I suck at Knife Sharpening - Videos, classes, suggestions?

[Muskykris]

Careful with a belt sander, they have been known to destroy the heat treatment on the edge if used incorrectly. They can heat up steel fast. It seems @Muskykris knows what he is doing, this statement is for the guys who would buy a sander without knowing and ruin a favorite knife. (It’s me, I’m this guy)

Good post, I have ruined a few tips
Now I know to keep it cool

Definitely good to start with cheap knives and work your way up, don’t attempt to sharpen a $300 knife on day 1

 

[thomas3705]

Find a super cheap knife that has a similar shape/bevel to your nice knives and practice on that over and over again until you can get them scary sharp. That'll give you more confidence when you go to sharpen your quality knives.

 

[Swamppirate]

I use the Chef’s choice diamond hone. Works great….

 

[junitas03]

I will swallow my pride and admit I suck at sharpening knives - I have two high quality fixed blade knives (Cabelas/buck elk hunter, and a Benchmade Hunter) I have the worksharp mini belt sharpener and no matter how I follow the instructions - my knives never get that really good edge on it. I usually have to take them to a buddy's dad who uses an old table top lansky and he can get them shaving sharp.

Any good suggestions, videos, or even knife sharpening classes? I have to get to the point where I can sharpen my own knives and not rely on someone else.

I was terrible at it too, but I scooped one of these up - https://www.worksharptools.com/products/guided-field-sharpener

The videos never helped me cause there's a lot of nuance and feel involved, IMO.

Anyways, this handy little tool helped me get the angle right, and create some type of muscle memory.

Now, I can get a blade super sharp - takes a little practice. But, it's guided with the correct angles.

 

[EdP]

Read this thread and you will soon see that there are numerous effective ways to sharpen a blade.

You say you want to learn and also point to your buddy's dad as someone who gets your knives shaving sharp. There is your resource for some instruction right there in your first post. Copy what he does and practice on your kitchen knives.

 

[Jpsmith1]

Careful with a belt sander, they have been known to destroy the heat treatment on the edge if used incorrectly. They can heat up steel fast. It seems @Muskykris knows what he is doing, this statement is for the guys who would buy a sander without knowing and ruin a favorite knife. (It’s me, I’m this guy)

It's also very possible to botch the edge hard with a belt system.

 

[D.Cutlery]

If you want to just quickly sharpen with a fixed system
- TSPROF [Well built, lots of adapters and 1x6" stones available] $$$ costly
- Tormek T4 Bushcraft [Easy to use and learn, slow wet stone] $$ cost
- Worksharp Precision Sharpener [Affordable and also options for adapter and stones] $ economic

The most versatile option is learning freehand with bench stones. It's easily portable and can sharpen anywhere.

Start off with 400 grit Diamond plate and leather strop loaded with 3 to 10 micron diamond emulsion. (400 plate stays flat and you can learn to hold an angle, if you cant get a knife sharp on that, you need more practice before adding more stones.)