Best way to make an edge?

T

Trent

Joined
May 4, 2000
Messages
79
What's going on all?

A girl friend of mine has a nasty habit of walking alone late at night. I want to get her a self defense blade she can keep in her backpack and maybe throw around her neck or clip on her belt for the walks home. I'm going to get her pepper spray as well. She's not trained in knife fighting per se, but she has some martial arts training. She's only 100 pounds, but she's 100 pounds of muscle and mean as a snake. I believe she could deter most attacks with pepper spray and sharp knife. Since retention is an issue, I've decided to go with the CRKT bear claw. Since this is strictly a self-defense knife, I want to sharpen the top edge on the blade for her. I can sharpen any decent steel that has an edge, but what if there is no edge? I have a few ideas, but what's the best and quickest way to put an edge on there? The steel is Aus6M by the way. Also, I have a set of ceramic rods, but nothing else for sharpening.

Thanks in advance,
Trent
 
A belt grinder would be best. Pendentive here on the forums recommends a certain brand that I can't recall right now, a search of his recent posts should bring it up. They aren't as much as you might think, less than $100. A cheaper option is a coarse file, but believe me when I say that files are a lot of work. Good luck.
 
so it won't be possible for me to just use the sharpening ceramic then? bummer to buy a 100 grinder to profile a 30$ knife. thanks for the info though
 
Ceramic will work...heck, you could rub it on cardboard and it would eventually get there, but you would be so tired you could not pick it up afterwards! The best thing to do is get a coarse diamond "stone". I use my Sharpmaker for everything except reprofiling...for that I do have a grinder for rapid removal but switch to my Landsky Diamond to get it where I want it. The Landsky clips to the blade so you will get the exact angle you desire. It is an investment, it will sharpen / reprofile your knives the rest of your life!
 
I have used a 7" Nicholson knife file to put an edge on the false edge of my CRKT Polkowski Companion and my Gryphon M10. It only took me about an hour per knife. I don't have to tell you that the key to this technique is a consistant angle. After putting the edge on these knives, I sharpened with the Sharpmaker starting with the diamond rods and worked my way to the white rods.
 
How far is Bloomington from Burlington, IA? I bet John Andrews (knifemaker) would be happy to put an edge on the back for ya...


You can get a belt sander for $30 now on Harbor Freight - and still get free shipping. But that may not be what you're interested in...just fyi.


Why do you need the back sharpened anyway? Just increases the likelyhood that the user will cut themselves with it.
 
My choice for this would be one of those pull through sharpeners with the two bits of carbide. Use it to hog off most of the metal and establish a bevel.
 
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