knives

[rickraider]

anyone reccomed a knife brand and cost .usually i pay 20 to 30 dollars for a knife but lose the edge after a couple of sessions .maybe i need shapening lessons

[jaybee]

cant beat a frost its what all the filleters use at the markets, knives all lose their edge, u need to know how to hone them in before use, and once they get a belly they last longer, if you live in Brisbane, try neilsons at bulimba, they supply butchers etc, a cheap knife will set u back around $60 hope this helps
cheers

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

i have a Nordmark filleting knife (cheaper than a frost & you can get them from the fishing dept of Kmart of tackle shops) & it is an excellent filleting knife & comes with a diamond sharpener set at the correct angle for rehoning.

A smart man has several knives for each purpose.
Your best & most prized should be the filleting knife & you should be restoring its edge after each fish - not several sessions.
Also you should use a different stiffer bladed knife for cracking bones etc.
Your filleting knife really shouldn't be the your general purpose kick around the boat knife.

If you use clippers or scissors to cut line, & store it correctly in a sheath you will find your general purpose knife will hold its edge a lot longer.

chris

[dazza]

hi rickraider,

as far as knives go- you get what you pay for.

learn how to sharpen them and you're laughing.
i use a good quality steel and touch up the blade when i'm using it. ie: after each fish.
every few months i give them a touch up on a stone.
the hardest thing is doing it properly. my old man is a butcher and makes it look very easy. he has taught me how to sharpen a knife properly (which i am still yet to master) and it makes a huge difference.

when purchasing a knife- hard steel will hold an edge for a long time, but are absolute dog's to sharpen, a softer blade will sharpen easily, but won't hold an edge as long. depending on your application as to what steel the blade will be

have a look at a butcher supply shop, they usually have good quality gear and know what they are takling about.

cheers
dazza

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Mate,
Get one of those new diamond steels. They are the ones with the little chips (supposedly of diamond) stuck to the surface of the steel. A bit like the missus's top of the range nail file. Anyway, they cost a bit but are bloody brilliant for getting an great edge on your knife. A couple of flicks either side between each fish and you won't remember what it was like to have a blunt knife.
Because they sharpen better, I heard you don't need to go back to the wheel as often. And if like me (and apparently Dazza) and are not too flash at getting a good edge consistantly with a conventional steel, the diamond ones are a snap.
Cheers,
Jeff

[Lachie1]

Yeah the diamond steels are bloody good i tell ya go one of them for sure. But like Chris said get one knife for filleting and one for cracking the bones. Will save the edge heaps. If you have a good friendly local butcher he might even sharpen for ya if you buy a roast or a few stakes.

Cheers, Lachie

[Big_Muddie]

Evening all.

Ultrasharp knives have been a passion of mine for the past 40 or so years and during that time I have had a lot of knives, sharpening stones, a few steels and a couple of fancy sharpening systems.

Many good knife brands are available today - Frost, Swibo, Victory etc etc. My current "specialist" filleting knife is a Victory Stainless Steel (butchers boning knife). Once properly sharpened it holds it's edge for a very long time. And it's one of the few "stainless" knives I've found to be truly rust resistant.

Stainless blades are damned difficult to get a good edge on, but it can be done. The secret with all edges is to have a consistent angle on both sides of the blade. Not all knives require this but generally for filleting it is necessary.

My time proven process of sharpening knives has revolved around a variety of stones, some oil stones, whetstones, diamond, Arkansas etc etc. It's time consuming to get an ultrasharp edge.

In July I was in a camping store to pick up a few replacement bits and pieces and stopped to look at the knives and stones - I simply can't walk past a display. The guy behind the counter started on his sales pitch for a sharpening system. I let him go on as he showed me how effective it was on his "own" knife. It was damned sharp but I had reservations considering that it was his personal knife. He saw my unconvinced look and then took an axe off the wall, gave it to me to test the edge. It wasn't sharp by knife standards but was OK for a new axe. He then proceeded to sharpen it with the sharpening system. He gave it back to me and it was ULTRA sharp - he had spent around 5 minutes sharpening. The thing that convinced me was what he did next.

He took a piece of paper - just normal A4 white paper - and shaved it. Now I don't mean he cut it in half as in down an edge. He placed the edge almost flat on the paper and shaved a strip off the paper, not all the way through - and gave me the strip along with the paper which now had a section that was half as thick as it started out.

