SWORD sharpening is HARD, but I figured it out!

Sharpening a sword is very hard, but I eventually figured it out and want to share with you what worked.
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#medievalmisconceptions

[ryanramsey]

Shad, the water keeps the steel shavings from clogging the pores and thus the grinding performance of the stone. Good job explaining to non sharpener people how the whetstones work! I'm 41 and started to learn to sharpen blades at about 10 years old. Sharpening is not quick but nor is it difficult. just maintain your angles, establish a burr, then polish the burr off, next strop both sides on good leather strop and WHAMMO mate your blade is sharp.

[angelsfallfirst]

I have sharpened my swords and knives by hand for years now. I did mess up on a few of my first tries, but now that I have got past the learning curve it has become a relaxing and rewarding pastime

[brycevernon]

As a bladesmith, its awesome to see someone else learning parts of the trade! Dont let the strop intimidate you. Its super simple

[funkiestdig]

The whet in whetstone means to ‘ready’ as in “whet your appetite.” So a whetstone is a stone to prepare or ready a blade. They work better when wet because there is less friction when running the blade across making sharpening easier, and protects the stone from any damage.

[syncrossus]

I just want to take a moment to appreciate this community. I love this comment section. YouTube comment sections are known to be cesspools, but not Shad's (or others' in the sword enthusiast community AFAIK) and I think that's something worth acknowledging and celebrating.

[Uncephalized]

Bit of advice to take you to the next level Shad. Whenever you step up a grit, change the direction of your stroke in some way--go from along the edge to circling, for example. When you do this you will always be able to see a difference in texture between the current grit and the last grit. Then you can easily spot any place where you haven't finished.

I like to use long strokes along the edge for my final grit as I feel this is superior for minimizing the burr.

Then learn how to strop.

[shawnosborne]

Tip for beginners or bad eyes, run a sharpie along the edge before starting. This will show you if you're keeping the angle consistent and can help you sharpen the same amount on both sides as you're done when the marker is removed.

[Darklon]

It may help to soak the stones for longer. Clamp the blade down flat by the blade not the guard so the edge you're creating is more consistent. Also try not to push as hard if using a pallet as it's bending the blade and changing the edge angle.

[seraph]

Whet doesn't mean Wet. Whet is basically "sharpening" or "to sharpen". Whetstone means "Sharpening Stone"

[MercenaryJames]

This is one thing I've yet to attempt. Sharpening my swords just makes me nervous as I don't want to royally fuck up the edge geometry.

[zerberus_ms]

Would love to see the other sword community youtubers respond to this, telling us how they do it. I know that Skallagrim sharpens his blades, for example.

[TheScoundresCantina]

Keep up the good work mate, God bless ;)

[XBullittX]

Indeed, just sharpening smaller knives can be tricky without experience and practice, so I can only imagine how hard it is to sharpen a much larger and longer blade by hand, especially without the proper materials and equipment. Really goes to show how tough people had it back then and why swords were so valuable and glorified in cultures around the world.

[Anyone_Else_Think]

Learning to sharpen is a fun skill to develop, I’ve been doing my own knives for about 8 years now.

Just to answer your question Shad the reason the stone works better wet is because it builds up an abrasive slurry that helps with the re-profile/sharpening of a blade, if you really want to get into it I recommend using leather strops and stropping compound and tormeck paste.

It’ll get your blades frighteningly sharp.

[slashsigh]

Shad's learning curve is always on the up, proud of you sport.

[ZeroSalvator]

Well Done Shad! Now I have a challenge for you. Go and sharpen the Angus Trim Leaf-Blade that you have on ONE edge and test the difference between the factory edge and your sharpened one. Also I recommend "Burrfection" on Youtube, he mostly does knives but also katanas. That's not the main reason to look at him though. He has the best recommendation on what sharpening stone work the best.

[bradbrandon]

That's crazy! I've been thinking about this for the past 3 days without telling anyone and here you are!

[michaelmain]

If you read whetstone directions, they tell you to soak the stone before use

[BrennonIsMilak]

You might want to try building a sharpening jig, which holds the blade flat and also keeps your stone at a consistent angle. You also mentioned learning about stropping. See any time you do a grinding operation on metal there will be a burr. When you strop, what you're basically doing is bending that burr back and forth until it breaks off leaving just the sharp edge. All you need is a decent piece of leather.

[zanderchiasson]

With most whetstones you actually want to soak them completely before you use them, it helps the stone break down as it wears out, which keeps the abrasive fresh and prevents clogging. Many people actually just store them in a tub of water so you don’t need to constantly re-soak them