The Reason You Can't Get A Hair Whittling Edge No One Talks About

[@OUTDOORS55]

Be sure to check out my current recommendation for best value sharpening stone➡ amzn.to/3xs6PnE (Affiliate link) And others in the description. If you have any questions ask me in the comments. I get most of my ideas right from you guys! Thanks for watching! As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

[@susceptibility_]

Mine has arrived yesterday, it is really decent, I am still a beginner, but I was able to form a burr pretty quickly, but still have to practice the removal. Thank you for the recommendation!

[@hkguitar1984]

So glad you covered this subject. Many times a friend or coworker will check out my EDC and be amazed at the edge sharpness. At that point they ask me to sharpen their knife, and 9 times out of 10 their knife is of poor quality, thus the edge performance of their knife is disappointing. I've explained many times the importance of a good quality blade, most people just won't spend $200+ on a pocket knife. My EDC is a SpiderCo Military with a CPM S30V blade, it is easily one of the top 10 knives I've ever owned (and easily money well spent). Great content (that is what keeps me coming back), thank you.

[@HKM-fj5fk]

Hey i know you are a specialised knife channel. But if you talk about kitchen knives , the one place most people use knife , will be really great

[@hkguitar1984]

@@HKM-fj5fk Indeed YES

[@dragoscoco2173]

Diamond does not strop 440A, it cuts. Use green compound and do a proper strop that gives it an actual polished edge.

[@nikitavanhoose405]

I'm 45 now, but as a kid, me and my dad and other family members were always hunting, fishing, and other outdoors activities. Because of this, we were always using hunting knives and filet knives, so my dad taught me how to sharpen them at an early age. The best early tip he ever gave me was the sticker trick. Basically, you pretend, or emagine theirs a sticker stuck to the surface of the stone, so your trying to use the very extreme tip of the edge to catch the edge of the sticker and peal it off in one swipe. This helped me tremendously in getting a decent angle, and after doing this over and over, now all these years later I have muscle memory for holding the blade at the perfect angle to sharpen. I'm no expert, but I can put an edge on most knives that will easily cut hair in about 20 minutes, or so, depending on how dull it was to start with.

[@Sanguivore]

That’s a really cool tip! :D Thank you!

[@ahmedhajwani8980]

I am able to get a cheap 1 dollar knife shaving sharp in just 5-6 mins on a sharpal dual sided stone. I live in India, thus I only had the option to import the sharpal, and I had no budget to import a quality diamond strop😢. Hoping in future to get better stropping compounds and Better knives. I have a few different shape knives but all of them are 3-4 dollar knives which I can't get more than shaving on it

[@wretchedmess]

Expert sharpening skills aside, your camera work, editing and the quality of the microscopic close-ups are absolutely astounding. The close-up of the hair whittling, perfectly lit and in perfect focus are unbelievably skillful. You could start a second channel teaching video production.

[@Guynhistruck]

I taught video production at a university level for a number of years, and I fully agree. Phenomenal work. A testament to the fact that you don't need thousands of dollars worth of equipment to get great results; just the proper knowledge base and some reasonably affordable supplies can put out some incredible end results. 👍

[@OwenIverson]

Agreed - getting clear microscope shots and esp video is not a simple task!

[@bill4639]

Guys, you are being duped by what is basically a TV show, made by a major network, with a paid actor that reads from a script. None of this is accurate, true, or going to help you learn how to sharpen a knife.

[@Noahitis]

​@@bill4639 ?? which major network

[@DtWolfwood]

Finally I can blame the cheap steels instead of my inability to sharpen! Thanks! OK I'm very bad at sharpening but dagnabit I'll get it someday

[@d3w4yn3]

Paid for a plane ticket to Atlanta, paid for my ticket for the show, but my dog ate half a kitchen towel and almost died and had to have a very expensive surgery.... if it weren't for that, I would have gotten to meet you in person at the blade show! I'll just have to watch your videos repeatedly until the next time!

[@OUTDOORS55]

Aww bummer...sorry to hear that

[@Laurarium]

Why would the dog do that?

[@craigljardine]

​@@Laurariumdogs are assholes. That's why 😂

[@arthurmoore9488]

@@Laurarium Why did my dog decide to use a box cutter as a chew toy? Dogs can be extremely smart, but will randomly do something incredibly stupid. Maybe the towel had some grease on it, or tasted good. For me, after the vet ER bill, that was the most expensive knife I've ever owned. With the best part being the "solution" was to let her poop it out.

