Commander Sharpening?

D

Don Mega

Joined
Jan 17, 2002
Messages
28
How do you all sharpen your Commanders? The recurve edge on this blade really makes it tough to keep an constant angle even with devices designed for that purpose. I have a Lansky that I have modified to handle the heavy angle on my Commander and I can get it pretty sharp but not scary sharp. Any suggestions to take the recurve Commander blade over the edge? Thanks.
 
yeah i was wonderin the same thing, i got a mini commander comein here in a few days and i wasnt sure how to sharpen. I dont even have a sharpener!!! can any one recommend the best sharpener for a emerson?
 
Since I got my first Commander in march of 99 I`ve used many different sharpeners,angles and concepts.If you have not veiwed the Emerson web site on sharpening you should.Pratice makes perfect,so pratice,pratice,pratice and you`ll get there.I hope you enjoy your Commander as much as I do mine. :)
 
The best thing to do if you want a shaving sharp edge is to regrind it to a "V" grind . I just did it and it makes the Commander a completly different animal .
 
Hey Edd,

What angle is your double V-grid? The Emerson angle is around 30 degrees. Dit you maintain that angle but rotated it so that both sides of the edge have 15 degrees?
 
i have a commander bandityo redid and its 15-15 degrees like ya say, works great i must say, i got it that way in a trade, but it does work well.......

as far as sharpening a std commander, it just takes practice - and more practice, hardest EKI to sharpen i have come across......but not impossible by any means.

greg
 
Well, what I did on my CQC7 was to use the lansky to re-bevel the thing. I think the commander fits the lansky angles a little more easily. Personally, I bought a half-serrated commander, so I don't worry as much about the inside edge of the recurvce, since most of it's the serrations. The convex part is easy to sharpen normally. I suppose you could find a way to have a lansky stone, or stone set rounded over, to fit the inside edge a little better, but I hadn't really given it much thought until now.

Aside from that, I've heard of good results from people using sharpening rods, instead of stones, but I'm not the one you shoudl ask about which rods to buy, or where to buy them.
 
I just this weekend took a mini Comm. on trade for a MOD Hornet that was razor sharp. This miniC is mint too. Now here is the dilema, once again. This is my 4th EKI liner locking knife. I have had the Comm., CQC7A, this miniC, and one other that I can't at this time remember the name of. Doggone it.

Anyways when I rec. it I was quite happy as the knife is mint. The lock up and opening and closing is superb. The edge sharpness leaves once again a lot to be desired. So went at it my Lansky diamnod hones. The edge bevel varied from a perfect 25 deg to a very steep +30deg out towards the point. Actually about .375" from the point(3/8") Now the point has a slightly wider bevel than the rest of the knife. Doesn't look bad really just wider. No waver's or anything of the sort. I now have it somewhat sharper than when it arrived. Wouldn't really push cut paper but would pull cut better.

The thing and this has been my bitch with these knives from the beginning. I feel that a cutting insturment should cut with very little effort on the users part. Just makes it safer to use. It seems to me that with all the EKI's I have owned that they just wouldn't do that. I can get them close but it seems that there is just one little bit lacking in regards to sharpness. I like the design of the knife, the way it fits the hand, and the way it locks up for liner lock. I just can't seem to get the edge hairpopping like for instance the way my Griptilian is or even my AFCK and my cheap CS's. I have stropped with the notepad back, used my coarse diamond to get the edge rough and reprofiled. Anyways daughter has to do her homework. Volunteer's wanted to get this thing scary sharp like my other knives. Keep'em sharp

PS does anyone really belive that this type of grind is better than a reg. flat or hollow grind.
 
My understanding of the chisel is that it has its advantages and disadvantages. Because the angle is wider, it can withstand a heavier load without giving. It also is time saving in sharpening because you only have to sharpen one side. The downsides of the chisel are:

1)It can't be sharpened to the degree that a double edged can be for the sole reason that there isn't an acute enough angle. A razor blade is a razor blade because the blade angle is extremely small, allowing for greater sharpness, but less impact resistance. Try cutting into a good solid piece of wood or bone with a razor blade. It gets dull real fast...almost fast enough to not cut it at all.

2)It doesn't cut as precisely as a thinner angle blade. Some say when cutting paper it strays off to the unedged side of the knife. You can easily imagine why this would occur.

I have a straight edged Commander and I have practiced over and over again to get it REALLY sharp. I can make it shave hair on my arm with pressure using a fine Lansky diamond stone. It push cuts paper fine. But being able to pop hair off without pressure like other knives...I don't think it is practically able to get that sharp due to the larger angle. But, I tell you what, it is a real SOB when it comes to a self defense knife where you don't need cutting precision, and you DO need some impact resistance when the knife may hit harder objects. I carry a Spyderco Military as my EDC for utility. It is a really tough knife that can pop the hair off your arm due to the double sided sharpened edge. My commander lies dormant until "needed". Thats my 2 cents.
 
