Damaged Edge

[outlawconcealment]

I just stonewashed my Rat 1 and the finish looks great, but my edge is obliterated! I spent an hour sharpening the knife with my Spyderco Sharpmaker and it has had no improvement. I have the diamond stones for it also. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get my razor edge back on my knife?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Either keep working with the diamond rods for your SM (assuming you've used them thus far), or find a larger/more aggressive stone to speed up the grinding. The biggest limitation in the SM is the small hone size; even with the diamond, if there's literally no edge on the blade, it'll take a LOOONNG time to work it back. A larger bench hone in SiC or diamond will greatly speed things up. If you're not comfortable with freehand sharpening on a bench hone, a DMT Aligner clamp pairs very well with use on bench stones, to keep your angle steady and the bevels very crisp. In this scenario, with stonewashing likely erasing the previous edge, I'd consider the bench stone & clamp to be the best option myself.


David

 

[outlawconcealment]

Thanks for your response! So do you think using the DNT Aligner Clamp with the extra course stone would be enough to reset my edge and then move back to the SM to clean it up?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Thanks for your response! So do you think using the DNT Aligner Clamp with the extra course stone would be enough to reset my edge and then move back to the SM to clean it up?

That should be enough to give you a sharp edge again. A larger bench hone in a Coarse or Fine diamond grit, or something like a SiC bench stone (like a Norton Crystolon, for example), should be enough; the extra surface area makes the bigger difference, without having to go too coarse. Once the bevels are set and you have a crisp apex, it's a lot easier to refine on the SM.


David