How do I maintain the edge on my BK9?

F

Flsurfer

Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
220
Hello all I just recently got a BK9 and it came pretty sharp. Ive been attacking branches and trees around my yard
and its till pretty sharp but im going to need a sharpener and a field sharpener. So what do you recommend to sharpen with?
 
The Spyderco Sharpmaker is excellent at maintaining an edge.
I had to invest in diamond rods when it came time to reprofile an edge. Totally worth it!
I also have a HF 1x30 belt sander that works great for convexing an edge.
 
I highly highly recommend the work sharp field sharpener. Some think it's a bit of a novelty, and I can see why, but it works phenomenally in the field, the built in angle guides make it super nice if you have cold hands/poor lighting/etc. a few passes with the fine ceramic rod and I'm back to shaving sharp in a few minutes. Tons of features too.

http://www.worksharptools.com/guided-field-sharpener-221.html
 
I have found that once I get it sharp, keeping it in a cardboard sleeve in a safe is the best way to maintain the edge.
 
Jonny1280 said:
The Spyderco Sharpmaker is excellent at maintaining an edge.
I had to invest in diamond rods when it came time to reprofile an edge. Totally worth it!
.
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I second this, but I bought the relatively new Cubic Boron Nitride rods that work about as well as the diamond, and cost around the same, but w/o concern for dislodging the embedded diamond particles.
 
I just used the wet stone that came with my Ronco kitchen knives and that did the trick for now but I need to upgrade soon.
Thanks for the help.
 
Flsurfer said:
I want the Spiderco Sharpmaker and some of those Cubic Boron rods.
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Bear in mind that the rods that come with the Sharpmaker are all you need to maintain sharpness. No need to sped an extra 45 bucks for Cubic Boron rods unless you have knives which need to have edges re-profiled, and require that a significant amount of metal be removed. That said....They're really nice to have around.
 
ichor said:
Bear in mind that the rods that come with the Sharpmaker are all you need to maintain sharpness. No need to sped an extra 45 bucks for Cubic Boron rods unless you have knives which need to have edges re-profiled, and require that a significant amount of metal be removed. That said....They're really nice to have around.
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Good to know! For now I only need the sharpener.
 
KME for home.

Tennessee Sex Stone for a field expedient sharpener.

Moose
 
ichor said:
I second this, but I bought the relatively new Cubic Boron Nitride rods that work about as well as the diamond, and cost around the same, but w/o concern for dislodging the embedded diamond particles.
Click to expand...

I have the CBN rods as well and love them!
I thought there was still some concern over dislodging the sharpening medium from the substrate though. No?
 
I have the KME and it's a good sharpener. I was a little worried about how well it would work on larger knives, but it sharpens my BK7 just fine. I use a strop to maintain the edge unless it gets damaged.
 
I strop for maintenance or use sandpaper on a mouse pad for bigger jobs. My 9 stays razor sharp.
 
winterveil said:
I thought there was still some concern over dislodging the sharpening medium from the substrate though. No?
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Yes, something like that. Not sure if it's the media separating from the subtrate or the coating separating from the rod itself. The CBN supposedly adheres better but care should be taken with both. Not a lot of force is required with either.
 
Ive been trying for two days to make it sharp with a wet stone and I still cant get it paper cutting sharp.
 
winterveil said:
I have the CBN rods as well and love them!
I thought there was still some concern over dislodging the sharpening medium from the substrate though. No?
Click to expand...

You do have to treat them somewhat more gently than the regular ceramic rods, supposedly, but not nearly as much as the diamond rods. I've had the CBN rods for 2 1/2 months now. I've used them pretty extensively on my knives. Mostly reprofiling from 40 down to 30 and 30 to 20 degrees. Some of these were Japanese kitchen knives of VG10, Gin3, @61+ Hrc. Including a big honkin' , 240 Yoshikane hammered chef knife with an SKD core steel at Hrc 64, and I thinned the shit out of it, as it was thick behind the edge (something I personally won't stand for in a chef knife).. I have yet to see any visible, ill effects ( and I worried about it a bit). In addition I've used them for smoothing out machete edges, a lot of AUS8 and 440 AB&C hunting, camp, survival & combat knives. For what it's worth...I'm very pleased with these CBN rods.
 
TravisH said:
Yes, something like that. Not sure if it's the media separating from the subtrate or the coating separating from the rod itself. The CBN supposedly adheres better but care should be taken with both. Not a lot of force is required with either.
Click to expand...

Thanks...Meant to mention that I have been careful to use a light touch, as is suggested by everyone who should know, , and the rods work just fine w/o having to use undue pressure. In fact, hard pressure seems not to work as well, actually.
 
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