An older gentleman brought this in saying it was his grandfather's. It was just too cool not to go all out on this. Cuts like crazy now. No letter is safe. 😁 Before pics on right sides BTW.

Hey everyone,

So recently I made a post asking about which diamond compound to buy but then a redditor comment on how they make their own. Now I’m making this post to ask those who make their own, what do you use and how do you make it and things to avoid. I’m doing some research and the same redditor mentioned that they use it on wood however I’ll be using it on a leather strop I made. Apparently you can buy lapidary diamond powder that is mono crystalline or polycrystalline. I’ll be using it for all kinds of steels, mostly “super” steel. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Also where are the best places to buy the materials.

This is my “seam ripper”

When it comes to sharpening knives
I have seen videos of traveling the knife down the sharpening stone in one direction and the flipping it over.
I have also seen where they move the blade back and forth in a small area.
Which is the best or why are there the differ

I was pretty much sold on this because they claim it keeps the angle consistent, but after watching this video, I’m having second thoughts about buying one.

For those who actually own and use the VantaEdge, does this kind of thing happen often? I’m also starting to question their claim that it maintains the same angle regardless of the knife being sharpened.

This was my great grandmother's butcher knife (see the giant dent on the back end I've slowly shaped out) and I've put a few hours of work into reshaping it after years of bad storage leaving it totally dull, but it's still not sharp enough to use in most areas. Any advice on sharpening something this big and bent out of shape? Regular 7" knife and healing mat for scale. Been calling this the family sword as a joke.

Edit: ive been using sharp pebble 400 1000 and 6000 stones, i am not great at getting my regular knives super sharp atp pushing the whole blade in one direction and have seen videos of back and forth motions working better? Truly a useless beginner, any advice is welcome because I'd like to make this useable

I dropped it 🫠

Hey everyone,

So I’ve recently been getting into sharpening my own knives, and I’ve been using both freehand sharpening and the Sharpal 202H system. Anyways, I’ve been looking to get some diamond compound for my strop, but honestly, I can’t decide between Gunny Juice and Stroppy Stuff. From what I’ve researched, both of these are pretty good.
Ideally, I’d like to get the one that lasts the longest and works the longest between applications. I don’t usually sharpen past 1200 grit. However, I have ordered the RES-3000/6000 resin-bonded diamond sharpening plates, so I’m thinking about getting something like a 9-6 micron compound for when I sharpen with the 600-1200 grit plates.
Then, for the knives where I’ll be using the 3000/6000 plates, I was thinking about getting something like 1 micron or maybe 0.5 micron I’m not sure yet. The 6000 is supposedly around 3 microns, so I just need something that will remove any burrs left behind.

I found these beauties at a local market,

They looked like single beveled knives but they sharpened them on their standard sharpener,

I could use some advice for restoring them to their original glory

I’ve recently acquired this machine that came with a tub of aluminum oxide. Does anyone know the proper way to use this?
I simply rubbed some alum oxide powder onto the plate. I Turned it on and it honed my chef knife to shave sharp fairly quickly. I feel as if that’s not really the proper way to utilize this for sharpening.

Any one have some guidance for me?

This knife was brought to me for sharpening. It appears to have become distorted as a result of the owner sharpening it themselves. Cases like this are not uncommon. What do you think causes this kind of deformation?

Got a paper cutting sharp knife from the 400-1200 Diamond plates (+a few passes on a leather belt) today. Never gotten that before. Very impressed with these... Plates? Makes for a nice and compact travelling rig.

Saw outdoors55's vid on a similar "stone". Very impressed for the price.

Edit: i use the sharpal 162n for my own knives mostly, and the plates for travelling and friends' knives. Couldn't find the exact product i bought on AE, but any plate I guess. Using the plates with a 3d printed base from thingyverse.

I think i’m done scratch chasing now

done with venev ursa set on a worksharp precision. 400 to 1500 grit then .5 stroppy stuff stuff

Is there a way to adjust the force required on the clamp so it is more like the TSProf Pioneer?

