these plates: do not use oil on them as you would a sharpening stone. They must be cleaned off with water only.

http://www.dmtsharp.com/products/duosharp.htm

[hancocs]

I have the Duosharp Plus Set. And it does an outstanding job of putting a sharp edge on any knife.

[offdalip]

I've heard lotsa good things on the Lanskey from many people.

looks like it takes awhile cause of the small surface area but the plus is the constant angle.

The Duosharp Plus from DMT looks outstanding except for the price.

, how do you keep a constant angle with those?

[Ryder]

I have spent hours and hours trying to get an sharp edge on a good knife with a freestanding stone or diamond file. I guess I don't have the muscle memory as I end up with a reasonable sharp tool but not the edge I or anyone else can get with a lansky. Plus the lansky is sold lots of places for reasonable prices.

[opsec]

I got one of these to use with the diamond stones. Haven't used it yet, but I think it's better than the Lansky. I had a Lansky system once and it couldn't accomodate a 1/4" thick blade which is what I have:

http://www.razoredgesystems.com/products/guides?page=shop.product_details&flypage=ilvm_fly2_grey.tpl&product_id=20&category_id=4

[offdalip]

Comments, which is best?

http://www.crkt.com/steelfacts

Steel      HRC          C        CR      MN        MO         NI        PH    SI          V           CO AUS 4            55-57    0.40-0.45    13-14.5    1.00         --      0.49      0.04    1.00         --            -- AUS 8            58-59    0.70-0.75    13-14.5    0.50    0.10-0.30      0.49      0.04    1.00      0.10-0.26    -- 420J2            52-55    0.26-0.40    12-14    1.00         --        --              0.04    1.00         --            -- 440A                    55-57    0.65-0.75    16-18    1.00      0.75        --              0.04    1.00         --            -- 12C27 Sandvik    59-61    0.60              13.5    0.40         --        --              0.025    0.40         --            -- 1.4116            55-57    0.45-0.50    14.5-14.8    0.40         --        --              0.02    0.40-0.60 0.10-0.25    -- 6168CrV            59-61    0.65-0.75    0.30-0.35    0.60         --        --              0.08    0.20      0.10-0.15    0.25 YK-30            57-59    1.05               0.5    1.00         --      0.25      0.03    0.40         --            -- SK 5                    57-58    0.80-0.90         --    0.50         --        --              0.03    0.35         --            -- 3Cr13            52-55    0.26-0.35    12-14    1.00         --        --              0.04    1.00         --            -- 5Cr15MoV            55-57    0.50                15    0.336   0.63        --              0.025    0.407   0.10            --  8Cr13MoV            58-59    0.80                13    0.40      0.15      0.20      0.02    0.50       0.10            -- 8Cr14MoV            58-59    0.80            14.07    0.16      0.22      0.22      0.029    0.45       0.14            -- 9Cr18MoV            58-60    0.95-1.20    16-18    0.80      0.75         --      0.04    1.00         --            -- ACUTO +            59-60    0.90-0.95    17-18    0.50      1.30 to 1.50   --      0.04    0.50        .10 to .25    --

[opsec]

When I had my survival knife made, the one criteria that took precedent over all others when deciding what kind of steel to use was the issue of ease of sharpening in the field. For ease of sharpening my preference is 440C stainless. It holds a very good edge for a survival knife and it can actually be sharpened by hand with relative ease. I've heard good things about VG-10 for those same reasons. Carbon steel holds a better edge generally, than does stainless steel. If you want a carbon steel knife that is easy to sharpen, then 52100 would be my choice. I notice that CRKT isn't using any of these. What kind of knife are you looking for? Or more generally, to what purpose will the knife be put?

[offdalip]

I've got a large one that is 5160

and a small one 1.4116

may be looking for another small one for skinning, wood and general carry


Edit: the 1.4116 is a "soft" steel, easy to sharpen. What I am missing is a
"hard" steel, hard to sharpen but very sharp when done for carry as well

[Ryder]

Any comments on how brittle a given knife might be. Say if you stick it and then pry back and forth will it snap? I also look at price.....I would rather have five decent knives than one super duper one that isn't available when I need it.  One knife that I am investing in is the $1.00 folder that wal-mart sells. Some break when new but I am building up a stock for trading and bartering.

[Dame]

We have a large number of knives for a range of applications.  I still find myself looking for one for the specific application more often than I would like.

[offdalip]

applications:

Fish, you need a wicked sharp knife, no exceptions

wood, you need a really tough knife

durability for what Ryder said, it won't snap on prying

FAQ

http://zknives.com/knives/articles/knifesteelfaq.shtml