As a knife maker I have the luxury of variable speed machines, etc. in my shop for my own use.

But, after the Blade Show this year, I have been recommending the Wicked Edge to my serious knife users and collectors.

I watched their demos in Atlanta and observed how the gadgets work and talked to them at length.

I do think I will be getting one for myself.

There are several nice ones on the market. I do favor the KME system.

For me it also depends on the knife and use, I make a lot of kitchen knives when I'm ready to sharpen they should only be a couple minutes on the stones to be sharp probably about the same for a hunter. A chopper might be grinder, strop on grinder and maybe or maybe not a couple seconds on the buffer,or just grinder and stones. I think there's an awful lot to sharpening, grits, bevels,micro bevels thickness behind the edge.....

Gilbert McCann

Sharpening and how a knife cuts is something I feel like many of us don't really pay enough attention to is shaves and it is good. I was total guilty of this until watching Roman landes give a talk on sharpening, edge geometry and edge holding at ashoken a number of years ago. At the time like many of us I would roll the edge in at 0.025- 0.35 an buff it down until it shaved. My take away's from that talk were numerous, and quite involved I will save you all from the particulars. What that talk did was to make me question what I was doing, it set me on a path of experimenting on my own and really paying attention to what my knives were doing, how they were cutting not just how long or if the edge shaved hair.

what I have come to understand is that cutting ability and sharpness is actually a combination of three things in conjunction, geometry of the blade, (with good geometry a chef knife will cut even when totally dull.) sharpness (angle of the cutting edge) and Keenness.(finish of the cutting edge) sharpness. A 36grit edge at 15deg is sharp and will cut like a demon , but will never shave hair for that you need keenness, Keenness is about the finish and polish of that edge, that last bit that does the cutting. the average thickness at the cutting edge will dictate the keenness of the blade, that thickness is dictated by how the edge is cut in, with what abrasive and grit size.

what I have found is that different types of knives work better with different types of edges. A chef for instance I want a slightly toothy edge, but one that is Keen enough to press cut easily, for me that means finishing the blade to an even edge thickness of around 0.005-0.002 then sharpening on a fine diamond followed by a black arkansas stone. a hunter on the other hand I will roll the edge in with a 220 grit belt from 0.015 or so, then after finishing I will re sharpen the edge starting on the diamond followed by a white arkansas stone and finished on a strop or with a Belgian blue depending on the steel that leaves me a keen edge with just a touch of tooth. I have a whole drawer full of sharpening stones, all of them cut a little differently and leave a slightly different edge.

the angle on each is important as well, a chef I might go 20 Deg edge a hunter 25 a big chopper or sword 30. Using the stones free hand gives me the ability to adjust everything just right. To make the knife cut how I intend it to. The one thing I will say is in all this I have found that shaving hair alone is a poor test of how a knife will cut as is cutting paper alone if you want to learn how a knife will perform use it for what you intend then you can figure out what edges work best for what tasks.

MP

There's great information in Matt's post. We each should let it sink in.

|quoted:

There's great information in Matt's post. We each should let it sink in.

I could not agree more! This bit that Matt said really hit home: "I have a whole drawer full of sharpening stones, all of them cut a little differently and leave a slightly different edge."

I too, have a whole drawer full of stones. I am always changing stones depending on the steel and intended purpose of the blade.

I just haven't figured it out as detailed as Matt has...…. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//blink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':blink:' />

Some of my favorite tests for cutting are: A rolled up paper towel or cotton rag (Hancock's test for big blades), and a wet piece of 5 to 8 ounce veg tanned leather for hunter/skinner blades.

WOW! Matt I appreciate the very in depth information! And will work toward a better sharpening formula.