Angle on ZDP Leek?

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flameboy

Joined
Jul 14, 2006
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I got my leek back from kershaw and I am very surprised to note that it is not as sharp as I was hoping. It went from being butter knife dull to working-sharp.

I am hoping that maybe I can push it over to razer sharpness on my Sharpmaker. Should I use 40 or 30 degree slots? Thanks for your help guys.
 
30 degrees with provide better sharpness. 40 degrees with be a more robust edge, but to take advantage of ZDP-189 a more acute angle (such as 30 degrees) should be used. Many would suggest going even more acute than 30 degrees, but that is not possible on a Sharpmaker unless you just freehand with the rods.
 
Thank you. I will get to work asap.

I wonder why they didnt sharpen it up all the way? Its actually difficult to cut cardboard with it.
 
You are going to get carpel tunnel before you reprofile that edge on the Sharpmaker, unless you have the diamond hones, and then it is still possible you will get carpel tunnel (though I'm not sure what angle the edge is on your knife, if it's under 15 degrees per side already the sharpmaker will be able to microbevel it with ease). I brought my ZDP/420J Jess Horn from the factory angle down to 7-8 degrees per side (flat to the stone) on my Sharpmaker with the diamond hones, and it took 3 grueling hours. A lot of the steel I took off was the 420J, I probably would have given up before finishing the job if it was pure ZDP. I bought a DMT X coarse benchstone because of my experience with this project, and let me tell you it is well worth the 30 dollars if you are going to reprofile ZDP (or any knife for that matter). I recommend you get the DMT stone and try to get the primary angle as thin as possible, say 10 degrees or a little less (tape the knife off if you are worried about the appearance) and use a 15 degree microbevel from the sharpmaker. That way you are only honing a tiny amount of steel as opposed to doing the whole width of the edge with each sharpening. Your cutting performance will improve tremendously as well as edge retention and the ease of sharpening will be eye opening. I haven't had any chipping issues with my Jess Horn at those angles, but I'm not cutting any metals and careful to not twist out of any of the cuts. It can cut huge amounts of cardboard while retaining a good working edge, and it takes a really keen edge.
 
I dont really have any experience using a bench stone, but I'm sure not happy leaving this knife the way it is.

Can you give me more detailed instructions on how to get the angle lower? Do i start off with the coarse benchstone then move to the sharpmaker? Do you have any guides that might help me use a benchstone. Know any good places to get one?

My 40 degree benchmade is sharper than this ZDP leek and it makes me very sad :-(

Thanks for your help
 
Cliff's link is real good. I hadn't done much with a benchstone prior to this project, and I was OK with scratching my blade up real bad and sharpened it literally flat to the stone, that was my angle guide. Something I have been thinking of to help as an angle guide for benchstones is to cut a piece of wood at the desired angle on a mitre saw. You then lay the benchstone on that piece of wood and hold the knife parallel to the table, and the stone is already at the desired angle relative to the blade (it is basically like the stone is sitting on a ramp). It is a similar concept for holding the angle as the sharpmaker, which holds the stone at the proper angle relative to the blade in the vertical plane, except what I am thinking of is in the horizontal plane. I plan on trying it the next time I have a woodworking project and have some scrap wood to chop up. I'm sure others have tried it, maybe someone can share their experiences.
 
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