I don't impress easily when it comes to "gadgets" but I was convinced. $140 later I walked out with the Spyderco 204 Sharpening System. That night I gave 6 of my knifes the Spyderco treatment and every single one of them ended up with an edge sharper than I had ever been able to get before. All of them "shaved" paper with ease. My arms had no hair left from the elbow down.

This might sound like a real plug for Spyderco - and it is - unshamedly. It is without doubt the best piece of equipment for sharpening knives that I have ever owned. Not cheap but highly effective.

It isn't for everyone but those of you who do like ultrasharp knives should have a look.

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

michael,
is that the system that is like a stone but has a sliding jig with adjustable angles - i saw it in a fishing world mag about 2years back.

chris

[Volvo]

rickraider, Japanese Water stones 500/600 grit,1200 grit and an 8000grit or thereabouts and a homemade strop and wouldnt know why anyone would want anything sharper if you use correctly and maybe read up or learn the proper way of cutting a blade back and sharpening.
Steels are okay up to a point if your doing a lot of work and want to keep touching up the edge but i personally think they take too much blade away and make more work for you down the track.
Three good waterstones shouldnt set you back much more that couple of hundred bucks .
A strop can be made by the following.
piece of belly hide say 2"x2.5 ft
piece of 2"x1"x12" piece of pine or whatever and glue your belly hide rough side up.
Both sides..One side for stropping paste and other side left clean for quick polish up .......Used right you'd be surprised how keen the edge comes up.
Some oil on one side and sprinkle some Alumina powder over the oil and BINGO!!! stropping Paste at the ready lol.
All ya gotta do is strop correctly lol.
I have purchased three Waterstones
800 grit
1200grit
8000 grit and never looked back :0. Thought i knew how to sharpen knives till i used these little beuties.
mindya some peoples reckon there is better stones around the woods than waterstones and if so ide like a workout on some.
if i was to be buying a sharpening kit of sorts ide be looking at the Edgepro Apex Sharpening Kit??.
Still dont reckon nuthin beats freehand sharpening and sharpen any length of knife too.
My opinion only n just sumthin for you to think about.
Cheers

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Hey Big_Muddie,

Is this the sharpening system you were talking about? I would be interested in a good way to get a good edge on a knife to start with, and then just touch it up with the diamond steel (and hopefully not knock it off ).

http://www.bestknives.com/bestknives/spydtriansha.html

The price is in US$ so looks like $140 aus is a bit rich. Guess it could be that 1. price has come way down since launch, 2. high import duty, taxes and shipping charges or 3. the guy you bought it off is a smooth talking thief - or combo of all three.

Cheers,
Jeff

[Big_Muddie]

Chris

Have a look at the link that Jeff provided - that's the one I am talking about. From the sound of it, the one you saw is probably the Lansky Sharpening system (also known as Gatco - see http://www.greatamericantool.com/sha...s/Welcome.html and click on Knife Sharpening Systems). Dearer than the Spyderco and has a limit to the length of blades it can sharpen - but a good system nevertheless.

There is also the Tormek system ( see http://www.tormek.se/index_gb.htm ) but that is VERY expensive.

Jeff,

Yes - that's the one. When I bought it, $140 was reasonable considering the exchange rate and besides, I am very prone to impulse buying when I see something I like. I did check the overseas prices after I bought it and they were consistent with the price here allowing for exchange rate, shipping, profit margin etc. At the time I checked the prices of the Lansky system and the cheapest I could find was just over $200 (in Australia).

Volvo,

Totally agree with your sentiments - like I said I used stones of all types ( and ###### ) for the best part of 40 or so years - and in certain circumstances I will still use them - particularly if I am sharpening someone else's knife which has an edge that you could ride from here to Bourke and back on . One of the things I liked about the Spyderco (apart from the edge it creates) is that it can sharpen knives of just about any length - something the Lansky has a bit of trouble with.

I had a look at the Edgepro System - looks great. The only worry I would have is it's limit of blade angle - only goes to 35 deg. I've personally found 40 deg to be the best overall edge angle to keep a very sharp edge. Narrower angles will produce an extremely sharp edge but they are also lose the edge fairly quickly if subjected to any tough cutting - even pin bones on larger fish. I sharpened one of mine to 30 deg (with the Spyderco and it lost the edge fairly quickly just filleting whiting. I did try a 30 deg edge and followed up with a final sharpen at 40 deg - now that edge was a good compromise - very sharp.

There are lots of choices available to those of us who like ultra sharp - with little between each choice. At the end of the day whatever works best for each of us individually is the right choice.

[rickraider]

thanks for the replies