Do you sharpen your CRK/CRK's more often than you need to.......

C

clockman

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Jan 14, 2009
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Some guys sharpen their knives more than they need to. I've read this comment a few times on BF. I sharpen a couple

of my CRK's a bit too often sometimes....no, I'm not any near the deep end, OCD. :D

Anyone else that's guilty as charged....using your SM or other sharpening tool more than you need to sometimes. Or

we could go the other direction too for some guys. Not often enough.
 
Since i set up my sharpening wheels as STROP only i touch all my blades up as needed. Doesnt remove much metal at all and gets them screaming sharp in 25 seconds flat. One wheel is black compound, the other is white rouge. 2 passes on each wheel and im done.
Unless the blade is badly nicked or i hit concrete or a nail ect then i have to do a full sharpening.
 
I sharpen mine more than I need to....but I sharpen them a lot less than some;)

Time is all relative to the amount of cutting and what materials the edge sees. I sharpen mine when it starts tearing things (like bags of top-soil, sand, or other materials) open instead of cutting them. That said, I sould get a LOT more work out of my edges if I had to, but I enjoy a sharp edge more.

My knife probalby sees the hones 3 or 4 times a year.
 
I sharpen and strop my 25 maybe once a month. I use a Sharpmaker. I do a few passes on the grey stones and then follow up with both sets of the whites.I really dont know if thats too much or its ok to do it more. I use the knife everyday, but not for crazy cutting or anything.

Am i sharpening too much?
 
I have found a few swipes on a ceramic rod is all it takes to get the edge back quickly. The sharpmaker works but in my experience the CRK factory edges are almost always not exactly 40 degrees as they are sharpened freehand. Most of my CRKs have been reprofiled t 40 degrees. I should look into a strop though.
 
I put them on a guided system about once a month so I can keep the edge angles consistent. After a hard days work, I'll take a ceramic rod and strop to get them back to hair shaving. Unless I happen to flatten the edge by a hidden staple, then I put it back on the guided system. I've yet to chip a CRK blade, can't say that about some others I have.
 
5 minutes at the end of the day on the crox stix keeps my knife sharp. I like to keep my knife "sharp" at all times. I think in the end it also saves metal instead of letting it go dull and than having to use the edge pro to grind metal away to bring the edge back.
 
I'm very anal about having a super sharp edge. Usually I can get a Sebby edge to the point that I can pass the edge over my free hanging arm hair and it will readily pop them free(no need to actually touch the blade to the skin). At this point, it is actually dangerously sharp as its cutting ability is always under predicted and it will pass through materials faster than normal. However, once I have gotten the edge profiled nicely, and provided I don't damage the edge too badly by cutting something unwise, I usually only touch it up with an ultra fine honing stone and a strop. I will probably touch up my Sebby about once a week using the finest honing stone I have and a strop. I have done this to other knives over the years with minimal blade wear. The trick is really to never let the blade get so dull that you have to break out the course stones and do profile jobs which will noticeably wear down your blade over the years.
 
I strop to maintain and that saves time and steel. my new toy is a 25. it has been processing wood for a few days and still shareable slices news print after a strop session. also. the 25 in my possession clearly is a bit harder than the few 21 models I have owned. it is very easy to tell from the amount of wood I have cut abd the way it feels on the stones. call me crazy if u will. pictures coming soon as I can access photo bucket.
And if u take the time to firefighting the shoulders back to 15dps. it will make touching up at 20dps fast and easy.
 
Ajack60 said:
I put them on a guided system about once a month so I can keep the edge angles consistent. After a hard days work, I'll take a ceramic rod and strop to get them back to hair shaving. Unless I happen to flatten the edge by a hidden staple, then I put it back on the guided system. I've yet to chip a CRK blade, can't say that about some others I have.
Click to expand...

Yeah, a lot of people hate the CRK heat treat because it's on the softer side, but even though I've hit a ton of unexpected metal with my blade, I've never had it chip. Plus, it is extremely easy to touch up the edge.
 
No. After I experienced what a nice working edge develops with CRK S35VN, I don't see the need to unnecessarily sharpen.
 
I like mine sharp, "working edge" is not ok.
NEW KNIFE - reprofile to 19 deg on the Edge Pro.
From then on Sharpmaker 40 deg once two to four weeks.(as needed)
Most evenings - STROP. The green strop is a great tool, keeps that crazy edge
 
What I have trouble with is keeping a needle nose sharp as hell tip. Once my tip get blunted its pretty hard to bring back especially on the crox stix/ sharpmaker. I hate a blunt tip too as I like my knife to effortlessly dive in packages and what not.
 
I only sharpen them if they are dull or have rolls or chips. no regular touching up unless theres an issue. these have a great working edge.
 
I generally end up using a particular knife for a month as EDC. Part of my rotation and my Insingo is in there.

That means for a month the knife sees sharpening every day as my edges go dull after a days use (no matter the steel).

So on to the sharpening. It varies depending on edge damage and steel but generally since I reprofile my edges to 10 or below degrees per side 1-3 strokes per side on a 320 grit diamond maintains the low edge angle and 1-2 strokes on the fine sharpmaker rods pops the hair again.
 
I use the uf stones on my sharpmaker, start off with the fine if I need be. I am under the impression that it would take an awful lot of rubbing on the uf to remove an inconsequential amount of metal? I strop on levis, hand, leather shoes, hairless cats and wicked edge when I'm home and feel like setting the damn thing up. Life's to short for a working edge
 
I touch up on the fine Sharpmaker stones about once a week. Only takes a few passes to bring back a hair popping edge. If I use my insingo hard in the back yard over a weekend then it may take a little more work but most the time it is only a weekly touch-up.
 
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