[@DaryooshF.Sh.P-vq6mu]

Bet this is a relief for many of us 🔪

[@scottbennington2936]

Trying to tune The old timer and an old buck skinner had me so frustrated. Yet I could tune my parents kitchen in 30 mins. Never understood. Know I know.

[@DaryooshF.Sh.P-vq6mu]

@@scottbennington2936 yea I have had same problem with some of knives. Know I can get rid of them with clean conscious. Hell the worst of mine is Falkniven A1 pro. Big pin in my …

[@1eikaramba1]

if possible i would wish that for the next videos you try to sharpen kitchen knifes. i think you always use hunting knifes. i understand it maybe does not really makes a difference, but i just feel there are so many different kitchen knives and are there differences on how they can and should be sharpened?

[@LogisticallyMisrepresented]

Slimmer angles

[@OUTDOORS55]

I have big plans for this area coming soon👍

[@1eikaramba1]

@@OUTDOORS55 nice thank you so much. And I forgot to say thank you for that video. I just bought a new Japanese damascus knife after watching that video. It's your fault :p

[@bobbygetsbanned6049]

@@OUTDOORS55 I'm only interested in kitchen knives, so that's good news.

[@misterkevinoh]

@@OUTDOORS55 All chefs thank you

[@Doc-Holliday1851]

I'm convinced that schrade makes their old timer knives out of chromed plastic based on how they sharpen.

[@oceanwaves83]

It's so bad lol

[@dragoscoco2173]

Nah, the knife is fine. The strop failed to do it's job in polishing the edge. It is very common for people to mess up stainless steel stropping.

[@Doc-Holliday1851]

@@dragoscoco2173 I’m not saying this based on the video but on my own experience as a professional knife sharpener. Old timers are trash.

[@Bethany415]

I wish it wasn't true, but it is. At least they are now making knives with D2 and 9CR18Mov. They still make the trash, but it's not all they make.

[@byronnelson2549]

Shrade went out of business in 2004-05. The ones you see now at Walmart are anywhere are from China and are stainless. The older Schrades made in the USA were carbon. Shrade /Walden was before Shrade and were even better.

[@steves3261]

I Just want to say THANK YOU for the tutorials and especially the close up camera work on blade edges. I've spent 50 years as a frustrated outdoorsman struggling to get my blades sharp. While my hunting partner sharpens to perfection on the bottom of a coffee cup, I've spent a lifetime of making things dull. With your recommendation, I purchased the Sharpal Diamond plate and strop, and 6 micron diamond paste. All my knives are shaving sharp right now. 1 bucket list item checked off... and yeah - I mean it!

[@alexolivarez732]

From one Alex to another. Thank you so much for this video! You just kept me from losing my mind!

[@alextheonewarrior]

Another alex here, I share the appreciation

[@klausnielsen1537]

I own a budget Mora knife that i can always get super sharp without too much hassle. I have found that because of the price I use it all the time. Point being that a manufacturer that takes heat treatment serious can make great results with inexpensive steels.

[@1980Baldeagle]

My favorite knife.

[@yellowked]

Honey wake up, new sharpening video just dropped

[@scottbennington2936]

Wife- "How many times can watch a man sharpen a knife"? You- "He split a piece of hair in half and filmed it under a microscope"!

[@lawrenceragnarok1186]

Dude, don't. That joke is so bad and is for true crime channel watchers that simp for the nasaly host

[@reidycruise]

And your best friend is balls deep lol

[@DefinitelyNotJ749]

More like: honey wake up, I need your hair to whittle for the sharpening videos

[@RainForestLeDoux]

My wife was like "what the hell are you watching" the other day.... Now I've ordered stones and strops and am constantly having her test the kitchen knives lmfao... she married a nerd.

[@diamondflaw]

The Schrade Stockman that I got from my grandfather is from back when they were made from something like 1095 and it takes and holds an edge wonderfully…. It also weighs close to double what the newer Chinese made ones do.

