Finally getting better at this sharpening !!!!

pitdog

pitdog

Joined
Apr 13, 2007
Messages
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After struggling to cut some hard Arrow wood with my JK Hiker the other day I decided to see how I could tweak the blade. When I took the knife out the other day it would shave hair and cleanly slice post its but for some reason found the wood tough going ?
Anyway yesterday I used my diamond hone and knocked the shoulder off the bevel ( if that is the right terminology !) and then spent a little time stropping on some wet and dry.
This was the result......

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I found some more Arrow wood today and chopped off a section to try again, not only did it chop through far more easy it also made very short work of making the point......I'm still far behind many members on here when it comes to sharpening but I am getting better !

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Great job pit :thumbup: Practice makes sharper! (can you get a perfect edge? I mean 100% perfect?)
 
You’ve got the right idea there Pit…

…that new edge looks great. :thumbup: :cool: :thumbup:






"If you're not living on the edge, …you're taking up too much space."

Big Mike

Forest & Stream
 
After using my Sharpmaker as my crutch for so long, I decided I would specifically have one knife that is only hand sharpened on my whetstone. It's a case cv, and it started with a wicked edge. Now, well, let's just say i could use some more practice :o
 
Pit - definitely the right idea. Do you remember the Coyote review where we talked about a shoulder that was too steep. The EDGE was sharp the blade was not... odd.

You have hit the nail on the head. What happens, I think, is that it does not want to bite deep because the shoulder of the blade forces the edge out of the cut.

Here is what I do - I use the same convex sharpening tecnique as I always do - but I start with the blade at a very low angle - sometimes I even lay the blade flat. Then I draw the edge like normal but I rock it up to about a 22 degree angle. This seems to grind the shoulder out as I sharpen the edge. I keep this up, making sure all portions of the blade are hit equally, then I simply sharpen it.

I start in the lower grits when I do this, 600, then 1000, then 2000, then black, green, pink compounds, then plain leather. The result is a blade that does not pop hair - but wipes hair away.

It is odd - but now that I am much better at getting a good convex on a knife - what USED to be sharp to me now feels dull.

You got the same effect with your stones - but you can do it as well with your wet dry... good job! You could take more shoulder off - but this is only a good thing to a point. You make it thinner, and thus make it slice easier - but you loose the meat behind the edge - and thus can weaken a chopping blade.

TF
 
Its all fun.....Unfortunately you will never be fully satisfied :D :D :D
 
Talfuchre said:
Pit - definitely the right idea. Do you remember the Coyote review where we talked about a shoulder that was too steep. The EDGE was sharp the blade was not... odd.

You have hit the nail on the head. What happens, I think, is that it does not want to bite deep because the shoulder of the blade forces the edge out of the cut.

TF
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That is exactly what I described to my wife that was happening !!! ;):thumbup:



She tried to look interested as I was telling her !!!!!:o
 
pitdog said:
That is exactly what I described to my wife that was happening !!! ;):thumbup:



She tried to look interested as I was telling her !!!!!:o
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LOL! I think we all know what you mean.

I hate sharpening knives, but , unfortunately, a necessary evil. For those of you that enjoy it, FOOEY!!......... I mean, more power to you! :o

I was going to convex my RC-3, with some help from kgd, but decided, for the time being to 'Lansky' it. It might be interesting to compare the performance between the RC-3, and the B-1, DYT?

BTW, I noticed every once in a while pictures of the lovely Mrs. Pit, more often, pictures of Maisy and the Tiny Terror. What's happening to Pit Jr?
Tired of hanging out with the old man?

Doc
 
DOC-CANADA said:
LOL! I think we all know what you mean.

I hate sharpening knives, but , unfortunately, a necessary evil. For those of you that enjoy it, FOOEY!!......... I mean, more power to you! :o

I was going to convex my RC-3, with some help from kgd, but decided, for the time being to 'Lansky' it. It might be interesting to compare the performance between the RC-3, and the B-1, DYT?

