well said! it blows me away how many people on the internet will sharpen a knife and start at 600 or 1000 grit and recommend that, the other day i seen someone say you want a 1k and a 3k and 6k stones which in reality should be finishing stones if anything
Absolutely made the mistake to buy me a much to fine stone for years. Now got me the Sharpal as recommended. Works really good in combination. Of course you want a medium stone but it works very good. But, i fucking ruined my Adventurecraft with it. Maybe due to the fact it came with a uncorrect grind. Corrected the grind, but never got it really sharp again. Dot know if itś the blade geometry or whatever. But I canˋt fkn handle the blade. The low profile makes it difficult to keep the angle, okay. But I am not really new to sharpening. Inthink I can hold an angle okaish. At least all the other knives shave with ease. And now 1/10 of the blade is gone and I dońt even know if the geometrie is anywhere near to even get it sharp. I can definitly say, a coarse diamont stone will eat a blade if you get frustrated. 😂😂😂😢
@@panganaranga well you are going to remove the same amount of material in most cases regardless the stone you are using, a coarse one makes it remove faster so you dont have to spend so much time, which also will help you get better edges as you dont need to spend so much time on the stone getting fatigued or frustrated
This probably comes from japanese knives enthousiasts who are used to working with extremely thin edges, which grinds fast especially on "carbon steels", what do you think ?
@@NeevesKnives yeah man, nothing new, since the new stone it takes me 2 minutes for a knife to get it crisp. But this one kicks my ass. All I can say is that I feel it takes more time on the strop to get the burr off. Thats all the difference I might feel with the steel. I think itˋs more the fact the geo has left the chat and the low profile makes it too hard to keep an angle. I know, you can cut yourself on an 90 degree edge, did many times. But it has to be sharp.
It took me years to learn this simple fact. Saw too many videos showing starting on 1000 or 2000 grit stones and wasting precious time. I will recommend this video to anyone wanting to learn the easy way to sharpen knives.
I've been sharpening knives for decades at this point. And it's always good to hear new perspectives. This channel has helped me, and my knives will all comfortably shave hair. I'd say he's pretty good.
Joe Rogan often talks about when he was a Tai Kwon Do instructor. He always talks about how he would rather teach someone that knows nothing than to teach someone that knows the wrong way to do it. It's so hard to get rid of a bad habit.
Where there’s a will there’s a way! I managed to completely dull a number of knives while learning to sharpen. When I finally cut myself with a kitchen knife I’d sharpened the day before my reaction was, “yes! Finally! It’s actually sharp!”
When I first started sharpening my knives myself, every now and again I would mess up so badly, the knife would be less sharp after the sharpening than it was before. Shit happens.
You're single handedly responsible for sharpal selling out of their 162n dual diamond plate lol. Just got my own finally, it's leagues beyond the Smiths diamond plates I got for 12 dollars at big R
When I saw his video I immediately thought. "Get one now, they'll be sold out for years." He should send a warning to these companies so they can ramp up production:)
based on one of your past videos, getting a $1.50 knife from the dollar store might be the perfect way to get practice before you start grinding away on your new Spyderco. I had the exact failure that you described 50 years ago when I bought a black Arkansas stone, the holy grail of stones back then, and proceeded to still have a dull knife after working that damn thing for hours! I never did actually figure out what I did wrong, but this video explains it well.
Lord yes. I got turned onto diamond stones about 10 years ago, and it is so much better than working with those oh so good Arkansas stones. Don't get me wrong, I love my Arkansas, and I can do some serious damage with a strop. But a big, heavy grit stone is where it's at. Spyderco and Buck are fine from the factory, but the last few Case knives I got needed some work. Disappointing, actually.
I wish I had done that. The first knife I sharpened was the knife on a Leatheman tool and I turned it into a toothpick. Now I have nice pocket knives so it doesn't matter that I ruined the Leatherman's blade but I still wish I hadn't.
@PhilippeCarphin I was really lucky. My Uncle is a bit of a whiz when it comes to bladed edges of any kind. And he talked me into buying a cheap Taiwanese Gerber to practice on. I still have that thing bless its heart. Did the same thing you did!
Yep, agree 100%. As an aside, I just got one of those Sharpal diamond stones... and it's everything you said it is. Whether it will last as long as my worn-out DMT stone remains to be seen, but I've already done a lot of badly worn chisels with it (for a friend), and it's quicker and nicer than anything I've used before. So thanks for that.
Another version I've heard is "practice makes permanent", which implies that not only is bad practice unhelpful, it is actively harming your ability to learn to do it right.
terrible advice if you are already perfectionist though. just practice with best accuracy you have, but dont stress out if your best isnt very good yet
You are the best knife sharpening instructor. I have followed many others and all of them sharpen knives like robots. Never tell you the key guideline to getting a sharp knife. Thank you.
When my son and his friends were starring to get interested in knife sharpening i got them a cheap diamond stone, and a couple $5 knives from walmart. Little bit easier to sharpen steel with a quick cutting stone lets the process go a lot smoother.
i got sharpal cuz of your video, i am applying all lessons ive learned from you - was easy after applying good practice and avoiding mistakes. so i do use coarse to bring edge and after that just 1000 to keep it maintained. Thanks for all u do for us.
I'm waiting for the Sharpal to go back in stock! If it takes too long I may go with the Shapton and/or S SATC ones... but I'm hopeful so far haha Edit: Woah, it IS in stock, just not from the link he has in the description...
I got the same thing from a few videos back. I was hoping it was a stone he was selling or it went to his store. I got the stone and I’m working on making my light saber.
@@jordanlewandowskii I would advise against buying the Sharpal double sided diamond stone. That stone doesn't seem to be electroplated but the the diamond layer somehow seems to be glued to the plate, which explains why Alex thinks it's the "perfect" double sided stone with no cross contamination. If you look at reviews you can see many people reporting that stone bubbles or straight off peels, which is unacceptable for a $70 stone.
@@EternalKing06 -- I'm not sure I'd trust random Amazon reviewers over Alex. One of these things is a known quantity with regard to their knowledge and experience -- the other isn't. That said, I bought one of these Sharpal stones. I already had a cheapo £30 Chinese diamond stone that I use primarily for flattening whetstones. but I watched a handful of other UA-cam reviews of the Sharpal and those reviewers were very impressed. See the reviews from Fire Creek Forge or A Dose of Drew. Like Alex, they were a known quantity. Or you might want to read some of the comments here from other people who have bought the Sharpal on Alex's recommendation. They tend to be extremely satisfied customers. I sent the first stone back because there were some small chips on the edge of the plate on the fine side. I don't expect to see THAT on a £60 diamond stone, so I sent it back, got a refund, ordered a replacement. Replacement had exactly the same chips -- only more of them. They're tiny -- it looks like the plate has been held in some sort of device and the electroplating hasn't really taken there. I kept this second one, because I just wanted to see how the thing worked. The chips don't affect the functioning of the stone, but even so, it says something about the quality control of the company producing them. That said, the Sharpal is astonishingly good at what it's supposed to do. I'm using mine primarily to sharpen kitchen knives, so there aren't any supersteels involved, but both sides appear grit consistent with my Shaptons and produce a new apex and a burr in the wink of an eye. I also used it to reprofile a Scandi that was screwed up. You have to remove a hell of a lot of metal to reprofile a Scandi, but this did it in no time at all. Likewise with thinning a chinese cleaver. So I don't regret the purchase, but the two I bought weren't without their flaws. The other thing I'd say is -- the stone has a two year warranty, so if it does peel -- it's likely to do so within that time and you can get a replacement. One thing I did notice from the Amazon comments is that they seem to be pretty solid when it comes to fulfilling warranty claims. If that hadn't been the case, I'd have sent the second stone back as well.
