Knife Sharpening...HELP!

I cannot figure any way to "post-in-photos" the process..."BUT"...I can try and explain it. Here goes:
When I was runnin' the boats, I would "task myself" with keeping the knives sharp. Old Forschner re-grinds, mostly, they required a very "very" low angle to sharpen. Of course, I cared not what scratches may occur on those blades..."&" that low angle meant a lot more trips to the steel to re-sharpen.
RMK's? A totally different story. The bevel is quite "thick", requiring the maintaining of a 16-20 degree angle. Be it steel-or-stone-or ceramic sharpening device, the "angle" is the 1st key in sharpening these RMKs we love so much.
NO WRIST movement when sharpening! Steady, continual and in the same motion wins the day. Consider your arm, wrist and hand an extension of the knives, keeping them as one. The steeper the angle (20 degrees for example) the less re-sharpening will be required. This comes at a price in that the actual "cuts"-n-"slices", i.e. are not as "surgical". When filleting fish, etc. a lesser degree of angle will produce the results you are looking for.
When we have a "doe" day or "youth" day at the hunting camp, a good many whitetails need processing. The angle is not as critical but still needs to be maintained. Speaking of "maintaining", you must maintain your sharpening devices as well.
I use vinegar (white) and hot soap,water and a stiff brush to clean the longitudinal lines on my steel. My big "shop stones" (Nordic, tri hone) requires less but it is wise to wipe and re-oil them every so often. Ceramics: Hot soap and water as well.
The "chefs" on TV whip those blades quickly on their steels and make it look effortless. Again, low angle sharpening lends itself to this method of sharpening. "NOT"...for RMK's!
Hope this helps,
Capt. Chris
PS: This upcoming hunting season I'll try and get someone to photograph some of this procedure. I will pin this topic so we can all add, subtract or amend it as time goes on and allows...CCS

Thank you Captain
I have less than minimum success with my sharpening skills.
Craig

On smaller knives, I get good results using the Spyderco Sharp Maker with its ceramic stones. The two angles they are set for match up with Capt. Chris's recommendations.

Even with the stones held at a consistent angle, it still takes practice to hold the blade at a consistent angle as I draw it down the stones.

The short length of the stones makes it a bit difficult to do longer blades...I run out of stone before the full blade length can be drawn down to the bottom.

I probably need to go back to their video online to watch how they recommend sharpening longer blades.

Larry

Regarding the Spyderco Sharpmaker, start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB0r6GvESGg

I know a good, local knife sharpener....as Dirty Harry would say...."a man has to know his limitations"

:-)Rocky

It's really no that hard, Rocky.
Stay Sharp, Capt. Chris

Thanks Capt! Pictures would be great. Hanna on seems to be best for the people I've shared my rudimentary sharpening skills with. Even then there's still a fairly lengthy learning curve involved.

Do you find you need to find the exact angle the knife was sharpened at?? I know that's the goal, but (I know, that's your line Capt) I've found it helpful,especially for newer knife people, to find an angle that is repeatable for the person sharpening. Usually end up reprofiling, to an extent, without getting to carried away but the knives are typically at that point anyways

I use the exact angle, almost exclusively. If (on rare occasions) I need one lowered, I will usually chose a 3/16" stock knife, i.e.: Model #7, etc. The thinner blade stock simplifies my life!
Stay Sharp, Capt. Chris

Stropman bought at Blade 6 years ago. Hone them all after light touch-up on fine stone with mineral oil.

Tom Flynn

Knife steel

Thanks and I will try it on my kitchen knives. I hope all I have to cut afterward is a stick of medium warm butter. There used to be a guy at our local gun shows that would sharpen knives but he is long gone. I would take a bag of knives (not Randalls) at least once a year for him to sharpen. I miss that old man.

I use the Spyderco Gauntlet perfect everytime ! I actually used my Model 10-7 so much I took the edge completely off and got it laser sharp with the Gauntlet and a DLT strop with the white and green compound.

For my kitchen knives (NOT for Randall Knives!) I use a Chef’sChoice. It works very well, even on my Japanese knives. They are sharp enough to slice tomato so thin that it only has one side! (lol)

A lot of products out there "work well" as far as getting a sharp edge. Unfortunately, a good many "remove" blade metal rather than re-shaping it.
The bottom line is a sharpening "stone" or gentle "ceramic" works great and are "best" for the knives.
Stay Sharp, Capt. Chris

You're right, Captain. Honing with a steel doesn't remove metal, just smooths and straightens it.
(maybe if I remove enough steel by power sharpening, I'll have an excuse to buy a new knife!)

