About
The Manly Things is a field guide to knife sharpening — written for the people who actually do it. Hobbyists. Cooks who care. Woodworkers and outdoorsmen. Engineers who want to know why a 1,000-grit stone cuts the way it does, not just that it does.
This site is built on a single idea: a sharp knife is a small problem in tribology, metallurgy, and geometry. Get those three things right and the rest follows. Get them wrong and no amount of expensive gear will save the edge.
What we cover
Five pillars, no filler:
- Whetstones & Sharpening Stones — water stones, oil stones, diamond plates, ceramics. Grit progressions, flattening, and the physics of how stones cut steel.
- Knife Steel & Hardness — carbon vs. stainless, alloying elements, heat treatment, Rockwell hardness. What makes a steel sharpenable.
- Sharpening Angles & Geometry — bevels, primary and secondary grinds, convex versus flat. The math behind a working edge.
- Sharpening Systems & Tools — guided rigs, jigs, strops, leather, compounds. Tools that take a knife from dull to surgical.
- Knife Maintenance & Care — rust, patina, storage, cutting boards, honing. The daily habits that keep a sharp edge sharp.
How we write
We write the way an engineer talks to another engineer at the bench. Specifics over slogans. Numbers over vibes. If we say a 15° per-side edge is appropriate for a Japanese gyuto in 62 HRC stainless, we’ll show the reasoning.
We don’t do affiliate roundups. We don’t do “10 best knives for 2026.” When we test something, we say what we tested, on what steel, with what stones, and what happened. When we don’t know something, we say so.
Who this is for
If you’ve ever pulled a knife across a stone and wondered whether you were making it sharper or worse — this site is for you. If you already sharpen at a high level and want a place to argue about edge geometry, that’s also fine. We’ll meet you wherever you are.