Reddit reviews The Complete Guide to Sharpening

If you are lookin' to do some book learnin', I recommend "The Complete Guide To Sharpening", by Leonard Lee.

I don't know what his lineup is like, so I can't comment on specific knives or sharpening tools, because he might have them already. But, I've discussed Cliff Stamp's work with him before, and Cliff himself has recommended this book very often:

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Sharpening-Leonard-Lee/dp/1561581259

He obviously knows how to sharpen already, but he might still like a copy of this book just for reference, and since it's such an exhaustive guide to all things sharpening, he may find something new in it. The author, Leonard Lee, is extremely knowledgeable in the world of all things sharp, and is cited pretty often by people across multiple fields.

In fact, the first time I had heard of him was from a guy I worked with who sharpened surgical equipment. He literally sharpened things for a living, and he was incredible at it, but still kept a signed copy of this book in his office and spoke of Lee very very highly.

There is a book series called, 'The Workshop Practice Series', one of the editions is about tool and cutter sharpening. Highly recommended.

There are a lot of books out there for sharpening knives and woodworking tools. Not directly applicable to metal tooling, but they tend to have sections about the science and physics of cutting and edge geometry that are useful and relatively universal.

Machinery's handbook also has good sections on tool and cutter geometry.

Ill see if I can get you some direct links.

Edit:

Article on drill point geometry

Tool and cutter sharpening book

Machinery's handbook

Other sharpening books:

Razor Edge book of sharpening

complete guide to sharpening

Quick searches for variations on 'tool and cutter sharpening' pulls up a lot of other books that look useful.

This is a great book on how to sharpen tools. It's written by Leonard Lee, of Lee Valley Tools.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Sharpening-Leonard-Lee/dp/1561581259/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1451121133&sr=1-2&keywords=how+to+sharpen

I don't have a guide to go off of unfortunately. it was more a compilation of what I could find online.

/u/joelav's guide on tuning an out of box kanna

sumokun has some very useful youtube videos about kannas and their blades.

Leanord Lee's complete guide to sharpening helped me understand some of the factors that do and don't make a plane blade cut

This guy has a guide and i'm not sure what to make of it since there is only illustrations

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1561581259

> Steeling and honing are the same thing.

No. Honing an edge has a quite precise definition, which is basically polishing it after sharpening. It is done to remove the burr and microserrations left after a fine stone (800-1200x).

For that, you use either a very fine stone (4000-8000x) or honing paste and leather strop or a buffer wheel.

You may hone the primary edge, or just a microbevel edge. The standard reference here is Leonard Lee.

Steeling, in its purest form, does not remove metal, which is the difference with honing. 'Steels' made of ceramic blur the distinction.


Again, there's nothing magical with expensive knives. A knife cuts just by edge geometry. That means the included angle of the sides, and its interaction with the grind. Depends on the knife use -a cleaver will have a larger angle than a filleting knife.

You can have a convex grind, a plain grind, or a hollow ground grind. By far, the easiest to sharpen and to keep sharp is a hollow grind. The most resistent is a convex grind.

If you know how and when to use them, the final result will cut as well out of the grinder as a Wusthof. For example, I'd sharpen the cleaver above with a convex grind, and a 30º included angle - the fillet with a hollow[1] grind, and 15-20º depending on the steel quality. After a session, edge retention and steel hardness will guide your time between sharpenings.

And a USD10 knife lets you play to your heart's content - you are not scared of ruining your expensive status symbol, nor you have to sent it away for a 'professional' to sharpen it. I'm of the school that's it's better to be a master of your tools.

[1] A belt sander with a slack belt is wonderful for this.

Do the knives you sharpen cut things the way you want them to? If so, you're doing it right. The ultimate test is that it can cut food cleanly without much effort.

The guy who owns Lee Valley tools has a book on sharpening that Taunton published. Leonard Lee wrote it. It's good.

However, you can own the most elaborate jigs or the most expensive Japanese water stones or the rarest of all Arkansas stones and even reams of Norton Champagne Magnum sandpaper but it won't be worth a hill of beans if it's so inconvenient to use that you never sharpen your knives.

I know how to use all of those methods but for every day kitchen use I use this guy along with a really nice diamond steel. If you are using the acusharp for the first time, I recommend that you start off with a really crappy knife just in case you use too much pressure and take a chunk out of the blade. Use it enough and practice enough with it and you can get a razor sharp edge on your chef's knife in really short order. No oil, no adhesives, no jigs -- it fits in a drawer and it works.

I save the stones and sandpaper for my woodworking tools and chisels where I actually schedule time to sharpen them. I don't have that luxury if I get home and have to churn out a meal in 30 minutes.

On another note: who here was equally hesitant to click on that keyword search for "blade" in the SFgate site?

From the handy-dandy FAQ in the sidebar https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/wiki/index#wiki_sharpening_hand_tools

search for "how to sharpen chisels" and "how to sharpen planes" for many, many how-tos.

If dead trees are your thing, 'The complete Guide to Sharpening' is useful, too. https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Sharpening-Leonard-Lee/dp/1561581259/

This is an excellent book.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Sharpening-Leonard-Lee/dp/1561581259/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393686102&sr=1-1&keywords=sharpening