[@WhatsupOpa-gk6ko]

Hi Alex, I'm a old Michigander in Germany and I've just stumbled into knife sharpening about 6 months ago, I've watched & have learned from 4 channels but Outdoors55 is the one I'm hooked on, I've learned a lot from your one of a kind and humor filled workshops in a short time, Thank you 🤠👍...I'm currently driving my wife crazy with all the used, bent, damaged, rusty Japanese & other kitchen knives/axes that I get from Ebay just to practice & learn to restore/sharpen knives...🤪

[@ScooterFXRS]

What I learned years ago from a gentleman that had been in the metal industry his whole career and was a consultant, was than when it comes to heat treating in mass, most of it is done as fast and cheaply as possible, resulting in roughly 15%- 30% of items do not get treated properly.

[@ml3141]

This very important information! All I have is cheap kitchen knives, a few cheap Pocket knives, and two water stones. I will not attempt to get them super sharp. What for?!! No need! Thank you for the great info! 👍👍👍👍

[@jayb_ltl83]

Best knife sharpening channel by far .. what a talent I dream of having

[@vanishwolfen]

Thank you. Guess it explains why I can't get some of my wife's cheap kitchen knives to hair whittling sharp. Keep it up bro. And take care.

[@freemansame8062]

Hope to see a video with a compilation of all the crazy close-ups you do, it deserves its own chapter

[@leecapel8184]

I got to ask , where do you get your hair from to test these ? clearly it's not your.😂

[@ViralMag_Ravager]

The girlfriend/wife is getting a bald spot and doesn't know why 😂😂

[@nobodyatall7039]

Small stainless steel pocket knives are very difficult to sharpen because the steel is wear resistant and you have very little to hold onto and apply pressure. A large carbon or tool steel fixed blade is much easier to keep a good edge on, one of countless reasons why I prefer these as general purpose knives.

[@bill4639]

Holy hell, you know more than this youtuber. This is the most intelligent comment here.

[@astaschak]

I've definitely run into this issue with my budget traditional knives like Schrades and Rough Ryders. The bur just doesn't want to go away, and I can even reform a bur with my strop. Whereas my k390 or s30v and even lower end but quality steels like 420hc and 14c28n are much easier to get a great edge on.

[@Yeraus]

Man, I'm really glad I found your channel. More than 10 years ago now I watched some videos about knife sharpening, which in retrospect taught me wrong in many areas (like using sharpening stones with way too much grit, or that you should definitely use aluminium oxide whet stones). Your video cleared a lot of things up for me, thanks!

[@Dav-S5658]

I think what I need are better quality hairs! Can you link your hair source in the description??

[@kyounokaze]

Found this channel recently and it has quickly become my favorite channel to learn about sharpening

[@Gumbob1967]

Great video as always. Ive been practising freehand sharpening for a while. Getting there slowly. Best wishes from Scotland. Stay shiney.

[@mitch3005]

Just took a small break at busy work to relax and watch this. Thank you for the great views and info! The outro was fire. Ready to go to work again for just little over an hour

[@olivermilutinovic749]

Your videos have been extremely helpful. I am getting the edges I wanted, settled on a range of Shaptons. Thanks.

[@sasines]

Thank you Alex! I always learn something new from your videos plus it keeps my interest and practice going. Stay well my friend.

[@powers1776reset]

I’ve always had difficulty sharpening the PM2, in S30V. I don’t know what it is, in particular, but I struggle to this day. And it’s more so about the knife and edge geometry, than the steel type, I think.

[@TheZaji]

At first, you make really nice kind of in depth videos about sharpening. They are very informative and I've learned a lot, great work ! Unfortunately I gave up on trying to sharpen my knifes on stones because for me it's to time-consuming. I've bought a tormek T1 and try to get good results out of it. If the knife is shaving I am happy no matter if it rips the hair out or pops them of. Do you have a recommendation for a lens or microscope to see what's going on on the cutting edge?

[@thepugilist4379]

Dude, had to come back. Just whittled my first hair and I’m super stoked. I feel like such a dork, but it made me so damn happy. I think I might have the process down…😁

[@joshuadelisle]

whats your opinion on mdf sharpening? also mdf with a chard edge and mdf with abrasive compound?

[@cordobadebear]

Excellent demonstration! Not only a good comparison between type and hardness of steel, but also with a typical sharpening process. Great idea! …I find that with m4, or k390, I haven’t had to sharpen in three years…just stropping as soon as I feel any loss of sharpness and it’s back or even sharper, and blade just keeps going!

