Got A Fallkniven A1 Pro. Need help Maintaining It?

ShinyLoveMachine said:
As far as POLISHING STONES go, don't you use those on the blade itself to remove micro scratches like this? Am I doing something wrong? I admit there is a lot I don't understand when it comes to the fine tuning of knives. If you have a collection of stones you'd use the more abrasive lower grit number to sharpen until you hit high grit stones like 1000 grit to polish the entire knife including the edge? Is Flitz abrasive to some degree allowing the polishing of knives?
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You have a partially convex ground knife. To properly maintain such a knife, you should grind the blade aswell, not just the edge. It's ok to just sharpen just the edge, if you're in field and need to put on an working edge quickly. However you shouldn't do this very often, otherwise you'll end up with a very poor cutting geometry. Ideally you want a continuous curve from the point, where the main grind starts right down to the very apex of the edge without any steps.
Flitz works well for polishing unless you have very deep scratches. If you want to remove deep scratches, I'd recommend starting with sandpaper and work your way up. Personally, I don't care about scratches on my blade, but i understand that some people do and it's your choice if you want to spend the time to remove them.

Here are some ways to maintain your convex ground blades on stones:


From about 13:00

And here's the method using soft backing and sandpaper:
 
I watched that stone video from Big Bear on here. I'm thinking of buying a set of stones like that. That said, he doesn't obviously sharpen the entire blade on the first stone since it's very abrasive at the lowest grit number, but he does on the polishing stone of course. Is flitz abrasive at all?
 
ShinyLoveMachine said:
I watched that stone video from Big Bear on here. I'm thinking of buying a set of stones like that. That said, he doesn't obviously sharpen the entire blade on the first stone since it's very abrasive at the lowest grit number, but he does on the polishing stone of course. Is flitz abrasive at all?
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He does sharpen from the point where the primary grind starts down to the apex on every stone, not just the fine ones. That's the only proper way to maintain a good cutting geometry in a convex ground blade. The coarse stone is actually more important than the fine ones, since the goal is to actually remove material from the main grind.

Yes, flitz is abrasive.
 
"Do you know if these stains/scratches can be polished off?"

Scratches are usually there for good until it gets refinished. The factory used a powered buffer to finish the knife and get it so pretty and you can't replicate it except with another buffer. I eventually refinish my knives by hand to a "hand satin" when they get bad enough but that type finish, though looking fairly good will never replicate the factory finish.

Pretty much everyone I know accepts scratches and unless it gets to the point it causes rust (less likely with your knife because of the materials) just deals with it. I'd bet you will eventually just not worry about it too much. :)

Joe
 
The Mastiff said:
"Do you know if these stains/scratches can be polished off?"

Scratches are usually there for good until it gets refinished. The factory used a powered buffer to finish the knife and get it so pretty and you can't replicate it except with another buffer. I eventually refinish my knives by hand to a "hand satin" when they get bad enough but that type finish, though looking fairly good will never replicate the factory finish.

Pretty much everyone I know accepts scratches and unless it gets to the point it causes rust (less likely with your knife because of the materials) just deals with it. I'd bet you will eventually just not worry about it too much. :)

Joe
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Really awesome comment. Are a set of sharpening stones like the ones seen in the video above worth having though? Also, it looks like Fallkniven after a long period of years will re-finish your knife again for free? You can send it in and they buffer it. Does anyone know how they do this? I'm assuming with machines? Has anyone had experience sending them the knife etc.? I'm assuming this is years down the road and not even anything to think about at this point with a knife like this.
 
"Are a set of sharpening stones like the ones seen in the video above worth having though?"

It all depends on you and how you want to sharpen the knife. I use stones for V edges mostly and for convex ground knives like yours I use the sandpaper ( wet and dry garnet sourced from automotive stores used to finish sand before repainting) . There is a technique for both but the simplest to start and learn is the sandpaper on cardboard or a mousepad. The maintenance section here has some good threads on sharpening.

Expect a learning curve. I'd recommend learning on something other than your nice knife because many (most ?) people scratch their knives up when learning.

"Does anyone know how they do this? "
I have no inside information but it's usually a series of finer grit abrasives ending up with a paper or cloth buffer wheel with polishing grit applied. That is how they really get that clear and bright finish. There is really no other way to go if that is what you want. If you want to experiment doing by hand buy an old beat up knife and go through the sanding progression using the same sandpaper types you have to sharpen. Doing it that way will really make you appreciate how nice it comes from the factory. Your knife brand really makes some high quality and well finished products and they are worth taking care of.

Joe
 
ShinyLoveMachine said:
Also, it looks like Fallkniven after a long period of years will re-finish your knife again for free? You can send it in and they buffer it. Does anyone know how they do this? I'm assuming with machines? Has anyone had experience sending them the knife etc.? I'm assuming this is years down the road and not even anything to think about at this point with a knife like this.
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Fällkniven offer a resharpening service and they sharpen on watercooled beltsanders, but I don't think it is for free.
Personally I have learned to fix my knives myself. This saves me from both the cost and trouble of sending in the knife.

