Am I asking to much of my RAT???

Chris "Anagarika";9945185 said:
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).
Click to expand...

Excellent points.
 
Whell I am an advid outdoorsman and am in the military (Marine Recon). So I am often in places that I will not be able to have it sent off. I need to learn how to sharpen knives properly. The problem is everyone seems to have different thoughts on how to get a knife sharp. I was probaly in a bit of a rush. I watched a few videos on youtube but none were that informative. I will browse the maintence forum a bit more and see what I can find.

This is my first sharpening system I have used and I do not like it. I almost bought a large stone and wished I had. I want to get good at sharpening knives without becoming a metalergist. I guess I did consider my Rat a cheap knife. I havent tried sharpening my emerson yet. I know it will be harder to sharpen. Thanks for all the advice.

Anyone live close to Panama City and want to exchange a six pack for a few lessons?
 
Now that you make the priority clear, get some stones, and portable sharpening device too (diamond rod, victorinox pocket sharpener). Learning to sharpen freehand will come handy on the field, even some river sediment rock smoothed out (rub against each other) might work.

For practical purpose, Murray Carter sharpening method is quite good to learn from. Not hair whittling nor tissue paper push cutting but enough working edge to get you by.

Good luck!against each other) might work.

For practical purpose, Murray Carter sharpening method is quite good to learn from. Not hair whittling nor tissue paper push cutting but enough working edge to get you by.

For a start, use a smaller knife or work on 3-4" section o your RAT. Getting down the skill first, thentranslate it to full length. My own shortcoming has always been not fully apexing the edge before moving to finer grit. Learnt the hard way :)

Good luck and stay safe!
 
Thanks I have now managed to get my knife to the point where it will not cut 550 cord. I feel like throwing it in the trash. I hate not being able to do something. All youtube videos make it look so simple. I know the basics, but am falling short somewhere. I hate that guid system I bought. I wish i had just got a large stone.

I am sure I am working the blade on different angles. How exact do you have to be with the angle of the blade? It seems that there is very little bevel on my blade.
 
Learning to sharpen takes time and practice.
There are no shortcuts.

The Murray Carter recommendation above is a good one.
Learn to sharpen freehand with a stone and you'll never look back.

As my Pop would say "Practice makes poifect"
 
wrong perfect practice makes perfect. I have been practicing and look where it got me.
 
ok if your having this much trouble you could probably do a bit better with a piece of sandpaper wet dry and a mouse pad start at 220 grit and work up from there. with sandpaper you use a stropping motion pulling away from the edge instead of toward it. i think your using too steep an angle from your descriptions. the sandpaper method is simple and harder to mess up. it will give you a convex edge and there are many youtube videos on how to do it. main thing is try not to get to frustrated it can always be fixed even if you do end up having to send it off. try the sandpaper though it really is easy just keep your angle shallow and don't push down real hard.

take it easy
cricket
 
I had a Smiths and it really sucked, sold it for $15. One diamond stone included and it wasn't very coarse.

I just reprofiled my USMC Ka-Bar last week. I used the DMT magna-guide and it took every bit of 3 to 4 hours of wetting the hones and stroking the blade on an X-coarse hone before I finally got a burr.

I took my time on the other side removing the burr and on "day two" - once the edge was re-profiled, took another 3 hrs working through the rest of the hones, checking constantly with a 200+ lumen Quark flashlight and a magnifying glass to keep bringing the edge to an apex & a tiny burr and then removing it.

It was worth the time and the lesson (buy 8" x 3" benchstones ;)) to get that knife like a razor. Nearly a mirrored edge coming off the xx-fine hone! :thumbup: :D

Patience is a virtue. A blade's edge doesn't respond well to a heavy hand.
 
well I ditched the guid and am going with just hand motions now. I have the sont laying flat on the table and ma going frre hand. I got it back up to cutting cord but not very well. I am going to buy a large stone tomarow. Any suggestions? Are the Ak Stones good? And what about the spyderco kit?
 
The key is be patient. Until you hit the edge (burr forms). Constant angle is important. Using too much force, usually I screw up the angle.

Patience, constant movement. Especially if your angle is thinner than the factory, it takes a very long time. I spent about more than 12 hrs over 2 weeks period, reprofiling the Navy K631, ended up with bevel that runs to almost half inches into the flat ground. Of course the stone used is also a big factor. I used 320, 400, and 1000 grid from local kitchen supplies. 1000 grid sandpaper and metal polosh on cardboard for finishing.

If you match the original angle, it usually takes less than half hour to resharpen (average steel, assuming the edge is chipped/bent).