I agree. My thought is that some of these fine stones don't cut quickly enough and a person will give up before they see results. And that's frustrating. Corse stones offer instant feedback and I hate waiting
Had no idea you juggled too. I like the change in content due to what's going on. Hope you're feeling better. I'd like to see how you store all the various stones/diamond plates when you're not using them. You have got to have a bunch of them.
I had a S&W “tactical” I found on a road. I used it as my first learning knife. What I discovered was that I never got any kind of edge until I used a coarse stone and created an apex. I’m still not great at sharpening, but I can now produce usable edges.
this and the 5 minute guide for newbies just reignited my desire to keep on learning! I had hard time with my cheap stones and didn't want to come back to them, but it seems that I just was not patient enough and got to the finer coarsness too soon thank you!
3:06 That juggling analogy is so spot on it's beyond genius! And I'm bookmarking this video because I'm sure I can learn how to juggle if I play that section often enough on slow speed...
I think another mistake a beginner could easily make is not using enough pressure and then wondering why their knives aren't getting that sharp. I did that for years and just thought my sharpener was bad or I was bad at using it. Eventually I got another sharpener and the same thing was happening so I finally realized I was doing something wrong and went to learn from your videos. I found where you mentioned 3-5lbs of pressure and I immediately knew that was my issue. I was probably only using 1lb before at most.
Glad to see you're doing okay, hoping for your quickest recovery. I love the thing about practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. I first heard this idea for driving on a racing circuit, if you continue to drive the same but just push harder you may see faster lap times but that doesn't mean you are getting the most out of it. You have to try different things and you have to stick with the new thing for a bit to understand it. If you aren't doing something correctly and you do it repeatedly you are forming the muscle memory for the wrong way. It can seem counterintuitive at times, you may do worse when you try a new way but you just need to get a feel for it initially and then with time the improvement comes. I love these teaching videos for sharpening, I only recently stopped using my fixed angle system to start getting better at free hand and your videos have been incredibly helpful. Thanks for everything you've done and the effort you're still putting in through what I'm sure is a tough time, that perseverance will reward you no matter what, you'll come out stronger and more resilient.
This is good advice. I give similar advice on teaching MANY things, don’t try to make it perfect on your first attempt, actually go to the extreme “mistake” then bring it back to the recommended so you can feel the difference and and then start to hone in on the fine detail. This works well for LOTS of things, when I was learning to fly an airplane you go to 2500 feet, then set 2000 feet as the ground and then try to fly as slow as possible without dropping below 2000, that way when the plane goes to slow and noses over you know what it feels like when you actually go to land. Welding turn the heat up turn the heat down, go too fast, go too slow, feel the mistake then hone in the perfect bead.
This was such a good video. I can't tell you how many years I was screwing up my apexes because all the videos I'd watched insisted I need to start sharpening on a 1000 grit stone. I could NEVER create a burr. My apexes would be wobbling all over the damn place because I couldn't hold an angle for hundreds and hundreds of passes.
Hey buddy! I picked up the sharpal stone after watching your videos on it, and the day it came in, I went to work sharpening. My wife went and washed the dishes later that night and cut her finger on one of our cheapo kitchen knives I’d sharpened that day and told me “damn those knives are sharp now babe!” I told her she should have checked them when I told her I sharpened them 😅 needless to say, I felt a little bad but now she knows all our knives will be sharp from now on. I also sharpened a couple of my pocket knives I’d been waiting to use that new stone on. It’s been great and I really appreciate the videos for enticing me to make that purchase! Thanks for all you do. I aspire to be as good at sharpening as you one day. Truly you’re the best I’ve seen. Great work again. Also, great juggling skills. You’re right that I never expected that 😂
Man, the importance of “perfect practice makes perfect” as a central correction to the practice makes perfect thing is so important. I remember hearing it for the first time YEARS ago while training with some American special forces guys (intentionally ambiguous there), and I’ve been preaching to people around me ever sense. Cheers
We are great fans of your videos from India. No long intros, no ads, no crazy talking for long, just the content, clear and crisp - your channel is how we want youtube to be.Thanks for all your hard work in making these videos. Unfortunately, it's hard for us to source the diamond stones you always recommend, they are very expensive to import for us, and the whetstones we get here are not of great quality as well. It would be nice if you can research and make a video for us on sharpening knives using only sandpapers and strop.
The stones in the usa are cheaper than using sandpaper because you can use a stone many times. I can sharpen my cheap kitchen knives with the cheapest stone made. Diamond stones are nice. Unless you have a very hard steel, whetstones will do the job.
I got my Esee Izula II so sharp that little’ol me, a random internet JV level knife sharpener, that I can whittle hair just like this professional up here! Did it on my sharpal 162N and a 9 micron diamond loaded leather strop made from the belt kit this pro also recommended. Yes it’s possible and this guys not lying. Two or three passes on the course side and 5-6 on the 1200, granted it’s a 1095 blade, but I’ve also had these results on my S30V blades as well. I’m shocked at how well that recommendation worked out. When I was younger I couldn’t ever get a knife sharp and it’s because i was using fine stones and expecting to get a sharp knife so I gave up. Not anymore. Appreciate it brother! Good to see you again doin well! Prayin for your health. God bless~
I’ve done some amateur woodworking over the years and sharpened knives, chisels, and plane blades by hand with diamond stones as well as wet stones… I’ve generally progressed from 600 grit up to anywhere from 1200 to 5000… and while I can get the edges good enough to shave wood with my chisels or definitely make a big improvement to a dull knife, I could never get the razor edge I knew was possible…. that is, until today. I’ve had a 300 grit diamond stone for a long time, but never really used it because I thought it was just for removing knicks in the blade, which I really haven’t had a problem with. But, after watching your video, decided to give it a try . I spent a good amount of time, maybe 15 to 20 minutes (my technique by hand needs practice, so I have to go slow to be consistent in my angle) developing Apex on the 300 gritstone. Then I progressed from 300 to 600 to 1200, maybe a few minutes each, and finishing with a leather strap and some green polishing compound. The result wasn’t just better than what I’ve done in the past, but was similar to what I see folks like you on UA-cam do after stopping at 1200 grit . I was able to easily shave hair and could clean, effortlessly slice an entire sheet of paper by basically just letting the weight of the butcher knife drop down and pulling it back as it dropped. Thanks for your video video!
I got the Sharpal 116N pocket stone three pack, so far I'm loving it; sharpens better than any other stone set I've used. They're somewhat smaller than the full stone you recommend, but they're a whole lot cheaper at about $25. Starting at the 325 stone and moving up to the 1200 for polishing passes, and cramming the blade through a thick folded paper towel to try to rip the remaining burr out since I don't have a strop yet, I was able to make my knife the sharpest it's ever been, and I feel like I can go even sharper with, to use your words, some perfect practice to make it perfect. Thank you for your videos, they have taught me, and almost certainly innumerable others, how to care for the cutlery in our lives. Ever since I started using stones, I've been anle to keep my knives and even my scissors sharp enough to do everything I need of them, and with how sharp I've been able to make my carry knife with the Sharpal pocket stones, soon I'll be able to do even more than I need.
