Help! Can't seem to sharpen this buck 303 cadet

M

mudguard

Joined
Aug 2, 2013
Messages
309
What do you all use to sharpen buck's 420HC? I just don't seem to get a good edge on it. Is it best to keep it toothy or to strop it or to run it by ceramic a few times.....??
 
Buck's 420hc is one steel you shouldn't have a problem with. What is your process (in detail) that isn't working?

Edit: You might want to ask a mod to move this to maintenance.
 
The factory edge is pretty obtuse. I don't know how you are sharpening the knife, but if you are using an acute angle, you might be sharpening the sides of the bevel, not the edge.

I would try a more obtuse angle, or do a bit of re-profiling of the edge.
 
What stone are you using. Try marking the bevel's edge with a black marker. Then take it back to the stone, make 1 or 2 strokes and look at the edge to see if your grinding at the apex. Remember this angle.
Those narrow bladed knives are not easy for me to sharpen. A wider blade to is easier for me to work. At least the steel should not be difficult to work. (Please don't move this to the Maintenance Forum.) DM
 
Ok, but keep talk to the BUCK 303 effort and Buck 300 edge design. Someone draw him a picture of the edge angle design and correct angle and David show him a photo of the marker technique. Show him how and get done. Why stuff like this gets moved is we all go off in multiple left fields rather than being direct and to the point. I am as bad as anyone.

300
 
Bucks 420HC steel should be fairly easy to sharpen compared to other "high end" steels. That said, I LOVE buck's steel. I take my bucks to a high polish and it performs wonderfully. As the others have said, mark the bevel with a sharpie and you will be able to see exactly where you are hitting
 
I think maybe my mistake is on the angle. What stone do you all use to sharpen 420HC. I have a generic Lansky combination sharpening stone at the moment and have been using it for over a year. It is not Flat anymore and this may be creating some problems.

I usually run it a few times through the coarse grind (6-12 times) at about 15 to 20 degrees, then do 6-12 passes on the finer side. Finally I use the bottom of a ceramic cup as a finer grit (not ideal but it works wonderful with victorinox and case's CV steel). I have a strop but most of the time by this point it is hair whittling sharp, but for some reason this doesn't seem to be the case of my buck 303 knife..

Any suggestions on the stone or process (I know it is less than perfect but I like to try to keep things simple and low cost), after all it is a pocket knife that like most people said here shouldn't be soo hard to sharpen.
 
There are sharpening question like this ask daily over in Maintenance and these get lost in the trees. I'll come up with a photo just not able right now. Yes, it could be your stone is not level/ flat. They can be flattened by rubbing them on a smooth section of concrete with water in a circular motion and elbow grease. I free hand and use Norton's Silicon Carbide and India stones. I'm hoping your Lansky is one of these materials. More later. DM
 
Thank you David,

The only reason why i didn't post it on maintenance was because i have no problem sharpening my case, victorinox or icel knives.. but for some odd reason I can't seem to get a good edge on this buck 303. Its decent but not to the extent that people talk about. I also have a Buck paklite skinner that i love and use often, this one I can sharpen to a razor edge in almost no time.

I would really appreciate the pictures. Thank you!

David Martin said:
There are sharpening question like this ask daily over in Maintenance and these get lost in the trees. I'll come up with a photo just not able right now. Yes, it could be your stone is not level/ flat. They can be flattened by rubbing them on a smooth section of concrete with water in a circular motion and elbow grease. I free hand and use Norton's Silicon Carbide and India stones. I'm hoping your Lansky is one of these materials. More later. DM
Click to expand...
 
To my "To the point", unless going big game hunting, I seldom sharpen anything but a BUCK 303, 309 or a small Vantage. I have found that stropping makes a great difference in my BUCK edges. An I encourage MG and everyone to at least save a old leather belt, glue it on a good piece of wood and get some Mothers Mag Wheel polish and strop the 303s edge. I do that successfully several times on other 420hc 300 series also, before ever going back to stone or rod. Edge conservation on older, out of production or fancy scale material knives is an important issue for me. 300
 
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Here's a photo. It's really straight forward. This being a 305 and of the narrow blade style is more challenging for me to sharpen. Just mark it here and grind a pass or two then check it. To make sure your grinding at the apex. The edges on these narrow blades become obtuse. Which is the manner free hand edges become. Stropping can cause this as well. Thus, I try to create the edge on one stone, no more than two. Notice this edge is obtuse. Working up the burr and removing it on the stone. Working the edge as little as possible. Secondly, to prevent much metal removal, shorting it's life. Hope this helps to explain. DM
 
Here is a crude drawing of what I was mentioning:
sharpen.jpg


A) shows what happens when you hold the knife at too shallow an angle. You are working down the cheeks of the bevel, not the edge. If you wish to re-profile the bevel to a sharper angle, you'll have to work down the cheeks for a while, or use a coarser stone.

B) shows sharpening at a steeper angle, actually working the bevel and edge.

This seems to have been the case with my 302 and 309. I thought I could not get them sharp; all the time I was just honing the cheeks. Once I used a steeper angle, I had no problem getting the knife sharp. David Martin's sharpie trick will give you visual cues as to where you're working away steel.
 
A good basic drawing that shows how a edge does not become sharp. This can easily happen especially with a narrow blade. DM
 
Is this the first time to sharpen ?

Any of my Bucks takes a while longer to sharpen, the first time, until I get "my" edge on one.

Then easy after that.
 
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