Someone mentioned, the initial hardship is worth it, as touch up will take much less effort. I keep them up by stropping on daily basis. Weekly, do a light resharpening on stone. This is 8Cr13MoV that mostly is considered mediocre steel.
 
your saying my knife is made of mediocre steel? I am not sure If i got a good enough bur before I switched. been at it a few hours tomight. getting better but no where near what I would call sharp yet,
 
I will pick one up for my birthday. After reading a bit..do the onterio rats have a bad rep? Are they that much worse then the esee? If so does esee make a knife that is the same size as my onterio rat-7?
 
Your rat-7 is a good knife. 1095 steel is good steel. But, there are better knives and better steels out there. You just need to learn how to sharpen your knife. You need to learn how to sharpen it using the sharpener you will have with you in the field. You can use the sharpmaker to set the bevel but that won't help you if you don't have it with you. You need to be able to hold a consistent and correct bevel across your edge every time, both sides of the blade. And I'd suggest being able to do it with both hands. You need to be able to do it without cutting yourself. Once you get to that stage you will be able to draw cut lengthwise through an 8 x 12 piece of typing paper after sharpening at 325 grit. That is as long as you have a clean edge, no burrs, no nicks, no flat spots on the edge.
 
adam0321 said:
Thanks I have now managed to get my knife to the point where it will not cut 550 cord. I feel like throwing it in the trash. I hate not being able to do something. All youtube videos make it look so simple. I know the basics, but am falling short somewhere. I hate that guid system I bought. I wish i had just got a large stone.

I am sure I am working the blade on different angles. How exact do you have to be with the angle of the blade? It seems that there is very little bevel on my blade.
Click to expand...

Oi, its going from bad to worst. have you tried marking the edge with a sharpie to see if your getting to the edge? that helped me quite a few times! the defination of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. It might be time to change systems or send it out which sucks cuz you keep moving from place to place. either way, angle doesnt really make a difference. Obviously a narrower angle will not last as long as as a wider one but it will cut better. That being said, exact angle I dont think makes a whole lot of difference as long as your getting to the edge while sharpening which I don't think you are.



P.S. I've never been able to get good results with a sharpmaker myself.
 
Bo T said:
Your rat-7 is a good knife. 1095 steel is good steel. But, there are better knives and better steels out there. You just need to learn how to sharpen your knife. You need to learn how to sharpen it using the sharpener you will have with you in the field. You can use the sharpmaker to set the bevel but that won't help you if you don't have it with you. You need to be able to hold a consistent and correct bevel across your edge every time, both sides of the blade. And I'd suggest being able to do it with both hands. You need to be able to do it without cutting yourself. Once you get to that stage you will be able to draw cut lengthwise through an 8 x 12 piece of typing paper after sharpening at 325 grit. That is as long as you have a clean edge, no burrs, no nicks, no flat spots on the edge.
Click to expand...

i agree that 1095 Carbon Steel is good steel. sure there are super steels out there but a 1095 Carbon Steel blade should be able to take a very very sharp edge and keep it fairly well!
 
I want to send it off but then I feel like I am just giving up. I think I am going to buy a better stone and go from there. any suggestions?
 
adam0321 said:
And what about the spyderco kit?
Click to expand...

The spyderco sharpmaker is a very good system. It comes with a CD that shows you how to use it. I'd recommend you pick up the optional diamond rods for it. The diamond rods will make the first stage of setting your back bevel a little easier because they'll cut faster. The great thing about the sharpmaker is it's good for touching up your edge quickly and easily after you get it set.

Another good gizmo is the DMT Diafold Magna-Guide Sharpening System. It's a clamp system that works with their diamond stones. The specific advantage of their system is you can use their extra coarse and coarse diamond stones to really carve through steel at the beginning, esp with tougher steels. The added benefit is their Diafold diamond stones can be used free hand in the field.

I use the DMT Magna guide and the coarse stones to put the back bevel on my knives and then use the sharpmaker to finish up the microbevel and to touch up the edge. The spyderco diamond rods should be plenty for the 1095 Rat-7 though.
 
adam0321 said:
I want to send it off but then I feel like I am just giving up. I think I am going to buy a better stone and go from there. any suggestions?
Click to expand...

have you tried a mouse pad and sandpaper? its cheap and it works for some. Personnaly I could never get an edge I really liked and it took too long and but it was able to cut para cord. considering I never really put in over 3 hours and you have been going on for days, you might wanna try it out. again, i highly suggest using a sharpie marker to make sure your actually getting to the edge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top