Hi,

Can I sharpen SS4 and DogFather with this:



Or the "belt sander" is better?

Of course, I will pratice will some cheap blades, but I just want to be sure that it won't damage SS4 and DogFather...

Thank you in advance!

To learn to sharpen, you should really start by doing it by hand with stones/straps/paper. But, if you feel the need to do it mechanically, I'd stay away from the grinders unless you are doing reprofiling. Take a look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLjFjT4vYsM

belt sander bro

that will only trash your blades bro

A big plus one to what LF said!

Grinders heat the steel up too fast.

Thanks for the video scraphound. You're swell. I so want to get better at sharpening.

hey raker,

go to page 2 on this forum and scroll about half way down until you see a post named SHARP!!!!.

in their you will find a great link to a post rick hinderer made.rick is a highly regarded custom knife maker.....[i'm sure you know that]....and he really knows his stuff.

i have read a lot of stuff about sharpening and to me,this one is the best.it not only describes it the best,i also think it is the best method.

i have spent so,so,so,so many hours wasting my time sharpening the wrong way.i have spent hundreds on the wrong equipment but i was paying my dues the hard way.i was determined and it will pay off.i'm still not their yet but will be soon.

2 things......

if your going to collect the best blades in the world that are also a bit pricey
.....[as far as knives go].....you,as do i,need to be able to sharpen them properly and efficiently.

your going to have to spend some cash.you need a belt sander.a lot of people have the harbor freight and it will do the job.i have one myself and cant complain.

dont do what i did and buy all this other crap because i didnt want to spend money on a belt sander and i didnt want to take the time to learn how to do it well.i was looking for an easy way out.if i'm gonna spend $300 on a knife i need to take care of it.

good luck.

Northern1,

Thanks for the great info.

Thank you very much, it helped me a lot!!

yeah, that would heat it up like crazy and its probably a little overkill.
it looks really coool though...
and you can only do flat grinds with it.
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

when I was younger I tried to sharpen some wally-world cheapies on a grinder
end result was a trashed blade and a ruined heat treat
doesn't seem like much but the $10 or so I paid for it meant alot to me back then

learn to sharpen free-hand and if you cant do that try out the spyderco sharpmaker

+3 or 4 or wherever I fall on that type of stone bench grinder.

DON'T use that type of grinder. Benchtop stone wheel grinders spin WAY to fast and Dave used a good word: That would "Trash" your blades.

I wouldn't recommend you use a stone grinder for ANY type of use on ANY heat treated steel. - not for shaping, not for profiling and definitely not for sharpening!
I have one that I bought many years ago. I purchased it to sharpen lawn tools and such and now I never use anymore. It will make steel glow red in seconds. I am sure I have damaged the temper even on cheap lawn tools - not that it matters as much, but still a waste. - Waste of a tool to own and waste of tools I have likely damaged.

I found I can do anything on my belt sander that I could have done on my wheel stone grinder and MANY more things with my belt sander. My belt sander with the appropriate belts is WAY more versatile. It will do my knives way better and my lawn tools way better. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

*** However, even though a belt sander is considerably slower speed than a bench stone grinder, the belt sanders still spin fast enough to generate heat.

If you use a belt sander, don't let the blades get too hot. Practice on cheap junk steel. Usually a steady movement helps. - Don't keep the blade still - just starts to heat up the blade if you hold it in one spot. If you are only tring to grind down one spot such as in reshaping a choil or something, do it in stages: Grind for a few seconds, then remove to cool. Grind some more. Just keep the blade reasonably cool. It will get warm or even hot depending on how you define hot, but generally if you skin can tolerate the heat, the steel isn't hot enough to be damaged. It might be good to have a bucket or similar container of water nearby for dunking if the blade gets too hot to the touch. - And a towel (or few) to dry the blades off with. I generally try to not let my blades get hotter than I can hold at any given part of the blade with my bare hands.

.

I'm was very good in sharpening with a stone but since I own S77 and INFI metal-type knives, I've never been able sharpen "razor-sharp"... Maybe because the metal is stronger than the popular stainless steel or because of the geometry? dunno.