The Ultimate Knife Sharpening System: Tutorial

This is the system for knife sharpening I have come to rely on after years of trial and error. I have sharpened well over 100 knives using this method. I have also used the same equipment to make over 50 custom knives.

The two main pieces of equipment I use are the Kalamazoo 1SM 1"x42" belt sander and a variable speed 6" Porter-Cable bench grinder with 8" paper sharpening wheels. I start off on the belt sander with a 120 grit belt. I then move up in grit to 220, then 400, and finally 600. A tip I picked up reading Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop is to apply a marker to the edge of the blade to be sure material is actually being removed where it needs to be.

After I am satisfied with the results on the belt sander  I move over to the bench grinder to polish the edge and remove any burr that still remains.

With a little bit of practice it is quick and easy to achieve razor sharp results on almost any knife or edge tool.