FKMD Predator 2 non-serrated issue and crude fix

P

peso7

Joined
Dec 20, 2021
Messages
31
Hello,

Still fairly new to the world of knives and these forums. This is the first custom thing I've done apart from swapping tools for a poker fro

I had been having trouble getting the full length of the cutting edge on my FKMD Predator 2 sharp. Turns out that the part I think is called the ricasso was so thick that it didn't allow me to lay the knife at the proper angle on my stone, it wouldn't lay flat. Fortunately I didn't persevere and grind an accidental recurve.

It was annoying me so I started by grinding away the ricasso (correct me if I'm wrong) as far as I was comfortable with. I then marked the closest place to the handle I could lay the blade at the correct angle. I cut a small sharpening choil here using the diamond rod on my Smith pocket sharpener.

Now its easy to get a good edge on it! It's a nice knife.

I'm only guessing, but the knife is available serrated too, so there would be no problem for that version, perhaps they forgot/didn't bother to change it for the non-serrated version.

Here it is:

F-4961 by Peso O, on Flickr
 
peso7 said:
Hello,

Still fairly new to the world of knives and these forums. This is the first custom thing I've done apart from swapping tools for a poker fro

I had been having trouble getting the full length of the cutting edge on my FKMD Predator 2 sharp. Turns out that the part I think is called the ricasso was so thick that it didn't allow me to lay the knife at the proper angle on my stone, it wouldn't lay flat. Fortunately I didn't persevere and grind an accidental recurve.

It was annoying me so I started by grinding away the ricasso (correct me if I'm wrong) as far as I was comfortable with. I then marked the closest place to the handle I could lay the blade at the correct angle. I cut a small sharpening choil here using the diamond rod on my Smith pocket sharpener.

Now its easy to get a good edge on it! It's a nice knife.

I'm only guessing, but the knife is available serrated too, so there would be no problem for that version, perhaps they forgot/didn't bother to change it for the non-serrated version.

Here it is:

F-4961 by Peso O, on Flickr
Click to expand...
*swapping tools on a Boker tech tool for a present for my father.
 
Unless you are trying to mod to increase resale value (almost always a bad idea unless you're a pro ), all that matters is for you to be happy with the results .

Yours looks better than most of mine ! :p
 
That is one of my pet peeves. That's why all my knives have sharpening choils - either from the factory, or I add my own.

If you have access to a Dremel, it is a lot quicker than trying to do it with a hone. If you do, may I suggest making the choil larger so it extends right back to the heel of the blade? While your choil is functionally OK, it may look better if you make it larger (so it doesn't look like a chip on your edge).

While the choil doesn't need to be this big, here are a couple examples of choils I added to my Becker BK7 twins:

aM002RR.jpg
 
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shane45-1911 said:
That is one of my pet peeves. That's why all my knives have sharpening choils - either from the factory, or I add my own.

If you have access to a Dremel, it is a lot quicker than trying to do it with a hone. If you do, may I suggest making the choil larger so it extends right back to the heel of the blade? While your choil is functionally OK, it may look better if you make it larger (so it doesn't look like a chip on your edge).

While the choil doesn't need to be this big, here are a couple examples of choils I added to my Becker BK7 twins:

aM002RR.jpg
Click to expand...
What kind of Dremel bit do you use for this? I have a Dremel 300 that take 1/8" bits. I tried putting a small "ramp" on the edge of the detent hole on a D2 blade today and the instead of the bit cutting the blade, the blade cut the bit haha. Any recommendations?
 
I don't have a Dremel unfortunately. I used the gold side of a Fallkniven dc4 stone. It went pretty quick. It may have been a bit reckless because its my only stone, but its a brand new replacement for my old one, which was cracked, so needs wearing in a bit anyway.
 
shane45-1911 said:
That is one of my pet peeves. That's why all my knives have sharpening choils - either from the factory, or I add my own.

If you have access to a Dremel, it is a lot quicker than trying to do it with a hone. If you do, may I suggest making the choil larger so it extends right back to the heel of the blade? While your choil is functionally OK, it may look better if you make it larger (so it doesn't look like a chip on your edge).

While the choil doesn't need to be this big, here are a couple examples of choils I added to my Becker BK7 twins:

aM002RR.jpg
Click to expand...
They look good.

I agree, really annoying design flaw. I was getting frustrated because the knife is a steel I seem to have got the hang of sharpening, and I couldn't work out why!

Interestingly I have two Extrema Ratios (same steel basically), neither has a choil, but neither has the FKMD problem, can sharpen the whole cutting edge fine, no need for a choil. I guess ER take a bit more care over the design than FKMD not bothering to change from the serrated design.
 
peso7 said:
I don't have a Dremel unfortunately. I used the gold side of a Fallkniven dc4 stone. It went pretty quick. It may have been a bit reckless because its my only stone, but its a brand new replacement for my old one, which was cracked, so needs wearing in a bit anyway.
Click to expand...
I sat down to sharpen it, and realised the problem. I enjoy sharpening a lot. All my other knives didn't need any attention, so it was the only one that I could sharpen! So I didn't want to wait to borrow a Dremel, and just took the stone to it.
 
DocJD said:
Unless you are trying to mod to increase resale value (almost always a bad idea unless you're a pro ), all that matters is for you to be happy with the results .

Yours looks better than most of mine ! :p
Click to expand...
Haha cheers. I don't think this knife is worth a lot to sell! Im happy with it it does the job, I don't think I've ruined my stone, and I don't think I've compromised the strength of the knife too much.
 
Sweeping grinds are annoying too. They require a wide choil that unfortunately cannot be sharpened away. A8E874EF-F395-4969-BC24-79B0EF44DA4E.jpeg
view
 
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