Lets look into sharpening a dull pocket knife. Let me show you how to properly sharpen a pocket knife. Also the best products to keep that knife sharp at all times. If your like me you will pull out your pocket knife and find that it is dull. Keeping that knife sharp at all times is not as hard as it may seem. This is a life skill that I think everyone should posses.
This first video is a great resource for beginners on how to properly sharpen a pocket knife. I have also gone ahead and added links to purchase any of these items for getting that pocket knife razor sharp. So get sharpening that dull pocket knife.
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Bora 501057 Fine/Coarse combination sharpening stone for dull knife
This first sharpening stone will get a bulk of the sharpening done. We will want to keep the knife at the same angle to keep working on the bevel so we can start to form a burr. Watch the scratch pattern on the bevel to make sure the angle you are sharpening at is consistent. The main purpose for this heavy grit is to remove any dings and dents in your edge. I also found that further sharpening is needed to get the edge really refined and will also last a lot longer.
KING Whetstone Starter Set Include 1000/6000 Grit Combination Whetstone for sharpening a dull knife
This stone will be a medium grit and this will help further refine that edge. The more you work up the grits and sharper your knife will become. This next stone is a Japanese wet stone and is one of the best stones I have found for creating an unbelievable edge on my knife. Just make sure you are being careful when using a wet stone because if you bring up the angle that you are holding the knife you can accidentally cut into the stone causing damage. Using the same technique as on the last stone continue creating that bur. That edge will get very refined but just make sure you take your time and follow that bevel.
KNIVES PLUS Strop Strop Block, Leather Sharpening Strop for final sharpening of that dull knife
This next step is not completely necessary but I have found that it makes the difference between a sharp pocket knife and a razor sharp pocket knife. I have decided to keep this step in here because to me keeping my knife as sharp as it can be makes any job I use it for that much easier. Also it is a well known fact that a dull knife has more of a change of injuring its user than a sharp knife will. I have also included a full video on stropping.
pocket knife sharpening mistakes
Now that we have discussed the proper way to sharpen a dull pocket knife lets talk about mistakes. Some mistakes people make when sharpening a knife are;
- Sharpening angle being too low. When we sharpen at an angle lower than the existing one, all the material we remove is away from the cutting edge.
- Sharpening angle too high may create too high of a cutting edge. This can actually make our edge feel dull.
- Letting that first coarse grit stone create the entire framework for the rest of our sharpening.
- Not having enough patients and in turn not creating the correct burr needed for a sharp edge.
- Not sharpening long enough to have both burrs meet up in the middle.
Tools to make sharpening your pocket knife easier
This guide will help you keep that angle you need until you get the feel for where the blade should be and get some practice under your belt. This is very important when sharpening a dull pocket knife.
Check out this video on knife sharpening mistakes
Best EDC knives to get you started
This Benchmade 940 EDC is made in America. This is a great all around pocket knife that will last you a very long time. It is also very easily maintained and very easy to use. It uses the S30V steel which is an amazing steel to hold an edge but also fairly easy to sharpen. This is a great knife to learn sharpening on especially when its dull.
Benchmade – Mini Griptilian 556 EDC Manual Open Folding Knife Made in USA
This is another US made knife. I have this knife as my EDC and it has been unbeatable for years now. I cannot find a better knife out there for the money.
Please check out my other blog on home repair tool kits. Click here for a full list of feel free to look through the rest of my blogs. any comments would be greatly appreciated.