BTW, I noticed every once in a while pictures of the lovely Mrs. Pit, more often, pictures of Maisy and the Tiny Terror. What's happening to Pit Jr?
Tired of hanging out with the old man?

Doc
Click to expand...

He's taken to living in his bedroom transfixed to his X-Box online !!!!:(
 
Talfuchre said:
Here is what I do - I use the same convex sharpening tecnique as I always do - but I start with the blade at a very low angle - sometimes I even lay the blade flat. Then I draw the edge like normal but I rock it up to about a 22 degree angle. This seems to grind the shoulder out as I sharpen the edge. I keep this up, making sure all portions of the blade are hit equally, then I simply sharpen it.
Click to expand...

TF... I agree with you about the shoulder but I can't agree on this sharpening method. Perhaps I'm misundertanding it.

If you are using papers to convex your blade you are most likely backing them up with something with "give" like mouse pad, leather, rubber or cardboard. If you raise the spine to 22deg at the end of the stroke, the soft backing will actually increase that angle to about 35-40degs. The trick with convex sharpening is to establish your edge geometry (shoulder) first on something with a stiffer back then use the mousepad a paper to maintain it.

The most you should ever lift the spine is 13deg or so.... and thats on a stiffer backing like leather or rubber.

You may still get a sharp knife with your method, TF.... but it could be much sharper and perform even better if you knock the shoulder off with a stone BEFORE you used the papers. This only needs to be done once.

I do most of my convexing on stones only, now.


Rick
 
I like to use stones to establish the geometry first, then strop it to a polish after. Seems like it'd take a hell of a long time to strop a new geometry with paper from the get-go.

Pit: I think you stumbled on why a lot of us like a flat grind leading to a convex edge! BTW if you take to freehand sharpening, this will eventually happen over time anyway (hence why old knives seem to be "better" than new ones. It's not better steel, it because they've been sharpened over time by hand and now have a convex final bevel.)

Oh, one tip, it's far easier to keep a convex bevel sharp by stropping it often than to wait for it to dull and have to start over.
 
Good on ya' Pit :thumbup: I'm horrible at getting knives past the point of utility sharp.
 
Rick,

I will need to check that angle - I see what your saying - frankly I was guessing and likely guessed steep. It does take me a while to do it my way - I also never thought of using my DMT's to take the shoulder off - It would likely take a lot less time.

I know my knives perform REALLY well right now - better than they ever have - I would hate to see them if your right Rick - do they turn into light saber's? ;)

TF
 
Rick, I've done convex conversions with many of my knives using mousepad/sandpaper. I always proceed at a really low angle and it seems to have worked pretty good. Following Garrette Schmidt's advice, I think you get a big performance enhancement just by knocking those bevel shoulders off the primary bevel and polishing up the bevel regardless of what happens to the actual edge. Of course getting that edge helps also, but the bigger difference I find is in the slice action.
 
I've often redone a really badly abused knife by doing most of a low angle (8-10 degrees) scandi and then moving to a convex sharpening after i'm close to a burr on the scandi sharpening. (nowdays i do tend to use a belt grinder a lot more, but I try and practice various hand methods so that I know people without knife shops can sharpen the knives)

I'm also becoming a huge fan of shop roll 800 grit. 1 inch wide tacked onto a 14 inch stick (that had a thin layer of closed cell foam glue on)
 
I really think we need to get a couple get togethers done, and not just for bushcraft, but for sharpening as well. I would love to sit down with some of you guys and pick your brains on good sharpening skills.
 
looks good pit. I find it weird almost, no offense to anyone here, how hard it is to get a knife sharp. I guess Im one of the lucky ones. I picked it up right away, now if it doesnt split hair and make see through curls, I'm annoyed. And Im with Magnussem on this one, I sharpen like he does, its just killer haveing to go from a thick edge to a thin one on fixed blades, but hey...thats what Simon is for :D:thumbup:
 
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