Survival Knife
Survival Knife
can i sharpen a survival knife with a kitchen knife sharpener?
its not seraded or anything, but would it work?
and how do i do it?
The answer is yes and no.
Yes because, a sharpener is an abrasive, and it will remove some metal regardless of the knife type, kitchen or combat.
No for several reasons, a) most likely it's a medium grit sharpener which will take very long time for the dull knife to grind a new edge bevels, then you'd still need finer grit to make a really sharp edge.
b) based on your post I assume you don't have experience with sharpening stones and I'm not so sure that kitchen knife sharpener is a stone type at all. Cab be V type or electric sharpener.
If later, be careful not to burn the blade. Electric sharpeners (except for the latest, modern types) can easily burn thin edges, thus detampering the blade, which in simple words means the edge will get dull very quickly after that.
So, given all that.. Id' say the best option for starter is to try sandpaper/mousepad method. It's far more forgiving than sharpening stones. Very cheap at that. All you need if few grits of sandpaper and a mousepad or something similar.
Details are here - http://zknives.com/knives/articles/sandpapermousepad.shtml plus a few tips how to keep consistent angle.
If you still want to stick with the stones, then here's sharpening equipment reviews for you - http://zknives.com/knives/sharpening/index.shtml that includes Japanese whetstones, various sharpening systems and more.
As for the sharpening techniques. If yo are sharpening on the hard surface you can/should use both trailing(away from the edge) and forward(towards the edge side) motion. It works a lot faster. For sandpaper only trailing, otherwise you'll cut into sandpaper. That's not always the case, actually, I can do forward motion on sandpaper when it's on the hard surface, but that's a different story.
Angles, 45 deg per side, is way too thick not only for the knife but for axe and even the wedge.
20deg per side gives 40 deg edge angle total and that's a really thick edge, enough to chop through the bones and soft metal. Granted the knife is good 
Stock edge on most knives it close to 40 total. Too thick for all practical purposes, except most of the users abuse their knives, so that's why...
E.g. I have my Kitchen Knives anywhere from 5 to 12 deg. per side and cutting performance difference is simply unbelievable. Have to have very hard steel in the knife for that too, but your survival knife will do fine with about 17-20 deg edge.
On the other hand, I have bunch of combat knives sharpened at 30-40deg edges, but that's a total angle, i.e. 15-20 deg per side...
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