Great video!! This advice holds true with my Worksharp as well, and saves you so much frustration. I remember trying to sharpen knives as a kid, and using too fine a stone, and a Gerber steel, and having miserable results. In the last several years, I've refurbished a bunch of knives, and finally realized that a coarser belt, or coarser rouge, etc., is the vital first step that gets you to the point where the finer stuff works well.
Now I need to learn how to juggle to sharpen my knives?!!!! Awesome video! My knife sharpening skills have increased tremendously since I started watching your channel.
This is good advice that I recently found the hardway. I was fighting with an 800 grit for like 1 hour and the results were getting worse and worse. Before that I sharpened 3 knifes OK. I then switched to 240 and focused on making good apex After that I was able to make good edge quickly without too much beveling.
I got this stone after your last video about it, I was able to reprofile the worn out edge on my Shun Ken Onion 8" Chef's knife in just a few minutes, it was insane.
When I first learned to sharpen knives by hand years and years ago, I was lucky that I started practicing on a cheap, beat up, really coarse oil stone that was left in the kitchen cupboard and rarely used until I got a hold of it. I did learn how to bring an edge back to a knife much quicker than if I had first started learning with medium and fine water stones or such (I never knew those existed until after like a couple of months of practice on the good oil stone).
Perfect video. Wish it came out before I got my first stones. Bought kuromaku 1000 and 5000. Was frustrating to get the edge angle consistent. Then I picked up a 320, and the edges I make now are much quicker and more consistent. I did the same thing in following the common wisdom of not using those grits unless your edge is chipped, and it is the exact opposite of good practice.
More than happy for all new videos. Man, you're really creative and, the same time, simple. And it's not easy to make things look simple and understandable, although we are not necessarily simple minded.
Fully agree with you. I am optimistic on my capacity to sharpen a knife since I use a rought Sharpal stone. Before that I spent hours of frustration with high grit and $ stones
You are right about the juggling. I have been practising juggling for years and I know how difficult five is - very slick. I liked the sharpening advice as well.
Hello fellow juggler! Yes five took me about a year to get sold. Was working on 7 but never made it past 9 catches. Havnt juggled in years so im a touch rusty 🙂Thanks for watching really appreciate it👊
Thank you so much. You are the channel that I finally get hold of what sharpening is about. Those microscopic pic. from different stages really help me to know what result that i should aim for. So many videos from other channel never make the connecting between best practices and actual. It is like how people teach math that only teach the algorithms. Just do these steps and never teaches understanding of what is really going on with each steps. A light bulb moment for me is when you showed that in general using or not using polishing compound will not affect the shape of the edge from previous stage. It just refine the scratches and made the edge smoother.
Yup, most of the job of sharpening is done on the arato. For decades I've tried to tell folks that it's a lot easier to maintain a perfect angle for ten strokes vs one hundred, it seems pretty obvious to me! Thanks for another great video. ⚔🔥👏
Awesome advice! I love my Shapton 120 grit ceramic stone (the white one). It was inexpensive and removes steel quickly but doesn’t leave deep scratches like coarse diamonds do. I use it to repair chisels and plane irons when they get chips.
Super good advice Sir. On your recommendation I purchased the SHARPAL Double Sided Stone, money very well spent. I've own a Larger 4" SpyderCo ParaMilitary in CMP S30V, after two years of regular use it has proven to hold a superior edge over many more expensive knives. Thank You for sharing your experience with us. Hope you are healing well too.
All true. I experienced this yesterday on a new knife, just dulled. Burr at 600, nope. Stepped down to 380, no burr. Finally got it through my head to move further down to, 220. Finally a nice burr. Then back up. Watched your vid on micro burr after sharp & strop. I gently touched the edges to reach the apex. I was surprised at how many soft touches on the 2000 I had to make before the floppy burr totally disappeared. Then i stropped. That was my most productive sharpening experience. Thanks you for your good work k dude
As a beginner, I'm also learning that (lack of) pressure is SUPER important. I learned from the instructions, and I think from your videos not to use too much pressure. Even knowing that I was still applying too much. Once I learned to get REAL delicate with that 325 I started having much much better results.
This is reassuring as I just bought the Sharpal 162n based on your recommendations and it has a "very" course 325 side. After reading a lot of people starting with 1000s, That low number does seem intimidating.
While I was taught "Sharpen a knife once, hone it for life" there are times to resharpen on coarse grit. Also - 1,000 grit will not give me a sharp knife. Butchers steel or strop does that. thanks for the Amazon links. Leather and diamond compound were both in stock this time :)
I've been sharpening from an extra coarse stone for years, and my knife hasn't worn away yet. Sure, I'll touch up the blade with a fine stone real quick without going to a coarse stone, but if it's fairly dull or it's been a while since I've gone through all the grits, you have to remove a bit more metal
Two very helpful things I have found when sharpening are a magic marker and a magnifying glass, jeweler's loupe (in the 10× range), or ideally a low power (~30×) binocular microscope. It gives such a better idea of where the contact area is and how close to forming an apex you are if you makr the bevel area and inspect it regularly while sharpening. It even helps to determine proper angle when using guided systems.
Very good video, I can fully confirm everything. You can get a very sharp knife even on a 320 grit stone. Going to finer grits makes sense only after you have the knife paper cutting sharp on 320 and the purpose of finer grit is to make the edge last longer before re-sharpening is needed.
I bought that orange one cus you said so, after 3 hrs and 6 knives, I sharpened 1 ok, 5 meh. this was the info I needed, I thought: "man I sure have to be perfect to get a good edge" and I have yet to get a good edge, so imma buy that black one and follow ur advice.
Oh yeah sharpening was painful on my first stone, a 1000-6000 suehiro. Then I got a cheapo 400 grit and began to sharpen kitchen knives in about 60 sec. Know that I am on Dimond, there is no going back (except for polishing some Japanese nicer blades) 320 grit give quickly a nice agressive edge, strop it and good to go. (I often do some 1000 grit, just for aesthetics, satin bevel are nicer than roughly scratched ones. Also it arguably take some perf away from some steel on which a low grit is actually better - Jared did a nice must see video on this topic)
Amen to this. I very often recomend a 320-400 to start on its coarse enough to create a burr fairly quick but its still not like a 120-220 that you can actually mess things a bit up. Also start with a sharpie always a sharpie on the edge again always when new will tell you right away if you are a bit to low or high on the angle
I agree completely. I sharpen things other than knives, including machetes. Long blades require holding the blade fixed & moving the stone, which is a different technique but still all about apexing the blade by keeping a consistent angle. Start with a cheap garden tool from the hardware store, learn how to form an apex with a coarse stone, then later move to refining the surface finish with fine stones. Same thing works for swords & other long blades.
Dude, you are awesome! I watched to many bad sharpening Videos. Then I saw three of your Vids, bought a stone for 15 Bucks, some diamond compound and got my morakniv shaving-sharp the first try! You are the 400-Grid stone I needed to form my apex in knive sharpening skills 😂!
