[Im sharing this for people new to sharpening. Everything I did came from knowledge I got here at the forum.]
It just wasnt working. At least not well. The Military BG-42 would get sharp, but it was nothing great. My technique was to raise a burr on the edge with the Sharpmaker (at 30 degrees) and gradually work it off, just like the theory said. When done, the knife could cut paper, but not all that well and the edge didnt last. So I decided to get serious.
The Sharpmaker just wasnt cutting it, even after watching Sal on the instructional tape. He advised using the 40-degree angle and mostly just did 20 strokes per side, working from coarse-stone angle to coarse-stone flat to fine-stone angle to fine-stone edge. He didnt talk much about the burr, just saying to get rid of it with a stroke or two at the end.
I use only the 30-degree angle because my knives all have good steel and didnt want to stick to the recommended 40 degrees, even though I know that Sal knows more about knives in his little finger than I do in my whole head. And I kind of revolted at the idea of using a certain number of sharpening strokes, which obviously could either be not enough or too much, depending on the edge. I figured that Sal was taking shortcuts for the benefit of a general audience. But I wanted to have the edge talk to me, to tell me what it needs. So I decided to try something other than the Sharpmaker. I built a wooden 15-degree ramp and set a DMT diamond stone platform on it. The idea was to hold the Military flat horizontal to get the 15-degree angle (which comes to 30 degrees for both sides included). I also glued a strip of leather belt to a strip of wood. After sanding the leather, I rubbed some red polishing compound into the leather using a stick of Tripoli TC6 buffing compound, which was all I could find for stroping compound in this rural area.
I did the sharpening with the diamond stones (coarse to fine to extra fine), watching for the burr and working it away, but the results were not all that good. I tried the Sharpmaker again, but not much difference.
So I painted the edge of the Military with a Sharpie pen and tried the diamond stones again. The paint quickly showed me that the edge of the Military wasnt the proper angle for 15/30-degree sharpening and it wasnt the same on both sides. I went back to the coarse diamond stone and kept sharpening until I reprofiled the edge to 30 degrees, using the Sharpie pen to make sure the entire edge was properly profiled and sharpened.
After the coarse diamond stone, I switched to the fine diamond stone, working out the burr that formed. Then I went back to the Sharpmaker, using just the while fine stones first the angles and then the flats, making sure I didnt round off the tip. Finally, I stropped the edge on the belt, dragging the blade backwards at a low angle.
Pretty amazing. The Military is sharper than any knife Ive ever had. Paper almost cuts itself. Even a free-hanging sliver of paper is easily cut in half. Now the Military feels good in my pocket. Thanks Blades Forum for all this good info.
It just wasnt working. At least not well. The Military BG-42 would get sharp, but it was nothing great. My technique was to raise a burr on the edge with the Sharpmaker (at 30 degrees) and gradually work it off, just like the theory said. When done, the knife could cut paper, but not all that well and the edge didnt last. So I decided to get serious.
The Sharpmaker just wasnt cutting it, even after watching Sal on the instructional tape. He advised using the 40-degree angle and mostly just did 20 strokes per side, working from coarse-stone angle to coarse-stone flat to fine-stone angle to fine-stone edge. He didnt talk much about the burr, just saying to get rid of it with a stroke or two at the end.
I use only the 30-degree angle because my knives all have good steel and didnt want to stick to the recommended 40 degrees, even though I know that Sal knows more about knives in his little finger than I do in my whole head. And I kind of revolted at the idea of using a certain number of sharpening strokes, which obviously could either be not enough or too much, depending on the edge. I figured that Sal was taking shortcuts for the benefit of a general audience. But I wanted to have the edge talk to me, to tell me what it needs. So I decided to try something other than the Sharpmaker. I built a wooden 15-degree ramp and set a DMT diamond stone platform on it. The idea was to hold the Military flat horizontal to get the 15-degree angle (which comes to 30 degrees for both sides included). I also glued a strip of leather belt to a strip of wood. After sanding the leather, I rubbed some red polishing compound into the leather using a stick of Tripoli TC6 buffing compound, which was all I could find for stroping compound in this rural area.
I did the sharpening with the diamond stones (coarse to fine to extra fine), watching for the burr and working it away, but the results were not all that good. I tried the Sharpmaker again, but not much difference.
So I painted the edge of the Military with a Sharpie pen and tried the diamond stones again. The paint quickly showed me that the edge of the Military wasnt the proper angle for 15/30-degree sharpening and it wasnt the same on both sides. I went back to the coarse diamond stone and kept sharpening until I reprofiled the edge to 30 degrees, using the Sharpie pen to make sure the entire edge was properly profiled and sharpened.
After the coarse diamond stone, I switched to the fine diamond stone, working out the burr that formed. Then I went back to the Sharpmaker, using just the while fine stones first the angles and then the flats, making sure I didnt round off the tip. Finally, I stropped the edge on the belt, dragging the blade backwards at a low angle.
Pretty amazing. The Military is sharper than any knife Ive ever had. Paper almost cuts itself. Even a free-hanging sliver of paper is easily cut in half. Now the Military feels good in my pocket. Thanks Blades Forum for all this good info.
