Bk24 sharpness

H

HotRodColt

Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
330
I have a BK24 and I am not super impressed with how sharp the D2 is. Has anyone reprofiled the edge on one of these to make it more slice and cut friendly?
 
Are you referring to the factory edge in particular? My understanding is that there can be a fair bit of variability coming out of the shop. I have a 24 that I have "hand convexed" (basically just knocked down the shoulder a bunch, took the angle down to closer to 15 degrees per side and try to maintain a bit of a micro-bevel). D2 can be trickier to sharpen than 1095 cro-van, it is more abrasion resistant, and some feel they must have diamonds to sharpen it. I have been able to get a consistent hair popping edge with diamonds and ceramics and a strop. It is a pretty thick blade for its size so it will never be as slicey as an equally sharpened blade that is thinner, but it is also a do it all tank.
 
I just figured it was either my own sharpening technique/skills or the factory sheath that dulled whatever edge I put on there. I'm sure the steel material is not the limiting factor in making a screaming edge.
 
cant speak for the D2, but in the case of the 14, i have often put a mirror finish on mine, put it in and out of the sheath a few times and it then cant even cut paper easily, and thats attempting to drag the spine so the edge doesnt hit. Kydex is the best way to fix this problem
 
Operator error. Even if it came scalpel sharp it would eventually need touching up. You can get a thousand suggestions on how to sharpen it but a Norton fine India stone and some practice is inexpensive and will give you skills you can use the rest of your life.

I love D2 and the 24 is easy to maintain a good edge. My constant companion and always shaving sharp. :thumbup:


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(I'm going to use the snapping turtle as a sheath when it gets big enough)
 
My 24 came adequately sharp. Stropping it helped quite a bit.

I haven't tried to put anything more than a coarse~fine 'working' edge on it. The same with the rest of my BKs. Certainly nothing close to the extremely sharp edges I put on my EDC folders.
 
I will spend some time with it on my sharp maker and see if I can tune it up. It was not that sharp out of the box.
 
TravisH said:
My 24 came adequately sharp. Stropping it helped quite a bit.

I haven't tried to put anything more than a coarse~fine 'working' edge on it. The same with the rest of my BKs. Certainly nothing close to the extremely sharp edges I put on my EDC folders.
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I do the same, stropped it and it shaves arm hair. I use these blades a lot (i have 2) and have not sharpened it at all from factory edge. It wasnt overly sharp when i got mine either. l hit it with the leather strop and it seemed to finish the edge off by making it much sharper.
 
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HotRodColt said:
I will spend some time with it on my sharp maker and see if I can tune it up. It was not that sharp out of the box.
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Use light pressure as D2 has a pretty high carbon content and can literally be pulled out of the steel at the apex, causing mini chips and a rough or dull feeling edge.
Light pressure on the finer stones.
 
HotRodColt said:
I have a BK24 and I am not super impressed with how sharp the D2 is. Has anyone reprofiled the edge on one of these to make it more slice and cut friendly?
Click to expand...

Yes I have. At about 30 degrees. 15 per side.
It'll slice like a ninja, cut like a razor blade!
In fact, I've been able to get all my D2 blades screaming sharp.
I use a Spyderco Sharpmaker. (To the extreme.)
 
My bk24's take an edge nicely, a minute on my work sharp with the hone and strop belts and it shaves my arm easily.

Seems stropping is the trick.
 
My Ken Onion WS makes D2 shave easily but not for long. I have been working on getting past hair shaving as a measure of sharpness. Knives cut very well after the even after they stop shaving hair and D2 does this for a very long time as the edge seems to last forever.

I have Kydex for the 24 but just bought a 3. I put the piggy backed the original sheath to the 3's sheath so I will watch to see if the sheath dulls the knife and report back.
 
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