Lol I learned exactly how you did. I started on a 1000 grit stone and got absolutely furious after days of getting no where and seeming to go backwards at times. I then grabbed the coarse stone in the set and bam! My self confidence as a teenage boy came rushing back. 😅
Definitely something I've taught myself the hard way over the years. I think like almost everyone else, started with too fine of a stone. Wasn't until I just said "screw it" and started grinding on a coarse DMT that everything started to click and I could see and feel very easily what the bevel was doing. Just don't go too far the other way and get overconfident in your skills too quickly initially. The heel and the tip of the blade are the hardest areas so I would recommend keeping that in mind
I appreciate this video. when I started sharpening I heard all kinds of stuff on youtube about it being better to sharpen with a finer grit than a coarse one at first, because it was inevitable that I would remove far more material than necessary on a coarser grit. looking back, I think I would have been much more satisfied with the process if I could get an immediate result from a coarse stone on a few passes rather than the endless slog that my first sharpening sessions turned into.
some great knives I found to start with were the kitchen knife. The ontario old hickory was 15 dollars when I got it and the larger size help me out when starting out to sharpen on a stone
Great video, as always good and accurate info. Bought my first decent knife, a Schrade 197UH when I was around 13 and learned so much on it, how to sharpen, how to reshape a broken tip a couple times LOL, grind out nicks in the edge, etc. Still have that knife, still very sharp although the blade has gotten a touch shorter and the blade height a bit shorter over the years, I am 53 now. Keep up the good work my friend.
I am a retired industrial construction electrician. Avid hunter, All of my years I carried a two blade, folding trapper's knife with 4 inch blades. My edge was always sharp because my wrist moved the same way on every stroke over ten years. I can not teach anyone to sharpen their blade without the ten years I put into it. It is also a waste of my time to get a profile on their blade and then hone it down to my wrist. The first time some one else hits that edge with a hone, my edge is gone. You were very articulate on how you vocalized the process. It is appreciated. I will pass the link along. I use TSPROF sharpeners with Edge Pro diamond matrix stones. The apex you speak of is the key in clamps of the KO3 also. I will borrow your terms to teach my nieces and nephews next time I see them.
Hey I finally bought my first spyderco after years of watching your channel. Ended up with a japanese made VG1 endura. Sharpest thing ive ever owned, actually nervous every time I open it lol.
Man, I literally going through this right now. I haven’t trial knife that I’ve been going at, and I just can’t get a good apex. I’ve gotten pretty good at getting burs, but after that, it’s like a clown show…. I keep pushing. Min. 20 minutes a day. So frustrating some times. I feel like I get the sharpest on the course grit. Still have to find my sweet spot though. Thabk you for the videos. Great presentation. Neeves recommended you and I thank him as well.
Great video. Love the contrast of juggling vs sharpening. You had me cracking up when you were speed sharpening the knife for the comparison. Thanks for the great videos and god bless.
Good advice. I find a Shapton 1000, probably the fastest 1000, grit more like an 800, to be adequate for slightly dull thin edges, if I need more grit I drop to a 320 Shapton or 400 diamond.
I'm still a beginner but from my exerience so far I can only agree with you. 1) Almost guaranteed when I try to fine tune with a finer stone it gets worse because I'm still bad at maintaining an angle. Knives are sharpest after a few passes on a coarse stone. 2) I used a 1000 grain stone before watching your video. Sharpening took forever. After using a 400 grain stone I get immediate results after about 10 passes per side. Then I just remove the burr by making very light passes and/or using a strop.
Outstanding advice with logic that makes sense backing thst advice. As far as not seeing anyone juggle in a knife sharpening tutorial, you're exactly right. That said, once you started juggling, i kept waiting to see you juggle knives you just sharpened...or, at the very least, jump on a horse that appeared out of nowhere and rode it in a circle while blindfolded hitting bullseye after builseye with your freshly sharpened knives. Hey, it can happen. If a few juggling balls csn poof into existence, i don't see why one horse couldn't.
Agreed. If you’re really that concerned with grinding away too much of your knife, get an Esee. If you really do make the knife unusable, they’ll replace it.
From your other videos, I knew you had skills in several areas. But casually juggling five balls is something else. I've juggled for decades, and I know how seriously hard that is! Drop by Jersey Jugglers if you ever get to Northern NJ on a Tuesday night. Keep up the great work developing and deploying your talent stack!
Only learned to sharpen 6 months or so ago, so I’m no expert but I get the best results with a few passes on my 325 grit Sharpal to get an apex before moving to the 1200 then burr removal on a black Arkansas. S90V will whittle hair both ways in less than 30 minutes.
Thank you for the best knife sharpening content UA-cam. I have been practicing sharpening for about 5 years. I have gone through so many mistakes and tried so many different methods of sharpening. Only after I started watching you did I start actually doing it right. But I still seem to be hitting these brick walls at times and it does get very frustrating. But I am not going to give up, I really want to perfect this craft
Great video as always. I found the course stone is better for practice and also more helpful for finding an angle because of how visible the grind is. On a side note, it'd be pretty cool to see a video going over sharpening something with a really heavy curve to it, or niche blades in general. Something I've been struggling with is sharpening something like a bull-nose knife that has as much as a 90-degree curve at the tip. Really tough to keep my wrist from bending towards the tip.
Excellent video! PM2 is also my fave, and we need to take the juggling up a notch, with 5 knives instead of balls! :) Also, although I used to have as high a grit as 5k, I never go there. That's for a mirror polish on a bevel, I don't care about that anymore (more work than it's worth, not interested in bragging rights), doesn't make it sharper in my experience. I have Shapton glass 220 and 1k, if I decide to go higher, 2k Green Brick of Love, that's it...then go to strop
I'm a knife sharpening kind of guy and I agree wholeheartedly. Bottom line is get a burr baby, get a burr. My favorite burr getter is a Worksharp. You just have to follow the directions so you don't round the tip. Then I use a Dimond steel to touch it up until it is not effective any more. Then it's back to the Worksharp for me.
well said! it blows me away how many people on the internet will sharpen a knife and start at 600 or 1000 grit and recommend that, the other day i seen someone say you want a 1k and a 3k and 6k stones which in reality should be finishing stones if anything
Absolutely made the mistake to buy me a much to fine stone for years. Now got me the Sharpal as recommended. Works really good in combination. Of course you want a medium stone but it works very good. But, i fucking ruined my Adventurecraft with it. Maybe due to the fact it came with a uncorrect grind. Corrected the grind, but never got it really sharp again. Dot know if itś the blade geometry or whatever. But I canˋt fkn handle the blade. The low profile makes it difficult to keep the angle, okay. But I am not really new to sharpening. Inthink I can hold an angle okaish. At least all the other knives shave with ease. And now 1/10 of the blade is gone and I dońt even know if the geometrie is anywhere near to even get it sharp. I can definitly say, a coarse diamont stone will eat a blade if you get frustrated. 😂😂😂😢
He is a very talented teacher.
@@panganaranga well you are going to remove the same amount of material in most cases regardless the stone you are using, a coarse one makes it remove faster so you dont have to spend so much time, which also will help you get better edges as you dont need to spend so much time on the stone getting fatigued or frustrated
This probably comes from japanese knives enthousiasts who are used to working with extremely thin edges, which grinds fast especially on "carbon steels", what do you think ?
@@NeevesKnives yeah man, nothing new, since the new stone it takes me 2 minutes for a knife to get it crisp. But this one kicks my ass. All I can say is that I feel it takes more time on the strop to get the burr off. Thats all the difference I might feel with the steel. I think itˋs more the fact the geo has left the chat and the low profile makes it too hard to keep an angle. I know, you can cut yourself on an 90 degree edge, did many times. But it has to be sharp.
I wish UA-cam had a double or triple thumbs up icon. Outstanding. Thank you.
Guys that worry about scratching a knife are the same guys that drive mall crawlers
It took me years to learn this simple fact. Saw too many videos showing starting on 1000 or 2000 grit stones and wasting precious time. I will recommend this video to anyone wanting to learn the easy way to sharpen knives.
