doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com OT Dad and Granddads knife sharpening.

My Dad and Granddad's had a lot mechanical aptitude but were horrible when it came to knife sharpening. I pulled out a couple pocket knives to carry for nostalgia sake and was amazed at the amount of metal they removed!! My dad could wear out a whet stone in no time.
How bout yours??

My dad only had one hunting knife, a probably very collectible Case sheath knife.

I came home one time to find that he had ground it down lengthwise to make a filet knife. I would have bought him a box full of filet knives had I known what he was about to do.

I still have what is left of it.

HHH

My Grandaddy could really sharpen a knife on a whet rock, and as a kid I was impressed. But, as I grew older and watched him sharpening it (he always carried a Tree Brand three-blade Stockman), I was amazed at how he did it. He didn't try to hold a specific angle on the edge as he sharpened, he simply laid the blade down flat on the rock, and slid it back and forth until he had a very long angle edge ........... it was one angle all the way from the edge to the back of the blade!

Now, it took him a very long time to get that started on a new knife, but once he did, he could resharpen it quickly. I remember that everytime I asked to use his knife he asked me first what I was going to use it for. Upon hearing my answer, he would open the specific blade he wanted me to use to do that. The spey blade was reserved for castrating calves, and was kept extremely sharp.

I also recall that the "German-made" Tree brands were the highest quality, but had very brittle blades.

Thanks for reminding me, Ken.

SRH

I cannot sharpen a knife worth a doodle.Never have been able to but I keep trying. Bobby

The first proceeds from my paper route went to buy my dad a pocket knife for Christmas. He kept and used that pocket knife until he died. I now have the knife and it is over 63 years old and still sharp and in good shape.

My father did a workman like job of sharpening a knife. Decent edge but nothing to brag about. About the age of 12 I got interested in learning how to sharpen a knife and he showed me, but cautioned me to match the edge to the job. That is that not every job requires a razors edge and sharpening to that level removes a lot of metal if you get carried away like kids do. Yeah, yeah, yeah I thought. I proceeded to sharpen to a razors edge every blade I came across. I found that type edge while extremely sharp did not last for heavy rough use and was prone to nicks. Low and behold I found his workmans like edge stood up to heavy use. I do reserve one blade on multiple bladed knives for that razors edge but it rarely gets used. Funny how much smarter our parents get as we get older.

My dad never really sharpened a knife, choosing to usually just buy another one. My uncle, however, has honed his knife down to a toothpick.

I like using the lansky system or a leather strop for my convex blades. Easy to use, hard to screw up.

I have my late Father's Lansky, but, seldom drag it out. I find it simpler to just hit my Schrade+ (that Dad gave me for Christmas, a long time ago) with a set of Smith ceramic rods in a V block, usually every day. When the edge gets really rough, I stone it by hand with a medium and then a hard Arkansas flat stone, and then proceed to the Smith ceramic rods.
If you take a minute or two every day, the stainless sharpens right up with the ceramic rods. When I have to break down, and head out to the shop to find the stones, it is my fault, not the blade. Stainless gets dull quick, but, it sharpens quick, too.
Dad was a perfectionist with his blades, and you could shave with them. Mine are tools, and I use mine harder than he did. It would never have occurred to him to use his pocket knife to cut plastic box strapping, I do that several times a day with mine.


Best,
Ted

My one Granddad was a machinist, all his tools were sharp, my Dad followed in his footsteps- sharp but not worn out- i have the Case belt knife he carried through WWII and used in his shop for years, except for a very tiny bit of tip on of the grandkids snapped off- its still in great shape

I learned early on- its easier to keep a knife sharp than to get it sharp

i have a stag handled Solingen steel bladed knife I started carrying as a boy scout. It got really dull once- a professional knife/scissors sharpener said it would take too long for him to get the edge back at his normal rate. I got a set of stones and worked on it for a long time, once it has an edge it only needs a light touch up after each deer or two.

Stan, your Grandaddy honed his knives the way I hone my straight razors.........cutting edge and spine both laying flat and touching on the hone. He probably used X strokes with the cutting edge leading. After he was done I bet he used a leather strop for the finishing touch.