Keeping an Edge: Sharpening, Stropping and Storage

Almost every ruined edge was ruined by an inconsistent angle, not by a bad stone. Pick an angle and hold it. Roughly twenty degrees per side suits most working knives; fifteen suits kitchen steel; twenty-five suits choppers and axes that must survive bone and knots.

If you cannot hold the angle by hand, use a guided system. There is no honour in a freehand edge that does not cut.

Work one side until you can feel a fine wire of displaced metal — the burr — running the full length of the opposite side. Only then switch sides. Raise the burr the other way, then reduce your pressure to almost nothing for the final passes to break it off cleanly.

An edge that will not shave has almost always simply not been taken to a burr.

A leather strop loaded with compound does not sharpen; it aligns and polishes. Twenty light passes per side after sharpening will take an edge from sharp to frightening, and thirty seconds of stropping every few uses will delay the next full sharpening for weeks.

Never store carbon steel in a leather sheath long-term. Leather is tanned with salts and holds moisture against the blade. Sheaths are for carry; racks, cases and oiled cloth are for storage.

Wipe, dry, oil. Three seconds of discipline after each use will outperform any coating a manufacturer can apply.