I sharpened my new 2002 Commander with my Edge Pro Apex yesterday. That is the ABSOLUTE hardest to sharpen knife I have EVER seen.

I tried the chisel grind thing with terrible results. I wound up re-profiling the thing. I also killed the chisel grind (on purpose). It must have been around 45-50 degrees (included angle) near the point. It's now a decent 35 degree included angle V-grind for the entire edge. It looks pretty good, but it needs to be more like 24 degrees included angle. All together, it took a good 3 hours.
 
Well I am relieved I am not the only one who has a difficult time with these types of edges. I now have it to where it will push cut paper pretty decently. Not great but alright. I am still of the opinion that a single edged knife can and should be scary sharp. Just look at the Martins and Campos knives to name a few. I didn't get this knife for a s.d. knife as I have a ccw and depend on that when I am carrying. Anyways I will work a bit more on it today and see what I can come up with. I like the knife for the design and ergonomics but not really for it's cutting ability. As for toughness of the edge all my other knives cut rings around it. Most can do normal knife chores with ease and self defense chores if called upon with equal ease. The ergo's may not be as good as the Mini C. but they do work very efficently. My S2K(the finest prod. liner lock made imho) doesn't really have an accute edge, gets wicked sharp, and holds its edge a good good long time. Enough harping. thanks for the info and keep'em sharp.
 
I haven't seen it mentioned in this thread, but I use my 204 to keep
my Commander :eek: shaving SCARY sharp :eek:. I usually run the sharpened edge on just the corners of the med. and fine triangles, followed up by taking the slight burr off with the flat side of the stones.

With the 204, the steeply recurved edge is a breeze to sharpen and maintain. ;) :D
 
Well I have been playing off and on over the last couple of days with tyring to get this MiniC as sharp as I can get it. What I seem to have arrived at is that you will never be able to get it as sharp as a conventionally ground knife. I know some people will have better luck and probably get it a degress sharper than what I have now. But this knife is as sharp as I can get it.

To quantify this sharpness the edge itself has a decent grabbiness to it. It will shave hair only on the bevel side(left side) and that is with some effort. Not alot but some. Doesn't pop them off but almost pulls them off. I have settled on the coarse hone full length of the edge. I have reprofiled the edge to 25 deg out to the point. Took about 1.5hrs to do that. Now the point is just a little wider on the cantle infront of the rec. as opposed to a full 25deg evenly up to just past the rec. portion. After doing this and still not being able to raise a burr on the edge I took a very small hand held med. brown stone and stroked the back edge as per directions. Helped alittle in getting the edge grabby on the ground side. I really think the grabbiness is a very thin burr as I stropped it via the legal pad method and seemed to bring the edge into where it will now shave a bit easier. It will most definetly cut paper much much better. It will also take a good bite into seasoned silver maple and hickory. No small feat I may add.

Out of all the EKI's I have owned in the past I think the CQC7A I owned and this one are the best of the lot. These two just seem to fit my hand extremely well and they were the best made of the bunch. By this I mean not a lot of tool marks on the blades where they rotate and on the liners, the lock up, blade centering, and opening smoothness. Don't know if this will ever make me want to carry it except once in a great while but we will shall see. As for now I am a confirmed S2K fan and BM Griptillian fan. Sharp as razors, robust locking mechs. and very fine ergonomics. Keep'em sharp
 
Sharpening a Commander is easy as pie. use the corners of sharpmaker rods and hold handle with the thlade pointed at you eye level. follower the grind by eye or with a marker to help you out. once you get the hang of it it's easy to get a hair popping edge.
 
L.O. Little said:
... I also killed the chisel grind (on purpose). It must have been around 45-50 degrees (included angle) near the point. It's now a decent 35 degree included angle V-grind for the entire edge. It looks pretty good, but it needs to be more like 24 degrees included angle. All together, it took a good 3 hours.
Click to expand...

longbow said:
... I have had the Comm., CQC7A, this miniC, ... the edge bevel varied from a perfect 25 deg to a very steep +30deg out towards the point. Actually about .375" from the point(3/8") Now the point has a slightly wider bevel than the rest of the knife.
Click to expand...
Sorry for the zombie thread, but I am searching for the the factory angle for the Super Commander knife, so I can attempt to sharpen my recurve. Does anyone know the exact angle that comes from EKI for this blade?
 
Wow ! I didn't notice the date at first and was surprised by all of the unfamiliar faces!

I use a Lansky diamond system. It took a bit of trial and error to figure out the best blade position in the clamp, but once I got it, 25 degrees seemed to follow the factory edge darned near perfect.
 
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