laguiole Sharpening

[Dylan Schink]

My dad got me a laguiole folder and It's a sweet knife but I cant figure out how to shapen this blade, I've tryed every steel in the house, nothing works!

[Ray Rogers]

A steel is not for sharpening, Dylan. A steel is used to maintain an edge where the edge has folded over a little during use - a situation often seen in very thin bladed kitchen knives and butcher knives. That's why those guys always seem to be waving a steel around.

Sounds like you knife is dull. To fix that, material must be removed from the edge to form a new, sharp edge. That is what happens when a blade is sharpened and a steel will not do that, or at least not enough if the blade is truly dull. For that, you will need stones, a sanding belt, an electric sharpener even - anything that can grind a new edge onto the blade.....

[Dylan Schink]

I used a bunch of stones, None work.

[Ray Rogers]

Please understand that I don't know you or what your skill level might be at anything related to knives. based on the vaious knife related questions you've asked I have to assume you are fairly new to all this.

Which makes me ask, what do you mean when you say none work? Are you saying the steel is so hard that the stones cannot cut it (highly unlikely)? Or, are you simply saying you were unable to produce an edge with stones (not an easy thing, I'm not too good at that either)? It takes quite a bit of practice to get a good edge - or any edge , really - with stones.

Help us to understand where the problem is and someone will probably be able to tell you what it takes to fix it ...

[Dylan Schink]

Thanks for being so helpfull, I am new, but I got the knife a few years back, my dad can sharpen lether to a raiser edge (not really but you get the point) but not this, nothing is working, we have 5 stones, and 3 can cut the metal but it still wont sharpen, when I got it you could widdle titanum (once again, you get the point).

[Ray Rogers]

It's difficult to be sure exactly where the problem lies. Most laguiole (pronounced la-gill, if I remember correctly) knives are not expensive knives but do have serviceable blades. Some, of course, are quite expensive and have steel as good as any knife might have. Your blade could have a very difficult steel to sharpen. That can come from being too soft, being too hard, or having an unusual amount or type of carbides. Those last two situations are only likely to be found in more exotic steels that wouldn't be likely in a production laguiole.

My best guess right now is that your knife may have had a convex edge on it and now that it is dull you are trying to put a regular edge on it and that would require a good bit of metal removal. A convex edge is a good way to get average steel to hold a better than average edge. It also makes a strong edge which could whittle titanium. The trouble with convex edges is that most people who aren't knife makers can't re-sharpen it.

If your knife is old and has been re-sharpened many times before you got it it may have had a normal edge at first which gradually became convex by being rolled on the stone while it was being sharpened. This can happen when the person doing the sharpening fails to hold the blade at exactly the same angle of contact through the entire stroke on every single stroke. That's what has to be done to get a sharp edge and it takes a lot of practice- or it takes some help.

Help comes in the form of any sharpening tool that assists you in holding the proper angle consistently. Lansky sharpeners are among the most popular and affordable of these types of sharpeners. There are many others of different designs and they all work. Your knife was sharp once upon a time and now it isn't - that indicates the problem is likely in the sharpening process itself rather than the steel.

If the edge has been messed up as I suspect you may not be getting it sharpened simply because fixing it will require more metal removal than you are used to and you just haven't gotten there yet. If there is any chance that you are not holding a consistent angle that will just add to your problems.

Consider getting a Lansky or any other system that will help you hold a consistent angle. Be sure that the system gives you a variety of grits down to Coarse or even very Coarse (Lansky has stones like these) and see if that won't solve your problem. Most knife makers, myself included, own many different sharpening systems so you should consider this aquisition as a step towards becoming a knife maker. After all, any knife you make is going to be dead dull until you sharpen it and that will require removing a lot more metal the first time than you have ever had to do up to this time ...

[Dylan Schink]

Thank you much, my dad got it in france for $150, it dose say "Laguiole origine garantie t12"

Before the T12 theres a thing that looks like a L with a O in it, That mean anything?

[Ray Rogers]

Beats me, I don't concern myself much with knives that I don't make. But, if he paid that much for it it's probably got good steel in it. Even good steel gets dull.

Let us know how it goes with that. Maybe a picture of the edge would help if you have a way to take one ...

[Shakudo]

Search engines are made for a purpose and since you can use a computer maybe you can also learn something.

http://www.laguiole.com/laguioletv.htm

[Ray Rogers]

That's a pretty cool site, Dan! Unfortunately, i don't have the band width to allow me to download the videos but, from that one picture, it doesn't appear they will say there is anything unusual required for sharpening ht Laguiole. Hopefully, Dylan will be able to view the video and let us know ...

[logem]

I have found that sometimes people are shy about completely reforming the cutting edge to get a knife sharp. If the edge has become truly dull, then (as already mentioned) you will need to resharpen it.

Don't hesitate to start with a coarse or very coarse stone to get your edges reshaped, then proceed to the finer stones.

If you don't reshape the edge to begin with, then you'll never get the knife sharp with a fine stone or steel.

The Lansky or Gatco sharpeners are nice systems because they keep the sharpening stone at a consistent angle to the blade, virtually guaranteeing that you'll get your blade sharp. Look here for them: http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/sharpen/

Good luck,

Mike L.

[Dylan Schink]

The vid wont work on my mac, It's pc only.

[Ray Rogers]

Well, don't worry about it. The indication of that one picture they post is that the knife is being sharpened on a stone just as any knife might be. So, that means that all that stuff Mike and I said is likely to be as true for your knife as it is formost all other knives. Get a good sharpening system, learn to use it properly, and move some serious metal to form a new edge. After that, don't make a habit of shaving titanium and your sharpening steels will probably be able to do their job ...

[Dylan Schink]

Ok I dont Really shave titanium, I know sometimes sarcasum is hard to get across online, But thanks for your help, oh and what sharpener do you recommend?

[Ray Rogers]

As we said, any sharpener that you can learn to use correctly and that helps you hold a steady angle will work. Personally, I use a $500 Edge Pro but that's really nothing more than a Lansky on steroids.

Whatever you get should have anumber of grits ranging from very coarse to very fine. It should have some way of helping you hold the blade at a specific angle (there are many ways this can be done, pick one you like). It needs to be in a price range you like and it would be good if it comes with instructions on how to use it AND it would be even better if you actually read the instructions and followed them. If you do all of that, you will get an edge on that knife!

BTW, I routinely shave titanium with my folders to clean up new parts as I make them for more folders. It never even crossed my mind that might be a joke...