[@humphreyjones1828]

I bought that same looking stone you used first to start out sharpening and had such a terrible time. I couldn’t get anything sharp on it until years later after I learned on better harder stones.

[@robertpoynton9923]

I bought one of the sharpal stones you recommended and i have been using 3 knife's as tests before I start sharpening a good quality knife. This might explain why im not getting hair popping sharp on my practice knives.

[@nurse-plumber]

I appreciate all of your help. My interest is in sharpening my kitchen knives to obviously get the best results. I'm getting better, made a strop and the only compound I had was white. It's OK, but I would like to purchase some high quality diamond emulsion. Jende 4 and 6 micron has been out of stock. Can you recommend another brand of diamond emulsion that is also a top shelf product?

[@MAWA2024]

And here I thought that I had finally bought a good sharpening stone. So much for Amazon reviews!

[@tombrown4683]

I have wondered about this. Makes sense.

[@fionnhovawart9594]

Hey, it's one of the most interesting videos around knife sharpening 👍 The micro takes are perfect 🍻 Cheers from 🇦🇹

[@waggerinator]

Watched a couple of videos now. Very well made videos with much information and really good closeups. But now I´m curious how to get a scissor sharp on these stones.

[@kogasoldier9379]

Picked up a cheap Diamond stone from harbor freight for about 12 bucks, combined with a soft arkansas stone and leather strop i can get a decent edge on most my blades, but i did notice it’s easier to do on my 8cr13 than my d2 blades…

[@GruntBurger]

I am pretty experienced at sharpening at this point, been doing it by hand for about 20 years now and I'm pretty good. I can confirm, i stopped using my old timer trapper because it just won't get sharp.

[@vgamedude12]

It is odd that the 1 dollar kitchen knife seemed to have a much better edge despite being soft and probably as bad as that knife. Is it blade geometry or the fact it was sharpened on better stones (i believe) in your video?

[@thegrimsniper]

this had me going through my straight razor collection and touching up a few pieces, now everything (at least all the viable ones) is back up to par

[@WorthlessCynomys]

Hey! Your videos are great, thank you for them. I picked up the 400 diamond stone and the shapton 1000 to start sharpening. I was wondering if you could make a video about how can I determine how good my edge and my sharpening is without a macro camera. Also a video on scissors would be very helpful as well. Thank you for showing us this craft, keep up the good work!

[@henrybyers5557]

what would you suggest for maintaining a thin and flexible filet knife? I've tried freehand sharpening but they're so flexible it's hard to keep consistent pressure and angles. I see a lot of pro guys that use the same filet knife all day use a pull-through for touching up the edge every few fish, but I've never had good luck with pull-through sharpeners. so I'm at a loss how to do edge maintenance with filet knives when doing more than a couple fish at a time or between trips.

[@ZarlanTheGreen]

I think it was in the video about the "magical" diamond plates, that you mentioned you didn't know when to stop, because you couldn't tell the change in scratch pattern. So... Sharpening until you get a uniform burr, is something you only on the first stone, then, and you aren't supposed to do that, with any further stones you go to? Makes sense, but how does one tell, when one's done, as a newbie? I don't think I've ever encountered a video, or anything else, that touches on this issue.

[@cornoc]

I would also like to know

[@KibberShuriq]

If you get a good loupe or a (very cheap) microscope, it becomes fairly easy to see when the scratch pattern is not getting refined any longer and it's time to switch grades.

[@cornoc]

@@KibberShuriq Got any recommendations?

[@ed5042]

thanks for a great youtube channel, may I ask have you any suggestions how to sharpen a glock knife for a better edge for cutting? thanks

[@babaarcuszatir]

I am having a really hard time with some cheap kitchen knives…this video came the right time 😅

[@StormSpider-iw1uz]

Hi, could you make a video about how both sides of the apex being sharpened at different angles affects sharpness. For instance, one side is sharpened at 15 degrees and the other is sharpened at 20. My kitchen knives go relatively dull in 1-2 uses and I'm wondering if that could be why. (I am removing the burr with a strop, however I don't know what micron size compound I have.)

