Am I asking to much of my RAT???

adam0321

adam0321

Joined
Aug 20, 2009
Messages
495
I have had a Rat-7 1095 for about 7 years now. I bought it mainly to carry in the military. I dont remember the knife being razor sharp. Well since then it has gone thru some changes. New scales, and stripped the finish.

Well today I was making some feather poles with it and was having a hard time because it was dull. I bought a smith guided sharpening system today and have been working on it for quite some time now.

I started off with it the coarse diamond and put it on a 20deg angle. After about 15 minutes of that I moved to the fine Diamond. well 3 hours later and it will still not cut paper or shave. I can't even get it to cut thru a piece of nylon rope with one slice (dock line).

Is this knife just not meant to be that sharp, or (most likely) am I under estimating how long it takes to get that kind of an edge?

Thanks in advance for the advice.
 
Can't really go by time, you generally tell by looking at the edge and the changes in the grain structure before moving on to the next finer abrasive. Have you tried stropping it afterwards?
 
I figured I was doing something wrong. Do I need a magnifying glass to tell what I am doing. o I did not strop the blade. I have it clamped and going from the handle to the tip on both sides. applying slight pressure. And keeping it in the guide.
 
adam0321 said:
I figured I was doing something wrong. Do I need a magnifying glass to tell what I am doing. o I did not strop the blade. I have it clamped and going from the handle to the tip on both sides. applying slight pressure. And keeping it in the guide.
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Yep, magnification will be useful. You need to work up a burr so you'll know that you're hitting the edge.
 
looks like I have alot to learn. Any suggestions for lessons, books, videos, etc etc
 
Dont know much about the Smiths sharpener that you are using but i do remember seeing some verions at Lowes and they were all cheaply made in China. Try investing in a Spyderco Sharpmaker, watch some vids on how to use and that should fix it. Or send it out for re-profiling and use the Sharpmaker to keep the edge fresh.
 
adam0321 said:
looks like I have alot to learn. Any suggestions for lessons, books, videos, etc etc
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Check out the Maintenance, Tinkering & Embellishment sub forum. Lots of info in there on sharpening.

You'll get better answers there. ;)
 
Thanks, I give up. At this point I think I got the knife duller. Where do I send the knife for re- working?
 
Well, that blade is 12" long and .157" thick, so I think that's a lot of work to be asking the Lansky to do. Just pay attention to the grind marks, you should see it starting to near the edge at some point. Use a sharpie or a marker to mark the face of the edge to see where you're grinding--as the ink wears away closer and closer to the edge you're getting closer. Finally start looking for a burr on the opposite side you're grinding on. If you're not sure what a burr is, just search for the term in the Maintenance section, there's a lot of good information on it, but basically it's what lets you know you're done with one side and ready to move on to the other. Don't move on to the fine hone until you've worked up a burr like this on both sides with your coarse hone.

It will probably take a while with hones that small. You might want to try to get a cheap hardware benchstone (6"x2" or 3"x8") and free-hand it if you're confident in keeping your hand steady--a larger hone would definitely help with a knife this big. Otherwise just keep at it, take some breaks, and it will get there eventually. Remember to use plenty of water and keep your hones clean.
 
Thanks alot. This one has a 7 inch blade. I tried the sharpie but it did not work out that well. Tomarow I am going to get a magnifyer and maybe then I can see what I am doing wrong. I think I may have to have someone who knows what they are doing better to show me.
 
adam0321 said:
Thanks, I give up. At this point I think I got the knife duller. Where do I send the knife for re- working?
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Richardj seems to do a good job, never heard a bad complaint yet and he is very helpful either way. I'd say email him if you need a regrind/sharpening/any knife work.
 
I may be way out of my league here but.......

I am assuming that the Rat 7 you are trying to sharpen has a full flat ground blade. So when you clamped it into your Smith sharpener there are no parallel edges for the clamp to grab to "center" the blade. That being the case the knife could have been in the clamp uneven. So when you started to sharpen it the bevels are not being worked at the same angle since the knife is not centered in the clamp.

That happened to me on my ESEE 4. I thought that I had it centered in the clamp (did the sharpie trick) but I could not get that blade sharp to save my life. When I took the knife out of the clamp I could see the bevels were uneven because the knife was not sitting straight in the sharpening clamp. So I was removing a ton more metal on one side of the blade than the other trying to get it to 20 degrees.

1095 is pretty hard stuff. I think that if you get a magnifying glass and use it with the sharpie trick you should be able to get it straight in the clamp and minimize any more excess material removal. Once it is straight in the clamp the basics of sharpening apply. Draw a bur on one side and then flip it over and work a bur on the other side. Then you know the edges are even and you can move on to refining the edge.

Hope I didn't confuse you to much.....just my personal experience :encouragement:
 
Yeah I have come to the conclusion I have no idea what I am doing. Up untill now I have always just used the device where you pull the blade thru. I like the looks of the spyderco over this system i baought but with my skill nothing will work.

I think my best course of action is to get it re ground to a good 20 deg angle and then just maintain it. However, after using this guide system I do not like it.

On another not who on the forum is good at making kydex sheaths. mainly for a bk2. And how hard are those things to sharpen?


And this one is way off topic, but I'll ask anyway. On the cave divers forum we have a social once or twice a year. A time for members to get together, have a swap meet, and workshops. Any thoughts on that with regards to this forum?
 
You might do a search on youtube. I'm sure there are many vids on sharpening. Might get you going fast.
 
I would follow Wade's advice. It sounds like what is going on. A magnifier might be useful.

I think my best course of action is to get it re ground to a good 20 deg angle and then just maintain it. However, after using this guide system I do not like it.
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Not a bad idea really. I also am not totally fond of the sharpening systems with the clamps and guides for large blades. I use a large DMT bench stone mostly with fine and coarse sides. Sometimes if I'm not paying attention, I get the angle a bit too acute and scratch up the side of the blade, but for a using knife, I don't really care.

At this point, stick to a coarse grit until you feel the burr with your finger (feels ragged sharp but only on one side with your fingers). Then flip over the knife and do the other side. Then go to the finer grits and repeat.
 
I second the suggestion to check the Maintenace sub forum. I too learnt a lot from there. Need to ask you: are you in a hurry to get t sharp? How much effort and time are you willing to put to learn sharpening?

These are basic questions to yourself, you don't even have to answer it on the forum. Then only you decide whether to do it yourself as part of learning, or send it to get a good result. Another option is to send it, and learn slowly (perhaps buy a cheap one to practice with).
 
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