Help Sharpening Vergez Blanchard L'indispensable Knife

[lwm803]

I start any new knife on a coarse stone until it comes around to the angle that I stroke the stone rather than trying to match the manufacturer's angle precisely. In most cases close is close enough. From that point on it is a simple matter to keep it sharp on finer grit abrasives and or a good strop as the angle comes more natural to my own grip. I have not been trained to do this, it is simply the method that I picked up over 50+ years of sharpening my own knives, tools and implements. If you have ever noticed that it is easier for you to restore the edge on your own knives than those previously sharpened by someone else you have proven my point here.

[Mikewhy]

As you look at the edge, do you see the scratches from your stone as you sharpen? As you progress through finer grits, is your edge becoming more and more polished? Are the deeper scratches from the coarser grits completely obliterated at each step? At each step, are you able to raise a burr the length of the edge? At the finest grit, are you getting a mirror polish the full width of the edge?

I make my own knives from lathe parting tools, M2 HSS. I sharpen the width of the parting tool. I form the bevel on an 8" bench grinder. A belt sander or (best) belt grinder would work just as well. I sharpen on wet/dry paper on a granite plate, 220 grit, 320, 400, 600. A few strokes on the strop with green paste puts a mirror polish on the edge, and also at the top of the hollow grind. If you started with a belt grinder, the whole bevel will be a flat mirror.

My first effort took literally about a half hour from start to finish. Most of that was on the grinder and the 220 grit to shape and clean up the bevel. Successively finer grits take progressively shorter, ending with about 20 strokes a side on the 600 grit. I then strop until each stroke on the strop raises a full length burr. When it takes more than about a minute to strop up the burr, I put it on the 600 paper again. Sometimes, clumsy handling makes clean up with coarser grits necessary.Except for deep dings, this too goes very fast.

Learn to sharpen straight edged tools first, chisels or wood planes, for example. Everything else will come easy once you learn to polish a mirror onto that edge.

[Palermo]

We shoe makers make those knives out of hacksaw blades. Take to a skilled shoe repair or shoe maker and they will show you.