How do you guys sharpen your large Beckers?

CalmAsHinduCows said:
Could you give a short list of what grits you use?
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Use the same as the stones and rods.

Example: DMT basic stones - 325 (Coarse), 600 (Fine), 1200 (Extra Fine).


Seems like a light, but very effective way of sharpening my BK-17 in the field.
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Sandpaper gets wet and tears. A small Coarse stone or double-sided Coarse+Fine stone would be better in the field.
 
snippy said:
I put a killer edge on my BK-9 with the DMT Aligner ProKit. I used a Sharpie to blacken the edge, then set the angle to get a clean swipe. Apexed with even grinds on both sides - the 1095 CV steel keeps that edge for a long while!

I did use 2 different positions because of the length, but it worked great.

Eric
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I mainly use my DMT Aligner for slipjoints

I have used it on a Kabar (7" blade), and had to move the clamp to 2 positions
I found to be able to repeat the sharpening and not have different sharpening angles you need to mark and measure the two positions of the clamp so you can go back to the same place.

I use Chorsa waterstones for longer blades
In the following grits 400, 1000, and 3000
They are very fast and the stones are 8", so it is easy to maintain a good angle on the blade when sharpening
Then strop with white compound
 
Sandpaper and mouse pad.

1. Tape paper to pad
2. Start on the tip, stropping it away from the edge across the paper and down said edge.

3. Solid convex edge.
 
CalmAsHinduCows said:
Could you give a short list of what grits you use? I'm trying to put together a field kit and have been looking at automotive sandpaper and a mouse pad glued to a small board. Seems like a light, but very effective way of sharpening my BK-17 in the field.

I just like hearing about different grits and experiences people have.
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I use 180 for reprofiling. (This grit isn't wet/dry). Then 400 and 600 wet dry. You can do a 320 and 1000 as well for more progression but this works fine for me. Generally I stop at 600, strop only about 5 passes. My first edge first edge I alway mirror polish just for fun.
 
CalmAsHinduCows said:
Could you give a short list of what grits you use? I'm trying to put together a field kit and have been looking at automotive sandpaper and a mouse pad glued to a small board. Seems like a light, but very effective way of sharpening my BK-17 in the field.

I just like hearing about different grits and experiences people have.
Click to expand...
Easier for field kit would be a set of DMT cards or the Worksharp field sharpener.
 
If it needs work, I'll use the Spyderco Sharpmaker. For maintenance, I use a leather strop with black and green polishing compound. For the large ones, I've got a 2x24" piece of leather screwed down to a 2x4. For field use, I glued leather to both sides of a 1x2 and loaded each side with a different compound.
 
Hewlett (made in USA!) makes a little 1" wide (ish) two sided diamond plate-one of those and a gatco ceramic dogbone with one of the rubber bumpers go in a little pouch i carry in the leg pocket of my carrharts. Works on everything.image.jpg
 
I have two DMT 8" bench stones: X-Coarse/Coarse and Fine/X-Fine. One of the stones came with a stand, that also doubles as a handle. Funny thing was it was cheaper w/ the stand than without. I use the diamond stones for reprofiling and the fine/x-fine for putting a new edge on. If the blade is really bad (like a cheap machete), I use a 1x24 belt sander, very carefully.

After the diamond stones, I move to ceramic. I had a small ceramic, but just got two spyderco 2x8 bench stones: fine, extra fine. They're awesome. After those, I use three strops. They're simple leather glued to wood, and I use Dico's three ferrous metal buffing compounds: emery, stainless, and chromium.

I rarely go through the entire set. The extra coarse DMT is only for an initial profile or very serious steel removal. For a quick touch up, I might just use the strops, or even just one strop.
 
What is the sandpaper and mouse pad trick? I hear people say this but have no idea what it is. Is there a good video or something out there of this? Thanks..
 
Just got my Ken Onion edition worksharp last night. Did 2 kitchen knives and my BK2. Worked fantastic. My BK2 is way sharper than it needs to be. Ridiculous sharp.
 
jalcon said:
What is the sandpaper and mouse pad trick? I hear people say this but have no idea what it is. Is there a good video or something out there of this? Thanks..
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Sharpening with sandpaper has been around for over 100 years. Just attach sandpaper to a smooth hard flat surface and it acts like a sharpening stone.

The mousepad 'trick' is to insert a computer mousepad between the sandpaper and hard flat surface. The softness of the mousepad imparts a slight curve which produces a convex edge which is preferred by many for hard-use knives.

Search YT for 'sandpaper sharpening' for lots of examples.
 
I prefer to use sandpaper over a mouse pad up to 1500 grit then I just use stropping to maintain my edge. I use black, white, and green compounds from stopman. Mostly I just have to use the green to keep my BK9 shaving sharp.
 
Nice work, TBL, but it's time for me to p0wn this thread:

IMG_20150123_175948-small-small.jpg
 
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