FWIW - Found this site....

knife sharpening for idiots

Should work great for me

 

Glad ya put the pict in !n!
i can see from the pict the problem

you are using two course material on it !

believe me it will take some time (must be done by hand) a leather strop is the solution !
i am a wood carver and sharpen my own knives >
think about this back in the day > when barbers shaved people thay had leather strops > leather will take small amounts of steel off & leave a polished surface.

if you looked at your knife blade now with a magnifying glass you would see a very rough surface stropping will remove the high spots and leave a smoth polished surface that will stay sharp with a little stropping from time to time.
Claude

 

x3

Lanskys are great. Just takes a bit of time. I've been using mine for 15 years.

 

Try Wild Bills gun shop in Atlantic City South of Lander, he sharpens knives and has good prices on guns too

 

Read,memorize and,buy Lansky system.I still use my 3 stone I bought in 1972.Break the rollover and then sharpen and hone.These arn't too bad either.I can shave the hair on my arm after 5/10 min.with one of these things.http://www.hunterhoner.com/kitchen.html

 

not sure how you can tell from the pictures that he is using too course of a stone. Without a macro of the edge, I cant tell how is edge looks.
Some of the things I run into when learning to sharpen with a steel was rounding my edge (inconsistant angle) and too shallow of an angle.

 

Okay, so I found a guy in town to lend me a Lansky Sharpener. WOW. Took a LONG time to rough out the edge but after about two and a half hours I got her sharp again. After I finished with the last stone (ceramic) I used Claude's suggestion of using a leather strope (old belt) to polish it. I can now shave with the thing. Can't wait to skin a deer with it.

I do have one question for those of you who have them or have used them. I had to start with the black stone to get things roughed out, What I am wondering is when you know when to switch to the next stone. When they are really rough, it is pretty easy to tell, but I was thinking that I may have wasted a lot of time by not switching soon enough.

Okay so I have two questions...

I am quite obviously going to buy a lansky set, which set would you buy if you had to get a new one, and why.

Thanks again for all the help guys, I GOT MY KNIFE BACK!!!!!!

Can't thank you enough

Jeff

 

It sounds like you weren't staying consistent on your angles.

 

Ya you are right, I read through the web site I posted and had to really look for the bur forming. It's really easy with the Lansky cause it is so consistent. But I broke out an old stone for one of my other knives and used some of his suggestions. Worked OK but there is no substitution for a well designed machine. At least for me!!!! My grandfather had an old Buck sharpening guide, that he used occasionally, but he could get an edge on a knife that was unreal. probably because he had to learn how to do it, no other options. Kinda like using a hand saw, or coping saw I suppose. I am still gonna ty to do it the old fashioned way. But for this hand made knife, there is no other option really!!!

 

Black marker helps show the honing angle, here with a rod-guided system.

If you can't see the scratch pattern, try darkening the old bevel with a black felt tip marker, then stroke the stone again. The scratch pattern will stand out against the dark marking.

When the angle is set correctly, grind one side of the blade until you have removed the old edge. Grind until you have raised a burr. The burr will appear on the side opposite the one you are grinding. With experience you will learn how to stop with just a small burr in this step.
There are three basic strokes when you sharpen - sliding the stone onto the edge, sliding it off the edge, or circular strokes. At the first stage, any of the three is okay, although sliding the stone off the edge makes a larger burr, which in turn makes it easier to detect.

For the next step use a medium stone. Its purpose is not so much to remove material as to grind away the scratches made by the first stone. The medium stone should be about twice as fine as the first. If you started with a 180 grit stone, you can use 320 or 360 now. Use circular strokes until the old scratch pattern is gone. Then do an equal amount of grinding on the second side.

You might still be able to detect a small burr at this stage. Finish with a few light strokes sliding onto the edge to remove the burr. This is where slicing a decal off the stone is an accurate description. The blade should now be sharp with no burr. The edge now has 320 or 360 grit micro-serrations, which is good enough for many uses.

The micro-serrations are providing some of the apparent sharpness now but they will wear and bend. A steel or a touch-up stone will straighten them and bring back the sharpness. Continue to the next step if you want a longer lasting edge.

For the third step use a fine stone, 600 or 800 grit, and hone using only strokes going onto the edge. Alternate sides with every stroke. This will help prevent forming a new burr.

Your edge should now shave. Test it as described above. If there is roughness, go back to the medium stone. If there is no roughness but the edge doesn't have enough bite, continue with the fine stone.

When the blade becomes dull, repeat the medium and fine stones. Only when the blade becomes nicked or damaged will you need to go back to the coarse stone.

Ahnd then you can go to a Japanese Water Stone which takes a little longer.

 

good advice, irocpractice.