Sharpening: by hand or power?

BeesNuts

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alberta
I sharpen my straight razors by hand, using Naniwa and Shapton stones. I find it very very therapeutic.

So I have a nice little collection of knives. What I do is I buy one knife for the task I need but make sure it's damn good quality. I don't have much experience honing a knife by hand at all. It's completely different from straight razors. To keep my angles I use electrical tape on the spine to prevent hone wear and it puts just the right amount of angle.

Should I invest in a worksharp or should I learn the nuances of different steels and keep going with my stones?
 
if you are already adept at sharpening razors by hand, you should be fine.
The two big variables that have to be mastered are consistent angle and consistent pressure. For my money, the latter one is where most have trouble. Your prior experience should generalize well.
The rest is holding the angle while you work. There'll be a bit of muscle memory learning curve, but it isn't bad. Maybe get one of those plastic angle jigs to get you there at the start of the stroke they're cheap as chips.
 
If you enjoy hand sharpening for razors and find it rewarding, why not broaden your skill with stones to include knives?

Heads up. Sharpening knives dishes the stone much heavier/faster than sharpening a straight razor. Advise keeping them separate unless you plan on flattening each time before sharpening your razor.

I made that mistake.
 
I've been sharpening my knives for probably 15 years now... Not just mine but my families and friends when needed.
At one point word got out and my neighbors started bringing them over and then it spread a bit further and was able to make some spare pocket change with it. If memory serves it was $5 per small and $10 per big blade I was sharpening. Doesn't sound like much but at times I was knocking out 7-10 knives a day ... over the course of a few months I absolutely killed it. Made enough money to pay off all the sharpening equipment I had purchased and enough to re-buy it all over again.

After that I kind of got away from doing this, started turning people down. I just had too many obligations to follow through and feel like I gave them a quality product/result as I found myself rushing through the process as opposed to enjoying it towards the end of that sharpening stint.

Nowadays I usually only sharpen my kitchen knives and thats out of pure necessity... Cant stand using a dull kitchen knife.

With that said, work keeps me quite busy lately. So no spare time to really sit back and sharpen for hours like I used too!

It's a fun thing to learn... but also a rabbit hole and once you go down you'll likely have a hard time ever being totally satisfied with your results... also always trying to experiment with this type of edge or that type of edge or this grit or mirror polish or toothy ... free hand or wheel or jig like a wicked edge ect... to strop and when, with what type of strop... how many passes... the possibilities really are endless.
 
Lights and Guns, the ancient Lansky jig system I've been using for decades is not the most precise, but it works just fine for plain as well as serrated edges. Is there a significantly better setup that doesn't cost more than, say $90?

Should I get a Lansky strop attachment? Get some fine grit to put on it? Considering this because my son is into knives now.
 
Hand sharpening is a skill .. Some people might never be able to do it !
Like not everyone can be a brain surgeon ! Same goes for hand sharpening !
Just the last year or two I have started doing more hand sharpening on Diamond Plates . ( Now some wet&dry DIY as well ) .
And on some knives it's very effective and others not so . For me , it comes down to feeling the bevel . If it's a very thin small bevel , then it gets harder to feel and maintain a consistent form . ( Speaking for myself )

Scandi edges are a good place to start ( I did ) , and then take it from there .
 

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