Explain this one

J

jackG

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
Messages
107
Several years ago I purchased a Gerber fillet knife. By my standards, at the time it wasn't cheap, certainly not for over the counter stuff. It has an anodized handle and some kind of SS blade.

The first time I used it and every time thereafter it would lose it's edge after filleting 4 or 5 fish. And worse, the blade would water spot no matter how carefully I wiped it down after use. Where the water spots appeared near the cutting edge, the steel would flake out when I tried to resharpen it.

Here is the kicker, the blade is so hard it's difficult to sharpen. I just got a new Profiler set from Spyderco, which is rated at 9.2 Mohs, and the blade seems nearly impervious. It's so hard I just gave up on it. I've got a Wegner Jr. in ATS-34 which is a breeze to sharpen by comparison.

What I can't understand is why a blade that is nearly too hard to sharpen goes dull on half a dozen fish? Can anyone offer a rational explanation for this steel's behavior? Thanks, Jack
 
My question is this: Why do you keep using it? Were it mine, that POS would have gone overboard a long time ago.



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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
Hmmm,
well, just a guess here, but I'd have to say what's probably happening is:
Since the edge is so hard to put on in the first place, the edge you get is "marginal" and not truly sharp enough to fillet in the first place.
Therefore, it takes very little to take the little bit of edge there is, and dull the blade to the point where it's no longer usable.
*sounds good, but may be totally off base*


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I cut it, and I cut it, and it's STILL too short!


 
You can get to the bottom of this with a magnifier. If the temper is that hard on a flexable blade then the edge is probably chipping out as you use it. That is why it goes dull so quickly. Check it next time you use it.
 
I don't why that happens, but some member of BF will know. Buck knives are relatively difficult to sharpen (at least on conventional carborundum stones) and don't hold an edge as long as some of the current excellent 'stainless' steels. (Note: I have used Buck knives to skin and quarter a couple of moose, and they did the job.) But they are difficult to sharpen with carborundum stones, and do not hold an edge as well as some of the stainless alloys available today in top of the line knives (e.g., Fallkniven). Bucks are good knives and good deals for the money, and their customer service is great. They are also coming out with different alloys (such as BG-42), which I haven't yet tried.
 
The knife steel was probably too cheap to sharpen well. Really stainless steel never sharpens good. My experience with 420hc and carbon steel has confirmed that carbon steel is easier to sharpen by far. The carbon steel knives I have are a bit softer than the 58rc the bucks are at, and when sharpening, they feel like they bite into the stone rather than slip accross like the 420hc
 
I think some of the "slip" you feel with the 420hc might have something to do with the stone. I have a couple of stones that feel that way when I try to sharpen a Buck or some type of 58+ steel. However, I have one stone (really old that I got from my grandfather) that seems to bite into just about any steel. It will put a hair splitting sharp edge on a Buck.

Anyway, if the steel on that Gerber is that hard, wouldn't the blade have a tendency to crack in half when flexed?
 
Perhaps the blade is so extremely soft that you are cloging up your stone before it's sharp? Try sharpening under running water and see if that works.
 
I'll agree with the others who said it was overhardened. A filet knife should be in the spring hardness range since bending and flexing the blade are considered normal use. The knife may not be hard enough to seem brittle as its bent, and it doesn't crack in half. But the very thin edge can't handle the stress, because its so hard, so after being flexed enough times to filet 4 or 5 fish you'v done significant damage to the edge.
One thing you may try just to get an idea of what the hells going on is to sharpen it up and then test its edge holding without flexing the blade. Use it to cut rope or cardboard or somehting and see how much it will do before its dull.

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It'll feel better when it stops hurting.
 
Gerber "armorhide" series knives are the hardest knives on the planet to sharpen well.
Because:

1)They are super-hard M-2 tool (before tool steel was cool!) The blades are hard-chrome plated which looks like cheap stainless, but isnt. the edges usually rust in time.

2)They are flexible and the edge never is quite symmetrical because of that.

In my experience, M-2 takes a lousy edge and holds it forever, at least with these knives.
It seems Benchmade does a much nicer job heat treating their M-2.
 
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