Trying my hand at sharpening, tips?

[DMGun]

Coffee cup, olive oil, cereal box... All you ever need.

 

[insulinboy]

I have a set of lawnmower blades I found some concrete buried in the back yard with that you can practice with the rough stone if you want

 

[AirOpsMgr]

Or bottom of ceramic coffee cup...use the slight rougher edge of the bottom for finish strokes....will make it razor sharp when you get good at it.

Nice, I'll try that

Use oil on your stone also....just a light machine oil...thin "clipper blade" oil or something like it

Yeah, the kit came with oil, I'm using it liberally on the medium stone since it absorbs it quickly, a few drops lasts quite a while on the fine

 

[sinac84]

I personally like my Lansky. I suck at sharpening freehand on the stones. The Lansky system made me suck A LOT less at knife sharpening.

 

[AirOpsMgr]

I have a set of lawnmower blades I found some concrete buried in the back yard with that you can practice with the rough stone if you want

LOL, I think I'm good for now - just found an old K-bar and an Ontario Knife kbar knock-off to practice with..... But thanks for the offer

 

[AirOpsMgr]

I personally like my Lansky. I suck at sharpening freehand on the stones. The Lansky system made me suck A LOT less at knife sharpening.

My wife asked if I would prefer one of those higher end draw-through kind of set-ups, but I figured I'd like to hone my skill by hand first.

Gotta get my act together for the zombie apocalypse and all

 

[Cigar Dave]

The tri-hone came with a 23 degree angle guide and I'm sticking to that while I get reacquainted - it's been a while since my dad taugh me

That's a good idea...never used one of those. The hard part is keeping the angle from the tip to the rest of it constant...and I still have trouble doing the same on both sides at the tip.

 

[AirOpsMgr]

That's a good idea...never used one of those. The hard part is keeping the angle from the tip to the rest of it constant...and I still have trouble doing the same on both sides at the tip.

Yeah, that part is currently making me feel retarded

 

[sinac84]

My wife asked if I would prefer one of those higher end draw-through kind of set-ups, but I figured I'd like to hone my skill by hand first.

Gotta get my act together for the zombie apocalypse and all

I hear ya. I jacked up a few knives by freehand, it's hard to get a good edge on a jacked up edge. So Lansky made it dummy proof for me. Saves me time too. Best of luck. If you want a really scary sharp edge, strop the knife when you get a good edge on it.

 

[Cigar Dave]

Yeah, that part is currently making me feel retarded

Does the blade have a sharp curve? If so I would start on one that doesn't have as much of a curvature to get the hang of it again...