best way to sharpen machax?

G

gutsy

Joined
Sep 27, 2005
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sharpening this thing is kind of a pain . whats the best way to sharpen it in the field and at home ? at home i have a ceramic sharpener that looks like a big rolling pin . it works but not great .
 
I convexed mine on a belt sander, then use a sharp maker to add a microbevel. Mine push cuts serpentines through newspaper.
 
Just a straight up Norton stone works for me. After I dropped the pine tree that's what I used to get the edge back, no problem.
 
Dont have a machax but sandpaper, WD-40 and polishing paste... Same hobo setup up that I've been using for awhile that puts an awesome edge on anything and costs almost nothing.
 
To each his own, but on any re-curve blades I own or have owned, I like a good diamond rod and then steel, final strop. I have always been able to get a nice edge this way, and its stress free...something about the sound of the diamond rod passing up the blade...good stuff.
 
I just got through convexing the edge and now I'm tuckered out .I think I'm going to get a diamond rod and maybe make a strop out of a pvc pipe and some leather.
 
I use a half round diamond rod followed by a 12" long 1" diameter crock stick.
 
Thanks so much for the advice . One day I'm going to master sharpening recurve blades .
 
serpentine, serpentine, serpentine, serpentine. loved that movie.

it's not really that huge a curve. mouse pad, sandpaper works. various sharping systems that can magically keep the stone aligned work

worksharp does a NICE job, and it's a large enough blade, that i'm not doing stuff like that by hand again :)

if you had a KMG or similar pro belt system, use it.

ceramic stick? seems like a HUGE amount of work, for the surface area.
 
I use my Work Sharp and leather strops with black and white finishing compound. It puts a really nice edge on the Machax. I usually don't need to use more than the 6000 grit belt to maintain the edge, since I don't let it dull too badly, so I'm not taking off very much metal in any one sharpening session.
 
I put a hand convex across the belly of mine, and I used 500grit sandpaper on a rubber sanding block. Works pretty decent, and it is pretty much my "go to" sharpening tool as of now. I finish off with some 100 grit thumb-tacked to a phone book, then strop on a leath belt (no compound). Gives a paper slicing edge and takes about 5 min.
 
I have been using a hand held diamond stone on my Machax, It has not been as hard to take care of as I was expecting.



CamH_16 said:
Dont have a machax but sandpaper, WD-40 and polishing paste... Same hobo setup up that I've been using for awhile that puts an awesome edge on anything and costs almost nothing.
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Do you convex your knives Cam? I have been wondering if I put the sandpaper directly on a hard surface instead of mouse pad or Styrofoam can I do a regular V edge instead of convex.
 
i used a coarse wetstone and elbo grease . and lots of scar tissue from my rotator cuff. hopefully somebody can help me with it at the gathering maybe .
 
thanks for the info here. I really need to learn! got some rock hits today but used a cheapie diamond rod stick thing and then the kitchen knife rod and the edge came back decent? but needs more work for sure.
 
My new BK4 Machax just arrived yesterday, which was an awesome surprise since tracking indicated it would be delivered on Monday. The factory edge was pretty decent, albeit a bit toothy. It would take some hair off, but it wasn't quite good enough for my taste.

I was a little concerned at how well my Spyderco Sharpmaker would work on the curved blade of the Machax. Much to my surprise, the Sharpmaker worked perfectly well on the BK4 blade. I dare say it seemed to work even better than on my BK9 and other straight blades. My only thought on that may be because of the angled handle, it seemed a little easier to keep the blade perfectly vertical.

I used my large whetstone to knock a little bit of the factory shoulder off - although not to a real convex - before starting with the Sharpmaker. Once that was done, I ran through the all 4 stages on the 40 degree angle.... then all 4 stages on the 30 degree angle... then went back and touched up with the final 2 stages on the 40. After that I just did a light strop on my leather belt.

The result was a smooth edge that was sharp enough to take a full patch of hair down my leg.

Anyone concerned about getting/keeping a good edge on the Machax should definitely pick up the Spyderco Sharpmaker.
 
axesbold said:
Do you worksharp users use one of the included guides, or do you freehand? Thanks!
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You'll want to use the guides at first, but after a while you start to realize that they become a hindrance. Once you learn the angles and become more proficient with keeping a consistent grind, you'll probably start to freehand your blades. The biggest issue with the guides is that they promote putting too much pressure on the edge, especially when you contact the belt at the heel of the blade, and are trying to get the angle right. Putting the edge against the belt for too long is a bad move. This can result in a slightly recurved area at the heel if you're not careful. Make sure and practice on some crappy knives you don't care about first. I'd recommend getting some el cheapo dollar knives at wal-fart to start with, if you don't already have a beater collection. There's a bit of a learning curve with the WS, but once you figure it out, it works amazingly well.

Be sure to read the Work Sharp thread in the maintenance forum, paying special attention to not allowing the point to fall off the belt and thus rounding the tip. I read that thread before I bought the WS, and it saved me from ruining my knife points.
 
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