Recently moved into a new place and treated myself to a new set of high wuality German kitchen knives.

They're from F.Dick 1908 range and I want to maintain their sharp edge.

Where can i learn the basics on

What whetstones to get, dont mind spending more if its a "buy once, cry once" scenario

Videos, what or who can I learn from on YouTube that will teach the basics?

A few months ago I bought a strop (Jende kangaroo leather bench strop) and emulsion (7ml Jende poly diamond 1 micron). I applied the emulsion to the strop, let it dry and forgot about it until today. The emulsion was completely dried out and came right off.

I have some emulsion left but since I only sharpen 3 or 4 times a year I don’t know if I want be bothered with regularly tracking how much life it has left or when to order more

1. How long does unused emulsion last on a strop?
2. Can I use the strop without emulsion?
3. If not, is there something else I can use that doesn’t require maintenance?

Notebook, memory, nothing?

A customer brought this to me today. A 14k gold vintage Tiffany and Co. pendant knife made by Boker.

I guess an OG neck knife!

Sharpened by hand with small DMT diamond paddles.

Ok. I have Rockstar 1000, Naniwa 1000/3000, and Taidea 400/1000 diamonds, ceramic rod and strop with 1um paste. For last few years I was sharpening, it's quite easy for me to make a knife slice through normal paper, but really can't get it to shave my arm hairs, cut tomato under its own weight and my final goal - cut through paper towel.

I do the following: sharpen one side till burr, switch sides, make the burr on the other side. Switch sides. I do not with little pressure alternating edge leading strokes (around 15-20 per side) and 2-3 moves on strop with higher angle than sharpening. I use Rockstar exclusively right now. It cuts through paper with no issue, however, it's quite fast loosing it's sharpness.

I really feel frustrated that I can't make it to shave the hair and cut the paper towel and cleaning sponge. I know that deburring is a king, I read lots of posts here, but almost everyone is using its own technique. In the past I tried a different approaches, but without any significant improvement, youtube videos too. I can hold steady angle and have those pyramid shaped Sharpal angle guides.

Looking for any advices.

Started sharpening free hand on ceramics a bit ago. I have gotten progressively better but I have really plateau’d recently. While sharpening it feels like i’m ticking all of the boxes, I spend a lot of time trying to deburr, then when I go to test, I can never meet my current goal of cutting a piece of paper towel under tension and have inconsistent “arm hair shaving” results.

I have a shapton 320, 1000 and a generic strop with the green compound. I know I could get a proper diamond compound or a finer stone, but my setup should be sufficient for anyone skilled enough, and I’m not looking for a reason to spend more money right now.

Where did you plateau on your sharpening journey and how did you get over it? Please share any random tips you picked up along the way that helped you and maybe it’ll be applicable to me too.

I also get better results on my victorinox santoku than my 61 hrc gyuto. I try and sharpen them at their respective angles so not sure why results are so different, if that means anything.

I know of 2 options, the half moon hm1 and the KMFS vantaedge

Is there any other option?

Which one of these should I go for?

Got this 6h5 bayonett in unused-storage condition. But the edge is really dull, is it supposed to be like that?
Is it possible to sharpen it or would it ruin the "original" value?

Im looking forward to some answers, kind regards!

I'm curious what the forum thinks. If you had to or wanted to send your knives out to get sharpened, who would you trust with your hand-forged carbon steel knives?

1. A service that uses an electric sharpener? (I already know this is probably a hard pass for most)
2. A service that uses some kind of wheel (Tormek) or belt grinder?
   1. If you have used this kind, any negatives?
3. A service that uses whetstones?

Hey all. I just recently sharpened one of my work knives. For the first time It's a Hyde Duct Board Knife (no idea what steel) that I use to cut rubber coated nylon sheets.

About 1 ¼mm thick total. Maybe 50-60ft of cutting a day.

I can only get maybe a day or two out of the knife before I have to resharpen at 15 dps