Ignore the haters and keep on going. You're making by far the highest quality content on these subjects that has ever graced the youtubes. By far.
Who's hating?
I've been sharpening knives for decades at this point. And it's always good to hear new perspectives. This channel has helped me, and my knives will all comfortably shave hair. I'd say he's pretty good.
Wish all youtubers had your integrity. Love you bro.
Practice makes PERMANENT. Bad practice makes bad performance. One of the most memorable things a coach ever told me.
Oh that's pretty good
That's how I say it as well.
Totally agree with that!💚🤘
Only perfect practice makes perfect - Lee Trevino
Joe Rogan often talks about when he was a Tai Kwon Do instructor. He always talks about how he would rather teach someone that knows nothing than to teach someone that knows the wrong way to do it. It's so hard to get rid of a bad habit.
Before i got my first sharpening stone i never believed one can actually make a knife totally dull on a sharpening stone. Yes - we can. 🎉
Where there’s a will there’s a way! I managed to completely dull a number of knives while learning to sharpen. When I finally cut myself with a kitchen knife I’d sharpened the day before my reaction was, “yes! Finally! It’s actually sharp!”
When I first started sharpening my knives myself, every now and again I would mess up so badly, the knife would be less sharp after the sharpening than it was before.
Shit happens.
@@joshcarter-com I assume then you realized "oh wait im bleeding
The best knife sharpening tips out there!
You're single handedly responsible for sharpal selling out of their 162n dual diamond plate lol. Just got my own finally, it's leagues beyond the Smiths diamond plates I got for 12 dollars at big R
That is the truth! After Alex's "unicorn" video, I had a heck of a time getting my hands on a Sharpal 162N.
When I saw his video I immediately thought. "Get one now, they'll be sold out for years."
He should send a warning to these companies so they can ramp up production:)
based on one of your past videos, getting a $1.50 knife from the dollar store might be the perfect way to get practice before you start grinding away on your new Spyderco. I had the exact failure that you described 50 years ago when I bought a black Arkansas stone, the holy grail of stones back then, and proceeded to still have a dull knife after working that damn thing for hours! I never did actually figure out what I did wrong, but this video explains it well.
Haha I made the same mistake about 40 years ago as a Boy Scout. I couldn’t figure out why I was never making any progress!
Lord yes. I got turned onto diamond stones about 10 years ago, and it is so much better than working with those oh so good Arkansas stones. Don't get me wrong, I love my Arkansas, and I can do some serious damage with a strop. But a big, heavy grit stone is where it's at. Spyderco and Buck are fine from the factory, but the last few Case knives I got needed some work. Disappointing, actually.
I wish I had done that. The first knife I sharpened was the knife on a Leatheman tool and I turned it into a toothpick. Now I have nice pocket knives so it doesn't matter that I ruined the Leatherman's blade but I still wish I hadn't.
@PhilippeCarphin I was really lucky. My Uncle is a bit of a whiz when it comes to bladed edges of any kind. And he talked me into buying a cheap Taiwanese Gerber to practice on. I still have that thing bless its heart. Did the same thing you did!
Yep, agree 100%. As an aside, I just got one of those Sharpal diamond stones... and it's everything you said it is. Whether it will last as long as my worn-out DMT stone remains to be seen, but I've already done a lot of badly worn chisels with it (for a friend), and it's quicker and nicer than anything I've used before. So thanks for that.
Sure. For a friend .
@@williammartin2593 Hehe. He's a builder, and brings his chisels to me every few months.
I love that you said perfect practice makes perfect. That's the damn truth, not this practice makes perfect fallacy.
Another version I've heard is "practice makes permanent", which implies that not only is bad practice unhelpful, it is actively harming your ability to learn to do it right.
“Perfect practice makes perfect.” One of my favorite quotes of all time! Applies to so many things in life
So very true, playing guitar, target shooting and sharpening knives, its all about learning discipline and growing your own personal skills.
my favorite quote is " dont dip your pen in company ink"
terrible advice if you are already perfectionist though. just practice with best accuracy you have, but dont stress out if your best isnt very good yet
@@victorfranca85 funny! My now wife and kids are glad I didn’t follow that one
@@mnzrk you are wrong sir, perfectionists already live this quote every day!
You are the best knife sharpening instructor. I have followed many others and all of them sharpen knives like robots. Never tell you the key guideline to getting a sharp knife.
Thank you.
When my son and his friends were starring to get interested in knife sharpening i got them a cheap diamond stone, and a couple $5 knives from walmart. Little bit easier to sharpen steel with a quick cutting stone lets the process go a lot smoother.
i got sharpal cuz of your video, i am applying all lessons ive learned from you - was easy after applying good practice and avoiding mistakes. so i do use coarse to bring edge and after that just 1000 to keep it maintained. Thanks for all u do for us.
I'm waiting for the Sharpal to go back in stock! If it takes too long I may go with the Shapton and/or S SATC ones... but I'm hopeful so far haha
Edit: Woah, it IS in stock, just not from the link he has in the description...
I got the same thing from a few videos back. I was hoping it was a stone he was selling or it went to his store. I got the stone and I’m working on making my light saber.
@@jordanlewandowskii I would advise against buying the Sharpal double sided diamond stone. That stone doesn't seem to be electroplated but the the diamond layer somehow seems to be glued to the plate, which explains why Alex thinks it's the "perfect" double sided stone with no cross contamination. If you look at reviews you can see many people reporting that stone bubbles or straight off peels, which is unacceptable for a $70 stone.
@@EternalKing06 -- I'm not sure I'd trust random Amazon reviewers over Alex. One of these things is a known quantity with regard to their knowledge and experience -- the other isn't.
That said, I bought one of these Sharpal stones. I already had a cheapo £30 Chinese diamond stone that I use primarily for flattening whetstones. but I watched a handful of other UA-cam reviews of the Sharpal and those reviewers were very impressed. See the reviews from Fire Creek Forge or A Dose of Drew. Like Alex, they were a known quantity. Or you might want to read some of the comments here from other people who have bought the Sharpal on Alex's recommendation. They tend to be extremely satisfied customers.
I sent the first stone back because there were some small chips on the edge of the plate on the fine side. I don't expect to see THAT on a £60 diamond stone, so I sent it back, got a refund, ordered a replacement. Replacement had exactly the same chips -- only more of them. They're tiny -- it looks like the plate has been held in some sort of device and the electroplating hasn't really taken there. I kept this second one, because I just wanted to see how the thing worked. The chips don't affect the functioning of the stone, but even so, it says something about the quality control of the company producing them.
That said, the Sharpal is astonishingly good at what it's supposed to do. I'm using mine primarily to sharpen kitchen knives, so there aren't any supersteels involved, but both sides appear grit consistent with my Shaptons and produce a new apex and a burr in the wink of an eye. I also used it to reprofile a Scandi that was screwed up. You have to remove a hell of a lot of metal to reprofile a Scandi, but this did it in no time at all. Likewise with thinning a chinese cleaver. So I don't regret the purchase, but the two I bought weren't without their flaws.
The other thing I'd say is -- the stone has a two year warranty, so if it does peel -- it's likely to do so within that time and you can get a replacement. One thing I did notice from the Amazon comments is that they seem to be pretty solid when it comes to fulfilling warranty claims. If that hadn't been the case, I'd have sent the second stone back as well.
@@EternalKing06so what would you buy instead?
Great video. Been following you for several years and have learned a lot from your teaching. Praying for you and your family.
