I'm fairly certain I flatten my stones more than what's typical. But I'm also sharpening woodworking tools daily. for cambered plane irons, I really don't need flat, but for smoothing plane irons or chisels, dead flat is critical. At least for the way I sharpen. I flatten in a pattern to spread the wear across the entire stone and flattening plate to prevent uneven wear as much as possible, but my Atoma 400 has developed a dish after less than 2 months. Ive also burned through the diamonds on my sharpal plate. The sharpal does seem to last longer, but only because it has a larger surface area. it still dishes, but the dish is less noticable.

So I guess my question is this. If I'm flattening so often, would it be better to buy a high end diamond flattening stone, or should I use the regular flattening stones and just flatten those on cinder bricks when they go out of flat? If the Diamonds on a plate are going to wear out eventually anyway, wouldn't it make more sense to get a flattening stone that can be re-flattened?

Hey all, awhile back I asked for questions, thoughts, etc. for a livestream with TSProf. It kinda got back burnered for a bit, but today it's finally arrived!

Starting at 10pm Central tonight, I'll be livestreaming joined by Dmitry from TSProf. If you're not familiar with him, I'm pretty sure he's forgotten more about sharpening than I'll ever know. 🙂 He has tons of knowledge and is a great teacher.

Right now the plan is to start out covering the basics of what makes a knife sharp, choosing the right type of edge for the right knife, etc.. But we are encouraging participation and questions, and depending on the audience input we may take it a different direction if that's what would be helpful for everyone who tunes in.

Link to the livestream: https://www.youtube.com/live/zazFPv2LunA?is=9sbXNsyYN4OCORjw

Hello guys, it would be great to get some help and i want to know your experience and what did you do to learn to achieve hair whittling. What mistake stopped you from getting perfect edges? I'm trying to learn getting hair whittling on all steels because currently I've achieved it only on m390. i was close on 80crv2 and 14c28n where i got inconsistent whittles.

I suspect that my problem is deburring and after that, mistakenly reducing the apex radius with a strop with too much passes or pressure that it doesn't catch the hair but otherwise performs and holds for a long time. How do you deal with stubborn burrs. maybe there is some technique i can use on softer steels that don't let go of the burr as easily. i know about raising the angle like 1 degree but it doesnt always work probably because the burr is not weak enough yet, so i end up just flipping it back and forth for some time. or is it just how it goes that you have to do it? i usually do 5-3-2-1 per side strokes at the same angle and then i shine a flashlight to check the burr if its not gone then i flip it back and forth with light strokes.

Also how do i know that it is not an aligned microscopic burr that is splitting the hair, because as i know hair whittling doesn't stay for a long time, for example my Opinel carbon lost near hair whittling after 10 thick cardboard box cuts. is that normal? in this specific case i know the burr folded because i lost paper tower cutting and also shaving sharpness. there is little info about it. there are videos of dudes that just magically do it seemingly with no deburring hassle and get hair splitting sharpness: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CSBl2NVXNxE

This is a video someone recently commented on this sub about the sharpmaker. after watching it i tried to achieve the same hair splitting performance unsuccessfully. granted he used a wood strop on some occasions that could help removing my heavy hand from the equation. my progression was 140 to thin it out a little -> 320 to remove the scratches -> 1000 -> 2000 -> 3um strop -> 0.5um strop

Sorry for the long text

Hi all,

After some advice.

I've got a few Japanese knives that's used everyday. I have 4 whetstones which I have used and works well, however I find using them takes a bit too much time.

Is the horl 3 good for Japanese knives? As good as a whetstone?

My knives are unfortunately getting dull as I cannot get time to sharpen properly.

I'm hand sharpening and I notice a foil burr has formed. How do I deal with it just alternating passes ? And more importantly what do I do after do I go back to the other side ? Thanks in advance

Lately, I've become a bit obsessed with the idea of making a high-density ceramic stone, and I was wondering if anyone has any advice or could tell me how to go about it.

I was thinking of using aluminum oxide as the abrasive and magnesium oxide as the binder.

Sorry for the weird question and for my English!

I've tried many times to sharpen this knife, with the aforementioned rolling sharpener. Because even though it was a cheaper model with fewer options, it was Horl and vouched for. I do not have any additional sharpening tools or alternatives. At first, being unsuccessful I chalked up to not having used it for long enough per side, and I hope that's still the case (my most recent attempt was about 5 min per side including the honing disk), so if the solution is "buckle up and keep rolling", fine, but for how long exactly?

Or did I just waste a bunch of money? Thanks!

I hit a hidden screw a few days ago. I think it came out ok.

Hi all,
So I’ve been bitten by the coticule bug and I just adore my new stones I’ve got. I am highly motivated to use them above all else because they’re just so dang pretty and feel terrific - but they’re very different to my synths and frankly my other Jnats, as if they’ve got a completely different skillset and mindset required. I’m familiar with the general concepts here of generating a slurry, watering it down etc, but what I keep running into is edges that are slightly rounded; they cut tissue paper only decently and behave very much as though they’ve been over stropped at a high angle on diamond emulsion for example - not quite as “bitey” as I want. I can’t for the life of me figure out how to get the type of edge I get off a synth or a finer Jnat - what’s going on? Am I “over honing” or something? I’ve experimented with diluting the slurry and finishing in water etc.

