"Mousepad trick" for knife sharpening

[JohnnyH]

In the eGCI section on knife sharpening and maintenance, there's a description of a makeshift knife sharpener constructed out of a mousepad and two different grades of automotove sandpaper. I'm intrigued, since I don't want to spend the money on an expensive sharpening rig and yet at the same time want to take good care of my knives (a range of Wusthoff classics and Henckels, for the most part).

Has anyone tried this? I'd love to know more about how it works.

[paulraphael]

It works ok, but you won't have much control over the anges of the edge. The edge will be convex, and it's easy to round off the edge completely by pushing too hard.

If you want to sharpen with sandpaper, mounting it to glass is more popular. If you do a google search for "scary sharpening" you'll find a lot of info on that.

The advantages are that it's cheap to get started, and you can experiment with many grades of sandpaper to find what works. The disadvantage is that longterm it's more expensive than stones (you go through a lot of paper). And changing paper all the time is a hassle.

A variation is to get the scary sharpening system from handamerican.com. They offer a pretty cool kit with all kinds of abrasive options. And a strop, which works brilliantly.

[jsmith]

In my experience scary sharpening was more suited to chisels than knives. With the knives the sandpaper on the edge of the block wore away quickly, leaving the middle still rough. Then the top of the blade would sharpen much more quickly than the bottom, giving it a weird shape. I did it on a marble block, maybe the mouspad's flexibility alleviates this? I still say go for a real stone or a sharpening system.

[JohnnyH]

In my experience scary sharpening was more suited to chisels than knives.  With the knives the sandpaper on the edge of the block wore away quickly, leaving the middle still rough.  Then the top of the blade would sharpen much more quickly than the bottom, giving it a weird shape.  I did it on a marble block, maybe the mouspad's flexibility alleviates this?  I still say go for a real stone or a sharpening system.

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I think I've come around.

[Octaveman]

I've never used sandpaper but I've heard good and not so good things about the system. I've read that you go through a lot of paper too.

Edited February 12, 2008 by Octaveman (log)

[JMT]

What I have mostly heard this is used for is for sharpening kukris ( those knives the ghurka soldiers have ) where you really want a convex edge and where the blade has the sort of curve that is hard to get to with waterstones etc. If I used sandpaper for kitchen knives, I'd personally put them on a harder surface as was suggested higher up in the thread..

It might be a good system for heavy meatcleavers and the like that might benefit from a more convex edge.

Another use might be if you want to sharpen a beak shaped knife.

[JohnnyH]

Thanks to all for the replies and the advice. I can't swing the EdgePro right now, much as I'd like to, but I found a brand-new (in box, sealed) Spyderco Sharpmaker 204 on eBay for $39. Should be here later this week.

[_john]

I use this system with my knives and it works great. Best edge I've ever gotten on my knives. I use 3 grades of sandpaper when converting a non-convex blade to a convex one. When I am just touching up I use the last two grades and sometimes this pink 3M paper which gives a mirror finish. I "go through" one piece of paper, which I cut from a larger sheet to fit my foam, each time I sharpen. I spend about $5 a year on sharpening this way. Just remember: edge trailing stroke, not to hard not to soft.

[jsmith]

Thanks to all for the replies and the advice. I can't swing the EdgePro right now, much as I'd like to, but I found a brand-new (in box, sealed) Spyderco Sharpmaker 204 on eBay for $39. Should be here later this week.

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That's what I use, it works great. I would also suggest going to a camping store and getting an small extra coarse diamond sharpening stone like this:

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail....D=1202915086289

When you get a new knife it usually won't be at the exact angle as the Sharpmaker. Rubberband the diamond stone to the flat side of one of the rods, and then sharpen away. The rods are great for touching up blades, but if you are sharpening a knife for the first time they won't be coarse enough to get down to the proper angle.

[eVITAERC]

I use this system with my knives and it works great. Best edge I've ever gotten on my knives. I use 3 grades of sandpaper when converting a non-convex blade to a convex one. When I am just touching up I use the last two grades and sometimes this pink 3M paper which gives a mirror finish. I "go through" one piece of paper, which I cut from a larger sheet to fit my foam, each time I sharpen. I spend about $5 a year on sharpening this way. Just remember: edge trailing stroke, not to hard not to soft.

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I'd be very interesting to hear more about did the sharpening. I currently have a few knifes that I would love to put a convex edge on along with a mirror-polish on along the blade edge. Did you simply dragged the blade through the mousepad, letting the foam doing the work, or did you have to use a rolling motion to coax the convex edge? What exactly is this pink 3M sandpaper? Did you have to use any compound?

[dougal]

I use this system with my knives and it works great. Best edge I've ever gotten on my knives. I use 3 grades of sandpaper when converting a non-convex blade to a convex one. When I am just touching up I use the last two grades and sometimes this pink 3M paper which gives a mirror finish. I "go through" one piece of paper, which I cut from a larger sheet to fit my foam, each time I sharpen. I spend about $5 a year on sharpening this way. Just remember: edge trailing stroke, not to hard not to soft.

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I'd be very interesting to hear more about did the sharpening. I currently have a few knifes that I would love to put a convex edge on along with a mirror-polish on along the blade edge. Did you simply dragged the blade through the mousepad, letting the foam doing the work, or did you have to use a rolling motion to coax the convex edge? What exactly is this pink 3M sandpaper? Did you have to use any compound?

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Hi eVITAERC, and welcome!

Oddly, the thread doesn't seem to have a link to what its discussing...

Its a short section in a LONG (and excellent IMHO) contribution on sharpening.

Here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=26036

But wait until the whole page has loaded... wait for it!

Then use your browser to search for "mousepad" (all one word) within that page.

The first hit is associated with a link to an FAQ about convex grinding, the second hit is the start of the section in question!

Edited February 19, 2008 by dougal (log)

[_john]

I use this system with my knives and it works great. Best edge I've ever gotten on my knives. I use 3 grades of sandpaper when converting a non-convex blade to a convex one. When I am just touching up I use the last two grades and sometimes this pink 3M paper which gives a mirror finish. I "go through" one piece of paper, which I cut from a larger sheet to fit my foam, each time I sharpen. I spend about $5 a year on sharpening this way. Just remember: edge trailing stroke, not to hard not to soft.

←

I'd be very interesting to hear more about did the sharpening. I currently have a few knifes that I would love to put a convex edge on along with a mirror-polish on along the blade edge. Did you simply dragged the blade through the mousepad, letting the foam doing the work, or did you have to use a rolling motion to coax the convex edge? What exactly is this pink 3M sandpaper? Did you have to use any compound?

←

I don't use any compound but I do start with fresh paper each time I sharpen a knife. You have to drag the knife with the edge trailing along the surface of the sandpaper and foam rig. You hold the angle steady and the way the foam gives under the pressure creates the convex curve. I don't know what the pink 3M paper is exactly but it is a very high # abrasive applied to plastic sheet.