Gotta be a reason!

L

longbow

Basic Member
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Jan 9, 1999
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Here's the deal, dug out an old CQC7a I've had and frankly forgot about which seems to be more of the norm for me as I get older. Hit 71 so there's that. Anyways back on track, the folder in question is pretty dull and not from use at all. So I figure put it to the stone and give a good sharpening. I pride myself on my sharpening skills and for most every other knife it is not a problem but for just about every 7 series I've owned it has been. Something I just can't figure out.

As an example I recently came into possession of a maker I'd never heard of, Stumphy knives out of Marland, a student of Moran and Hendrickson. I don't know if he was actually taught by them like as an apprentice type of thing but I know he hung out has shop when he was younger, for quite abit as he lived right down the road. Long story short knife was farily dull for a good half of the blade and it has the Moran grind on the edge, some call it an apple seed grind a bit different than my old Carbon V TM. Took a few minutes but this knife is extremely sharp for the full length. Point being is that it went from dull to a razor's edge in about half an hour of carefull sharpening on the stone. Similar to what the 7a was and pretty much still is as in dull. I also resorted to using my Gatco diamond hones on the 7a and frankly that ain't much better. So there you have it. Frustration on a heavy early snow day. stay safe
 
Most knives of mine, that've presented that sort of head-scratching difficulty in sharpening, have ultimately come around after doing a LOT of thinning of the grind near the edge. For me, that took a lot of time and effort, in multiple sessions. This is one thing I don't like about a lot of tactical-style knives, so many of which have overly thick blade grinds for my preferences. Tough blades built for hard use - but they're not really optimized for razor-sharp slicing performance, straight from the factory.
 
I have a CQC7A but didn't care for the chisel edge, so I modified it to a convex grind (lot of work, mostly on a DMT extra coarse). Took a very nice edge in the end. I like Emerson's CM-154; it's good tough stuff. I later got a CQC-7BW, the chisel grind with the wave (which I didn't really want but the non-wave model wasn't available). That true chisel edge gets scary sharp with minimal effort. Haven't used it to scrape barnacles off an oil platform to attach an explosive, but it works great opening blister pacs and other cutting chores.
 
Most Emersons have a (deliberately) lopsided edge geometry so your muscle memory is likely the issue. You can either regrind the edge to be centered, or you can keep it as-is, but it'll require a bit more angle than usual on one side, and less on the other.
 
Yep frustratingly frustrating to get it hair shaving sharp. Like I said I can free hand sharpen very well and get a good sharp edge on a knife but this 7a is testing both my skill and patience so back in the box it goes and maybe over to CL. just sayin
 
longbow said:
hair shaving sharp
Click to expand...
Being a high end , hand tool wood worker (to use sand paper is to admit defeat) . . .

and USING A SHARPENING JIG . . . I was able to get not only hair shaving but EASILY hair whittling ( mirror ) edges ( from stones only / no stropping ) on hand plane blades (mostly single bevel = "chisel grind" = similar to some of the SD knives (I'm thinking of you Charlie Mike !) ) . . .

some of them as obtuse as 50 degree + "inclusive" .
. . . its not about skill it's the right tool for the job ; use a jig dude . . .
 
pic or it didn't happen right ?
having trouble posting photo from the old days but click on this link :
Wowbagger

Post in thread 'Optimal woodworking chisel steel'

A2 and I've been happy with them. W2 would probably take a keener edge
Click to expand...

I would say use anything you can harden properly or get heat teated properly for you.

As you have heard me say all too often :
These are all A-2 and they are all sharp enough to shave curls off a single hair while it is still in my arm. I get that level of edge performance EVERY TIME with no real effort or talent on my part by using a Varitas jig. So . . . if you gots the tools or ability to sharpen anything as sharp as you would want A-2 isn't going to hold you back or let you down.

Chisel wise I go...
 
I'd just pay very close attention to watch when the shoulder is no longer contacting and the edge apex itself has just touched down on the stone. You mostly just need to learn what those different orientations feel like compared to your usual.
 
Wowbagger said:
pic or it didn't happen right ?
having trouble posting photo from the old days but click on this link :
Wowbagger

Post in thread 'Optimal woodworking chisel steel'

A2 and I've been happy with them. W2 would probably take a keener edge
Click to expand...

I would say use anything you can harden properly or get heat teated properly for you.

As you have heard me say all too often :
These are all A-2 and they are all sharp enough to shave curls off a single hair while it is still in my arm. I get that level of edge performance EVERY TIME with no real effort or talent on my part by using a Varitas jig. So . . . if you gots the tools or ability to sharpen anything as sharp as you would want A-2 isn't going to hold you back or let you down.

Chisel wise I go...
Click to expand...
Can you share jig details or links? haven't done chisel edge and nervous to mess them up. used to stropping but interested to hear why its bad here!
 
I didn't care for the chisel edge on my CQC-7A so I re-profiled it to a convex edge. Works much better.
 
FYI, if you change the chisel grind on an Emerson, you lose the warranty on the blade. Many people are OK with that, some are not. It's important to disclose when selling it on to someone else.
 
This may be a me thing but I've avoided Emersons so far from all the talk about them running softer steel. I feel like any cheaper knives with lower cost steels that had presumably inferior heat treatments were a pain to sharpen and keep sharp. And then there's Emerson doing it intentionally and people cheering. (confused face) I get wanting to make a knife tough but then why not use something like 3V or another tough steel instead of using a steel that won't hold an edge??? What am I missing??? I ask this because this is far from the first time I'm seeing post somewhere about an Emerson being difficult to sharpen. Or not the first or last time I'll be a stick in the mud over something.
 
Emerson knives have thick grinds and the steel is IMO, softer than it needs to be. 154cm likes a higher hardness and when its not, its a real pain to put a good edge on. It also doesnt hold its edge very well so you get stuck in a cycle of difficult sharpening and mediocre results.

My hand sharpening skills are pretty decent 😉 but I still perfer my Tormek or a belt sharpening on an Emerson. My CQC8 and Commander tortured me enough.
 
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