I believe the steel is the harsher of the 3 I use. The EZE-Lap diamond sharpening rod, that comes in the tube on the front of my 4 5/8 inch Stanaback Special, ain't easy on the blade either...even worse than the steel. It is intended for touch up "in the field" only.
Best, Capt. Chris

One of my steels is even harsher--my Professional Extra Fine Oval Diamond Sharpening Steel may say "Extra Fine," but it DOES remove steel. I don't use it as much now as I used to.

Oh, thank you so much Capt Chris for sharing. As for the angle, this is the most important

I also like the instruction from Ruana, I added the scanned leaflet to the message. And after sharpening, sometimes a burr or a wire edge remains, here is a good way to remove it from 12.5 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FqUL6slhtA&t=764
True, he does not say anything about the constant angle, but it is clear that he observes it

I use only stones lately, there are different, artificial abrasives and natural ones. For Randall, my favorites are Crystalon, India from Norton and Craftsman and Sintered Ruby by Gesswein for end sharpening

Last week I met several cool guys, they make knives and sharpen them at a high level. They showed me an old video. One of their teachers. Unfortunately, he died about 12 years ago, but his notes and some articles have survived. You can include subtitles in the video and their translation into English

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdmrMNDL5Bw

Here he shows how to hold a knife, this position of the right hand helps to maintain a constant sharpening angle, very accurately control the pressure of the knife on the stone, and most importantly, it is suitable for people with sore wrists, for example, the hand is numb due to carpal tunnel syndrome or due to arthritis etc., and also for those who need to sharpen a lot at once

Now I'm trying to sharpen it this way. It’s still unusual for the hand, but overall the result is good. The guys also gave me 2 stones - Hindostan and Cretan stone. This time I sharpened #10, first coarse and medium carborundum, then Arkansas and 2 new stones alternately. I wanted to find out the difference between the stones. Cretan turned out to be somewhat rougher than Arkansas. Hindostan turned out to be at the level of Arkansas, but removes metal more quickly. I think from now on I will carry Hindostan with me as a help to Fine India for sharpening when it’s slightly dull. It works well with both water and oil

All this took about half an hour, including cleaning and washing the stones. If look under 10X magnifying glass, can see that it is still very far from ideal and in some places there is a very small burr, but in real work more sharpness is not required
https://youtu.be/UWxheAxpb14

The penultimate photo shows that I did not remove all the dents on the blade, since I don’t see the point in this. I don’t remove large chips, I sharpen them like a serrated tooth. It's a pity to remove a lot of metal from a blade without a serious reason. The last photo shows my folding Böker Slimline. It has suffered from time and rust, a dent has formed, and it has been sharpened like a serrated tooth. Cuts perfectly

Very interesting. Thanks for the in info.

Dennis

I use flat diamond stones for most of my sharpening. They cut reasonably quickly and stay flat. No oil needed.

You have to remove metal to really re-sharpen. Hones re-shape the edge, but eventually you have to remove some metal. It takes a little practice to get accurate and consistent, but it isn't too hard. Always watch the point, it is easy to round off the point.

The various guided sharpeners make it much easier, but those are not cheap.

Does Randall have a shop specified sharpening angle? Does it vary by knife model. And, if anyone knows and can answer, please say whether you mean an inclusive angle (the angle formed by the two bevels) or an exclusive angle (the angle between the bevel and an imaginery center line).

I believe the paperwork that comes with a Randall specifies the angle.
They recommend 20 degrees.
I'd say use a white ceramic rod and the a steel hone rod rather than removing material that the diamond would unless the edge is really poor. Just my $0.02!

I guess I'm not smart enough to answer that question, but I sharpen at 17-20 degrees and do not use diamond sharpeners...(although)...a diamond "EZE-Lap" sharpening steel comes in the tube pouch and on my longer (4 5/8") Stanaback Special..."BUT"...it is intended for a quick and convenient touch-up method in the field & not as a steady diet.
Hope this helps,
Capt. Chris

For a long time I used a Norton bench set almost identical to the ones used in the RMK shop, they have a metal base mine is plastic. Nowadays I highly recommend Work Sharp products as they are extremely effective and very reasonable. Many products like the field sharpener are available locally.

I also use the 3-stone Randall, shop-preferred, Norton rig! Most excellent!
Stay Sharp,
Capt. Chris