Here is a knife that had a wake up call from the coarser synthetic stone. So many people repeat all kinds of bunk about SAK's loosing their edge if you look at hem hard. Well, SAK steel is a bit softer, down in the mid 50's RC. BUT…put a toothy coarser edge on it, and you have a whole different breed of cat that has sharp claws. Same for the Case True Sharp.
Knife knuts are dumb when it comes to knife sharpening. The obsessed knife knut will figure the sharper the better, and he then treats all steels the same. BUT…not all steels are the same. They react differently according to what's in them, and how hard are they. Knife knuts make a very big deal over the latest steel taken to high RC levels, and think anything not equivalent to be junk. Go back a hundred years and you'll find pocket knife blades were quite a bit softer than todays miracle steels. And if a SAK is so bad, how come they are the worlds leading seller of pocket knives? The reason is, the rest of the world is not obsessed with hair whittling sharpness. They just want to cut a rope, some canvas, maybe something to eat. They also don't want to have to use mechanized or high tech knife sharpeners. Work sharps and edge-pros and other gizmos may be in short supply in the middle of the Amazon, an archeological dig in the mid-east, or even a space vehicle in orbit. Were's all this leading to?
The joe average knife guy the world over has a sharpening stone. Maybe. And it's not going to be a super fine 3,000,000 grit waterstone from a mythical country the other side of the rainbow. No, if he's lucky he has a single old sharpening stone out in the garage, or down the basement on the workbench. Or he may have just a piece of brick, broken coffee mug, a smooth stone picket up out of the creek. But that's all he really needs.
The fine people at Case are very much like the fine people at Victorinox. They make pocket knives for the masses. Not the obsessed knife knuts. They make a steel that is good for the joe average knife user. And it needs to be treated a little different than a high RC blade of the latest whiz bang wonder steel of the month. Take the SAL or the Case true sharp, and just sharpen it on a coarse synthetic stone of 300 or so grit, and you'll see a big difference in both cutting and edge holding. Don't get into the umpteen thousand grit super knife sharpening gizmo, because it's wasted effort. It is, what it is. A mundane steel for the joe average knife user who just needs to cut something. Not looking to slice an atom while it whizzes by, or slice a silk scarf in two as it floats down on the blade, like in some fairy tale out of The Arabian Nights.
Try a coarser toothy edge on the true sharp, and you just might see a difference. True sharp does not need to bow it's head.
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Jacknife you have reminded me what i should of known, my only defence is that for too long i have been a Spyderco man, fine knives but without the character of traditionals and of course some very fancy steels combined with a Sharpmaker and before you know it you have not got a hair on your forearm.So it looks as if i shall have to re-acquaint myself with my dads old whetstones they must be in their nineties by now but i figure they still have plenty of life in them,i shall just have to go back to school but if i read you right just settle back and take my time, also take note of SonnyJim and "learn to leave well enough alone".I have a Rough Rider peanut inbound so i shall practice on it and if i make a muck of it no biggy...