[@Jvitork]

Thank you for the great video! I can get almost all my knives shaving sharp, but after 1 week of daily use they feel dull again. Is it normal or should they last a little longer? (It's not a premium steel btw) Although I dont have a magnifier to check closely, I really think that I've removed all the burrs... Any tips, please? (Not sure if does it matter but I'm using the DMT stones 325 and 1200 grit then stroping with green compound)

[@EDC_IWB]

Thank you! I can get almost every knife to shaving sharp now but I think it's the stropping compound that's holding me back from hair whittleing sharp. I need to get the diamond stuff. Hope you're feeling well!

[@dragoscoco2173]

Diamond is not a true stropping material. Stropping is polishing, diamonds are cutting.

[@EDC_IWB]

@@dragoscoco2173 yes true. But I'm talking about the diamond stropping compound. The stuff that Alex recommends using all the time. It's expensive which is why I don't have it yet.

[@EDC_IWB]

​@@dragoscoco2173I'm talking about using the diamond stropping compound he talks about all the time. It's way better than the green stuff but it's pretty expensive and I haven't gotten any yet. I'm not saying that that's definitely where I'm lacking, there's still a high possibility it's still my technique but I won't know until I get it and try.

[@EDC_IWB]

​@@dragoscoco2173if you got 2 replies it's because my replies keep disappearing after I send them.

[@H00Dwinked26]

Bad advice. All “cut”. The difference between polishing and cutting g is determined by the size of the material.

[@jons2447]

Hello, Alex; Thank you for another good video. When I was young (69 now) Schrade had some good carbon steel knives. Back then, you couldn't give me Schrade stainless blade. That was like 50 years ago. I still have a bias against stainless because much of it (back then) was "stainless". But not so much "steel", IFKWIM. I bought a 440 stainless "Sarge" pocket knife from Woodcraft for $10, 1/2 off. It is hard to sharpen & even sharpening at a lower angle it's still hard to sharpen. With the bevel at a 1/16th wide (maybe 12°?) it is sharper but it still a junk knife. The liners are thin, the scales look like some kind of dull black plastic. Hey, it's a cheap $10 knife. But I can get it sharper by sharpening at a lower angle. Try it, when you got 15-20 minutes to kill. Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!

[@S.Vallieres]

Hi Alex, thanks a lot for this another nice sharpening video. I must say I'm surprised you had trouble getting very high sharpness with the Old Timer knife (55 HRC) while you got hair whittling sharp edge on the 1$ kitchen knife (51-52 HRC) which even remained sharp after carving a 2x4... Maybe there is more RA in the Old Timer one... but at the same time I strongly doubt the 1$ knife got an oil or plate quench and a cryo cycle in its HT... A bit confusing to me...

[@OnTheRiver66]

I think you are correct. I have noticed for years that some blades can be made very sharp and others cannot. Some are almost impossible to sharpen. This is due to the steel itself. I had one well known brand that I easily brought to a razor edge, and the exact same knife from the same maker I bought a year or two later that was almost impossible to bring to the same edge. I also think that something has to do with the grain sizes in the steel which is due to the processing of the steel.

[@jamescraig8601]

Thank you. I had a 3 blade old timer. 2 blades would get hair splitting sharp. The 3rd blade wouldn't get sharp after the factory hair splitting sharpness. I figured the factory got the temper off a little. They sent me a new knife. But still have the one that won't get sharp.

[@brianbaldwin3700]

I love your work man. I want to know how long a hair whittling edge holds that edge after cutting through something other than hair? Im sure steel choice has a lot to do with it but do I need to go this far with my knives for a lasting edge?

[@j.l.327]

A thousand times yes, he could have stopped when he got it sharp and had a knife that would have done most cutting tasks, if you want to chase a high rockwell and hair whittling thats fine but in the real world its a cheaper knife that would perform most tasks, you can put rims on a pinto but trying to win a best of show at the auto show is not a safe bet

[@sho6498]

Hi Alex! I have a question: can you use oil on a waterstone and vice versa? If not, then why, what happens if you try? What features make them different? If there is something to say and show about this, then perhaps this could become a topic for a video. Thank you for your content!

[@massimofiaschi7351]

Hi, as usual, very interesting and very important video for beginners. I wanted to ask you: in your opinion, what should be the minimum hardness of steel (HRC) to be able to cut a hair? What type of pocket knife do you recommend? Thanks, Massimo.

[@JeffSaldivar]

Love the videos. Curious if you could analyze ceramic and diamond rods, not the sticks that’s SpyderCo offers, but like the honing steels, but ceramic.

