Today I finally covered the long‑awaited, often‑requested topic: how I sharpen a head knife. Head knives are kind of the devil—there’s no better tool for saddlery, and no worse tool to try and sharpen—so I focused on a method that actually works and is easy to maintain. I walk through the basic principle: you’re not “polishing,” you’re bringing the edge to a true apex by rolling a burr (that little wire edge) uniformly all the way around, flipping sides, and repeating until the geometry is where it needs to be. I show the setup I use in the shop: natural novaculite benchstones (Dan’s soft and hard Arkansas—hard is my preference for finishing), a little mineral oil (I use Lilly White stitching oil because it’s already in my shop), and a simple strop—oak with leather on both sides, loaded with black compound and green oxide. I also explain why I don’t chase crazy-high grits: leather is abrasive by nature, so that mirror edge doesn’t stay mirror for long. If your knife is truly dull or factory-ground wrong (most modern production knives are), I recommend getting it professionally reprofiled first. After that, it’s muscle memory: consistent angle, light-to-moderate pressure, form the burr, then strop it off so the tool actually works.