Having trouble sharpening my microtech D/E ultratech...

S

Sinister shogun

Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Messages
49
So, I have a D/E ultratech, i love it, but it just has never been all that sharp, even when i first got it. the only sharpening system i have is a sharpmaker. which works really well for almost everything i have, but i feel like i just make it even worse on the ultratech. I'm really afraid to keep going as i do not want to ruin my edge. Any professionals around here to help? :)
 
Your not likely to ruin it but if you would like some help send me a email.

Have you tried the sharpie trick to the edge to see where you are contacting?
 
yeah man, i'm just not that good at sharpening strange angles. and these dont seem to be the angles that i have on any other blade. sending you an email.
 
I'm sharpening an ultratech DE right now, I don't think I'll sharpen another.

This blade shape is NOT compatible with my Edge Pro and for once I am really wishing I had a wicked edge or some other clamping system.

I was able to rather effortlessly sharpen a Benchmade SOCP dagger, this.... thing may very well have been designed to defeat me.

I'm a hobby sharpener, I do this for fun and for a few people who want stupid sharp edges, generally who think factory sharp is sharp.

The added trouble is the increased angle towards the tip, that ends up being massive reprofiling on an already short & fat blade.

Years of experience have only taught me to use less pressure and accept the fact that this is going to take considerably more time than I originally anticipated.

Unless there is a magical technique that makes working on this blade style a walk in the park.

I know there isn't, but maybe there is?

Any chance you've got ears on knifenut?
 
I sharpened this microtech for Sinister and I will never sharpen one again. The blade grind itself is almost 20 degrees on each side so the edge grind is so obtuse its like sharpening a splitting wedge. Took a lot of effort to get a edge sharp enough to shave arm hair and even that was less than impressive. Best I can say is good luck, it was not designed to be a cutter.
 
Thank God, I'll try to post pictures when I'm done with this, 3 days of trying to work with the factory grind on this has been perturbing, especially since the tip is about 60 degrees and the rest was about 50 degrees, a common occurrence with factory sharpening and usually easily handled on a single edge, the double edge with double the sharpening inaccuracies on a dagger is mind bending.

Thanks for the good luck!
 
Finished it, definitely not designed to be a cutter, I have no doubts that it will cut better now and shank with ease.

 
Skimo said:
Finished it, definitely not designed to be a cutter, I have no doubts that it will cut better now and shank with ease.

Click to expand...

Hey Skimo, can you give us an update on how well the reprofiling of the UT is working out for you. I have a an Ultratech 122-12. The full serrated edge is fine, but the smooth edge is an absolute joke. If it's working out well for you, I'd like to do the same to mine, or have someone else do it so I don't screw it up.
 
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Skimo said:
I'm sharpening an ultratech DE right now, I don't think I'll sharpen another.

This blade shape is NOT compatible with my Edge Pro and for once I am really wishing I had a wicked edge or some other clamping system.

I was able to rather effortlessly sharpen a Benchmade SOCP dagger, this.... thing may very well have been designed to defeat me.

I'm a hobby sharpener, I do this for fun and for a few people who want stupid sharp edges, generally who think factory sharp is sharp.

The added trouble is the increased angle towards the tip, that ends up being massive reprofiling on an already short & fat blade.

Years of experience have only taught me to use less pressure and accept the fact that this is going to take considerably more time than I originally anticipated.

Unless there is a magical technique that makes working on this blade style a walk in the park.

I know there isn't, but maybe there is?

Any chance you've got ears on knifenut?
Click to expand...

Nothing to do except grab a cold one. Sometimes you can use a wedge on the blade table to help you hold it steady if its a blade that has tendancy to roll on the table.

In these types of situations its nice to have really coarse stuff. Say 24 and 60 grit Nubatama stones. Then the Atomas.
 
The picture is not too good, but this Microtech Nemesis had about 2 mm of it's point broken off due to a fall, and the only way to resolve that was to sharpen both edges until they formed a new point.
The edge finish turned out somewhat finer than the original factory edge had, but the owner was pleased.
Did it with Paper Wheels btw



This vintage Othello dagger suffered from the same problem (plus it was also quite blunt), and this is how it looks today (again with the help of the Wheels):

 
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