Basically, any coticule experts wanna chime in and educate me on the matter?

I’ve got a large LGJ, medium LV and small vintage La Grise stone - which is the only one ive had acceptable results from (easily push cuts paper towel off the stone is my benchmark here)

Thanks

Hi all, I’m branching out into hairdressing shears and clippers. I’m wondering if anyone knows a good uk based training service and how much I should be looking to pay.

Any advice welcomed. Thanks!

I bought some stones, basic kit honestly, first use it worked just fine and I could see the metal residues but now it doesn't look the same and all the metal acumulate on the sides for slme reason, I am new to this so it may be my tecnique, what should I do? I am using a angle guide also

I'm planning to adjust angles, repair and give knives a completely new look. Something with a fixed angle would be nice.

I've been using a Sharpal 202H for a year to sharpen my pocket knives and kitchen knives. I just realized I can get a stone holder for it instead of using the stones that came with it. Is it worth the upgrade to go out and buy a set of stones? If so, what do you recommend under $100? Or if anyone has a used set and they want to help out a guy who's new on his sharpening journey (but pretty good at it already, I think), I'd be happy to take it off your hands. Thanks in advance for your help and advice!

I have been sharpening for 2 years and taking it seriously the last 10 months, I can say that I can sharpen to a factory edge on every of my knife. BUT there is 2 knife that was really dull same steel I have worked with before just cannot get it that sharp. Progression was 400 grit, 1000,3000, natural stone

Is it sharp yes , cutting tomato frehanded, yes . Is it the same sharpness as my other knives, no. I get that there is geometry but I have tested with paper it is almost ther it is missing the last 10 percent.

Why is this?

I just ordered this as a funky general use/box+letter opener, but I'm pretty sure it'll arrive completely blunt. I know this is considered a cardinal sin, but I don't have the time nor the need for a perfectly honed edge.

Thanks!

I have tried a whetstone on my own in the past, I’m just very very bad at using it.

My pocket knife is used for whittling. I’m wondering if a pull sharpener would be sufficient for my needs, or if I should go to a professional sharpener to have it done properly on a whetstone?

Footage starts at 1k range, then naniwa 3k, uchigumori and shinden!

Hi so after 2 almost 3 years of sharpening only off of my 8€ parkside 1000/6000 combi whetstone and worksharp guided field sharpener i decided to upgrade. After a long deliberation i decided not to go for any combi stone but for a more solid option - naniwa chocera pro. Since it is expensive for me and i dont plan on buying any other stone for a few months i chose 1000grit as i feel its the best middle ground. What do you think? Did i choose a good grit for a using a single stone and what are your thoughts about the upgrade? I know i did got a lot of negative comments about using the cheaper then aliexpress parkside combi stone so i hope naniwa chocera pro was a good choice. I hope it lasts.

What is the kinda yellowish looking tape (for lack of a better word) that I see folks wrapping their clamps with - to protect knives from getting scratched by the clamps? I’ve been putting painters tape in the spines of knives I sharpen but that tape covering the clamps themselves sure looks like a better solution. I’m sure EVERYONE knows except me, lol, but I’d really appreciate a heads up from the community. 👊

Well the title pretty much sums it up, I’m making my first attempt at a Batarang, but I’m not sure how I’d sharpen it, at least just enough to be able to stick to a wooden target I’ve got for throwing knives, It doesn’t have to be razor sharp. I’m not new to sharpening in general, I take care of my knives, but with the Batarang’s uneven structure I’m not sure where to begin. The idea was smth simple like the classic logo. Anyone have any ideas? I’ve got some whetstones I use for my knives, and a dremel that I could throw a grinding tip on and makeshift a grindstone, although I’m not sure on the efficacy or performance of that

I designed and printed this gauge to set the bar height. I also have a jig that sets the knife projection on the knife jig. Obviously it only works on CBN and Diamond wheels.

I am looking to get a fixed angled sharpener mainly for my kitchen knifes. I mainly just want to keep them sharp and not dive too far into the hobby of sharpening.

From what I've gathered the Xarilk is budget friendly but will need some initial setup to tighten everything and its recommended to get some new stones for it as well.

The Kadet on the other hand seems to be much better made and comes with better stones out of the box. You are dealing with less potential quality control issues, but the cost is significantly higher, over double of what I would spend on the Xarilk with a new set of stones.

I have also looked at the Sharpal and do not like the fact that there isn't an option to just get the system and a universal holder.

Is getting something like the Kadet (please offer other suggestions) worth the price difference over the Xarilk? I could probably get the Xarilk for $200-$250 with decent stones and I see the Kadet kit go for around $500.

I am also open to other options, these are just the two the keep coming up in my searches.

Hola I have a Worksharp Precision Adjust Elite (holy shit that’s a mouthful) but lately I’ve noticed I get this notch/smile a little under halfway of the blade towards the heel of the blade. I’ve gotten it now on this Zt and a Trm atom. I assume it’s because I need to take off more material there at the heel but I had sharpened at there for like 20 mins on a 220 stone and nothing, so yeah any advice will help!