[@gregblake2764]

I have knives out of a variety of steels: 1095, 1075, S30v, 420HC, A2, W2, Magnacut, S35V, O1, and more. The O1 blade is by a custom knife maker that's friends with my oldest son. It gets sharper and is easier to sharpen than all of the other blades by top name knife companies. No idea how hard the O1 is, but it isn't prone to chipping and holds an edge as long as the more expensive steels. I've always figured he just nailed it on the heat treatment when he made the knife blank for me.

[@McFrog27]

Could you test the difference between stropping with, and without compound. It would be neat to see the difference

[@flnflnfln]

Thanks for the video

[@gibtsnocheinenfreien]

Thats definitely a thing! Thank you for that video! 🙂

[@justingring9077]

I recently attempted to sharpen a knife for the first time. The edge seems to be very sharp. Ive noticed when cutting through fairly thick printer paper the edge of the paper curls up like a ribbon. I am curious if this is a good thing or bad and what might be causing it?

[@StonesAndStrops79YT]

Thankyou so much for responding alex i thought you died or were hurt i was really scared man. Ur my favorite youtuber. Is everything good healthwise

[@Knifeguyyy]

Excellent vid as usual! I share them often in the KME Users group. ⚔️

[@gbh1913]

Could you do a video on what steels get the sharpest? Maybe do a few of them?

[@petersiska9939]

I love my böker spring knive with Aus8 Steal. Thats the best one

[@peterlassis2156]

Request from Sweden. Would be great to see a test of different manufacturers of diamond paste. Amazon is a jungle. Everything from diamond powder to different paste and compounds. What is the most bang for the buck. To grits from different manufacturers would do it, 0.5 and 3 microns for example. Do you think you will do it? And I love your content 👍

[@garycockrell7009]

I've got a Gerver "Hunter" that I've owned for at least 40 years and can't get it sharp, stopped tryin' 30 years ago.... any suggestions?

[@Sanguivore]

Probably a silly request, but could you do a video sharpening one of those $2 Morakniv-clone bait knives from Walmart? I bought some of those to practice my sharpening and I’d love to see what you’d be capable of with them.

[@ThirdLawPair]

So for softer steels, would it work better to use less pressure to avoid deforming the edge?

[@_Tom_Cat]

Will please make a video reviewing the 'Sharpens Best' knife sharpener?

[@uanda2371]

How about composition of the steel? Are There any effects for sharp?? Nb: sorry for my bad English.

[@-IE_it_yourself]

can we please see more swiss army and opinel and leathermann knives for testing? i know they are noting special but i think they are a good benchmark. and a kiwi or 2 if you got time. keep it up and overcome! thanks for the info!

[@xenodrake4008]

Hey! Curious here about something. Just went into the Shapton website and their "best" stones are supposed to be the Rockstar lineup (although the amazon description says they are equivalent to the glass lineup but thinner) but i'm curious about them since at the moment they are even cheaper than the kuromakus. Also, it would be interesting to see how the coarser models they produce compare to the typical diamond 400 grit. Btw, just started watching your channel to learn about this and you make it very easy, loved the video with all the tips and mistakes to avoid, and the uncut one where you go through all the process

[@American-Plague]

Hey Alex, I'm sure you've had this question before but I have some DMT 3 micron diamond stropping paste and some DMT 1 micron stropping paste. I've heard conflicting answers. Should your higher grit (3 micron) paste go on the suede side of the leather paddle strop or the smooth side of the leather paddle strop or vice versa? And is 3 micron paste good enough after your last stone sharpening on a 9 micron DMT sharpening stone? Thanks in advance!

[@hawkknight4223]

I was already to make a negative comment. But I think you’re pretty much right on everything here man! And yeah. Those stones, do indeed, suck!

[@tallbrian100]

I have a ZWILLING PROFESSIONAL S 8-inch, Chef's Knife. I can get it plenty sharp for kitchen use but its to soft the get hair whittling sharp.

[@danielz000]

I was banging my head against the wall over why I couldn't get my 52hrc kitchen knives super sharp, eventually came to the conclusion it was the steel. This confirms my suspicions.

[@killerbern666]

it would be nice if you could do the same test with different well known brand/steel stuff like a buck 110, a victorinox swiss knife or a spyderco so we know if these can get THAT sharp at all 🤔

[@Alastair510]

some steels, particularly cheap SS, are tough, and the burr won't grind off. Plastic deformation, just like they say about 6:05 Conversely , I have some old carbon tools (billhook, sickle, scythe) that aren't sharp, but a hair popping edge can be achieved. Easily dinted, yes, but easily repaired. A really hard steel would chip.

