GEC Edge Question

[BK14]

Hi everyone, I am a long time reader and am excited to finally be a part of the great community here!
About a month and a half ago, I received my first GEC, a Northfield #63 Mako. I absolutely love the knife, and it has become my most carried blade since getting it. One thing that has caused me constant irritation however, was the edge. The factory edge was relatively sharp, but very rough and uneven. The most annoying thing though, was that the heel was sharp, as was the tip, but about 3/4ths of an inch of blade, right as the clip point starts to curve up, was dull as can be. After hours of work and frustration with my sharpmaker, I have it to the point where it isn't even noticeable when in use. However, if I stab the tip through paper and try slicing on specific spots, a very small spot barely slices it while everywhere else will push-cut easily through it. My question is, is this common to GECs? And if so, how do you normally deal with it? Do your best to just specifically sharpen that one part of the blade, or just not worry about it? Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[blademan 13]

Unfortunately, it is quite common to find the tips ground a little thick, steep sharpening angle and usually the dullest part of the edge. Spearpoint's being the worst, wharnies the best in this regard. I have never carried a GEC without first thinning the edge and sharpening. Takes a good while to do this with a Sharpmaker, my advice is to invest in a good diamond stone to reset the edge.

 

[paulhilborn]

Welcome BK. Like many here, sharpening a knife is therapeutic and easy once learned. Other times it can be a mystery and a thing of frustration. I experienced what you've mentioned, I've also experience the entire edge will not take an edge at all...I know a wire edge and how to get rid of it. I also believe that sometimes you have to get past bad steel to achieve an edge. The issue you mentioned is not just a GEC issue. I've experienced this with several different brands.

At times removing myself from the frustration and then returning later (hours later or the following day) has been hugely beneficial. But to address your question about a specific area...yes I have just focused on the area only and been able to sharpen it and tie into the entire edge. I love hand sharpening but for a bigger task I'll resort to my Ken Onion Work Sharp with assorted belts to achieve what I'm shooting for.

I find once I get my edge it's simply a matter of stropping for me to maintain the edge I worked to achieve. I obsess over a bad edge. I don't know certain angles etc but I do know Sharp and when I achieve it. I like uniformity from kick to tip.

Not sure this thread will stay here or move to maintenance? But again welcome and let us know if you correct the issue:thumbup:

 

[BK14]

Thank you all for the quick replies! My apologies if posted in the wrong area. I generally enjoy sharpening, with the very limited knowledge I have on the subject. I have been using the stones of the sharpmaker freehand mostly, to better target the area that needs it. I guess I will just keep working at it until I feel like it is integrated into the rest of the edge. I suppose it doesn't help that for my general tasks, this is the most used part of the blade so I suppose it will always need a bit more sharpening than the other areas. Thank you for all the replies already!

 

[jc57]

When you get the initial bevel to where it needs to be the first time it should be simple to sharpen after that. Just be glad it's not a Queen in D2 steel. You get a thick grind with an obtuse angle on a Queen D2 and you're going to learn a lot about sharpening, whether you want to or not.

 

[paulhilborn]

BK, no problem with posting your thread here my friend. Sometimes they will stay in traditional but sharpening threads tend to go into maintenance.

Glad you found this forum, in my experience there is no better than this sub forum anywhere on the net:thumbup:

 

[Jack Black]

Welcome to the Traditional forum :thumbup: I think most of us have experienced this with some of our GEC knives, and thinning out the tip can take some work. This is good advice from Paul I think :thumbup:

At times removing myself from the frustration and then returning later (hours later or the following day) has been hugely beneficial. :

 

[supratentorial]

As someone else mentioned, it is not uncommon that the curved area is dull from the manufacturer. The bevel on each side may not even form an edge. You might use a Sharpie to mark the edge and check that your sharpening is taking off material along the entire edge. If it wasn't ground suffciently, working on that specific area (like you asked) may be helpful.

