help me sharpen my emerson knife!!!

[Allen R.]

I'm trying to sharpen a cqc7 on a sharpmaker, ill hit it a few strokes on medium, then a few strokes on white stones using the 30 degree angle, well it'll get a nice edge after i deburr the other side, but it's not "sharp enough" so i go to stropping and the knife just goes dull after that, what am i doing wrong?? any help would be appreciated, i refuse to carry a dull knife and this is driving me crazy. Also I think i'm going to send the knife to someone to have a regular v grind put on it and change the edge to 40 degrees to make it easier on me with the sharpmaker. Anyone on here do this kind of service or know someone who does? I really appreciate anyones imput. Thanks in advance

 

[Tim616]

I'm trying to sharpen a cqc7 on a sharpmaker, ill hit it a few strokes on medium, then a few strokes on white stones using the 30 degree angle, well it'll get a nice edge after i deburr the other side, but it's not "sharp enough" so i go to stropping and the knife just goes dull after that, what am i doing wrong?? any help would be appreciated, i refuse to carry a dull knife and this is driving me crazy. Also I think i'm going to send the knife to someone to have a regular v grind put on it and change the edge to 40 degrees to make it easier on me with the sharpmaker. Anyone on here do this kind of service or know someone who does? I really appreciate anyones imput. Thanks in advance

I'd watch a tutorial on proper stropping.

 

[ScreaminSS01]

I would mark the blade with a sharpie to see where you are sharpening. I think you may be surprised what part of the blade you are sharpening. I use the standard 40 degree sharpmaker angle and it hits the whole cutting edge on my CQC10. Depending on how dull your blade is, you are going to need more than a few swipes.

 

[Allen R.]

I can strop any other knife and get great results, its just this friggin emerson, i dunno though, I'm gonna try the 40 degree side real fast and see what happens.

 

[avoidspam]

I'd watch a tutorial on proper stropping.

Yep, second that. The angle has to be spot on when you strop otherwise you simply dull your edge. All you're aiming to do with the strop is polish the edge you have created. Work on getting an edge to the point where it will push cut newsprint with whatever sharpening method you use. Then rest the flat of the blade on the strop, raise the spine of the blade whilst gently applying pressure to the edge until you can feel it bite the leather. Hold that angle and draw slowly across the strop in the opposite direction to the edge. I have fairly thin bladed knives so only strop 20-30 strokes on each side to polish the bevel. I wouldn't have said it is essential to polish the entire edge bevel to start, just the edge itself.

Another thing to consider is that any stop has give in it so when you strop an edge with a flat bevel, applying too much pressure will force the edge into the leather, blunting the knife. It is far easier to strop a convex edge bevel as the strop follows that contour.

Go easy at first and check to see your progress. Its a knack that comes with practice

Sam

 

[richard j]

are you overstropping your edge and rounding the edge off? pm me when you are able to talk and i'll give you a call.

 

[Mark Schmitt]

Ernie usually says to sharpen only one side (bevel side, of course) and do stropping on the back of a legal pad or similar. One side will be absolutely flat, the other will be a *larger* included angle than a conventional v-grind. If you follow this you will easily get a shaving sharp edge.

Personally, I use a standard leather strop loaded with green and black compound (one on each side). Very light pressure is key. If you press down too hard you will dull the knife since the deformation of the strop due to pressure will change the angle of your presumably sharp pre-stropped edge.

The CQC-7 is just about the easiest knife to sharpen using a simple bench stone. You only have flat edges to deal with and you only have one side to sharpen. Keep at it and you will get it quickly.

Mark

 

[Sonnydaze]

A nice guy on YouTube.... jdavis882 has great instructional videos on sharpening and stropping, and also has a sharpening service.
Sonny

 

[Allen R.]

im sending the knife off to richard J. Thanks for everyones input, I'm gonna leave the thread open in case others with emersons have the same problem as i did. Thanks again for the input

 

[dasknife]

Same problem with the mini 15. I think I may be sending it out to get a regrind or maybe just a new blade. I'm kind of embarrassed as I can great results except for this one. I want so hard to like these knives but the chisel is killing it.