Blades That Will not Take A Sharp Edge

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pogo

Joined
Jun 8, 2005
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I only have a few that will not take a sharp edge. The old Keen Kutters & the old cheap Imperial knives. It is astonishing that the old timers got by with these! It could be my examples are not heat treated properly though. Modern knives seem so much better than grandpa's blades! :eek::eek:
 
I haven't found a knife that won't take a good edge, I have gotten a butter knife to shave for fun lol.
 
pogo said:
I only have a few that will not take a sharp edge. The old Keen Kutters & the old cheap Imperial knives. It is astonishing that the old timers got by with these! It could be my examples are not heat treated properly though. Modern knives seem so much better than grandpa's blades! :eek::eek:
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Strange finding this post after a short time ago this evening playing with my recently rediscovered old Imperial Kamp King. This was the model I purchased as a boy scout and carried exclusively for the next 15 years. I have no idea of what blade steel, but my sample always held a good edge despite abuse and indifferent maintenance. Although I don't quite remember the last time it was sharpened, when I pulled out the blade a couple of hours ago it was shaving sharp. If the other implements weren't such fingernail busters, I could put this knife into my rotation for the reverse snob appeal, if nothing else. I must admit, however, SAKs are way better.
 
even my old colonials and imperials can get plenty sharp:D, the colonials could be hit and miss on FF but the blades sharpened up just fine. They were my grandads beater knives so they have seen alot, and alot of old timer brand sharpening too:D
Dunno maybe ya got yourself some duds
ivan
 
Never had one I couldn't get sharp, but several that wouldn't cut very well due to the thickness of the blade.
 
The old Imperial made in Ireland knives had a carbon steel blade up through the 80's and 90's. Barlows, jacks, boy scout knives, and a lockback. I used to carry a imperial barlow that I'd shave with at the job when I was away from home. I don't care much for the same brands stainless knives.

Keen Kutter makes a line of 1095 knives currently that does just fine.

Ideal brand knives were the cheap ones when I was growing up. The common style knives for a dollar or less. I still occasionally run across the cardboard displays like new on the gunshow circut.

Pretty much any of the carbon steel knives I ran across as a youngster were workable. The cheap "surgical" stainless knives not so much. The first stainless knife I really had respect for were Spydercos with their japanese stainless cutlery steels.

They were the first stainless knives I could consistently get shaving sharp. The Spyderco steel charts are what got me started on the path to being a true steel junky.

About the only knives I can't make sharp are some of the pot metal Pakistani knives. They are not worth the effort to sharpen.
 
If you ever feel like a challenge, try sharpening the Gerber Paraframe. I couldn't get it to take an edge for the life of me (I really love insulting this knife, lol).
 
I've never found a knife that I could not get sharp. Staying sharp is another story, but getting there has never been a problem. I think if you really know how you can pick a piece of steel up in the yard and make it sharp, like before it would not stay sharp but you can get it there.
Percy
 
The only "knife" that I have not been able to sharpen was a brand new Pakistani razor. I honed & stropped, but couldn't even get it to shave arm hair. I collect and restore old razors so it wasn't technique that was bad, just something wrong with that mystery steel.
 
My CRKT M16-10Z. I can get all of my other knives pretty darn sharp using my Sharpmaker, but not this thing. And that's saying a lot considering it is AUS4.

Maybe it's the chisel grind, maybe it's the relatively thick edge, I dunno.
 
i have ran into a few that didnt have a good enough heat treat to take a good hair shaving paper slicing edge. going from a v edge to a convex edge didnt make any difference either.
 
richard j said:
i have ran into a few that didnt have a good enough heat treat to take a good hair shaving paper slicing edge. going from a v edge to a convex edge didnt make any difference either.
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Where these knives yours or some that had been sent to you for sharpening?
 
Most knives cut and shave better if you lower their honing angle. The exception is some steel that either has a coarse structure (carbides or similar micro inclusions) or is extremely ductile and inclined to form burrs. For those steels I hone to a low angle and then finish with a significantly higher angle microbevel (say 25 degrees per side). This is second rate, but somewhat an improvement. Usually I will go back and roughen the edge with about a 600 grit diamond hone. That will make the edge at least slice efficiently.
 
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