- Joined
- Apr 7, 2006
- Messages
- 5,213
As with any knife I acquire, I HAVE to put a fine edge on it before I can use it. Most folders are fine with factory edges (because they are usually better ground, and already around the angle I use). With almost all fixed blade knives, the edges are unevenly ground, and usually have an edge angle around 40 degrees. Ontario's are some of the worst, great knives with horrible factory edges. I recently acquired a D2 TAK, and it was okay except for the 1" of edge near the choil. The edge angle obtused to about 50 degrees, mainly on one side! I simply could not have this, I am planning on bringing this knife hiking a few times this year as my primary, and before that I need to get it down to about 25 degrees. I start with my 80/180 roughing stones until the edges meet and sharpie is ground off in 2 swipes along the whole edge. I then move unto a sandpaper strop I made where I slightly convex the edge, this removes imperfections and burrs and also helps to uniform the edge angle. I then move onto a 400 grit whetstone, and finish off with a Spyderco Fine white ceramic bench stone. The process for this D2 knife took about 4 hours total because I had to start over twice when I got the last step and realized I had left a little bit of edge at the factory angle. It's not the prettiest edge (there are some cosmetic scratches), but the absolute edge is mirror finished and slices paper like a light saber.
Here is a pic of my setup:
Here is a pic of my setup:
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