Am I abusing my ESEE-6? (pic)

SemperParatus

SemperParatus

Joined
Sep 21, 2010
Messages
378
I basically beat the hell out of my knives for the ESEE contest. I'm just curious if this is normal for an ESEE knife. I've had it happen to my Gerber LMF II before (a much larger chip than these), but I don't know how common it is for an ESEE.

It's hard to see how deep some of the chips are here.
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This is from chopping and batoning mostly. The picture was taken after sharpening (which I'm not the best at. I'm using a Lansky system.) The knife still goes through wood with no problem, so I'm not concerned, just curious if there may be an issue that could do worse damage later.

Seems the chips would sharpen out but I imagine it would take quite a bit of sharpening.
 
Did you hit the ground or stab it into the ground at all? That edge looks like it made contact with some small rocks.
 
If you "basically beat the hell out of it", that doesn't look bad at all for 1095. Batoning shouldn't do that but chopping can if you're technique isn't perfect.
 
My hypothesis, which is not based on any scientific tests - is that the density of wood varies to the extent where when it is chopped by something slender like a knife (as opposed to an axe) the blade will encounter hard and soft parts of the wood at the same time upon impact, the softer parts of the wood will give way before the harder parts, resulting in parts of the edge being pushed in by the harder wood.

This is common in 1095 type steels.

If anyone else can offer a better explanation please do because I would like to know if I am correct or otherwise.
 
What materials have you cut besides wood? That shouldn't happen if you are just "beating the hell out of it" against a wooden adversary. Judging by the scratches visible on the bevel you definitely hit something besides wood.
 
Learn and practice how to properly sharpen knives, and this will never again be an issue. You won't care how hard you push your knives because you know that when you get home, you will be able to put a razor sharp edge on them.

ESEE knives hold up very well, but bottom line is that all knives dull. Acquire the skill of knife sharpening and you will be glad you did.
 
gottahaveit27 said:
What materials have you cut besides wood? That shouldn't happen if you are just "beating the hell out of it" against a wooden adversary. Judging by the scratches visible on the bevel you definitely hit something besides wood.
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I definitely only cut wood. I believe the scratches are from using a coarse stone to see how much it would take to get the chips out.
 
jgon said:
Learn and practice how to properly sharpen knives, and this will never again be an issue. You won't care how hard you push your knives because you know that when you get home, you will be able to put a razor sharp edge on them.

ESEE knives hold up very well, but bottom line is that all knives dull. Acquire the skill of knife sharpening and you will be glad you did.
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Yeah I'm working on it. I can get them hair shaving sharp, but I know I'm making small mistakes along the way.

Like I said, I'm not overly concerned about it. I was just curious if anyone else experienced this. As long as I can still cut down small trees, I'm happy. :D


On a side note: I managed to get the smaller chips outs and whittle down the bigger ones with a lot of sharpening with a coarse stone, as suggested.
 
SemperParatus said:
Yeah I'm working on it. I can get them hair shaving sharp, but I know I'm making small mistakes along the way.

Like I said, I'm not overly concerned about it. I was just curious if anyone else experienced this. As long as I can still cut down small trees, I'm happy. :D


On a side note: I managed to get the smaller chips outs and whittle down the bigger ones with a lot of sharpening with a coarse stone, as suggested.
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Sounds like good progress! Now if you can start to feel a burr form along the whole edge when you are working that coarse stone, then you know you are forming a new edge. Then you can work your way to refining the edge on higher grit stones or other sharpening mediums, and you can hone it to razor sharp. Good luck!
 
Those aren't chips-they're dents/rolls. Arkansas stones are the perfect tool for fixing these, they kinda mush the steel back to their original position while removing bulk excess. Definitely typical for a mid to large sized high carbon blade, and they should buff right out. Your LMF2 is another story. I have one as well and that thing... the edge just falls apart with normal use. Chips and fractures everywhere, the blade is damn near useless. I battoned my RC5 through a log with a 16 penny nail hammered into it-you shoulda seen the dent in the blade... after about 5 minutes of work it was 100% functional again. That's the beauty of a quality high carbon steel versus these rediculously hard and brittle stainless steels.
 
With the course stone, just spend some more time sharpening. With a Lansky it is pretty hard to mess anything up.

I have fixed some real big dings and chips with a lansky and it just takes time.

You might want to invest in an extra course stone for it, perhaps even diamond stones to cut quicker.

I have not used my lansky for a long time since I started convexing all my edges, but I still have it if i need it.
 
SemperParatus said:
I basically beat the hell out of my knives for the ESEE contest. I'm just curious if this is normal for an ESEE knife. I've had it happen to my Gerber LMF II before (a much larger chip than these), but I don't know how common it is for an ESEE.

It's hard to see how deep some of the chips are here.
_MG_1636.jpg



This is from chopping and batoning mostly. The picture was taken after sharpening (which I'm not the best at. I'm using a Lansky system.) The knife still goes through wood with no problem, so I'm not concerned, just curious if there may be an issue that could do worse damage later.

Seems the chips would sharpen out but I imagine it would take quite a bit of sharpening.
Click to expand...

Why are the rolls toward the tip? This is not the area that gets used during chopping/batoning. What were you doing that rolled that part of the blade? Regardless of what others say the edge should not roll that extensively if used as you say. I have a ton of experience with ESEE 1095 and while I've had some deformation of the steel along the edge I've never seen the edge rolling in your pictures unless I've hit something harder than wood.
 
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Ive chopped fatwood with my Junglas..fatwood is like glass almost, and i've never had rolling and chipping like that.
 
With the Lansky system what angle does everyone suggest you sharpen the ESEE knives with.
 
PayetteRucker said:
Those aren't chips-they're dents/rolls. Arkansas stones are the perfect tool for fixing these, they kinda mush the steel back to their original position while removing bulk excess. Definitely typical for a mid to large sized high carbon blade, and they should buff right out. Your LMF2 is another story. I have one as well and that thing... the edge just falls apart with normal use. Chips and fractures everywhere, the blade is damn near useless. I battoned my RC5 through a log with a 16 penny nail hammered into it-you shoulda seen the dent in the blade... after about 5 minutes of work it was 100% functional again. That's the beauty of a quality high carbon steel versus these rediculously hard and brittle stainless steels.
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I agree with PR on this one.

Wriggs said:
With the Lansky system what angle does everyone suggest you sharpen the ESEE knives with.
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I set my Lansky at 20 degrees…..then once it’s set, I throw it out in to the yard and let the dog play with it then sharpen on sandpaper or a Sharpmaker. A Lanksy with the FFG of my ESEEs was an exercise in frustration at best. Hey anyone want to by a lightly used Lanksy? :D
 
I have messed up egdes like that chopping fat pine and some purpleheart in South America but ususually the batoning damage is more towards the middle of the blade and not towards the point like this. but at any rate you haven't doen any great damage and it will sharpen out. keep using it hard. If you have serious problems holler at us and we will replace it through the warranty . Mike
 
adaman04 said:
I set my Lansky at 20 degrees…..then once it’s set, I throw it out in to the yard and let the dog play with it then sharpen on sandpaper or a Sharpmaker. A Lanksy with the FFG of my ESEEs was an exercise in frustration at best. Hey anyone want to by a lightly used Lanksy? :D
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Not a big fan of the Lansky system myself either. On some knives it works okay, but I've found my results with it to be mixed at best.

I've found the Sharpmaker works extremely well on my ESEE's especially given the 1095 steel. I usually just run the Sharpmaker on most of my knives or occasionally freehand on benchstone. I just get more consistency with these two methods. Little leather stropping and it's off to the races.
 
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