I agree. My thought is that some of these fine stones don't cut quickly enough and a person will give up before they see results. And that's frustrating. Corse stones offer instant feedback and I hate waiting
Had no idea you juggled too.
I like the change in content due to what's going on. Hope you're feeling better.
I'd like to see how you store all the various stones/diamond plates when you're not using them. You have got to have a bunch of them.
I had a S&W “tactical” I found on a road. I used it as my first learning knife.
What I discovered was that I never got any kind of edge until I used a coarse stone and created an apex. I’m still not great at sharpening, but I can now produce usable edges.
this and the 5 minute guide for newbies just reignited my desire to keep on learning! I had hard time with my cheap stones and didn't want to come back to them, but it seems that I just was not patient enough and got to the finer coarsness too soon
thank you!
GLAD YOU'RE BETTER, GOOD JOB
The Sharpal diamond stone you recommended in your other video makes getting a sharp edge easy. Especially for a beginner like me.
This internet wisdom is why people think super steels are hard to sharpen. You and NeevesKnives are doing a service educating the community.
3:06 That juggling analogy is so spot on it's beyond genius!
And I'm bookmarking this video because I'm sure I can learn how to juggle if I play that section often enough on slow speed...
I think another mistake a beginner could easily make is not using enough pressure and then wondering why their knives aren't getting that sharp. I did that for years and just thought my sharpener was bad or I was bad at using it. Eventually I got another sharpener and the same thing was happening so I finally realized I was doing something wrong and went to learn from your videos. I found where you mentioned 3-5lbs of pressure and I immediately knew that was my issue. I was probably only using 1lb before at most.
Glad to see you're doing okay, hoping for your quickest recovery. I love the thing about practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. I first heard this idea for driving on a racing circuit, if you continue to drive the same but just push harder you may see faster lap times but that doesn't mean you are getting the most out of it. You have to try different things and you have to stick with the new thing for a bit to understand it. If you aren't doing something correctly and you do it repeatedly you are forming the muscle memory for the wrong way. It can seem counterintuitive at times, you may do worse when you try a new way but you just need to get a feel for it initially and then with time the improvement comes. I love these teaching videos for sharpening, I only recently stopped using my fixed angle system to start getting better at free hand and your videos have been incredibly helpful. Thanks for everything you've done and the effort you're still putting in through what I'm sure is a tough time, that perseverance will reward you no matter what, you'll come out stronger and more resilient.
This is good advice. I give similar advice on teaching MANY things, don’t try to make it perfect on your first attempt, actually go to the extreme “mistake” then bring it back to the recommended so you can feel the difference and and then start to hone in on the fine detail. This works well for LOTS of things, when I was learning to fly an airplane you go to 2500 feet, then set 2000 feet as the ground and then try to fly as slow as possible without dropping below 2000, that way when the plane goes to slow and noses over you know what it feels like when you actually go to land. Welding turn the heat up turn the heat down, go too fast, go too slow, feel the mistake then hone in the perfect bead.
This was such a good video. I can't tell you how many years I was screwing up my apexes because all the videos I'd watched insisted I need to start sharpening on a 1000 grit stone. I could NEVER create a burr. My apexes would be wobbling all over the damn place because I couldn't hold an angle for hundreds and hundreds of passes.
Hey buddy! I picked up the sharpal stone after watching your videos on it, and the day it came in, I went to work sharpening. My wife went and washed the dishes later that night and cut her finger on one of our cheapo kitchen knives I’d sharpened that day and told me “damn those knives are sharp now babe!” I told her she should have checked them when I told her I sharpened them 😅 needless to say, I felt a little bad but now she knows all our knives will be sharp from now on. I also sharpened a couple of my pocket knives I’d been waiting to use that new stone on. It’s been great and I really appreciate the videos for enticing me to make that purchase! Thanks for all you do. I aspire to be as good at sharpening as you one day. Truly you’re the best I’ve seen. Great work again. Also, great juggling skills. You’re right that I never expected that 😂
Man, the importance of “perfect practice makes perfect” as a central correction to the practice makes perfect thing is so important.
I remember hearing it for the first time YEARS ago while training with some American special forces guys (intentionally ambiguous there), and I’ve been preaching to people around me ever sense.
Cheers
This is really good advise. And for most folks that coarse stone and a good leather strop are all you will ever need.
We are great fans of your videos from India. No long intros, no ads, no crazy talking for long, just the content, clear and crisp - your channel is how we want youtube to be.Thanks for all your hard work in making these videos.
Unfortunately, it's hard for us to source the diamond stones you always recommend, they are very expensive to import for us,
and the whetstones we get here are not of great quality as well.
It would be nice if you can research and make a video for us on sharpening knives using only sandpapers and strop.
The stones in the usa are cheaper than using sandpaper because you can use a stone many times. I can sharpen my cheap kitchen knives with the cheapest stone made. Diamond stones are nice. Unless you have a very hard steel, whetstones will do the job.
Your videos have helped me for years on all my sharpening. I’ve finally got into free hand sharpening solely because of your videos. Thank you so much
I got my Esee Izula II so sharp that little’ol me, a random internet JV level knife sharpener, that I can whittle hair just like this professional up here! Did it on my sharpal 162N and a 9 micron diamond loaded leather strop made from the belt kit this pro also recommended. Yes it’s possible and this guys not lying. Two or three passes on the course side and 5-6 on the 1200, granted it’s a 1095 blade, but I’ve also had these results on my S30V blades as well. I’m shocked at how well that recommendation worked out. When I was younger I couldn’t ever get a knife sharp and it’s because i was using fine stones and expecting to get a sharp knife so I gave up. Not anymore. Appreciate it brother! Good to see you again doin well! Prayin for your health.
God bless~
I’ve done some amateur woodworking over the years and sharpened knives, chisels, and plane blades by hand with diamond stones as well as wet stones… I’ve generally progressed from 600 grit up to anywhere from 1200 to 5000… and while I can get the edges good enough to shave wood with my chisels or definitely make a big improvement to a dull knife, I could never get the razor edge I knew was possible…. that is, until today.
I’ve had a 300 grit diamond stone for a long time, but never really used it because I thought it was just for removing knicks in the blade, which I really haven’t had a problem with.
But, after watching your video, decided to give it a try . I spent a good amount of time, maybe 15 to 20 minutes (my technique by hand needs practice, so I have to go slow to be consistent in my angle) developing Apex on the 300 gritstone. Then I progressed from 300 to 600 to 1200, maybe a few minutes each, and finishing with a leather strap and some green polishing compound.
The result wasn’t just better than what I’ve done in the past, but was similar to what I see folks like you on UA-cam do after stopping at 1200 grit .
I was able to easily shave hair and could clean, effortlessly slice an entire sheet of paper by basically just letting the weight of the butcher knife drop down and pulling it back as it dropped.
Thanks for your video video!
All of your sharpening videos are very good! Watched them all many times and I have been sharpening for over 40 years. Your advice is always spot on.
I got the Sharpal 116N pocket stone three pack, so far I'm loving it; sharpens better than any other stone set I've used. They're somewhat smaller than the full stone you recommend, but they're a whole lot cheaper at about $25.
Starting at the 325 stone and moving up to the 1200 for polishing passes, and cramming the blade through a thick folded paper towel to try to rip the remaining burr out since I don't have a strop yet, I was able to make my knife the sharpest it's ever been, and I feel like I can go even sharper with, to use your words, some perfect practice to make it perfect.
