Knife edge & sharpening?

 
  I've inherited my dads old antler handled 6" hunting knife, its blade is freaky sharp at the moment.  The blade is honed down to the sharp cutting edge, but has no "chisel" edge to it. Did that make sense?
 Most all my other hunting knifes have notable cutting edge ground into the blade. 
   What methods do you all use to sharped & hone your blades?  I need to learn how to keep my fathers knife in the shape it's in now, not destroy it by butchering it up if when it'll need honing again.
  I don't want sharpen it the way I do all my other knifes.
I understand the use of honing stones (Wet & dry) just never got " The knack"  of properly using them.


 

Just go it a spyderco sharpmaker. Works great. Made a leather strop from an old belt

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I have used the Lansky/Smith type stones with the angle guide for years.  It took a few trials but I can get a really nice edge on almost any blade now. Tried other sharpeners, but just could not hold the angle consistently.  These systems pretty much solve that issue.

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a lot of old guys I know used to sharpen their knives like that. They lay the knife on the stone and and sharpen it to the angle of the entire blade, leaving no extra chisel or cutting edge. This is a very fine edge and a few quick strokes keeps it sharp like that. It takes a long time tho to cut the whole sie of the knife down to get to that point of thinness to the blade.

 
  This is the same knife I have, (Without the sheath) I remember seeing this knife on my dad when he first started taking me camping when I was 5- 6 years old.

I use the Wicked Edge. Its pricy, but gets the job done right.

http://wickededgeusa.com

I'm a chef.

I use honing steel to keep my knives sharp, I have 2 a course and a fine. Nerve use a diamond steel, they remove way to much metal. I like the idea of a leather strap.

My suggestion to keep the knife sharp in to continually hone a steel and to sharpen with a good fine grit wet stone. I only have to sharpen my knives once or twice a year.

Anything that has sentimental or heirloom value should definitely be hand sharpened like others have mentioned.
However to tell the truth , on my Dexter Russell fillet knives and my wife's kitchen knives, I use electric grinding stones ( course and fine) to do the job. Not pretty, but my knives cut so much better than with anything else I've used. My uncle used to have one of those large, bike size, circular stones with a foot pedal mechanism to get it going. Perfect for sharpening axes and hunting knives. Haven't seen anybody with one of those for a long time

Sometimes an old knife that has been poorly sharpened or chips and dings in the blade will require re- profiling the primary bevel or cutting edge. You will need diamond to do this as hardened steel is…friggin hard. If a blade is properly maintained a strop or steel is all you need. If you re profile it over and over again you will lose performance because the cutting edge will get thicker as the material is removed. Using a electric sharpener you run the risk of creating too much heat, ruining the heat treatment on the steel. I re profile or do most material removal with 100 grit. The next steps are more polishing than material removal- I then move up to 200 then 400 then 600 then 800 then1000 and usually end up at 2000 or 2500 grit. They are like scalpels.
Ive tried many different techniques and nothing comes close to the WE system.
-Colby

I also use a angle cube on my stones like this guy does. If you explore his channel there is a lot more info about knives, blade steel, cut tests, alcohol stoves, the Wicked edge and how to use it.

this is a great site on sharpening.
http://forums.egullet.org/topic/26036-knife-maintenance-and-sharpening/

This guy does a great job at showing how to hand sharpen. If you explore his channel there is a lot more info on sharpening and blade steel.

Just go it a spyderco sharpmaker. Works great. Made a leather strop from an old belt

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

+1 on the Syderco. Been using it for 2 years. Reasonably  priced, portable, easy to clean, can sharpen serrated blades,  decent edge, easy on the steel. Cons: it's takes longer to edge the blade, the ceramic rods break and chip easily.

Just go it a spyderco sharpmaker. Works great. Made a leather strop from an old belt

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

+1 on the Syderco. Been using it for 2 years. Reasonably  priced, portable, easy to clean, can sharpen serrated blades,  decent edge, easy on the steel. Cons: it's takes longer to edge the blade, the ceramic rods break and chip easily.

Anything that has sentimental or heirloom value should definitely be hand sharpened like others have mentioned.
However to tell the truth , on my Dexter Russell fillet knives and my wife's kitchen knives, I use electric grinding stones ( course and fine) to do the job. Not pretty, but my knives cut so much better than with anything else I've used. My uncle used to have one of those large, bike size, circular stones with a foot pedal mechanism to get it going. Perfect for sharpening axes and hunting knives. Haven't seen anybody with one of those for a long time

I'll admit to going this route too. My working knives get pretty beat up, and every couple of months I'll touch up the kitchen knives with an electric sharpener. I use a chef's choice and so far I really like it. A couple of passes and all the kitchen knives are safe-sharp. With my heavier working blades I sometimes need to re-profile the edge or remove a nick and the course stones do it quickly.