The Complete Online Guide to Knifemaking, SHARPENING

Sharpening the finished knife is an art form all in itself. If done correctly your blade will have bevels that were evenly ground leaving a thin squared off edge. You now have to create a micro bevel to bring both sides of this edge together. Micro bevels are typically at a 15 to 20- degree angle. We start with a 220-grit belt on the flat platen. Hold the blade edge down at the approximate angle. If you have a variable speed grinder, turn down the speed to about 30 percent. Go slow and do not apply much pressure. Quench in water to keep the blade cool between each pass. Usually, it only takes a few passes on each side to bring the micro bevels edge to a point. The goal is to create a burr along the entire length of the blade. The burr can be checked either visually with a magnifying glass or by feeling it with your fingernail. Once the burr is formed flip the blade over and form the burr again in the other direction. Then, move to a 400-grit belt. This time, you are going to duplicate early grinds to polish the micro bevel with the goal of flipping the burr from one side to the other. The burr has to be re-established each time along the entire edge. If one little section does not have a burr, the blade will end up having a dull spot. Repeat with an 800-grit belt. The final step is to use a leather stropping belt. This can be used stationary or with the belt grinder at slow rpms. Hold the blade at a slightly steeper angle and strop each side. Usually, just a couple of passes will remove the remaining burr. The end result  should be a razor-sharp edge. If not, just go back to the 400-grit belt and repeat. If the knife is still not sharp, you are most likely not holding the blade at the correct angle. Other sharpening methods utilize stones with jigs that allow the knifemaker to rotate through the stones while keeping a preset angle. These systems work really nicely but can take quite a bit of time and effort.