Thank you for your videos, they have taught me, and almost certainly innumerable others, how to care for the cutlery in our lives. Ever since I started using stones, I've been anle to keep my knives and even my scissors sharp enough to do everything I need of them, and with how sharp I've been able to make my carry knife with the Sharpal pocket stones, soon I'll be able to do even more than I need.
Great video!! This advice holds true with my Worksharp as well, and saves you so much frustration. I remember trying to sharpen knives as a kid, and using too fine a stone, and a Gerber steel, and having miserable results. In the last several years, I've refurbished a bunch of knives, and finally realized that a coarser belt, or coarser rouge, etc., is the vital first step that gets you to the point where the finer stuff works well.
Now I need to learn how to juggle to sharpen my knives?!!!! Awesome video! My knife sharpening skills have increased tremendously since I started watching your channel.
This is good advice that I recently found the hardway. I was fighting with an 800 grit for like 1 hour and the results were getting worse and worse. Before that I sharpened 3 knifes OK. I then switched to 240 and focused on making good apex After that I was able to make good edge quickly without too much beveling.
I got this stone after your last video about it, I was able to reprofile the worn out edge on my Shun Ken Onion 8" Chef's knife in just a few minutes, it was insane.
When I first learned to sharpen knives by hand years and years ago, I was lucky that I started practicing on a cheap, beat up, really coarse oil stone that was left in the kitchen cupboard and rarely used until I got a hold of it.
I did learn how to bring an edge back to a knife much quicker than if I had first started learning with medium and fine water stones or such (I never knew those existed until after like a couple of months of practice on the good oil stone).
Perfect video. Wish it came out before I got my first stones. Bought kuromaku 1000 and 5000. Was frustrating to get the edge angle consistent. Then I picked up a 320, and the edges I make now are much quicker and more consistent. I did the same thing in following the common wisdom of not using those grits unless your edge is chipped, and it is the exact opposite of good practice.
You never disappoint me with the facts. Simple and true.
More than happy for all new videos. Man, you're really creative and, the same time, simple. And it's not easy to make things look simple and understandable, although we are not necessarily simple minded.
Fully agree with you. I am optimistic on my capacity to sharpen a knife since I use a rought Sharpal stone. Before that I spent hours of frustration with high grit and $ stones
You are right about the juggling. I have been practising juggling for years and I know how difficult five is - very slick. I liked the sharpening advice as well.
Hello fellow juggler! Yes five took me about a year to get sold. Was working on 7 but never made it past 9 catches. Havnt juggled in years so im a touch rusty 🙂Thanks for watching really appreciate it👊
Thank you so much. You are the channel that I finally get hold of what sharpening is about. Those microscopic pic. from different stages really help me to know what result that i should aim for.
So many videos from other channel never make the connecting between best practices and actual. It is like how people teach math that only teach the algorithms. Just do these steps and never teaches understanding of what is really going on with each steps.
A light bulb moment for me is when you showed that in general using or not using polishing compound will not affect the shape of the edge from previous stage. It just refine the scratches and made the edge smoother.
Yup, most of the job of sharpening is done on the arato. For decades I've tried to tell folks that it's a lot easier to maintain a perfect angle for ten strokes vs one hundred, it seems pretty obvious to me! Thanks for another great video. ⚔🔥👏
After seeing cliff stamp shave off of a 36 grit stone, I stopped believing in the coarse grit only good for fixing an axe that looks like a hammer.
Awesome advice! I love my Shapton 120 grit ceramic stone (the white one). It was inexpensive and removes steel quickly but doesn’t leave deep scratches like coarse diamonds do. I use it to repair chisels and plane irons when they get chips.
Super good advice Sir.
On your recommendation I purchased the SHARPAL Double Sided Stone, money very well spent.
I've own a Larger 4" SpyderCo ParaMilitary in CMP S30V, after two years of regular use it has proven to hold a superior edge over many more expensive knives.
Thank You for sharing your experience with us.
Hope you are healing well too.
All true. I experienced this yesterday on a new knife, just dulled. Burr at 600, nope. Stepped down to 380, no burr. Finally got it through my head to move further down to, 220. Finally a nice burr. Then back up.
Watched your vid on micro burr after sharp & strop. I gently touched the edges to reach the apex. I was surprised at how many soft touches on the 2000 I had to make before the floppy burr totally disappeared. Then i stropped. That was my most productive sharpening experience.
Thanks you for your good work k dude
As a beginner, I'm also learning that (lack of) pressure is SUPER important. I learned from the instructions, and I think from your videos not to use too much pressure. Even knowing that I was still applying too much. Once I learned to get REAL delicate with that 325 I started having much much better results.
This is reassuring as I just bought the Sharpal 162n based on your recommendations and it has a "very" course 325 side. After reading a lot of people starting with 1000s, That low number does seem intimidating.
I sharpen my knives on a 150 grit CBN stone.
I don't go any higher than that.
While I was taught "Sharpen a knife once, hone it for life" there are times to resharpen on coarse grit.
Also - 1,000 grit will not give me a sharp knife. Butchers steel or strop does that.
thanks for the Amazon links. Leather and diamond compound were both in stock this time :)
I've been sharpening from an extra coarse stone for years, and my knife hasn't worn away yet. Sure, I'll touch up the blade with a fine stone real quick without going to a coarse stone, but if it's fairly dull or it's been a while since I've gone through all the grits, you have to remove a bit more metal
Two very helpful things I have found when sharpening are a magic marker and a magnifying glass, jeweler's loupe (in the 10× range), or ideally a low power (~30×) binocular microscope. It gives such a better idea of where the contact area is and how close to forming an apex you are if you makr the bevel area and inspect it regularly while sharpening. It even helps to determine proper angle when using guided systems.
Looks like your health is better! Keep at it bruh!
I saw you juggle 5 for a moment, I have never been able to go past 3, I’m impressed
Very good video, I can fully confirm everything. You can get a very sharp knife even on a 320 grit stone. Going to finer grits makes sense only after you have the knife paper cutting sharp on 320 and the purpose of finer grit is to make the edge last longer before re-sharpening is needed.
I bought that orange one cus you said so, after 3 hrs and 6 knives, I sharpened 1 ok, 5 meh. this was the info I needed, I thought: "man I sure have to be perfect to get a good edge" and I have yet to get a good edge, so imma buy that black one and follow ur advice.
Oh yeah sharpening was painful on my first stone, a 1000-6000 suehiro. Then I got a cheapo 400 grit and began to sharpen kitchen knives in about 60 sec. Know that I am on Dimond, there is no going back (except for polishing some Japanese nicer blades) 320 grit give quickly a nice agressive edge, strop it and good to go. (I often do some 1000 grit, just for aesthetics, satin bevel are nicer than roughly scratched ones. Also it arguably take some perf away from some steel on which a low grit is actually better - Jared did a nice must see video on this topic)
Well said. I got 1000 grit and was immediately disappointed by bow long it took. Should have had this channel when I bought it...
What a multi-talented guy, both a great teacher and juggler :D
Amen to this. I very often recomend a 320-400 to start on its coarse enough to create a burr fairly quick but its still not like a 120-220 that you can actually mess things a bit up. Also start with a sharpie always a sharpie on the edge again always when new will tell you right away if you are a bit to low or high on the angle
100% spot on.
Cheap knives and 300# or 400# diamond stone is the way to go to learn. Fast material removal means faster learning.
I had not known that. You just saved me a LOT of time. Thank you!
I agree completely.