In general, I would say that I've never gotten a sharp knife from GEC. That's fine with me though. I'm rarely satisfied with factory edges from any manufacturer. And I prefer putting an edge on a new blade rather than trying to straighten out an uneven edge. GEC uses a slow stone wheel so it usually doesn't have the wavy edge that more easily occurs with a belt grinder. So there's usually no straightening required except maybe on the curved portion of the blade (like you experienced) and that's fairly common with knives from most manufacturers (except Victorinox).

Lots of folks like to use the Sharpmaker and it's a good sharpener. Personally, I would not want to use the stock ceramic rods to create the bevels on a new knife. If you don't want to freehand sharpen, you could still use a diamond plate by propping it up against the ceramic rods on the Sharpmaker.

 

[BK14]

Thank you all for the replies! This is very helpful. What diamond stone would any of you recommend for something like this?

 

[btb01]

This…

Takes a good while to do this with a Sharpmaker, my advice is to invest in a good diamond stone to reset the edge.

This…

You might use a Sharpie to mark the edge and check that your sharpening is taking off material along the entire edge.

And definitely this…

At times removing myself from the frustration and then returning later (hours later or the following day) has been hugely beneficial.

I would definitely recommend a good diamond stone or two, especially for initially sharpening a new knife and putting your own edge on it. If you get one, be careful about how coarse you go. I have DMT DiaSharps in Fine and Extra Fine and have to be careful not to use the Fine too much, as it removes material very quickly when sharpening 1095 (great for setting a new edge, though). I can't imagine needing a Coarse DMT unless I was sharpening something with major damage to the edge.

The Sharpie is a good suggestion, as it lets you know what you're doing and what you might be missing, and you can make adjustments as needed.

Admittedly, I myself am bad about following Paul's suggestion, and will often sit for far too long working on a frustrating edge, but it really can help to set it down and come back to it later.

 

[Ramrodmb]

First off, I would work on just the bad area. Once I felt better about that area, I would switch over to sharpening the entire edge to keep it uniform along its entire length. Using a sharpie to mark the edge helps to see exactly where the stone is removing metal, and helps you see if you need to adjust the angle a little to get all the way to the edge. More strokes with less pressure seems to work best for me. Takes longer but I end up with a better edge.

 

[BK14]

Hi everyone, just updating the thread. I wanted to thank you all for your help! I was able to get the sharpness of that section to where it was satisfactory to me, but I was still noticing that even after very little cutting, that section dulled very easily. Upon much closer re-inspection of the area, I discovered that upon closing, that section of the blade was actually hitting the backspring. I surmised this by trimming a slice of paper and inserting it between the scales, and upon closing, there was a thin slice out of the paper. Also, there is a small groove in the spring that has been worn by the blade hitting it. After a phone conversation with a very helpful GEC representative, I will be sending the knife in for repair. Thank you all for the help and warm welcome! I am so excited to finally be a part of this forum.

 

[Cory Hess]

Unfortunately, some GEC patterns are known to have blade rap. It's a design flaw that should have been worked out before the knives ever made it to production. I have a couple that do the same thing. I'm glad that you got it figured out and that they're going to help you solve it.

 

[r redden]

First welcome we are glad to have you here.

As stated above this does happen but GEC has good CS and I feel confident they will take good care of you.

 

[Ernie1980]

Welcome! DMT makes good quality diamond plates for a reasonable price, but I would also recommend the Ken Onion work sharp to keep your knives in top shape.
By the way- your issue is common I have yet to get a GEC with a nice factory edge! They are still terrific knives though

 

[PNWJimbo]

Hey BK, and welcome. I have been doing a bit of research and if you have any interest in a sharpening system that lets you use variable angles, I believe people really like to put 18 degree angles on their traditional knives, just from what I have read around here. I have just got a very cheap edge pro apex second hand and am about to test it out on an opinel before I go straight onto a GEC . My 48 bird hook muskrat came not super sharp (also, it is 440c) but an initial stropping with black/green compound helped a lot too!