Regards
Mikael
 
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Great knife, I use flitz ocasionally. I use loaded strops and just bovine leather to keep it maintained.
I love the grind, a hunk of sharpened metal in your hand. Not to big and not to small, great all rounder imo.
 
Awesome looking now that it has character added, no need to polish it up it'll only get scratched up again. Although I guess some may find this polishing activity to be relaxing. ;)
 
User Fallkniven A1 Pro in CoS stainless steel @ ~60 HRC from an experienced Dutch hunter, with it's apex at ~30 degrees inclusive.
The factory edge reflected light from slow wear, no dents or chips, and the owner wanted the new edge to have a somewhat toothy apex.
Pulled the edge a few times very lightly over a Chinese 3000 grit diamond plate, this to remove the weakened metal in the old apex and create a very narrow and continuous light reflection all along the edge.
I use this line as a guide to sneak up upon while sharpening, and in the end make it disappear as evenly as i can.

Sharpened the partially convex sides of the blade by hand to a new apex with an ever so tiny burr using only 1000 grit wet & dry SiC paper on a semi-hard rubber backing with WD40 as a lubricant, while regularly checking with my Tormek WM200 AngleMaster to make sure that the newly forming apex would also become ~30 degrees inclusive.
When this was done i removed the tiny burr with some careful light stropping on a piece of hard cardboard with a bit of 1.0 micron mono-diamond paste.
These sharp diamond particles are very efficiënt in removing tiny burrs on high alloy stainless steels, while the hard cardboard has just enough give to make sure that most of the toothyness in the apex from the 1000 grit wet & dry remains.
The new apex is just keen enough to pull a chest hair taught from root to tip and sever it close to the point of holding.

Took a number of pics with part of the camera & my finger in them on purpose to give a better idea of the scratch pattern.
You can click each picture 2 x for more detail.









 
Use it, enjoy it, maintain it. To hell with what it looks like!

I'd get two strops. Load one with 3 micron CBN or diamond, and the other with one micron. That will keep it razor ++ sharp.
 
I' resurrecting this to a degree and I might ask others here what they think of this later in a separate topic. Can you use something like the Block Sharpener on my A1 Pro? The creator of the sharpener claims it follows the original edge of the knife due to the flexibility of the sharpener, and one of his YouTube videos he sharpens an Fallkniven A1.

Or is this just a gimmick? Would this work better for beginner sharpeners like me versus whetstones? Opinions? Help? Here is a video of him using this sharpener:
 
These are only 20 bucks. It might sound ridiculous for such expensive knives, and I was going to get naniwa sharpening whetstones stones of various grits to sharpen my Fallkniven.

I couldn't help but run into this guy's videos though Paul Block. He has apparently been to various gun shows etc. Here he is sharpening a standard A1. Do these really work? He claims he has patented the flex in the rods to adapt to the original blade of any knife.

Does this work, or is this sharpener and or similar sharpeners just a gimmick? Need advice lol!

 
Is it better then nothing? Yep.

Would I buy one? No.

I'm not a fan of those types of sharpeners. Too many variables to cover : edge angle, blade geometry, etc.

I hand sharpen. Diamond + water stones. I like doing it free hand. Am I great at it? Nope, but I can get a serviceable edge and I like to avoid using a machine. I consider it "lost art" in some regards.

I'd say get your stones like you were planning.
 
Not sure I would want to use a draw through sharpener on a good knife.
Only time I ever used one was to clean up the edges (get rid of the burrs, even the grinds, etc.) on some new Cold Steel machetes to get them to the point where they could be sharpened using a sharpening stone.
 
gazz98 said:
Is it better then nothing? Yep.

Would I buy one? No.

I'm not a fan of those types of sharpeners. Too many variables to cover : edge angle, blade geometry, etc.

I hand sharpen. Diamond + water stones. I like doing it free hand. Am I great at it? Nope, but I can get a serviceable edge and I like to avoid using a machine. I consider it "lost art" in some regards.

I'd say get your stones like you were planning.
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Yeah that's what I'm thinking. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! I should know better by now, or I see professional hand sharpening services from users ON THIS FORUM. Perhaps that's another option if I don't want to risk doing it myself?
 
ShinyLoveMachine said:
I see professional hand sharpening services from users ON THIS FORUM. Perhaps that's another option if I don't want to risk doing it myself?
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There are some other options between DIY with stones and sending your knives out. There are some guided systems out there.

https://www.dlttrading.com/sharpening
Check out the "clamping systems".

https://www.knifecenter.com/department/sharpening/clamping-systems

Look at a few systems or stones and spend some time on youtube researching them.

I don't know much about the sharpening systems, again, I'm use stones and freehand.

Whatever you decide, there is a system out there for you. Good luck!
 
upload_2020-3-14_9-32-3.png I use the TSProf Convexing "Lens" kit on my K03 sharpener to maintain my Fallkniven A1 Pro. It has three different amounts of convexity that you can choose. More importantly, it is repeatable and easy to use.

George
 
Stay tuned for a YouTube video "TSProf Convex Edge on A1 Pro" Please subscribe to my channel: George O'Brien
 
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