I sharpen things other than knives, including machetes. Long blades require holding the blade fixed & moving the stone, which is a different technique but still all about apexing the blade by keeping a consistent angle. Start with a cheap garden tool from the hardware store, learn how to form an apex with a coarse stone, then later move to refining the surface finish with fine stones. Same thing works for swords & other long blades.
Dude, you are awesome! I watched to many bad sharpening Videos. Then I saw three of your Vids, bought a stone for 15 Bucks, some diamond compound and got my morakniv shaving-sharp the first try!
You are the 400-Grid stone I needed to form my apex in knive sharpening skills 😂!
Lol I learned exactly how you did. I started on a 1000 grit stone and got absolutely furious after days of getting no where and seeming to go backwards at times.
I then grabbed the coarse stone in the set and bam! My self confidence as a teenage boy came rushing back. 😅
Definitely something I've taught myself the hard way over the years. I think like almost everyone else, started with too fine of a stone. Wasn't until I just said "screw it" and started grinding on a coarse DMT that everything started to click and I could see and feel very easily what the bevel was doing. Just don't go too far the other way and get overconfident in your skills too quickly initially. The heel and the tip of the blade are the hardest areas so I would recommend keeping that in mind
I appreciate this video. when I started sharpening I heard all kinds of stuff on youtube about it being better to sharpen with a finer grit than a coarse one at first, because it was inevitable that I would remove far more material than necessary on a coarser grit. looking back, I think I would have been much more satisfied with the process if I could get an immediate result from a coarse stone on a few passes rather than the endless slog that my first sharpening sessions turned into.
some great knives I found to start with were the kitchen knife. The ontario old hickory was 15 dollars when I got it and the larger size help me out when starting out to sharpen on a stone
Great video, as always good and accurate info. Bought my first decent knife, a Schrade 197UH when I was around 13 and learned so much on it, how to sharpen, how to reshape a broken tip a couple times LOL, grind out nicks in the edge, etc. Still have that knife, still very sharp although the blade has gotten a touch shorter and the blade height a bit shorter over the years, I am 53 now. Keep up the good work my friend.
I am a retired industrial construction electrician. Avid hunter, All of my years I carried a two blade, folding trapper's knife with 4 inch blades. My edge was always sharp because my wrist moved the same way on every stroke over ten years. I can not teach anyone to sharpen their blade without the ten years I put into it. It is also a waste of my time to get a profile on their blade and then hone it down to my wrist. The first time some one else hits that edge with a hone, my edge is gone.
You were very articulate on how you vocalized the process. It is appreciated. I will pass the link along.
I use TSPROF sharpeners with Edge Pro diamond matrix stones. The apex you speak of is the key in clamps of the KO3 also.
I will borrow your terms to teach my nieces and nephews next time I see them.
Hey I finally bought my first spyderco after years of watching your channel. Ended up with a japanese made VG1 endura. Sharpest thing ive ever owned, actually nervous every time I open it lol.
Glad you are better & posting videos again. You put out the best sharpening content !
Man, I literally going through this right now. I haven’t trial knife that I’ve been going at, and I just can’t get a good apex. I’ve gotten pretty good at getting burs, but after that, it’s like a clown show…. I keep pushing. Min. 20 minutes a day. So frustrating some times. I feel like I get the sharpest on the course grit. Still have to find my sweet spot though.
Thabk you for the videos. Great presentation. Neeves recommended you and I thank him as well.
Genius my friend, you're getting better all the time. Simply honest. 👏🏼
Thanks for the video. Nope, never thought I'd see some juggling and never expected a few chuckles either. Thanks again.
Thank for your channel. I bought the Sharpal stone and their strop. Looking forward to actually learning how to do it right. God bless you.
Thanks to your channel, my knives are sharper than ever before.
Great video. Love the contrast of juggling vs sharpening. You had me cracking up when you were speed sharpening the knife for the comparison. Thanks for the great videos and god bless.
Good advice. I find a Shapton 1000, probably the fastest 1000, grit more like an 800, to be adequate for slightly dull thin edges, if I need more grit I drop to a 320 Shapton or 400 diamond.
I'm still a beginner but from my exerience so far I can only agree with you.
1) Almost guaranteed when I try to fine tune with a finer stone it gets worse because I'm still bad at maintaining an angle. Knives are sharpest after a few passes on a coarse stone.
2) I used a 1000 grain stone before watching your video. Sharpening took forever. After using a 400 grain stone I get immediate results after about 10 passes per side. Then I just remove the burr by making very light passes and/or using a strop.
Outstanding advice with logic that makes sense backing thst advice.
As far as not seeing anyone juggle in a knife sharpening tutorial, you're exactly right. That said, once you started juggling, i kept waiting to see you juggle knives you just sharpened...or, at the very least, jump on a horse that appeared out of nowhere and rode it in a circle while blindfolded hitting bullseye after builseye with your freshly sharpened knives.
Hey, it can happen. If a few juggling balls csn poof into existence, i don't see why one horse couldn't.
Agreed. If you’re really that concerned with grinding away too much of your knife, get an Esee. If you really do make the knife unusable, they’ll replace it.
haha, my old football coach used to say that. "Practice makes Permanent, only Perfect Practice makes Perfect!"
From your other videos, I knew you had skills in several areas. But casually juggling five balls is something else. I've juggled for decades, and I know how seriously hard that is! Drop by Jersey Jugglers if you ever get to Northern NJ on a Tuesday night. Keep up the great work developing and deploying your talent stack!
Only learned to sharpen 6 months or so ago, so I’m no expert but I get the best results with a few passes on my 325 grit Sharpal to get an apex before moving to the 1200 then burr removal on a black Arkansas. S90V will whittle hair both ways in less than 30 minutes.
Thank you for the best knife sharpening content UA-cam. I have been practicing sharpening for about 5 years. I have gone through so many mistakes and tried so many different methods of sharpening. Only after I started watching you did I start actually doing it right. But I still seem to be hitting these brick walls at times and it does get very frustrating. But I am not going to give up, I really want to perfect this craft
Well its good to hear you are making progress! Remember no one ever perfects it. Im always learning and practicing too👍
Great video as always. I found the course stone is better for practice and also more helpful for finding an angle because of how visible the grind is.
On a side note, it'd be pretty cool to see a video going over sharpening something with a really heavy curve to it, or niche blades in general. Something I've been struggling with is sharpening something like a bull-nose knife that has as much as a 90-degree curve at the tip. Really tough to keep my wrist from bending towards the tip.
Excellent video! PM2 is also my fave, and we need to take the juggling up a notch, with 5 knives instead of balls! :) Also, although I used to have as high a grit as 5k, I never go there. That's for a mirror polish on a bevel, I don't care about that anymore (more work than it's worth, not interested in bragging rights), doesn't make it sharper in my experience. I have Shapton glass 220 and 1k, if I decide to go higher, 2k Green Brick of Love, that's it...then go to strop
Good advice.
A coarser stone than you should use helps get the feel of what is happening. And the results are more readily apparent.
Alex great content. Hope you’re recovering well.
I'm a knife sharpening kind of guy and I agree wholeheartedly. Bottom line is get a burr baby, get a burr. My favorite burr getter is a Worksharp. You just have to follow the directions so you don't round the tip. Then I use a Dimond steel to touch it up until it is not effective any more. Then it's back to the Worksharp for me.
5-ball ain't no joke! Much respect.
Same for me. I started with the very fine stone recommended by someone who had more experience than I had, and it was a frustrating experience.