Forum: cooking.stackexchange.com
Tags: <knives><sharpening>
Title: Can I sharpen a knife with sandpaper?
Question: So I was thinking, instead of purchasing a dedicated (and expensive) whetstone with limited coarse(ness?) range, why not use patches of sandpaper in increasing grit numbers (getting finer), stretched on some small flat surface? This way I can have as many grit steps as required, to the fineness level required, for relatively cheap and disposable?

Answers:
sents: text: Yes, I've heard this suggested, using wet/dry sandpaper and a mousepad.
text: It is a very inexpensive way to match a whetstone, and you can use sandpaper with the same grit to produce an excellent edge.
text: You duct-tape the sand-paper together
text: so it wraps around the mouse pad, and then pull the knife along the sandpaper with the edge trailing.
text: This is to say, you use sandpaper in the opposite direction as a whetstone.
text: Once you work up to the finest-grit papers, you can use jeweler's polish and a leather strop for a truly razor-sharp edge.
text: Because the mouse pad's rubber/foam has some give, this method produces a convex edge which remains sharp for longer that an V-cut, because it has more metal behind the edge.
text: It also still presents a very sharp point for cutting, moreso than an equivalent V-cut front bevel.
text: Using sandpaper will also cost a small fraction of what you spend on a good sharpening stone, which will run you $50 or more PER STONE.
text: Wondering what grit to use?
text: There are comprehensive tables here and here .
text: However, here is a quick-reference mini-table for you: Name / US Grit Rating / Use Coarse / 100-400 / Remove lots of metal.
text: At the low-end of the range, used for reshaping blades, taking out large chips, or restoring snapped points.
text: At the higher end of grit range, used to establish a bevel angle and restore very dull edges.
text: Medium / 400-700 / Remove moderate amounts of metal.
text: For refining an edge established with coarse grits, and for restoring moderately dull blades.
text: Can be used to establish a bevel angle, but it will take considerably longer.
text: 600 grit is a common point to start at for standard sharpening.
text: Fine / 800-1200 /
text: For finishing a blade or touching-up a slightly dull blade.
text: At about 1000 grit, you will get something equivalent to a factory edge, assuming you use the same bevel angle.
text: Ceramic steels have grits in this range.
text: Extra-Fine / 2000
text: + /
text: For polishing.
text: Higher grits create a shinier and sharper edge, until at 8000+ grit you get mirror finishes and sharpness equivalent to a straight razor.
text: If you're going to bother using grits this high, a leather strop and polishing paste may serve you better than even a ceramic steel; the steel would actually be reducing the edge sharpness with use.
text: Source: Sandpaper-mousepad sharpening Source2:
text: Sharpening techniques and explanation Edit: Another way to use sandpaper in sharpening -- expanding the grit range for a Spyderco Sharpmaker
text: I'm currently using sandpaper to make a very coarse stone for sharpening extremely dull edges on my Spyderco Sharpmaker.
text: I wrap both of the normal triangular stones with a strip of emery cloth or 220-grit wet/dry sandpaper, and then hold it in place with medium binder clips.
text: Since the lowest stone the Sharpmaker comes with is 800-grit ceramic, this saves HOURS versus using the normal stones.
text: It is also considerably cheaper than the diamond stones they sell; for a big tub of clips and a package of sandpaper, I paid $7, versus about $37 for the diamond rods.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/6345/BobMcGee
score: 19
sents: text: I bought my (Chinese) whetstone for 7,5€
text: and I've used it for the last 20 years.
text: You could spend some money on a honing steel, but even these are not really expensive.
text: I got mine for free at a fair, and it receives regular action.
text: Make sure you buy cheap vanadium steel knifes for your kitchen (shameless self-promotion).
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/641/BaffledCook
score: 9
sents: text: If you're looking around your house for stuff you already own to sharpen your knife on, the story goes that the underside of a dinner plate is the way to go.
text: I've never done it
text: - I bought stones from Lee Valley many years ago
text: and I have a steel, and between them I'm taken care of.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/304/Kate Gregory
score: 4
sents: text: I have for years used sandpaper for sharpening and polishing my plane blades and bench chisels in my woodworking shop.
text: It works wonderfully well provided every stroke on the abrasive is exactly the same angle.
text: Remember that the cutting edge is the union of two planes.
text: The more uniform the planes, the sharper the edge.
text: I finish off with 6000 grit wet paper, it has the texture of a brown paper bag.
text: I can see my reflection and readily shave hairs off my arm.
text: The difference in usability of my woodworking tools is downright sexy.
text: Why wouldn't this technique work with kitchen knives?
text: Consider shopping at a thrift store for economical kitchen knives to practice on before going to work on your real knives.
text: Try this website: http://www.woodbutcher.net/scary.shtml Do yourself a favor and skip to the condensed version; or grab a mug of Earl Grey and be entertained by the ramblings.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/41262/Sharpening Sam
score: 3
sents: text: Sand paper does work on chisels.
text: I had to have my oak kitchen floor repaired.
text: The flooring expert just sat on the floor with an old cheap chisel and my rubber mallet.
text: He stopped every 15 minutes or so to refine the edge.
text: When he finished the repair, darned if I could find where he had worked.
text: Note:
text: The wood was Bruce pre-finished red oak strip.
text: I used to sharpen my pen knife on 1000 grit garnet paper.
text: However, I am not going to use this method on the very expensive kitchen knives.
text: I will buy some water stones for that.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/59145/TruGrits
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
Wet/dry sandpaper is sometimes used to sharpen knives and other tools, but a whetstone can be quite affordable.
You can use sandpaper to sharpen all kinds of blades.