Knife Sharpening

Today after work I sat down and decided to sharpen two knifes that belonged to my late grandfather.  My mom, Julie asked me to sharpen them so she could enjoy using them while camping where my grandfather grew up, Warner Lake.  My grandpa is actually the one who taught me how to sharpen knives by hand.  He also handed down a good part of his knife collection to me.  I like collecting knives because they are an infinitely useful tool but also can be artistic.  I am currently in the research and developement phase of making knives by hand in my workshop.  It is something I have wanted to take up for sometime now.

Back to the sharpening . . . .
Knowing how to sharpen a knife by hand is a skill all men should know.  People come and go and may let you down, however a sharp knife always cuts.  I have always sharpened with a whetstone but this past Christmas my wife Alexis gave me an excellent and affordable knife sharpening system.  It is a Lanksy Deluxe 5 Stone kit.  It works very well and allows you to sharpen at four different angles.  The angles range from 30 degrees to 17 degrees.  A 30 degree angle is good for pocket knives that cut a lot of cardboard and the like.  A 17 degree angle is meant for razors with a sharp but delicate edge.  Running each stone over the full length of the blade on each side of the blade will create a good even edge.  The sharpening fixture is symmetrical, the part I am holding onto is the same as the part that has the stone's guide rod through it.  I usually do one side of the blade about ten times then switch.

The two knives that belonged to my grandfather are fairly old.  The larger one has a large Q stamp on the base of the blade and on the sheath.  I worked all five stones over the Q knife on the 30 degree setting, moving from coarse to fine, of course.  The resulting edge is very sharp.  The smaller one is a Kabar and the blade is very worn.  I have the Kabar almost finished but the tip was broken off somewhere in its long life of service.  I am debating whether or not I should reshape the tip to a point.  Either way the knife is not short on character.  The handle has great color and is composed of at least 6 different materials.