[@Somerandomguy2998]

Hey, could you do a video where you thin out the schrade old timer, give it a much thinner edge and see if you can't get it sharper?

[@sammiches6859]

Funny enough. When I sharpened knives at Bass Pro (and I sharpened upwards of 7-8,000), I actually liked sharpening the pre-2004/pre-China Old Timers. It was never as fun as a Buck 110 or Case Trapper or Benchmade Griptillian, but it was a joy compared to the Pakistani or Chinese unbranded trash that flooded the shop. I might get 30 junk knives with soft steel until I was convinced I was having a bad time sharpening, only for a decent person to come by and drop off a Spyderco, Benchmade, ZT, or some other CPM steel-based knife that I would reprofile and hone to a shaving edge in 60 seconds or less. I got bored and sharpened many things that weren't knives into edged devices that were better cutters than any Schrade this century.

[@smorgishborg7789]

How’s 57 hrc for an edc pocket knife?and do you have a video explaining what different hardnesses are good for different applications?

[@luisaspo]

Thanks for the video!!! Is 9Cr18MoV or 14c28n a steel that can do that hair slicing? It’s very interesting for me to know because I know I just haven’t got to an expert level sharpening my knives. But how far am I to get there? Will I know with this steel?

[@Rootori4]

14C28N for sure, 9Cr18MoV surely but i think 14C28N is a way finer Steel. Swedish Steel always was popular.

[@tgraymk]

As a beginner, I started with cheap aluminum oxide stones. Now I can sharpen on amything! Although I think mine were less crappy than your demo one!

[@MrWednesday.23]

One of the first folding knives I bought for myself 20 years ago was a Lebendwell in stainless for $7 and it seems to fit this category. Its so soft that the apex just deforms immediately and it never gets sharp. I use Smiths diamond plates and a spyderco fine ceramic then finish with a diamond paste strop and I can get everything else in my collection from 8cr to M4 scary sharp, but I keep that Lebendwell just as a reminder of what a terrible quality knife is.

[@dragoscoco2173]

Diamond is not a strop as it cuts.

[@arkonwolves7192]

Hey quick question, how well would you rate 5160 for sharpening. I used the sharpal diamond stone you recommended and it got my Puukko made of 5160 fairly sharp but not hair whittling so I just thought it was a technique issue but this video raised the question of the steel.

[@workhard2belazy]

Hey, can you need to give me a little more information. I need kitchen knives. any recommendations? I do need it to not rust though since my wife sometimes leaves it wet.

[@pinarppanrapir9489]

I'm asking for a video on how to sharpen those nail clippers that look like curved pliers. Second time I tried sharpening one with a stone and second one I ruined it. I've seen videos already, but I really have trouble making the faces meet perfectly.

[@paulmullins102]

arkansas ceramic steel seems to take the edge of the knife off what is your opinion on it cheers

[@daniel.rosina]

Thanks for great content!

[@joet81]

Is there another teir of sharpness higher than paper towel and hair whittling sharpness? I've reached that level, wondering if I can get any sharper...

[@Hod86]

Hey. I enjoy your videos, i've learned quite a lot by watching them. I have 2 questions. Would it be correct to assume, for a high HRC blade(60+), if not properly apexed, it would dull faster than a blade made from softer metal, because the burr will chip faster? I have a vg10 knife, sharpened decently to cut paper, but after cutting a couple of vegetables, it would not cut the paper like before. As for the second question, what do you gain by polishing the blade on a higher grit stone (5000+) if one could get hair whittling sharp on a 1000 grit?

[@m8eee]

I have a 7Cr17MoV bg knife. Similar to 440a. It's always almost sharp but never sharp sharp. Handles a lot of abuse but never shaves even after having it professionally sharpened. Thanks for confirming

[@bill4639]

Trust me, this guy is full of 💩. You can get a butter knife shaving sharp, he just doesn’t know how. I suggest you ditch your “pro sharpener” and do it yourself. Practice, practice, practice.

[@greenleaf239]

Is there a source that explains the various knife or tool steels?

[@hddm3]

Awsome diag very good info and so true